Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the consultation paper by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Raising Accessibility standards for New Homes, published on 8 September 2020, when they plan to publish a response; and what plans they have to align the mandatory baseline for accessibility standards for new homes with the accessible and adaptable standard.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Evidence gathered by the consultation on raising accessibility standards for new homes will help government consider whether to mandate a higher baseline accessibility standard or to reconsider the way existing optional standards are used. We are currently analysing responses and will publish a government response in due course.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the reliance on interim measures such as waking watch and evacuation management plans by residents of high-rise buildings awaiting remediation for building safety defects.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The most effective way to make buildings with unsafe cladding safe and eliminate the need for interim measures and associated costs is to have the unsafe cladding removed as quickly as possible. That is why we are prioritising £1.6 billion public subsidy on remediation of unsafe cladding. However, we recognise residents’ concerns about the cost of waking watch measures and the lack of transparency of these costs. That is why we have collected and published information on waking watch costs. This will enable those that have commissioned it to make comparisons and challenge providers on unreasonable costs. The data is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-waking-watch-costs
The Government also welcomes the National Fire Chiefs Council update to its guidance on Simultaneous Evacuation published in October (available at: www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance). We have asked the Fire Protection Board to advise Fire and Rescue Services on how best to operationalise the revised guidance including looking into other measures such as installing building-wide fire alarm systems to reduce the dependency on waking watches wherever possible.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the letter sent by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to Manchester City Council in August on planned 'smoke-free' pavement licences was agreed in advance with the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The national smoke-free seating condition in the Business and Planning Act was agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care, as was the associated guidance. Ministerial correspondence is not generally cleared across Government.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide a package of financial support to enable tenants to pay off arrears accrued due to the COVID-19 pandemic in order (1) to prevent the risk of evictions when the ban comes to an end, and (2) to support smaller landlords.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government has established an unprecedented package of support to protect tenants and landlords throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with support for businesses to pay staff salaries and strengthening the welfare safety-net with a nearly £9.3billion boost to the welfare system. This includes an extra £1billion to increase Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates so that they cover the lowest 30% of market rents. These measures are supporting both landlords and tenants by enabling renters to continue paying their rent.
For those renters who require additional support, there is an existing £180 million of Government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments made available this year, an increase of £40 million from last year and which is for councils to distribute to support renters with housing costs.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely throughout the Autumn and Winter.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the enactment of the Business and Planning Act 2020, how many local authorities have opted to make pavement licences subject to a smoke-free condition.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The new pavement licence provisions provide vital support for businesses, particularly in the hard-hit hospitality sector, helping with their economic recovery following the impact of Covid-19 restrictions. Under the pavement licence provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020 all pavement licences are subject to a national condition which requires provision for non-smoking seating. The Government will work with the Local Government Association to assess the uptake of the pavement licence provisions and the conditions that apply as part of this.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when local authorities have to make the first payment under section 69 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Before any determination is issued and any payments made under that determination, regulations on the definition of higher value assets must first be passed by both Houses of Parliament. We are currently working on the detail of the regulations.
We shall consult with local authorities and other stakeholders before issuing the determination.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Secretary of State will make a determination under section 69 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Before any determination is issued and any payments made under that determination, regulations on the definition of higher value assets must first be passed by both Houses of Parliament. We are currently working on the detail of the regulations.
We shall consult with local authorities and other stakeholders before issuing the determination.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Secretary of State will commence making grants to private registered providers under section 64 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Section 64 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 enables the Secretary of State to pay grant to private registered providers to cover the cost of the voluntary Right to Buy discount. Grant will only be paid out once a tenant has purchased their home and the provider has submitted a claim. Systems are in place with the five housing associations that are taking part in the voluntary Right to Buy pilot so that the Government can compensate them for the discount that their tenants get when they purchase their home.
We are currently working with the National Housing Federation and the housing association sector on the implementation of the main scheme and will announce more details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the Spending Review 2015, they have undertaken any analysis of the relationship between the value of business rates collected by local authorities and the local level of deprivation according to the English Indices of Deprivation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Under the current rates retention scheme, and under the new 100 percent scheme to be introduced by the end of the Parliament, there is, and will continue to be, a measure of redistribution of local tax income. This ensures that those authorities with higher relative spending needs compared to their tax base will receive additional funding through the redistribution mechanism; and means that any comparison of local business rates income and levels of deprivation would be misleading.