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 plans he has to publish the results of desktop studies that have been used to test for combustible materials for use on high-rise buildings.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government has not commissioned any desktop studies. 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
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 representations he has received on (a) the safety of Euroclass B-F cladding and insulation and (b) concerns regarding the British Standard 8414 large-scale fire test.
Answered by Dominic Raab
My Department has received numerous comments on the safety of cladding and insulation materials and on the British Standard 8414 test. The guidance published by the Department and by the Independent Expert Panel reflects a considered assessment of those comments.
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 assessment he has made of the efficacy of the British Standard 8414 large-scale fire tests.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The BS 8414 test was incorporated into building regulations guidance in 2006, following a comprehensive review of that part of the regulations and a public consultation. The Independent Expert Panel considers that the test is appropriate for assessing the potential for a cladding system to provide a medium for fire spread.
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 information his Department holds on how many residents of the Grenfell Walkways have been rehoused as at 26 January 2018.
Answered by Dominic Raab
As of 29 January, figures from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea show that 40 households from Barandon, Hurstway and Testerton Walks (collectively known as ‘the Walkways’) who moved into emergency accommodation as a result of the fire, have now been housed in interim accommodation.
The Council set out a draft permanent rehousing policy that applies to residents of the Walkways who do not wish to return to their homes; the public consultation on this policy ended on 5 January and the Council will take residents’ views into account when they confirm a final policy.
We are working closely with the Council to ensure residents are able to return to their homes where possible. The Government has allocated £15 million of funds in the recent budget, which will be matched by the Council, to invest into the Lancaster West Estate to make it a model for social housing and a wonderful, vibrant place to live.
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 assessment he has made of the ability of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to effectively manage the casework involved in rehousing Grenfell Tower residents.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has committed to provide survivors from Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk with a permanent new home in social housing within one year of the fire.
Following the fire, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government set up the independent Grenfell Recovery Taskforce to provide assurance that RBKC has the capacity and capability to deliver an effective long term recovery plan for its residents, taking into account their views.
In its first report in November 2017, the Taskforce identified four key areas in which the Council need to step up: pace, innovation, skills and empathy. The Taskforce is due to report to the Secretary of State at the end of February on RBKC’s progress in implementing those recommendations and he will provide an update to the House.
It is important that the rehousing proceeds at a pace which respects the needs, wants and situations of survivors and I expect the Council to do whatever is necessary to ensure households can move into settled homes as swiftly as possible. Both my Department and the independent Taskforce will continue to monitor the situation carefully. Ministers continue to meet regularly with RBKC Councillors, and officials from my Department also meet regularly with RBKC officials to ensure the Council can meet its commitment.
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 assessment he has made of the effect of removing the rent cap for tenants of the Grenfell Walkways who have not yet been rehoused on the ability of those tenants to afford their interim accommodation.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The policy for rehousing residents affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower remains a matter for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).
Tenants who lived in the Walkway blocks who have moved into alternative private rented accommodation will have their rent and service charges capped at the same level they paid for their home in the Walkways until at least the end of June 2018.
RBKC has set out a draft permanent rehousing policy that applies to residents of the Walkways who do not wish to return to their homes. The public consultation on this policy ended on 5 January 2018 and the Council will take residents’ views into account when they confirm a final policy.
We are working closely with RBKC to ensure residents are able to return to their homes where possible. We have allocated £15 million of funds in the recent Budget, which will be matched by RBKC, to invest into the Lancaster West Estate to make it a model for social housing and a wonderful, vibrant place to live.
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 assessment he has made of the effect of Government policies on levels of homelessness over the last seven years.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
My Department publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief in England. These are published at a local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics
England has a strong homelessness safety net, providing protection to the most vulnerable in our society.
Successful homelessness prevention and relief has risen by 30 per cent between 2009/10 and 2016/17.
But the Government remains clear that one person without a home is one too many. We are committed to do more to prevent more people becoming homeless in the first place.
That’s why we are implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, in April 2018, which will ensure that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.
We are also remodelling statutory homelessness data collection alongside the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act to give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need.
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 funding his Department is providing for essential fire safety work in tower blocks identified as unsafe due to flammable cladding.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Local authorities are responsible for funding the costs of fire safety work in their own buildings. However, the Government will consider financial flexibilities to enable local authorities to undertake essential fire safety work to make buildings safe. If a local authority building owner considers a building to be unsafe, they will need to determine what measures are essential to make a building safe. This will need to be done as part of a whole fire safety strategy for each individual building, taking into account expert advice, any directions or advice from the local fire and rescue service and fire safety measures present.
Councils should contact my department if they have concerns about funding firesafety works in their buildings.