Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle anti-social behaviour committed by tenants living in rented properties.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Renters (Reform) Bill will strengthen landlords’ ability to repossess their property from anti-social tenants.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Justice on the potential impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on levels of demand on the courts.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
With regards to specialist housing courts and the impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on levels of demand on the courts, I refer the Hon Member to the answers given to Question UIN 203400 on 26 October 2023 and Question UIN 10066 on 25 January 2024.
The Government monitors possession claim actions in the county courts using the Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. We will set out further details shortly about how we will assess the operation of the courts in the context of the changes to possession processes which we are introducing through the Renters (Reform) Bill.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specialist housing courts.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
With regards to specialist housing courts and the impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on levels of demand on the courts, I refer the Hon Member to the answers given to Question UIN 203400 on 26 October 2023 and Question UIN 10066 on 25 January 2024.
The Government monitors possession claim actions in the county courts using the Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. We will set out further details shortly about how we will assess the operation of the courts in the context of the changes to possession processes which we are introducing through the Renters (Reform) Bill.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the effectiveness of court processes for the repossession of rental properties before the commencement of the Renters (Reform) Bill.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
With regards to specialist housing courts and the impact of the Renters (Reform) Bill on levels of demand on the courts, I refer the Hon Member to the answers given to Question UIN 203400 on 26 October 2023 and Question UIN 10066 on 25 January 2024.
The Government monitors possession claim actions in the county courts using the Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. We will set out further details shortly about how we will assess the operation of the courts in the context of the changes to possession processes which we are introducing through the Renters (Reform) Bill.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support victims of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism following the events since 7 October 2023 in Israel and Gaza.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to my oral answer of 4 March 2024 (Official Report, HC Volume 746, Column 628).
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to tackle the rise in islamophobia and antisemitism following the events since 7 October 2023 in Israel and Gaza.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to my oral answer of 4 March 2024 (Official Report, HC Volume 746, Column 628).
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring sprinklers are retrofitted to high-risk buildings where deemed necessary by a risk assessment.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, a designated Responsible Person has an obligation to ensure that existing residential buildings have appropriate fire safety measures. Retrofitting sprinklers may, but might not always, be the right option and other fire safety measures could be taken that may be appropriate for an individual building. When new building work is undertaken, the Building Regulations set out the levels of safety and performance that is required and are supported by statutory guidance in Approved Documents. The Government amended Approved Document B Fire Safety in May 2020, reducing the trigger height for provision of sprinklers in new tall buildings from 30m to 11m.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending local government funding settlements to increase the proportion of Services Grants provided.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25 was published on 5 February and confirmed that the Services Grant will continue in 2024-25 and will be worth £87 million. The Services Grant has increased by £10 million from the amount consulted on in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25.
We know that local authorities value multi-year certainty, as this allows them to plan spending over the longer term. It is the Government’s intention to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament, when circumstances allow.
In 2022, the Government confirmed reforms to the funding formula would not be implemented in this spending review after hearing calls from councils for stability. The Government remains committed to improving the local government finance landscape.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of determining the local government funding (a) formula and (b) settlements by an independent body.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25 was published on 5 February and confirmed that the Services Grant will continue in 2024-25 and will be worth £87 million. The Services Grant has increased by £10 million from the amount consulted on in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25.
We know that local authorities value multi-year certainty, as this allows them to plan spending over the longer term. It is the Government’s intention to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament, when circumstances allow.
In 2022, the Government confirmed reforms to the funding formula would not be implemented in this spending review after hearing calls from councils for stability. The Government remains committed to improving the local government finance landscape.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of multi-year funding settlements for local government.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25 was published on 5 February and confirmed that the Services Grant will continue in 2024-25 and will be worth £87 million. The Services Grant has increased by £10 million from the amount consulted on in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25.
We know that local authorities value multi-year certainty, as this allows them to plan spending over the longer term. It is the Government’s intention to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament, when circumstances allow.
In 2022, the Government confirmed reforms to the funding formula would not be implemented in this spending review after hearing calls from councils for stability. The Government remains committed to improving the local government finance landscape.