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Written Question
Parking: Suicide
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the use of multi-storey car park buildings for suicide attempts in each of the last 10 years; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to reduce the risk of such buildings being used for suicide.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Government is in the process of setting up a new Building Safety Regulator, one of whose duties will be to keep under review the safety of all buildings, including those containing car parks.

The Department is aware of a number of very sad cases of falling from multi story car parks but does not have historic statistics. I would be happy to receive further information or representations from honourable Members on this matter to pass to the Building Safety Regulator to consider in more detail.


Written Question
Parking: Safety
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of taking steps to improve the safety of multi-storey car parks.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Government is in the process of setting up a new Building Safety Regulator, one of whose duties will be to keep under review the safety of all buildings, including those containing car parks.

The Department is aware of a number of very sad cases of falling from multi story car parks but does not have historic statistics. I would be happy to receive further information or representations from honourable Members on this matter to pass to the Building Safety Regulator to consider in more detail.


Written Question

Question Link

Monday 17th May 2021

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase the public land available for community gardening projects in (a) England, (b) the North West, (c) Wirral and (d) Wallasey.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Government is taking a number of steps to ensure land is available for community needs such as community gardens. The National Planning Policy Framework already makes clear that planning policies and decisions should aim to achieve healthy, inclusive and safe places which enable and support healthy lifestyles, especially where this would address identified health and wellbeing needs, for example through the provision of safe and accessible green infrastructure. The Government has also recently sought views on the draft the National Model Design Code, and supporting Guidance Notes which sets out how local design codes may specify levels of green infrastructure provision, including allotments and community gardens.

In addition to this, land can also be designated as Local Green Space through local and neighbourhood plans which allows communities to identify and protect green areas of particular importance to them. Designating land is a matter for local discretion, but the Government has set out in guidance that this could include green areas such as allotments.


Written Question
Community Development: Gardens
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase the public land available for community gardening projects in (a) England, (b) the North West, (c) Wirral and (d) Wallasey.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.


Written Question
Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
Tuesday 12th May 2020

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the funding allocated to Wirral Council in relation to the covid-19 outbreak was £11,862 million in the first payment and £8,886 million in the second payment.

Answered by Simon Clarke

Following the Government’s announcement on 18 March of an initial wave of £1.6 billion of funding to respond to COVID-19 impacts on local councils, we continued to keep funding pressures under review, using both data collection and ongoing conversations with councils to refine our assessment.

On 28 April, the Secretary of State announced allocations of an additional £1.6 billion to individual local authorities.

Whereas the first funding allocation was primarily allocated to local authorities through the Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formula, in recognition that the greatest immediate pressures would fall on local authorities with social care responsibilities, this second wave of funding was allocated on a per capita basis. This reflects our latest understanding of the distribution of additional covid-related pressures, which are likely to be distributed in a way that is different from pre-existing needs.

It is important that these two waves of funding are seen together and that false comparisons between the two are avoided. Across both waves, more than 90 per cent of the funding will go to social care authorities. Wirral Council’s share is £20.7 million.


Written Question
Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
Wednesday 6th May 2020

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason his Department changed the funding allocation formula for local authorities during the covid-19 outbreak from the cost of social care needs to population figures.

Answered by Simon Clarke

MHCLG continues to work closely with local authorities to manage the impacts of Covid-19 on the most vulnerable in our society.

We are supporting authorities in the fight against coronavirus with over £3.2 billion of additional funding. Our engagement with local councils and latest assessment shows that Covid-19 pressures are not necessarily related to pre-existing needs.? The per capita allocation for the second wave of funding represents a fair and balanced response to the national effort in tackling?coronavirus. Furthermore, both waves of allocations need to be seen together.


Written Question
Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
Wednesday 6th May 2020

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives from Wirral Council on the provision of additional funding during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Simon Clarke

We announced on 18 April an additional £1.6 billion of funding to support councils delivering essential frontline services, taking the total to over £3.2 billion of additional funding. To date, Wirral Council has received £20.8 million of additional funding to support their response to Covid-19. Last month (April), Wirral Council also received an upfront payment of 3 months of social care grants, totalling £2.8 million.

We have continued to engage with local authorities across the sector to develop our understanding of how the additional funding is being used by local authorities, using both monthly data collections and ongoing conversations with councils to refine our assessment. The Department issued a monitoring return to all local authorities, including Wirral Council, on 7 April, and we will issue a second monitoring return later this month. This has been supported by engagement with Local Resilience Forums, councils and their representatives, including our local Delivery Board with Councillors from across the country.


Written Question
Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
Wednesday 6th May 2020

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to provide support to (a) Liverpool City Region and (b) Wirral Council in response to the (a) reduction in income and (b) increase in expenditure as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Simon Clarke

We are supporting authorities in the fight against coronavirus with over £3.2 billion of additional funding. Across both tranches of funding, Liverpool City Region has received £102 million extra to fight this pandemic, whilst Wirral Council has received over £20 million. This funding is unringfenced to allow councils to respond to local priorities, and is in addition to that from other departments – for example to support bus services, Fire and Rescue authorities and local businesses – and the most recent local government finance settlement which provides access to the largest year-on-year increase in Core Spending Power in a decade.


Written Question
Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
Wednesday 6th May 2020

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the increase in the costs incurred by Wirral Council as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Simon Clarke

The additional £20 million for Wirral Council to fight the coronavirus pandemic is expected to cover cost pressures incurred in the first phase of the response. This funding follows the most recent local government finance settlement in which Wirral’s Core Spending Power rose by 6.6 per cent.


Written Question
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Reviews
Tuesday 4th February 2020

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

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 titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Answered by Jake Berry

The Department is currently undertaking reviews in the following areas:

  • The quality and effectiveness of the audit and financial reporting of local authorities in England, led by Sir Tony Redmond;
  • How Government can best engage with faith communities, led by Colin Bloom;
  • Antisemitism, led by Lord Mann; and
  • Fair funding Review for how funding is allocated and redistributed between local authorities.

The Department has also recently undertaken a number of significant reviews. This includes Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which the Government has committed to taking forward its recommendations. The Building Better Building Beautiful Commission also recently published its final report, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/living-with-beauty-report-of-the-building-better-building-beautiful-commission.