Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 projects funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund have been in the London Borough of Enfield.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 142810 21 February 2023.
The UK Government is committed to levelling up parts of the UK, including Enfield, and that is why the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is investing in all areas. The Greater London Authority is the lead local authority for UKSPF purposes and will receive a total allocation of £185,390,561 over three years of the Fund.
Delivery for UKSPF funding began in earnest when investment plans were approved in December 2022. DLUHC await end-of-year reporting to know which projects lead local authorities have decided to fund. We have published our UKSPF Evaluation Strategy which sets out the evaluation plans for UKSPF over the remaining lifetime of the Fund.
Local authorities are responsible for managing the funding allocation for their area, including assessing and approving project applications, processing payments and day-to-day monitoring.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has been allocated to the London Borough of Enfield.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 142810 21 February 2023.
The UK Government is committed to levelling up parts of the UK, including Enfield, and that is why the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is investing in all areas. The Greater London Authority is the lead local authority for UKSPF purposes and will receive a total allocation of £185,390,561 over three years of the Fund.
Delivery for UKSPF funding began in earnest when investment plans were approved in December 2022. DLUHC await end-of-year reporting to know which projects lead local authorities have decided to fund. We have published our UKSPF Evaluation Strategy which sets out the evaluation plans for UKSPF over the remaining lifetime of the Fund.
Local authorities are responsible for managing the funding allocation for their area, including assessing and approving project applications, processing payments and day-to-day monitoring.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many projects have been funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 142810 21 February 2023.
The UK Government is committed to levelling up parts of the UK, including Enfield, and that is why the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is investing in all areas. The Greater London Authority is the lead local authority for UKSPF purposes and will receive a total allocation of £185,390,561 over three years of the Fund.
Delivery for UKSPF funding began in earnest when investment plans were approved in December 2022. DLUHC await end-of-year reporting to know which projects lead local authorities have decided to fund. We have published our UKSPF Evaluation Strategy which sets out the evaluation plans for UKSPF over the remaining lifetime of the Fund.
Local authorities are responsible for managing the funding allocation for their area, including assessing and approving project applications, processing payments and day-to-day monitoring.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to tackle Hinduphobia.
Answered by Paul Scully
We are committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion and we will not tolerate anti-Hindu hatred in any form. The Government's Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme has provided physical security protection measures to places of worship across England and Wales that are particularly vulnerable to religiously motivated hate crime, including 26 Hindu temples.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of changes to permitted development rights over the last ten years on the quality of new residential homes in (a) Enfield North, (b) London, and (c) England.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We have previously commissioned independent research to assess the quality standard of homes delivered through permitted development rights. The report published in 2020, considered Enfield as a case study area. We have recently introduced requirements that all homes delivered through permitted development rights meet, as a minimum, the nationally described space standards and provide adequate natural light in all habitable rooms.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps he has taken to reduce (a) homelessness and (b) rough sleeping in Enfield North constituency ahead of winter.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
In October we announced an additional £65 million one-off top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant, for local authorities to help vulnerable households with rent arrears to reduce the risk of them being evicted and becoming homeless, bringing total spend this year from the Homelessness Prevention Grant to £375 million. Enfield received a winter top up allocation for £1,871,957, in addition to the £8,927,794 support already received for 21/22.
Enfield had a Rough Sleeping Initiative allocation of £1,400,750 this year. Furthermore, we have made a £10 million Winter Pressures Fund available to local authorities who present the greatest need, including Enfield Council, to help them to bring forward self-contained accommodation and to support rough sleepers off the streets this winter. We are expecting an application from Enfield to the Winter Pressures Fund in due course.
Overall, the Government has committed over £800 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year, further demonstrating the Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping this Parliament and to fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on tackling the recent rise in hate crimes, particularly racially motivated crimes.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable. This government has made it clear that victims should be supported and that the cowards who commit these hateful attacks should feel the full force of the law.
The biggest driver for the increase in recorded crime is general improvements in police recording, along with increased victim willingness to come forward. The police are also improving how they identify hate crimes. However, we cannot be complacent and we recognise there is still much we can do to continue to drive hate crime down, support victims and bring perpetrators to justice.
To achieve this my Department is working closely with the Home Office to prepare a new Hate Crime Strategy which will address all forms of hate crime, including racial hate crime.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on providing adequate funds to local authorities to address the cost of building materials surge.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As far as housebuilding costs are concerned, local authorities have access to a range of financing options that allow them to respond to changes in the prices of material. Since 2012 local authorities have had the freedom to decide how to invest in their housing stock. In 2018 we made this easier by abolishing the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap, giving local authorities greater flexibility to borrow for investment in housing. Local authorities also benefit from lower rates of borrowing available through the Public Works Loan Board.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact on high street businesses of the recent extensions of Permitted Development Rights.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We aim to publish an Impact Assessment on the measures in due course and in accordance with the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.