Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to provide a Memorandum of Understanding to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council for the English city region capital regeneration project in Dinnington, Rother Valley.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
16 Communities across England will benefit from up to £211 million awarded to 16 Capital Regeneration Projects.
As set out in the published accounting officer assessment, these awards are subject to further subsidy control checks and my department is working with local authorities on this. Template Memorandums of Understanding have been shared and will be signed once the checks for each project are completed.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to provide a memorandum of understanding to local authorities that will receive funding for English city region capital regeneration projects.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
16 Communities across England will benefit from up to £211 million awarded to 16 Capital Regeneration Projects.
As set out in the published accounting officer assessment, these awards are subject to further subsidy control checks and my department is working with local authorities on this. Template Memorandums of Understanding have been shared and will be signed once the checks for each project are completed.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on the maintenance of municipal cemeteries.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The department does not hold data on the local provision of graveyards and cemeteries. Local authorities play a vital role in providing essential services to their communities, and they are best placed to determine local provision.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to include hydrogen-ready boilers for new homes under the Future Homes Standard.
Answered by Lee Rowley
From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will mean that new homes use low carbon heating and have very high levels of energy efficiency.
We intend to consult on the technical specification of the Future Homes Standard later this year and so further information will be coming forward on the consultation in due course. From a principles perspective, building regulations tend to set performance-based standards over the mandating or banning the use of specific technologies, to enable innovation and tailoring to individual sites.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the practice of offering social housing intended for elderly people to younger applicants on the level of housing stock available for elderly residents.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Local authorities are responsible for allocating social housing through schemes they set locally. These are governed by a framework of rules set by central government which ensure social housing is prioritised for those in housing need. There is high demand for social housing, and it necessary that those who need it most are given priority.
It is for local authorities and Private Registered Providers to decide how to use their freedoms within this framework of rules to balance the need to allocate housing to those who need it most with the aim of building safe and stable communities.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of occasions on which (a) Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has and (b) other councils have offered social housing intended for elderly residents to a younger applicant citing equality legislation in each of the last three years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Local authorities are responsible for allocating social housing through schemes they set locally. These are governed by a framework of rules set by central government which ensure social housing is prioritised for those in housing need. There is high demand for social housing, and it necessary that those who need it most are given priority.
It is for local authorities and Private Registered Providers to decide how to use their freedoms within this framework of rules to balance the need to allocate housing to those who need it most with the aim of building safe and stable communities.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued guidance to local councils on offering social housing intended for elderly residents to younger applicants.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Local authorities are responsible for allocating social housing through schemes they set locally. These are governed by a framework of rules set by central government which ensure social housing is prioritised for those in housing need. There is high demand for social housing, and it necessary that those who need it most are given priority.
It is for local authorities and Private Registered Providers to decide how to use their freedoms within this framework of rules to balance the need to allocate housing to those who need it most with the aim of building safe and stable communities.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what safeguards are in place to ensure social housing intended for elderly people is used for that purpose.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Local councils are responsible for allocating social housing and have freedom to tailor their allocation priorities to meet the needs of their local communities, including the most vulnerable people. In doing so, by law they must ensure that 'reasonable preference' (priority) is given to people in certain categories including those who need to move for medical or welfare reasons, which can include older and disabled people. This is to ensure that social housing goes to those who need it most.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his planned timetable is for opening the online portal for applications for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Lia Nici
I refer my Hon Friend to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State (HCWS 207) on 15 July 2022.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to incorporate the findings of the independent review of children's social care in the Government’s levelling up agenda.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
To level up we must make progress on children’s social care reform to ensure that all young people enjoy a safe and happy childhood and realise the best outcomes possible. We remain committed to doing that. We will fully consider how the findings of this review and the Government’s Levelling Up agenda align ahead of publishing the Government’s detailed response and implementation strategy later this year.