Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many officials in his Department have been seconded away from their normal duties to work on the UK's withdrawal from the EU; and what effect that secondment of staff has had on the effectiveness of his Department.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
Departments continually review workforce plans, reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit Implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.
A total of 122 MHCLG staff were redeployed from other work on to EU Exit work between December 2018 and April 2019, the majority of whom were redeployed for a short period between 8 and 11 April in anticipation of a possible exit on 12 April.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people with complex and severe learning difficulties who are living in supported living accommodation.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Independent research commissioned by my department and the Department for Work and Pensions estimated that at the end of 2015 there were around 47,000 supported housing units across Great Britain for people with learning disabilities. The research was published in 2016 and can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572454/rr927-supported-accommodation-review.pdf
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the suitability of supported living accommodation for people with complex and severe learning difficulties.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
We have made no recent assessment but we are committed to the vital role that supported housing plays in the lives of many vulnerable people. As announced on 9 August, my department and the Department for Work and Pensions are working closely with supported housing stakeholders to develop additional oversight of the quality and value for money of housing across the whole supported housing sector. This will include accommodation for people with complex and severe learning difficulties.
More widely, the Department for Health and Social Care invested £25 million over 2016-18 in 52 separate projects, in housing and technology to support people with a learning disability to live as independently as possible with the right care and support.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Euroclass B-F materials passed fire safety tests conducted for the Government in 2017; and whether the results of those tests have formed the basis of his Department's guidance to landlords.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Details of all tests commissioned by the Department as part of the Building Safety Programme are available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programme
Test 4 and Test 5 included materials in the cladding system which were not materials of limited combustibility and which therefore would have been classified under the European classification system under Classes B-F. In both tests, the cladding systems met the necessary performance criteria.
However, Tests 1, 2, 3 and 7 also included materials which were not materials of limited combustibility. In these tests the necessary performance criteria were not met.
The results of those tests informed advice to building owners from the Independent Expert Panel, which is available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programme