Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and which local authorities he estimates will receive a negative revenue support grant in the financial year 2018-19.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
No local authorities will be affected by negative revenue support grant (nRSG) in the financial year 2018-19. Additional resources have been allocated to eliminate nRSG in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review and enhance local authorities' compulsory purchase powers.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Local authorities already have very broad compulsory purchase powers, which can be used to support the delivery of a range of development and infrastructure projects. Through both the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017, the Government is taking forward a substantial package of reforms to make the compulsory purchase process clearer, fairer and faster for all.
We are keen for local authorities to make use of these new provisions, which include replacing often conflicting case law on compulsory purchase compensation with a clearer basis for identifying market value. This will allow negotiations on compensation to proceed with more speed and certainty. We will keep the operation of these reforms under review and consider whether further reforms are necessary.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what procedures are in place for those current two-tier local authority areas which wish to reorganise themselves.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
With the enactment of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016, the procedures for two tier local authorities wishing to reorganise themselves are for one or more of the councils concerned to submit a proposal for a reorganised structure to the Secretary of State who must consider it.
As I told the House on 28 February 2017 (PQ 65271) the criteria for assessing such proposals is whether the proposal, if implemented, is likely to improve the area's local government, commands a good deal of local support in the area, and whether the area itself is a credible geography for the proposed new structure. Having considered such a proposal, the Secretary of State will announce whether or not he is minded, subject to Parliamentary approval, to implement it.
After a period during which those interested may make representations to the Secretary of State, he will then take his final decision and invite Parliament to approve the secondary legislation necessary to implement the proposal where this is his decision.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria he plans to use to define an area of high affordability pressure in order for a local authority to seek additional resources to build more council homes.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
My department will publish advice shortly on how local authorities in areas of high affordability pressures can bid for additional borrowing to build new homes.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what maintaining procedures he plans to put in place to measure the performance of local authorities which bid for the £1 billion made available by the Government for the building of council homes.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
My department will publish advice shortly on how local authorities in areas of high affordability pressures can bid for additional borrowing to build new homes.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities, parish and town councils have submitted proposals to his Department under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 since its inception.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Since the introduction of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 and its extension to include town and parish councils in October 2014, 33 proposals have been received. A list of these authorities will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department provides to increase the number of modular housing built with timber frames.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to increasing housing supply by creating a diverse housing market, where housebuilders embrace innovation to become more productive and deliver better homes. Building more homes using modern methods of construction, including modular homes or timber frame homes, is a key part of this.
The Housing White Paper, published in February sets out a number of measures to stimulate the growth of this sector. These will create new opportunities for the use of modern methods of construction to encourage investors into the sector and give current suppliers confidence to expand into the housing market.
Last year the Secretary of State launched the £3 billion Home Building Fund, which provides support to builders using modern methods of construction, in addition to custom builders, small and medium-sized builders, and new entrants to the market.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has set a (a) maximum and (b) minimum population size for areas and regions that wish to secure devolved powers.
Answered by Jake Berry
We have been clear that devolution is a bottom-up process, and so we welcome local ambitions to boost growth and productivity where there is agreement between local partners. We hope to be able to provide local areas with more clarity on how best to take forward these ambitions as Government sets out the next stages of its developing Industrial Strategy and our Framework for Devolution.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to protect tenants' monies in tenancy deposit schemes.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Tenancy Deposit Protection legislation introduced by the Housing Act 2004 requires that where a deposit is paid in connection with an assured shorthold tenancy it must be protected by the landlord or agent in one of the three government-authorised schemes.
The Tenancy Deposit Schemes in England currently protect over 3.5 million deposits on behalf of tenants, helping to raise standards in the private rented sector and ensuring that tenants are treated fairly at the end of their tenancy.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to establish the role of letting agents in ensuring that landlords comply with their obligation to protect tenants' monies in tenancy deposit schemes.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Under the Housing Act 2004 landlords letting their properties under Assured Shorthold Tenancies must protect their tenant’s deposit in one of three government authorised schemes.
Landlords who fail to comply with the statutory requirements are liable for a mandatory financial penalty of between one and three times the amount of the deposit, payable to the tenant, on the tenant bringing proceedings to the County Court under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004. Non-compliance also affects Landlords' ability to rely on Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
The landlord must protect the deposit in one of the schemes within 30 calendar days from the day the deposit is received and must provide the tenant with details (Prescribed Information) of how their deposit has been protected within the same 30 day period.
In many cases, the landlord will enter into a contractual arrangement with a letting agent which allows the agent to carry out these duties on the landlord’s behalf. However, it is the landlord who remains responsible for carrying out these statutory obligations.