Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to establishing housing allocation numbers for local authorities, what is the current assumed net immigration for each of the next 15 years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government does not set housing allocation numbers. The Government’s Local Housing Need formula, otherwise known as “the standard method” is set out in guidance and is used by local authorities to determine the starting point when planning for housing. Local planning authorities should take into account land supply considerations and environmental constraints (such as Green Belt) before determining the number of homes likely to be delivered in the area.
The standard method is based on the 2014 household projections, these projections incorporate population projections and therefore migration data. Population data is published by the ONS, see attached: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2015-10-29.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the impact of their policy towards immigration from Hong Kong has been incorporated into housing allocation (1) calculations, and (2) provision.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) visa route is a positive offer for British National (Overseas) status holders and their dependants. To be eligible for the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route, status holders must prove that they are able to sustain themselves and their families in the UK for six months.
Those on the BN(O) visa route will have a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition attached to their leave, which prevents them from accessing local authority-allocated social housing allocations and homelessness assistance.
After 5 years, Hong Kong BN(O) status holders will be able to apply for settled status, and if granted settled status will then be eligible for both social housing and homelessness assistance on the same basis as British citizens. We will keep the position in relation to social housing allocations under review.
We recognise that local authorities may be expected to provide some form of housing support, for example, in managing tenancies, assessing any eligibility for local deposit schemes and understanding rights and entitlements to housing and welfare support, where it is appropriate. That is why the Government is making over £30 million available to local authorities in England to provide targeted support to Hong Kong British National (Overseas) status holders who need additional English for Speakers of Other Languages and/or destitution support including support with housing costs. This targeted support funding factors in the potential impacts on homelessness, housing and translation services demands.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which 10 councils have the highest number of solar panels installed on council properties.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government does not hold information on the number or size of solar PV installations on council properties. This information will be held by individual councils.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which 10 UK hospitals have the highest financial deficit, including debts carried over from previous years.
Answered by Lord Bethell
During the last year, the government agreed a number of measures to improve the finances in the NHS provider sector in England. These included writing off £13.4 billion of NHS debt, as part of a major financial reset for NHS providers; temporary arrangements that saw trusts receive block payments to fund their spending through the pandemic, supported by c£18bn of additional funding to support the NHS response to COVID. As a result, the amount and levels of deficits across in the NHS provider sector fell significantly.
Work is ongoing to support the minority of trusts who ended 2020/21 in a deficit position and to develop solutions to secure future financial sustainability.
Final deficit figures for 2020-21 will be published as part of the NHS’s final accounts in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the annual budget for reception centres for Hong Kong residents seeking to live in the UK; where they plan to locate any such reception centres; and how many, if any, are currently operational.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
MHCLG is providing over £5 million to fund 12 new Welcome Hubs across the UK – nine in England, mapped to the nine English regions, and one each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. By utilising existing Strategic Migration Partnerships and other important local connections, these hubs will help to ensure a warm welcome for all Hong Kong BN(O) status holders by providing practical advice and assistance to all BN(O)s who require it.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been tested for COVID-19 in Nottinghamshire since the announcement of mass testing in November 2020.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The total number of people tested for COVID-19 in Nottinghamshire between 29 October 2020 and 27 January 2021 is 329,057.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been employed to assist in the roll out of mass COVID-19 testing in Nottinghamshire since lateral flow tests became available in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We do not publish data in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been tested for COVID-19 in Nottinghamshire since the announcement of mass COVID-19 testing in that county.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We do not publish data in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have determined that retired (1) nurses, (2) GPs and (3) anaesthetists, are incapable of safely administering COVID-19 vaccinations; and if so, what criteria were used to make any such determination.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Retired clinicians can support the National Health Service COVID-19 vaccination team via the Bringing Back Staff programme. A comprehensive training package has been put together by NHS England and NHS Improvement with professional groups and Public Health England. New vaccinators will have undergone both a comprehensive training programme and competency assessment to ensure they can safely administer vaccines to patients under the clinical supervision of an experienced health care professional.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the requirement or otherwise for DBS checks to be made on volunteers to assist with car parking and people movement in any forthcoming programme of mass vaccinations for COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Non-clinical stewarding roles at vaccination centres will be filled by volunteers allocated through the Royal Voluntary Service, working with the National Health Service. The only role which requires a Disclosure and Barring Service check is a patient transport role.