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Written Question
Chimneys: Repairs and Maintenance
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has taken steps to raise awareness of the NVQ in chimney sweeping among the construction and insurance industries.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Homelessness: LGBT+ People
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on how many households were owed a prevention or relief duty in which the lead applicant was aged between 16 and 25 and (a) lesbian, (b) gay and (c) bisexual in 2021-22.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Homelessness Statistics for 2021-22 are available here which includes data on the declared sexual identity of the main applicant in households owed statutory homelessness prevention and relief duties. The department does not publish data on sexual identity by age of the applicant. We do not publish a breakdown of the ‘other’ category to protect identification of individuals in categories with small numbers.


Written Question
Homelessness: Sexuality
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a breakdown of the categories and corresponding figures included in the Other category in the sexuality field of Homelessness Case Level Collection data for 2021- 22.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Homelessness Statistics for 2021-22 are available here which includes data on the declared sexual identity of the main applicant in households owed statutory homelessness prevention and relief duties. The department does not publish data on sexual identity by age of the applicant. We do not publish a breakdown of the ‘other’ category to protect identification of individuals in categories with small numbers.


Written Question
Landlords: Databases
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the results and Government response to the public consultation on extending the database of rogue landlords and property agents will be published; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making that database available to the public.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

The Government has previously consulted on reforming the Database, including on widening access and scope of the Database. We are reviewing next steps in light of our work exploring a national landlord register. We will publish a White Paper this year that will set out our proposals for reform of the private rented sector.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Monday 21st March 2022

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support the needs of elderly Ukrainian refugees.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

All Ukrainian beneficiaries will be granted leave to remain in the UK for 3 years. They will be able to access benefits and public services in accordance with their needs, including healthcare. The Government is working to ensure appropriate support is in place.


Written Question
Landlords: Registration
Monday 7th February 2022

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a timescale for the creation of (a) the national landlords register and (b) a comprehensive definition of the Decent Homes Standard; and when he expects the first enforcement action to be taken against a landlord under that scheme.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

We will publish a White Paper in Spring this year that will set out our proposals for reform of the private rented sector.

We are committed to drive up standards in private rented accommodation and we will be consulting on introducing a legally binding Decent Homes Standard in the Private Rented Sector and a landlord register.


Written Question
Landlords: Databases
Friday 28th January 2022

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many entries have been made on the rogue landlord database in England since that database was established (a) in total and (b) by each English local authority.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

To date, as of 26 January 2022, there have been 61 landlords and property agents listed on the Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents.

These entries can be broken down by local authority as follows:

Local authority

Number of entries

Aylesbury Vale District Council

2

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

2

Bournemouth Borough Council

3

Bristol City Council

1

London Borough of Camden

10

Cherwell District Council

2

Coventry City Council

1

Cornwall County Unitary Authority

1

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

2

Dover District Council

1

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

1

London Borough of Greenwich

2

Hinkley & Bosworth Borough Council

3

Liverpool City Council

4

Mid Sussex District Council

2

Oxford City Council

2

Plymouth City Council

1

Preston City Council

1

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

1

Salford City Council

4

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

1

Stafford Borough Council

1

Stevenage Borough Council

1

Telford & Wrekin Council

3

Thurrock Council

1

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

3

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

2

Westminster City Council

1

Wirral Council

1

Wycombe District Council

1


Written Question
Domestic Abuse
Tuesday 13th April 2021

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the adequacy of funding available to local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties to protect victims of domestic abuse.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

MHCLG engaged with local authorities and service providers to ensure that the new duty is funded appropriately.

As a result of this evidence, £125 million new burden funding has been allocated to local authorities, to cover costs of the new duty to provide support in safe accommodation for 2021-22. Funding for future years will be determined as part of the next Spending Review.


Written Question
Letting Agents
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group published in July 2019.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Government is considering the recommendations in the report received from the independent working group on the regulation of property agents chaired by Lord Best. The Government is committed to ensuring that those living in the leasehold sector are protected from abuse and poor service. We believe very strongly that any fees and charges should be justifiable, transparent, and communicated effectively and that there should be a clear route to redress if things go wrong.


Written Question
Travellers: Equality
Wednesday 10th April 2019

Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for departmental policies of the conclusions and recommendations of the Women and Equalities Committee report Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities published on 5 April 2019.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

We acknowledge the recommendations of the Committee and will publish our response to the report in due course.