Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to introduce the Building Safety Bill.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Building Safety Bill was published in draft on 20 July 2020 and has recently undergone pre-legislative scrutiny by the HCLG Select Committee. We are currently considering the Committee’s report and recommendations and will introduce the Bill in due course. We recognise that these are important public safety measures; that is why the Government is committed to progressing the Bill as quickly as possible, so that reforms can be implemented in a timely manner and residents can feel safe, and be safe, in their homes.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
What progress his Department has made on the English devolution and local recovery White Paper.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government intends to bring forward the English Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper in due course, detailing how the UK Government will partner with places across the UK to build a sustainable economic recovery.
The Government is continuing progress on devolution and recently announced the West Yorkshire devolution deal which, subject to parliamentary approval, will give the newly elected Mayor control over an annual £38 million investment fund, as well as new powers over transport, education and housing and planning.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what formula his Department used to calculate the allocation of funding to local authorities for covid-19; and whether that allocation was made on a per capita basis.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Following the Government’s announcement on 18 March of an initial wave of £1.6 billion of funding to respond to COVID-19 impacts on local councils, we continued to keep funding pressures under review, using both data collection and ongoing conversations with councils to refine our assessment.
On 28 April, the Secretary of State announced allocations of an additional £1.6 billion to individual local authorities.
Whereas the first funding allocation was primarily allocated to local authorities through the Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formula, in recognition that the greatest immediate pressures would fall on local authorities with social care responsibilities, this second wave of funding was allocated on a per capita basis. This reflects our latest understanding of the distribution of additional covid-related pressures, which are likely to be distributed in a way that is different from pre-existing needs. The 65:35 spilt in this per capita allocation between counties and districts in two-tier shire areas provides more funding to district councils than the first wave of funding, whilst providing significant support to social care authorities.
It is important that these two waves of funding are seen together and that false comparisons between the two are avoided. Across both waves, almost 70 per cent of district councils will receive £1 million or more in support, whilst more than 90 per cent of the funding will go to social care authorities.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what changes have been made to standard fire safety tests conducted on external cladding since the Grenfell Tower fire.
Answered by Lord Sharma
A note explaining the government building safety programme, including an explanation of the methodology being used by the Building Research Establishment to test samples of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, has been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what safety tests are being conducted on non-domestic public high-rise buildings.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We have initiated testing in priority buildings across the public sector, including NHS Trust and Foundation Trust buildings. We are prioritising testing on buildings where people sleep overnight, which have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and are of a certain height. We will identify further priorities for testing in the coming days.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that all building materials used in schools, hospitals, care homes, prisons and other public facilities with vulnerable inhabitants are tested for fire resistance.
Answered by Lord Sharma
We have initiated testing in priority buildings across the public sector, including schools, hospitals, care homes and prisons. We are prioritising testing on buildings where people sleep overnight, which have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding and are of a certain height. Where appropriate, organisations are working with the fire and rescue service locally to put in place precautionary safety checks and measures. We have appointed an expert panel to advise on further immediate steps which should be taken, including checking other materials.