Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2021 to Question 48273, on Elections: Proof of Identity, whether his Department has appointed a voter ID implementation lead, or equivalent role, in the last three months.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Electoral Integrity Programme is running concurrent projects to support the delivery of primary legislation, secondary legislation, digital delivery and business change. Within the programme are roles responsible for the implementation of the changes created by the Elections Bill. We continue to work with local authorities, the Electoral Commission, charities and civil society organisations to make sure that reforms are delivered in a way that is inclusive for all voters.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
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 Government's voter ID plans, whether student IDs covered by the PASS scheme will be accepted as valid ID to vote.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
As set out in Schedule 1, Paragraph 15 of the Elections Bill, any identity card covered by the PASS scheme that shows a photograph of the bearer will be accepted as valid identification for the purpose of voting at a polling station.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has appointed a voter ID implementation lead, or equivalent role, in the last three months.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Elections Bill will update elections law and deliver on a number of manifesto commitments to protect our democracy, and ensure that it remains secure, modern, transparent and fair.
The Electoral Integrity Programme is running projects to support the successful implementation of the changes created by the Elections Bill.
We continue to work with local authorities, the Electoral Commission, charities and civil society organisations to make sure that reforms are delivered in a way that is inclusive for all voters.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which of his Department's non-executive directors were appointed through open competition.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
I can confirm that all six of the current Non-Executive Directors within the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government were appointed through fair and open competition. Recruitment campaigns were run in line with standard practice for public appointments as set out in the Cabinet Office guidance.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
What support he is providing to social housing providers to help meet the net zero emissions target by 2050.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We are providing a range of support to social housing providers on net zero, including technical support for planning improvements, funding supporting innovative approaches to retrofit, and capital funding to deploy low carbon heat at scale. Support is being provided through several schemes, including the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Green Homes Grant Vouchers and Local Authority Delivery, the Whole House Retrofit Innovation Programme and the Energy Company Obligation. We are also reviewing the Decent Homes Standard.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people aged 16 to 25 have become homeless since the start of the covid-19 outbreak in March 2020.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in all its forms is a key priority for this Government and we have taken huge steps this year, working with local authorities and their partners to protect vulnerable rough sleepers during the pandemic. The ‘Everyone In’ campaign has supported over 29,000 vulnerable people, with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 provided with settled accommodation or move on support.
We have also put in place bespoke support for local authorities through our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated youth homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.
This year we have provided £90,000 to St Basil’s to fund Youth Voice, a training scheme for 40 young homeless people across the country. Youth Voice includes the Youth Homelessness Parliament which provides insight and advice to government on issues affecting young homelessness people.