Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 essential information required from bidders set out in his Department’s document entitled, Freeports: bidding prospectus, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the 500 word limit for bidders to set out how they will meet the minimum standard of security and infrastructure required in customs and tax sites before being able to operate as a Freeport.
Answered by Luke Hall
The word limits set out in Section 5 of the Freeports Bidding Prospectus have been carefully calibrated to give bidders the best chance to show the strengths of their proposals. We have given bidders the room to convey the key information we need to assess bids robustly, whilst ensuring that submitting a bid is feasible within the 12-week bidding period.
Successful bidders will then be invited to develop a business case for regeneration funding, to work with HMT and HMRC to review and confirm the boundaries of their proposed tax sites, and to begin the HMRC-run authorisation process for customs site operators, ensuring proposals remain of a high standard as they move into implementation.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 improve the bid assessment proposals for freeports in response to the findings of the Public Accounts Committee on the towns fund selection process in its report Selecting towns for the Towns Fund, published 11 November 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall
My Department and the Treasury have developed a robust approach to assessing Freeport bids. We consulted publicly on the objectives of the Freeports policy and have set out clearly in the Freeports Bidding Prospectus what these are and how bids will be assessed against them. This includes explicitly stating (in Section 5) how information requested from bidders will be marked, how these marks will be weighted, and how bids will qualify for the appointable list. Finally, we have published (also in Section 5 of the Bidding Prospectus) the factors Ministers will consider when assessing this list and have committed to publishing the rationales for successful bids’ selection.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of Local Housing Rates on the availability of private sector rented accommodation to homeless people.
Answered by Luke Hall
We know that there are varied and complex reasons behind a person’s homelessness, including the availability of private rented sector accommodation, which this Government is taking steps to address.
Following the 4 year freeze to?Local?Housing Allowance (LHA)?rates this Government?is now delivering on the manifesto commitment to?end the?benefit?freeze.??From April?2020?LHA?rates will?be uprated by CPI –?an increase of?1.7 per cent in?line with wider benefit uprating.
In addition, since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding, enabling?local?authorities to protect the most vulnerable claimants and supporting?households?to adapt to housing support?reforms.
We recently announced an extra £40 million in Discretionary Housing Payments for 2020/21, helping to tackle?the most acute?affordability?pressures?in the private rented sector.
The increase will?mean?the majority of?people in receipt of housing support in the Private Rented Sector will?see their housing support increase on average by around £10 per month.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to repeal the provisions relating to rough sleeping under the Vagrancy Act 1824.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government is clear that no-one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live and we are committed to reviewing the Vagrancy Act.
This is a complex issue and we know from our engagement with stakeholders that there are diverging views about the necessity and relevance of the Vagrancy Act. That is why the Government believes that a review, rather than wholesale immediate repeal, is the right course of action and we are looking at all options including retention, repeal, replacement or amendment.
At the heart of the review will be the experiences and perceptions of a range of relevant stakeholders including the homelessness sector, the police, local authorities, business representatives, community groups and individuals with lived experience.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
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 increase funding to create additional capacity in local authority supported housing facilities for elderly people.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government values the vital role that supported and sheltered housing plays in the lives of many older people with support needs across the country. We are committed to ensuring that we have a sustainable supported housing sector and to boosting supply. We have abolished the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap to support councils to deliver more council housing to address local need and circumstances, including supported and sheltered housing. We are also reviewing local housing support services across England to get a better understanding of how housing and support services are working together.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the effect on (a) value for money and (b) service provision of providing funding to local authorities through (i) long-term arrangements and (ii) one-off funding streams.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Government recognises that local authorities value certainty, which is why we agreed a multi year settlement for local government worth over £200 billion in the five years to 2020, that was accepted by 97 per cent of councils in return for publishing efficiency plans. Where there is evidence of increasing pressures in certain areas, the Government has determined it has been right to provide additional funding. Specifically, at Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced an additional £650 million for social care in 2019-20. This includes £240 million of to support adult social care services to reduce winter pressures on the NHS, in addition to the £240 million provided for 2018-19, and £410 million for local authorities to support adults and children’s social care services.
In the long term, the Spending Review will determine funding for local government from 2020-21 onwards and will enable us to look at local government spending in the round.