Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for publishing the cross-government homelessness strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We will publish our cross-Government homelessness strategy later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) town and (b) parish councils that have taken on functions previously managed by (i) district, (ii) county, (iii) unitary and (iv) metropolitan authorities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jim McMahon
There is no centrally held data on the total number of functions town and parish councils have taken on from principal local authorities.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Help to Buy scheme on low income, first time buyers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Help to Buy Scheme was closed in May 2023. An evaluation into the impact of the scheme is ongoing.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to consult (a) community groups and (b) local authorities on the design and implementation of the strengthened Community Right to Buy.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to giving communities real power to secure assets that are important to them and will introduce Community Right to Buy as part of the English Devolution Bill. We are currently finalising the policy and have consulted a range of groups including community organisations and local authorities on its design. We will continue this engagement as the powers are implemented.
The Government appreciates that securing funding to purchase community assets can be challenging and we want to ensure that community groups have the right support to do this under Community Right to Buy.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the funding requirements for community organisations to make effective use of the proposed Community Right to Buy.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to giving communities real power to secure assets that are important to them and will introduce Community Right to Buy as part of the English Devolution Bill. We are currently finalising the policy and have consulted a range of groups including community organisations and local authorities on its design. We will continue this engagement as the powers are implemented.
The Government appreciates that securing funding to purchase community assets can be challenging and we want to ensure that community groups have the right support to do this under Community Right to Buy.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made in preparing the strengthened Community Right to Buy proposals ahead of the introduction of the English Devolution Bill.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to giving communities real power to secure assets that are important to them and will introduce Community Right to Buy as part of the English Devolution Bill. We are currently finalising the policy and have consulted a range of groups including community organisations and local authorities on its design. We will continue this engagement as the powers are implemented.
The Government appreciates that securing funding to purchase community assets can be challenging and we want to ensure that community groups have the right support to do this under Community Right to Buy.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing town and parish councils into scope of the local government ombudsman.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) provides members of the public with a vital complaints resolution service for when things go wrong with the public services they rely on. Their investigations provide the public with personal redress and improve the delivery of these services by local authorities. Most of their complaints are about key public services, such as children’s services, adult social care and homelessness.
The Government has no plans to bring town and parish councils within the LGSCO’s scope.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of audit requirements for town and parish councils following the abolition of the Audit Commission in 2015.
Answered by Jim McMahon
In December 2024, the government launched a strategy to overhaul the local audit system in England. Through the strategy and subsequent consultation response, the government has committed to a number of measures in relation to smaller bodies including to review the effectiveness of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return process for smaller bodies. The government will introduce legislation to move away from audit regimes based solely on thresholds to ensure a risk based and proportionate approach. As part of the wider reforms, the government is establishing the Local Audit Office (LAO) to streamline and oversee the currently fragmented system. In the longer term, the LAO’s appointment and contract management function will expand to include the smaller authorities’ appointment and assurance framework to minimise fragmentation in the system.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of sanctions available to local government standards committees for the actions of town and parish councillors.
Answered by Jim McMahon
In December the Government launched a consultation seeking views on a range of measures to strengthen the standards and conduct framework that applies to all types and tiers of local authorities in England. The proposals consulted upon included a requirement for all principal authorities to convene formal standards committees to make decisions on code of conduct breaches, and the introduction of suspension of members for serious misconduct. We are now in the process of analysing the responses to the consultation to ensure we are taking full account of sector views on all of the measures proposed, and the Government Response will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Land Registry to (a) record and (b) publish a property owner's Company Registration Number on title register documents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry (HMLR) requires that the registration number of a company is supplied when a UK company is being registered. Company registration numbers are recorded in the proprietorship entry of the title register.
Copies of title registers are normally available from HMLR’s Search for land and property information page on gov.uk here.
HMLR publishes information about registered land and property in England and Wales owned by UK companies on gov.uk here.