Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in Centrepoint's report, More than a number: The scale of youth homelessness in the UK, published on 3 May.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We welcome opportunities to work with Centrepoint and discuss their research on youth homelessness. We are committed to working collaboratively with the voluntary and local government sectors and across government to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. Officials from the department are arranging to meet Centrepoint to discuss the research.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken, or plan to undertake, on the impact on introducing fire safety legislation requiring high rise residential buildings in England to provide two means of escape.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to lead an independent review of the Building Regulations and fire safety system. Any decision on future fire safety requirements will be taken following the completion of that review, which is expected to be published this Spring, and will involve consideration of the likely impact of those changes. The department is taking preliminary steps to gather information that would assist us in doing so.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken of domestic fire safety measures implemented internationally, including regulations relating to (1) the use of sprinkler systems, (2) the use of flammable cladding materials, and (3) means of escape.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to lead an independent review of the Building Regulations and fire safety system. Any decision on future fire safety requirements will be taken following the completion of that review, which is expected to be published this Spring, and will involve consideration of the likely impact of those changes. The department is taking preliminary steps to gather information that would assist us in doing so.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, or intend to make, of the effectiveness of legislation mandating the provision of means of escape for (1) residential buildings, and (2) office buildings in preventing injury or deaths in fires.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to lead an independent review of the Building Regulations and fire safety system. Any decision on future fire safety requirements will be taken following the completion of that review, which is expected to be published this Spring, and will involve consideration of the likely impact of those changes. The department is taking preliminary steps to gather information that would assist us in doing so.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 22 December 2017 (HL4184), what assessment they have made of the introduction of mandatory sprinkler systems for new buildings in Wales in considering (1) the benefit of introducing such measures in England, and (2) the cost of such measures in England.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government has commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to lead an independent review of the Building Regulations and fire safety system. Any decision on future fire safety requirements will be taken following the completion of that review, which is expected to be published this Spring, and will involve consideration of the likely impact of those changes. The department is taking preliminary steps to gather information that would assist us in doing so.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there will be a full and public consultation on the detail of the proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and whether they will engage with young people currently benefiting from projects supported by EU funds.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The government will be holding a public consultation on the design and priorities of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund later this year, as announced in the Industrial Strategy. This will give all interested parties the opportunity to contribute their views directly to the government.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will establish a specific funding stream within the proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund to focus on tackling child poverty and providing opportunities to disadvantaged young people, as exists under the current European Social Fund programme.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The government continues to develop the design and priorities of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The new Fund will allow us to invest money according to our own priorities, rather than those set by the EU, and will seek to reduce inequalities and boost productivity across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) assessment they have made, and (2) what representations they have received, concerning the access to legal redress of (a) rough sleepers, (b) the hidden homeless, and (c) other homeless people, in circumstances where their human rights have been infringed.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Department has not made any assessment of compliance nor has it received any representations concerning the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or access to legal redress of rough sleepers, the hidden homeless and other homeless people.
However, we are clear that one person without a home is one too many. We are committed to do more to prevent more people becoming homeless in the first place.
That’s why we are implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act. It significantly reforms England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.
This Government is committed to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027. We will now be working to create a cross-Government rough sleeping strategy to achieve our commitment.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their compliance with the UK’s human rights obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to housing under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by the UK in 1976, in relation to (1) rough sleepers, (2) the hidden homeless, and (3) other homeless people.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Department has not made any assessment of compliance nor has it received any representations concerning the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or access to legal redress of rough sleepers, the hidden homeless and other homeless people.
However, we are clear that one person without a home is one too many. We are committed to do more to prevent more people becoming homeless in the first place.
That’s why we are implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act. It significantly reforms England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.
This Government is committed to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027. We will now be working to create a cross-Government rough sleeping strategy to achieve our commitment.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the proportion, availability and affordability of transitional housing, including on areas of disused public land.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We announced £100 million to deliver low cost ‘move on’ accommodation for people leaving homelessness hostels and domestic abuse refuges and helping them move towards independent living.
We are also engaging with the sector to help us shape the detail of the local grant for short-term supported housing. This funding will be ring-fenced so it can only be spent on short-term supported housing and we have committed to it being in place for the long term.
The short-term accommodation grant will remove rental costs for the tenants at a particularly vulnerable point in their lives, allowing them to seek work safe in the knowledge that their housing costs will be met. It will also help people who can, to move-on with greater choice about where they go without carrying a legacy of rent arrears and debt.
This Government have made a commitment to release more of its surplus land for housing during the current Parliament.
The Public Land for Housing annual report published in February 2017 shows that by September 2016 public sector land with capacity for 13,817 homes had been sold.