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 allocate additional funding to local authorities to hire more civil enforcement officers.
Answered by Lee Rowley
As per statutory guidance for local authorities in England on civil parking enforcement, this is a responsibility for local government. The statutory guidance can be found here.
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 support his Department provides to people living in temporary accommodation who need to store furniture after an eviction.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Where a housing authority owes a household a homelessness duty the housing authority must take reasonable steps to prevent the loss of, or to prevent or mitigate damage to, any personal property of the applicant. Housing authorities may pay for storage of a household's personal property if they are unable to afford to have it stored themselves.
The Government has provided local authorities in excess of £1 billion over the next 3 years through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to carry out their homelessness duties.
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 steps he is taking to help urban areas adapt to (a) warmer summers and (b) flooding.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
The Government has made clear in the National Planning Policy Framework that local planning authorities plans should take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change, taking into account the long-term implications including for flood risk and the risk of overheating.
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 information his Department holds on the average length of time housing association properties are vacant between tenants.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
During 2021/22 the median number of days a housing association (Private Registered Provider) property was vacant before being let was 20 days. The National Statistics based on this data collection are published on gov.uk here and contain similar figures for different types of social lettings.
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 recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of economic growth in coastal communities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government recognises that many coastal communities face both shared challenges and opportunities. We are committed to ensuring all areas of the UK, including coastal areas, can grow and prosper.
Coastal communities often face higher deprivation and unemployment, and lower average incomes, health outcomes, educational attainment and productivity. Between 2009 and 2018, 71% of coastal towns experienced slower population and employment growth than the England and Wales average[1].
We continue to work with coastal communities to help them level up, with 11 out of 12 Freeports and 7 of 20 Levelling Up Partnerships being in coastal areas. From current major funding programmes, around £1 billion is flowing to projects in coastal areas from the Levelling Up Fund; over £400 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is going to lead local authorities within or serving coastal areas in England alone, alongside major investment in the other nations; and £75 million extra has been allocated for capital projects in coastal areas as part of announcements at Budget.
[1] Coastal towns in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.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, what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the review of voter ID changes following the May 2023 local elections.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
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 make it his policy to create parliamentary constituencies for British citizens overseas.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
No.
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 the loss of pubs as community facilities as part of his High Street Rental Auction policy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
This Government recognises that British pubs lie at the heart of our communities and will often be a much valued community asset. They not only support local economies and provide space for communities to come together, but the best pubs provide important community services, such as support for vulnerable people, creating a sense of community pride.
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) will be a permissive power for local authorities, which they can use alongside other regeneration tools at their discretion. They aim to tackle the problem of persistently vacant property on high streets and in town centres and empower places to tackle decline by bringing vacant units back into use. HSRAs seek to increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities, and to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups.
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 make it his policy to require the High Street Rental Auction scheme to (a) protect integral pub infrastructure in empty premises and (b) ensure ancillary accommodation for licensees is not lost as a result of sub-division of a premises in order to protect against the permanent loss of pubs as community facilities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
This Government recognises that British pubs lie at the heart of our communities and will often be a much valued community asset. They not only support local economies and provide space for communities to come together, but the best pubs provide important community services, such as support for vulnerable people, creating a sense of community pride.
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) will be a permissive power for local authorities, which they can use alongside other regeneration tools at their discretion. They aim to tackle the problem of persistently vacant property on high streets and in town centres and empower places to tackle decline by bringing vacant units back into use. HSRAs seek to increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities, and to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups.
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 instances of electors leaving behind their voting identification documents in polling stations occurred at the local elections on 4 May 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Government's policy statement on voter identification, which set out the reasons for the forms of identification accepted in polling stations under the new rules, identity cards bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card), including for example the National Union of Students’ (NUS) Totum ID Card, are accepted.
The data requested is not held centrally.