Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the test establishments that tested glass reinforced plastic composite fire doors about contributing to the remediation plan for replacing non-compliant fire doors being developed by the Association of Composite Door Manufacturers.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Association of Composite Door Manufacturers (ACDM) have committed to taking action to repair and replace affected fire doors where required. The ACDM are leading on producing the industry-led remediation plan. It is for them to engage with stakeholders and bring forward their proposal.
As part of our investigation into the fire door industry, my department continues to work with test establishments and other stakeholders to raise quality and standards across the market.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Buildings Research Establishment interim report, Fire performance of cladding materials research - experimental methodology and performance criteria, what assessment they have made of the temperature needed to test the panels to ensure their performance reflects that experienced of a real fire in a cladding system on a high-rise residential building.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
As set out in the methodology, the heat source is designed to replicate a heat flux which is representative of a fully developed, post flash-over compartment fire. This would be more severe than is used in most standard classification tests but similar to the severity of a BS 8414 large scale test.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the public consultation and details of the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be published; and whether they will provide a timetable of action for the replacement fund to avoid the risk of communities losing billions of pounds of investment once we leave the European Structural and Investment Fund programme.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government will consult widely on the design and priorities of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will give all interested parties the opportunity to contribute their views. Under the terms of the withdrawal agreement, the UK will continue to take part in European Structural and Investment Funds until the end of the current programme. In the event of a no deal, the Government has guaranteed the full 2014-2020 allocations of the European Structural and Investment Funds. Final decisions on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund are due to be made at Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend devolution to areas outside of established mayoral combined authorities; and to what extent their devolution framework will provide local government in all areas with the opportunity to secure devolution.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Across Government we are making huge strides towards rebalancing the economy and empowering local government. Devolution deals have supported this work by enabling the Government to strengthen local leadership and institutions, and devolving powers and funding away from Whitehall, so that they are exercised at the right spatial geography.
The Government’s manifesto committed to "providing clarity across England on what devolution means for different administrations so all authorities operate in a common framework". We aim to be able to provide local areas with this clarity on how best to take forward their devolution and local growth ambitions as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when details on the scope of the devolution framework will be made available; and whether they intend to involve local government in the design of such a framework.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government’s manifesto committed to providing clarity across England on what devolution means for different administrations so all authorities operate in a common framework. We have had some initial engagement with local government organisations, including the Local Government Association, on our approach. We will, of course, continue to engage with a broad range of stakeholders while aiming to provide local areas with clarity on how best to take forward their devolution and local growth ambitions as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their devolution framework will seek to empower local government with the powers and funding necessary to boost local economies and create excellent places to live and work.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Enterprise Zones (are at the heart of the government’s support for local economic growth, supporting businesses to expand as part of our wider Industrial Strategy. 48 Enterprise Zones have been established since 2012 across England with sites from Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland to Falmouth in Cornwall.
Enterprise Zones are established and operated by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). As of December 2016, published data shows they have attracted 877 businesses, £3.5 billion of private sector investment and over 38,000 jobs. *All business rates growth generated by the Enterprise Zone is kept by the relevant LEP and local authorities in the areas for 25 years to reinvest in local economic growth.
The Government’s manifesto committed to "providing clarity across England on what devolution means for different administrations so all authorities operate in a common framework". We aim to be able to provide local areas with this clarity on how best to take forward their devolution and local growth ambitions as soon as practicable.
* This is based upon EZ monitoring data as self-reported by LEPs.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the responses to their social housing green paper consultation; and when they intend to publish their conclusions on the future of social housing.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The consultation on the Green Paper, ‘A new deal for social housing’, closed on 6 November 2018. We received a large number of responses and are currently analysing these, along with the feedback from eight engagement events which we held with social housing residents around the country, seven roundtables with social housing landlords, and meetings with a variety of stakeholders.
We are very grateful for the input that residents, landlords and other stakeholders have provided throughout this process.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the 2017–18 Devolution Annual Reports as required by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government intends to publish the 2017-18 Devolution Annual Report shortly.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the responses to their consultation on the use of receipts from the sale of homes under Right to Buy; and when they will publish their conclusions.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The consultation responses are being carefully analysed and the Government is actively considering its policy response. This is an important issue and we want to get the policies right. The Government’s response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support first-time buyers on low to middle incomes who are unable to afford a deposit whilst paying rent.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Government-backed schemes including Help to Buy - Equity Loan, Help to Buy ISA and Lifetime ISA have helped over 500,000 households into home-ownership since 2010. The Autumn Budget 2018 provided an additional £7.2 billion for a new Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to run from April 2021 to March 2023, which will exclusively help first time buyers. In addition to this the Stamp Duty relief for first time buyers introduced at the Autumn Budget 2017 will help over one million households over the next 5 years.