Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason deprivation is not part of the weighting for bids for the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will prioritise bids from places in England, Scotland and Wales with the most significant need. This is measured by an index taking into account the following place characteristics: need for economic recovery and growth; need for improved transport connectivity; and need for regeneration. Using this index, places have been placed into category 1, 2, or 3, with category 1 representing places with the highest levels of identified need. These metrics are focussed on identifying places most in need of the type of investment offered through the Levelling Up Fund – including towns centre and high street regeneration, small scale transport projects, and investment in local culture and heritage assets. A methodology note has been published and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-additional-documents/levelling-up-fund-prioritisation-of-places-methodology-note
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support pet owners in the private rented sector following recent revisions to the Model Tenancy Agreement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has revised the Model Tenancy Agreement, the Government’s recommended contract for assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector, to remove restrictions on responsible tenants with pets, encouraging landlords who use the Model Tenancy Agreement to offer greater flexibility in their approach to pet ownership. It provides that a landlord should accept a request from a tenant to keep a pet where they are satisfied the tenant is a responsible pet-owner and the pet is of a kind that is suitable in relation to the nature of the premises at which it will be kept. The revision aims to strike the balance between protecting private landlords from situations where their properties are damaged by badly behaved pets whilst ensuring responsible pet owning tenants are not unfairly penalised.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to account for population age in the Covid-19 Relative Needs Formula.
Answered by Luke Hall
When developing the Covid-19 Relative Needs Formula, the Government used data provided by councils themselves through monitoring returns. We used this data to test potential drivers of this reported covid-related expenditure. Total population and deprivation, as well as a consideration of how costs of delivery?vary?across the country, were found to have a good statistical fit with this data.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether a risk assessment was carried out in respect of the decision to close places of worship during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, in particular the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic.
In view of the increase in the R Rate, we had to take action to reduce the level of infection to protect our communities and save lives which is why we made the decision to close a broad range of premises, including places of worship for communal prayer. These measures are designed to limit the number of interactions that people have and therefore reduce the risk of spread.
Data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.
The regulations now in force will expire on 2 December, at which point we hope to be able to ease restrictions.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the criteria used for the latest allocation of covid-19 funding to councils in the Liverpool City Region.
Answered by Luke Hall
As with the previous funding COVID-19 local authority funding package announced in July, we have used the new COVID-19 Relative Needs Formula, together with an area cost adjustment, to determine funding allocations to councils in England. This means the distribution accounts for population and deprivation, as well as the varying cost of delivering services across the country. Finally, we have taken account of the funding local authorities have already received relative to their assessed needs and applied a minimum funding floor of £100,000 to each local authority – recognising that all local areas are facing pressures especially as we head into winter. This approach ensures the funds are distributed in a way that balances the need to support all areas of our country, whilst maximising efficiency and targeting resources where they are most needed
With national restrictions replacing local ones on Thursday 5 November, Government has confirmed further support for local authorities through the extension of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund, the Additional Restrictions Grant, Business Grants for closed businesses, together with backdated cash grants for businesses in Local Alert Level 2 and 3 areas and additional funding for the clinically extremely vulnerable.