Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many rough sleepers in England were reported in their latest count of rough sleepers; and when that count was conducted.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The most recent national rough sleeping data is the?autumn 2019 annual statistics, which showed a total figure of 4,266 rough sleepers on any given night.
The number of people sleeping rough in the 2019 annual snapshot is 9% lower compared with the previous year and 10% lower compared with 2017.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in?emergency?accommodation in order to prevent any risk of them sleeping rough during the pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the current number of rough sleepers in England not accommodated in hotels or similar accommodation.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to enable them to isolate and stop the virus spreading. This includes people coming in directly from the streets, people previously housed in shared night shelters and people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping during the pandemic.
The Government and local authorities have worked closely together to make accommodation available to significant number of people during this challenging time. The reasons behind people sleeping rough are complex, and some people may make decisions to refuse an offer of accommodation or leave accommodation that has been offered to them.
Management information on those accommodated is collected from over 300 local authorities nationally. Local authorities hold the most up to date information regarding the number of people they are currently assisting.?We are continuing to work with local authorities?to understand the work they are doing to help the most vulnerable in our society.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in the number of fines levied by private car park operators in the past ten years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Government does not hold figures on fines levied by private car park operators.
At present, the private parking industry is self-regulating. However, the Parking (Code of Practice) Act will lead to the creation of an independent Code of Practice for private parking companies and a “one-stop-shop” for private sector parking appeals.
The Code will be developed in consultation with stakeholders but Government fully expects the Code to cover such areas as the clear display of terms and conditions for consumers, grace periods to allow motorists time to pay and leave the car park, professional standards of behaviour expected of parking operators and a fair process for appealing parking charges.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of motorists who have received invalid fines caused by malfunctioning equipment in private car parks in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We have not made an estimate of the number of motorists who have received invalid fines caused by malfunctioning equipment in private car parks. However, this is an issue which the new Parking Code of Practice should help to address.
At present the private parking industry is self-regulating. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act, will lead to the creation of an independent Code of Practice for private parking companies and a “one-stop-shop” for private sector parking appeals.
The Code of Practice will create consistency for consumers, by having a single set of rules which applies across the private parking sector. It will ensure that the obligations for enforcement and appeal processes are fair, consistent, and proportionate. Those operators who do not meet the standards set out in the code of practice will not be able to access DVLA data and will be unable to pursue motorists for parking charges.
The Government is currently considering the content of the Code and what the obligations by private parking companies to motorists should be and will consult with stakeholders, including industry, motorists and consumer groups later this year.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why a fine levied in a private car park can be more than one levied in a car park operated by a local authority.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
At present the private parking industry is self-regulating.
Parking on private land is primarily managed through contract law. The signage on a site is the terms and conditions of a contract. When a motorist gets a ticket from a private company, in law this is an invoice for breach of contract. This creates a debt against the motorist that is enforceable through the courts.
Fines issued by private parking companies are currently capped at £100 by the codes of practice which the International Parking Community and British Parking Association hold their members to.
The Parking (Code of Practice) Act will create a Code of Practice with a single set of rules which applies across the private parking sector. It will ensure that the obligations for enforcement and appeal processes are fair, consistent, and proportionate. The issue of fines will also be looked at as part of the development of the Code.
Local authority parking is governed by different legislation to private car parks. The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (Guidelines on Levels of Charges) (England) Order 2007 sets guidelines on parking charges by enforcement authorities outside Greater London. Local authorities are not meant to raise revenue on managing parking and under Section 55 of the Road Traffic Management Act (RTRA) 1984, any excess revenue raised must be reinvested in the local transport budget.
The Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Act 2017 will also provide flexibility around allowing local authorities to lower parking charges for seasonal or one-off events, as well as creating a duty to consult residents on plans to increase charges. We are currently working on enacting the legislation and will provide further announcements in due course.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, through data collected from brownfield land registers, of the number of homes that could be built on brownfield sites.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
All local planning authorities have now published a local register of brownfield land suitable for housing, bringing many more sites to the attention of house-builders, self-builders and investors.
The information published by local planning authorities suggests that across England as a whole there are over 18,000 sites and over 26,000 hectares of land suitable for development, with capacity for one million homes.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve "brownfield first" policies to ensure that suitable brownfield land is prioritised over greenfield sites in (1) local and strategic plans, and (2) planning decisions.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The updated National Planning Policy Framework, published in July last year, strengthened policy on the use of previously-developed land. It made clear that local authorities' strategic policies should make as much use as possible of brownfield sites in meeting development needs, and that planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements. The Framework sets out a range of policies to help local authorities achieve this, including the use of minimum density standards for homes where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consulted providers of specialist housing for older people when formulating the Housing Delivery Test; and if so, what was the outcome.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
As part of the Housing White Paper ‘Fixing the Broken Housing Market’, and the draft revised National Planning Policy Framework we consulted a wide range of stakeholders on policy proposals. For the draft Framework we conducted 3 key stakeholder roundtables, and carried out 40 individual meetings with interested parties on specific topics or wording. This included the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and British Property Federation. Stakeholders were generally supportive of the Test’s approach to older peoples housing as it rewards authorities for delivering older peoples housing by allowing them to count communal accommodation (such as care homes).
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many local authorities have detailed planning guidance in place for the provision of specialist housing for older people.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
In the revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, we strengthened policy to create a clear expectation that all local authorities have policies in place for addressing the housing needs of older people. The number of authorities with detailed planning guidance on the provision of specialist housing for older people is not recorded. We will publish further planning guidance, to assist councils to put these policies in place, in accordance with the Neighbourhood Planning Act commitment. We have undertaken extensive engagement in relation to the guidance, including discussions with a range of local authorities, charities and house builder representatives to identify and discuss the key issues. We will publish the guidance in due course.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to issue guidance to local authorities on the provision of specialist housing for older people as required under the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017; and what consultation they have undertaken with providers of specialist housing for older people to inform that guidance.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
In the revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, we strengthened policy to create a clear expectation that all local authorities have policies in place for addressing the housing needs of older people. The number of authorities with detailed planning guidance on the provision of specialist housing for older people is not recorded. We will publish further planning guidance, to assist councils to put these policies in place, in accordance with the Neighbourhood Planning Act commitment. We have undertaken extensive engagement in relation to the guidance, including discussions with a range of local authorities, charities and house builder representatives to identify and discuss the key issues. We will publish the guidance in due course.