Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he will take to remove barriers to accessing a social home for those most in need.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has already taken action to remove barriers for those most in need of access to social housing, including exempting former members of the regular armed forces, young care leavers under 25 and victims of domestic abuse from local connection tests.
As announced in the government’s National Plan to End Homelessness on 11 December, we will work with partners to update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and ensure homes go to those who need them the most.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her policy is on the future of neighbourhood plans that have been started but not completed by local authorities; and if she will make funding available for the delivery of such plans.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following the Spending Review, my Department has announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.
Technical support which has already been awarded will continue to be provided but must be completed before the end of March 2026.
The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to provide adequate social housing to rural areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
We are giving further consideration to how policy can better promote rural affordable housing as part of our work to produce a set of national policies for decision making this year.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the funding commitments for social housing will be (a) allocated for and (b) accessed by (i) local authorities and (ii) developers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).
In awarding contracts under the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme, Homes England and the GLA will assess the need for grant on the basis of bids from social housing providers, including local authorities, considering what is needed to make projects viable, and the overall value for money for the programme.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to (a) measure and (b) report on progress on reducing youth homelessness through the forthcoming homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people.
We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.
We continue to measure the number of young people owed a homelessness duty through the quarterly and annual accredited homelessness statistics, which remain our official and most robust statistics on youth homelessness.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the National House Building Council on the effectiveness of its warranty schemes when faults have been identified in new build properties.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Deputy Prime Minister has not discussed the effectiveness of its warranty schemes when faults have been identified in new build properties with the National House-Building Council (NHBC).
However the department regularly carries out engagement with industry and regulators to better understand the effectiveness of new build warranty schemes, which includes those provided by NHBC.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to include funding for home-to-school transport in the local government finance settlement in the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Funding for home-to-school transport is allocated to local authorities via un-ringfenced funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement. In total, the Local Government Finance Settlement for financial year 2025-26 makes available £69 billion to local authorities.
We invited views from the local government sector through the “local authority funding reform objectives and principles consultation”, which was open from 18 December to 12 February. It sought views on the approach to local authority funding reform to be implemented via the Local Government Finance Settlement from 2026-27.
We will be consulting on more detailed proposals following the Spending Review in June.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken to consult with stakeholders on the adequacy of the rurality weighting in the new council funding settlement.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Places with a significant rural population will on average receive almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power for 25-26, which is a real terms increase alongside new funding available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.
I regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss current and future local government funding, including on rurality. We also invited views from the sector on long-awaited finance reforms through the local authority funding reform objectives and principles consultation. This included our proposal to continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for relative cost differences between local authorities, including differences between rural and urban areas. We will be consulting on more detailed proposals following the Spending Review.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the homelessness sector on tackling youth homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment between (a) young adults and (b) other age groups experience of homelessness; and if she will help support young adult's needs in the homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.