Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her polices of the principles set out in the Porter v. Magill 2001 House of Lords ruling in last six moths, in the context of advising on promotions from the first tier tribunal.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of judges who have been elevated from the first-tier tribunal within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.
The majority of appointments to judicial office are based on selection by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which has a statutory duty to make selections based on merit alone.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many promotions of judges from the first tier tribunal have been made within six months of receiving formal advise for misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of judges who have been elevated from the first-tier tribunal within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.
The majority of appointments to judicial office are based on selection by the independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which has a statutory duty to make selections based on merit alone.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, whether she plans to remove marriage value from the enfranchisement premium calculation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is to commence Section 48 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to commence section 32 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes provisions that will make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, including removing the requirement to pay marriage value.
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government will act as quickly as possible to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of that Act.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the objectives set out in the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs' speech entitled The Kew Lecture: Foreign Secretary's speech on the climate crisis, published on 17 September 2024, if he will make an assessment of the contribution of the Darwin Plus Programme to the UK Overseas Territories.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2020, Defra commissioned an independent review of the Darwin Plus programme. This found Darwin Plus projects to have a strong, positive impact on the capacity of the Territories to deliver long-term strategic outcomes for the natural environment, which enhances protection of biodiversity ecosystems. During his Kew Lecture on 17 September 2024, the Foreign Secretary declared reversing the decline in global biodiversity as a Government priority. It is estimated that the UK Overseas Territories are home to over 90% of known endemic British species.
Information on individual projects funded under Darwin Plus is available on the programme website (https://darwinplus.org.uk/). The programme’s performance is reviewed annually and published on the UK Government’s online Development Tracker.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of tribunal judges who have been promoted to become Circuit Judges by the Judicial Appointments Commission within six months of receiving a formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Circuit Judges are appointed by the King, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice, following a fair and open competition administered by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
The number of judges who have been appointed as Circuit Judges having been tribunal judges, within six months of receiving formal advice of misconduct from the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in the last five years is one.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18874 on Leasehold: Ground Rent, in what order respondents ranked the five policy options outlined in the consultation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to Question UIN 18874 on 17 December 2024.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has set a target for the proportion of new homes to be built by 2030 that will be (a) leasehold and (b) commonhold.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.
Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.
The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.
We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
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 impact of converting all existing residential leasehold tenure to commonhold on economic growth.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to reinvigorating commonhold and making it the default tenure.
Our forthcoming White Paper on reforms to commonhold will outline proposed reforms to the model and our plans to introduce a comprehensive new legal framework.
The government has also made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.
We will also engage with stakeholders on the process for converting existing flats to commonhold and consult on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats. We will set out further details in due course.