Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason leaseholders who are landlords are not able to receive support for the rectification of unsafe cladding and other fire safety defects.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are clear that building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders, and leaseholders living in their own medium and high-rise buildings should not have to pay to remediate historic cladding defects that are no fault of their own. We have further clarified that we have no intention of excluding leaseholders who have moved out and sublet from protections that will be put in place (including those in shared ownership) for buildings over 11 metres in England. We will explore whether this support should extend to other leaseholders, such as buy-to-let landlords. We are also bringing forth statutory protections in the Building Safety Bill to ensure leaseholders are protected.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason the Building Safety Fund has agreed to pay for the replacement of zinc cladding on wooden battens on the Express Networks 2 building in Manchester but not on The Gateway building in Leeds which also has zinc on wooden batten cladding.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answers previously given to Questions UIN 64550 on 1 November 2021 and UIN 67061 on 4 November 2021. All zinc cladding systems that have been deemed eligible for funding have been found to be present in combination with combustible insulation that meets the eligibility criteria.
More information on the eligibility criteria for the Building Safety Fund can be found in Prospectus Annex A: Technical Information of the Building Safety Fund Prospectus, available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#prospectus---outlining-eligibility-for-the-fund.
In fact, neither of the buildings mentioned met the eligibility criteria. There is an example of another building in Manchester with an apparently similar cladding system which has received funding, but this is because the cladding system present includes combustible insulation.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many stage 2 funding applications are being held up pending the publication of the revised Building Safety Fund Grant Funding Agreement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The revised Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) for the Building Safety Fund (BSF) will be made available to Applicants shortly. There should be no obstacle to the remediation of unsafe cladding being carried out without further delay.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the Building Safety Fund revised Grant Funding Agreement will be made available to applicants.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The revised Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) for the Building Safety Fund (BSF) will be made available to Applicants shortly. There should be no obstacle to the remediation of unsafe cladding being carried out without further delay.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to enable councils to meet virtually in the context of the number of infections of the omicron covid-19 variant.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
We launched a call for evidence on 25 March to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about whether to make express provision for councils to meet remotely on a permanent basis. The call for evidence closed on 17 June.
The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2021 to Question 56646 on Building Safety Fund: Leeds, what estimate he has made of when his Department and its delivery partner Homes England will make a decision on the application by the building owner of Cartier House to the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department and its delivery partner Homes England are working with the representatives of the building owner of Cartier House to progress its application for the Building Safety Fund as quickly as possible. Progress is communicated to applicants who we expect will ensure that their residents are kept fully informed.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2021 to Question 58300 on the Building Safety Fund, when he plans to publish the text of the funding agreement required by the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We will publish the Grant Funding Agreement for the Building Safety Fund shortly.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether a building that has received funding from the Building Safety Fund can make a further application to that fund if additional information comes to light about other unsafe cladding, for example through a BS8414 test.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The requirements for Building Safety Fund eligibility, against which registrations are assessed, are set out in Prospectus Annex A: Technical Information of the Building Safety Fund Prospectus, available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#prospectus---outlining-eligibility-for-the-fund. If registrants feel that the original decision reached on their building needs to be reassessed in light of new information, an appeal form is available on the Building Safety Fund page on gov.uk.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2021 to Question 35504 on Building Safety Fund: Leeds, what the public safety grounds are for not listing buildings with unsafe cladding asked for in that Question.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As set out in my answer to Question UIN 35504 on 22 July 2021, the position of the Government is not to reveal the identity of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding system. We need to be careful not to expose residents to greater risk on safety grounds such as from the risk of arson, and respect that some residents may prefer that their building with unsafe cladding is not publicly identified. However, we recognise that some buildings may have already been identified by others and are already in the public domain.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in how many cases have applications to the Building Safety Fund been approved to replace exterior zinc cladding attached to wooden battens.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 64550 on 1 November 2021 and to the eligibility criteria for the Building Safety Fund. Building owners are made aware of why their building is ineligible when a decision is made.