Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the developer pledge for building safety, whether developers will be required to remediate buildings to the standard required by the Regulator in order that buildings are not fixed initially by the developer and then need further work to satisfy the Regulator.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We want to make sure that buildings are made safe quickly and proportionately. Over 45 of the largest developers have already signed a pledge to take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical, fire-safety defects on buildings 11 metres and over that they had a role in developing or refurbishing.
On 13 July, we published the draft of a contract with developers. The draft contract, once finalised and executed, will turn the commitments made in the pledge into a legally binding agreement.
The draft agreement includes the requirement for developers to ensure that, once the necessary remediation work has been performed, a fire risk assessment and/or a fire risk assessment of external walls (depending on the defects originally identified) signing off that the risks have been satisfactorily addressed is issued.
Whilst it is possible there may be some work for which the original developer is not responsible, the expectation is that developers will fix all life critical fire safety defects arising from the original development or refurbishment. Building works will be overseen by a building control body (although this will always be the Building Safety Regulator for higher-risk buildings) and will need to comply with Building Regulations.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the responses to its consultation on local authority remote meetings, published on 25 March 2022; and whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to permit hybrid in-person and virtual meetings for (a) all council meetings, (b) lower tier parish and town council meetings and (c) planning committee meetings.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
We launched a call for evidence on 25 March 2021 to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis.
The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment has the Government made of the future housing needs for the ageing population.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Offering vulnerable people a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them live independently and feel more connected to their communities. This Government is committed to the provision of suitable homes for older people, including extra care housing, which contributes to levelling up across communities. Housing-with-care allows individuals to choose where they want to live, with whom, how they can best be supported, and what happens in their home. Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care provide capital funding to incentivise their supply. Our planning rules already mean councils must consider the needs of older people when planning for new homes. In 2019, we published guidance to help councils implement the National Planning Policy Framework policies.
We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing. The Department of Health and Social Care are also continuing to subsidise new supply of specialist housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.
The Government's plan for health and social care, announced on Tuesday 7 September, also recognised the important role of housing, and supported housing in particular, in providing care and support to people in the community.
We continue to work closely with the older people's housing sector and across Government to look at how we can further support its growth. I look forward to engaging with representatives in the sector further and value their insight.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
What steps he is taking to provide accommodation for rough sleepers.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
By the start of this year, this Government supported over 37,000 people as part of our Everyone In initiative during the pandemic, with over 26,000 already being moved into longer term accommodation.
At the Spending Review in November we committed an additional £254 million of resource funding to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This takes resource funding in 2021-22 to £676 million - a 60% increase compared to what was announced at Spending Review 2019.
In addition, the Government has accelerated the delivery of the £433 million Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme to deliver 6,000 move-on homes and support - the largest ever investment in move-on accommodation.