Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to establish a regulatory framework for the audits of local authorities; and whether any such plans would include the appointment of a regulator to assess and advise on such audit reports.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government published its response to the Redmond Review of local authority financial reporting and external audit on 17 December 2020. The current regulatory framework for local audit was one of the matters considered by the review. We are giving close consideration to Sir Tony Redmond’s finding that the local audit framework is too fragmented and are committed to exploring the full range of options as to how the recommendations relating to system leadership can best be achieved and will update on this further later in the Spring.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many local authorities in England delivering adult social care have increased their adult social care precept for 2021/2022 by (1) 3, (2) 2–2.99, (3) 1–1.99, and (4) 0–0.99, per cent.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Department will publish National Statistics on 25 March setting out the level of council tax charged by local authorities in England for 2021/22. This release will include details on how authorities with responsibility for adult social care have made use of the adult social care precept.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This is a complex issue and that is why a review is the right course of action and we are looking at all options.
Work is ongoing and the Government will update on its findings in due course.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what they currently estimate the percentage of (1) false negative, and (2) false positive, tests for COVID-19 to be.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tests for COVID-19 have been completed per 100,000 people in each local authority area in England to date.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many rough sleepers in England were allocated accommodation in a hotel or similar accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, my Department has been working intensively with local areas to support rough sleepers, those in shared sleeping spaces such as shelters and those at risk of rough sleeping, into secure accommodation as part of the Everyone In programme.
On 3 June, the Government published the management information that supports the announcements from the Secretary of State and Dame Louise Casey that nearly 15,000 vulnerable people had?been accommodated by local authorities in response to COVID-19.?This information can be (attached) found here.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what checks are made by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on the fitness of the operators of private car parks to issue valid fines.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will only release vehicle keeper information to private parking companies that are members of an appropriate accredited trade association (ATA). The ATAs carry out checks on parking companies before allowing them to become members. This ensures that the company is legitimate and is monitored for compliance with the ATA’s code of practice that promotes fair treatment for motorists.
The DVLA carries out comprehensive auditing of companies, involving remote and also on-site audits in conjunction with the Government Internal Audit Agency. This ensures that keeper information is used appropriately. Any issues are investigated and action taken where necessary. This can include the suspension of the facility to request vehicle keeper information from the DVLA.