Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of enclosing motorway systems in noise barriers on the suitability of land for housebuilding.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has no current plans to make such an assessment.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by preventing new and existing development from contributing to, being put at unacceptable risk from, or being adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of noise pollution.
Planning policies and decisions should avoid noise giving rise to significant adverse impacts on health and the quality of life.
It is up to individual local planning authorities to determine what contributions should be sought to assist in mitigating the impact of unacceptable development to make it acceptable in planning terms.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 potential merits of requiring developers to ensure that the area of vegetation in developments is at least equal to the area of the site of (a) greenfield, (b) brownfield and (c) open space deficiency sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space and should make sufficient provision for and maintain and enhance networks of green infrastructure, which includes areas of vegetation.
Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework helps to define what good green infrastructure ‘looks like’ for local planners, developers, and communities. The Green Infrastructure Framework includes a standard on accessible greenspace which sets criteria on size, proximity and quality.
The government is currently consulting on changes to the NPPF, including a new requirement for local plans to set out standards for green infrastructure, drawing upon Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Standards. These include a standard on accessible greenspace which sets criteria on size, proximity, and quality. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of second homes in England are used as holiday homes or weekend homes, in each Council Tax Band.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Department does not collect information on the use of second homes that are liable for council tax. However, Table 2 from the 2021 Council Taxbase statistical release provides the number of second homes that are liable for council tax by council tax band. The release can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-taxbase-2021-in-england .
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on the use of Project Bank Accounts by (a) his Department, (b) Government agencies his Department has responsibility for and (c) non-departmental bodies his Department has responsibility for.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) are just one way that government departments support fair payment as part of the Government's Prompt Payment Code.
We do not hold data on PBAs if we have assessed it is not practical, efficient and cost effective to use them on our current construction projects.
Along with all government departments, and as set out in the Construction Playbook, we have committed to use PBAs on our construction projects unless there are compelling reasons not to.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 and proportion of (a) private (b) social renters in rent arrears during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Data from the English Housing Survey (EHS) Household Resilience Study for June-July 2020 details rental arrears during the pandemic. It says that 7% of private rented households and 11% of social rented households were in rent arrears in June/July. The English Housing Survey Headline Report 2019-20 details rent arrears in the year before pandemic, finding that 3% of private renters and 11% of social renters were in arrears at time of survey.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) private and (ii) social renters who are at risk of eviction in 2021 as a result of rent arrears accrued during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Data from the English Housing Survey (EHS) Household Resilience Study for June-July 2020 shows that 7% of private rented households and 11% of social rented households were in rent arrears in June/July. The Department does not hold data to estimate the number or proportion of renters who are at risk of eviction in 2021 as a result of those arrears.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the provision of public health grants for 2021-22.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department of Health and Social Care distributes the public health grant annually to local authorities in England. MHCLG Ministers and officials regularly engage with counterparts in DHSC, Treasury and local authorities on matters relating to local authorities’ finances.