Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the level of contribution made by local authorities to raising building standards for new dwellings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. In October 2019, we launched the first stage of a two-part consultation on Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations. We proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of a Future Homes Standard from 2025. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards.
We have consulted on a meaningful and achievable increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes as a first step towards the 2025 standard. The preferred option set out in consultation is a standard that should result in a 31 per cent reduction in emissions, compared to current standards.
We have proposed a stringent minimum standard for energy efficiency, to be applied across the country, to address issues of ambition, consistency, offsetting and targeting. This means that there may no longer be any need for local planning authorities to set higher standards at a local level. Our research suggests that few local planning authorities set higher standards, but those who do often set a 19 per cent improvement over 2013 standards. Our stage-one proposals will see a 31 per cent improvement over 2013 standards. In some local areas carbon offsetting schemes form part of the energy efficiency framework for buildings; and in others energy efficiency standards are targeted at specific kinds of building work. A single, national standard may minimise any confusion and uncertainty for local planning authorities, and better support the growth of supply chains of key products required to deliver the Future Homes Standard.
The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February. The responses we received will be considered carefully, and a Government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring that solar PV be installed on all new homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Mandating a particular renewable technology, such as solar panels, may not be appropriate for all dwellings in all areas. Building regulations and national planning policy encourage the use of renewables without requiring any particular technology. Building regulations are deliberately couched in performance terms, allowing builders, local councils and architects the flexibility to select from a range of renewable energy technologies to suit the potentially unique circumstances of a particular development.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the level of availability of accommodation for British citizens returning from overseas as a result of the covid-19 pandemic who do not have a permanent home in the UK.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
United Kingdom Nationals returning from abroad who have been stranded as a result of Covid-19 and who encounter difficulty sustaining accommodation, are entitled to advice and support under the provisions of the Homelessness Reduction Act. This will include the provision of emergency accommodation for the most vulnerable who return from abroad and are homeless.
Under the Homelessness Reduction Act, local authorities and other public bodies must work together to actively prevent homelessness for people at risk.?Local authorities?must do so?irrespective of whether they are a family or single person,?the?reason they are at?risk, or if they have a local connection to the area.
We have announced over £3.2 billion of additional funding to enable local authorities to respond to other COVID-19 pressures across all the services they deliver, including stepping up support for services helping the most vulnerable, including homeless people.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department policies of (a) the March 2019 The Children’s Society report entitled Nowhere to turn and (B) the finding that since the devolution of crisis support in 2013, the number of people receiving crisis support from either national or local government has reduced by 75 per cent.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Local welfare provision was devolved to local authorities as the Government believes that they’re best place to understand local priorities.
The Government has made over £200 billion available to councils over this spending review to spend on local services including local welfare provision.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Government has a duty to inform people and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for Brexit.
Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.
Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the level of Council Tax receipts of the practice of second homeowners avoiding the payment of council tax by registering a second home as a business.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Owners of second homes are generally liable for council tax. Only where a property is available for short-term lets for 140 days or more per financial year, is it considered a holiday-let, and therefore assessed for business rates instead. However, the Government is aware of concerns about holiday homes and is looking into this issue to see if the criteria under which holiday lets are valued for business rates are appropriate.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) dates on which Ministers in his Department had meetings with any elected Somerset County Councillors since 7 May 2015 and (b) the agendas and minutes of the matters discussed for each of those meetings.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on www.gov.uk and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data. The information published includes all meetings up to and including March 2018. Meetings that have not yet been published, but are due to be in the future, include:
On 11 July 2018 I met with Councillors David Fothergill and Faye Purbeck from Somerset County Council and Councillor Harvey Siggs from Mendip District Council following their request for a meeting to discuss their thoughts about future organisation of Somerset. There was no minute of the meeting, though I wrote to the Councillors on 26 July 2018 as a follow up to the meeting, and I am placing a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.
Following my meeting with the Somerset councillors, I invited all the Somerset MPs to meet with me on 11 September 2018 to discuss their thoughts on future organisation of Somerset. Following that meeting I wrote to all those MPs with some additional information.
On 19 July 2018, Jake Berry MP attended a roundtable meeting about high streets and local growth with various councillors and businesses. Councillor David Fothergill from Somerset County Council was in attendance.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the procedures for assessing the liability of holiday lets for business rates.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
Holiday lets are a valuable part of the local business landscape. They are assessed for business rates if they are available for short-term lets for 140 days or more per financial year. This rule is widely understood and provides a clear method of deciding whether a property should be liable for council tax or business rates. It ensures that properties do not switch year-to-year between council tax and business rates merely due to success in letting out the property. However, the Department is aware of concerns about this criterion, and is considering whether it remains appropriate.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans for his Department to be accredited by the National Living Wage Foundation in relation to paying the real living wage; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Department has no immediate plans to seek accreditation from the National Living Wage Foundation in relation to paying the real living wage. However, the Department does qualify to apply for the referenced accreditation as we do not employ anyone, either nationally or in London, that earns less than the hourly living wage rate for the respective areas as defined by the National Living Wage Foundation. A table highlighting the Department’s lowest hourly rate of pay in comparison to the current National Living Wage hourly rate is shown below.
| Real Living Wage | MHCLG Min Hourly Rate (Net Contractual Hours) | MHCLG Min Hourly Rate (Gross Contractual Hours) |
London | £10.20ph | £13.16ph | £11.59 |
National | £8.75ph | £11.30ph | £9.95 |
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March to Question 132182 on the return of £817 million to the Treasury, if he will provide a breakdown of the original intended recipients of the funding that has now been returned.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The information relating to the return of £817 million was published as part of Table 4 in the Supplementary Estimates Explanatory Memorandum 2017/18: