Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many rough sleepers have refused accommodation offered in each of the last five years.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
We collect and publish data on a quarterly basis on the number of people sleeping rough on a single night who have refused accommodation, as part of the quarterly publication of management information about the support for people sleeping rough. The information is available here: Homelessness statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require buyers and sellers to be compensated when the other party withdraws from an agreement to purchase a residential property.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
If a buyer or seller pulls out of a transaction once contracts have been exchanged, they are often already legally obliged to pay compensation to the other party. The amount of compensation will depend upon the individual contract, but it is intended to go towards costs accrued in the transaction, such as legal costs and search fees. Home buyers and sellers are also able to voluntarily enter into reservation agreements in advance of exchange, which can provide protection when property transactions fall through.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 he has made of the potential impact of local councils warning that they may have to issue section 114 notices on (a) service delivery and (b) budgets.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.
Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authorities have (a) raised concerns relating to their financial position and (b) requested financial assistance since 1 January 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.
Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many requests have been made by local councils for capitalisation directives in the last 12 months; and of those, how many were accepted.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.
Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of councils that will issue a section 114 notice in the next 24 months.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.
Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.
The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to resume issuing multi-year financial settlements to local councils.
Answered by Lee Rowley
We know that local authorities value multi-year certainty, as this allows them to plan spending over the longer term. That is why, in 2022, the Government published the local government finance policy statement , providing councils greater certainty on key aspects of their funding for the next two years to the end of this Spending Review. It is the Government’s intention to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament, when circumstances allow.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington 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 he has made of the (a) quality and (b) suitability of temporary accommodation offered to (i) families and (ii) individuals who have become homeless.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 197213 on 11 September 2023.
Local authorities must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable and the Government is taking steps to increase quality and regulation across all housing stock, including temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many civil enforcement officers were working in local authorities in (a) 2023 and (b) 2010.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to amend planning regulations to strengthen protections for pubs.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government recognises the importance of local pubs to their communities and there are strong protections in place through the planning system. The demolition or change of use of a pub always requires planning permission. Local planning authorities have strong enforcement powers to tackle breaches of planning control, including the ability to issue enforcement notices which can require the construction of a building which, subject to certain conditions, is as similar as possible to the demolished building.