Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to roll out the First Homes scheme in (a) Wakefield and (b) West Yorkshire.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We recently launched the first batch of First Homes in Bolsover, Derbyshire. This is the first step in making this manifesto commitment a reality. We will be bringing more pilots out in other areas across England, and will shortly be launching a larger grant-funded programme aiming to deliver 1,500 First Homes from the end of the year. This will be open to bids to support First Homes in Wakefield and West Yorkshire from developers, local authorities and housing associations, and we hope to see strong bids from the area so that residents can benefit from First Homes as soon as possible.
Additionally, on 24 May we issued a written ministerial statement implementing new planning policy to ensure that First Homes will be delivered in all parts of England in the future.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been purchased using the Right to Buy Equity Loan Scheme in (a) Wakefield and (b) West Yorkshire since 2013.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
There is no Right to Buy Equity Loan Scheme; however, Government has provided the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme since 2013.
Between 1 April 2013 and 31 December 2020, 11,433 homes were purchased within the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire (which is comprised of the boroughs of Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield) using the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. Further data on the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-data-to-31-december-2020/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-data-to-31-december-2020
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of home owners in (a) Wakefield and (b) West Yorkshire.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department does not hold this information.
The English Housing Survey can provide estimates of housing tenure for each region of England and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2019-to-2020-headline-report. In 2019-20, 63% of households in Yorkshire and the Humber were owner occupied households.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether women recorded as staying in women-only shelters are counted towards the total homelessness figure for England.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in all its forms is a key priority for this Government and we have taken unprecedented steps this year, working with local authorities and their partners to protect vulnerable rough sleepers during the pandemic. The ‘Everyone In’ campaign has supported over 37,000 people with over 11,000 in emergency accommodation and over 26,000 already moved on into longer-term accommodation.
We do not have a breakdown of the number of women recorded as staying in women-only shelters within the homelessness case level collection (H-CLIC) data in England.
At the Budget the Chancellor announced £4.2 million for MHCLG to trial ‘Respite Rooms’ across the country. The Respite Rooms programme will provide support to vulnerable homeless women affected by violence and abuse who need specialist support to enable them to better engage with, and be ready for, domestic abuse safe accommodation including refuge.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to reopen applications for Pocket parks.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government recognises the value of parks and green spaces in providing vibrant and inclusive locations for communities to socialise, volunteer, work, and exercise. We have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic how important access to parks and green spaces are to local communities. We recognise that green spaces foster health, well-being, integration, and social engagement. There are no immediate plans to continue the Pocket Parks Scheme. However, as we move beyond the threat of COVID-19, we will explore how we can best support all urban parks and green spaces, taking into account the Government’s environmental, social, and health priorities.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with religious leaders on supporting uptake of the covid-19 vaccine among followers of their religion.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Alongside the Minister for Vaccines, MHCLG ministers have met regularly with faith leaders to discuss the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, address any concerns raised by leaders and encourage take up throughout religious communities. This has included discussion at the Places of Worship Taskforce and wider faith leader roundtables. We have also encouraged faith leaders to volunteer places of worship to become vaccine sites and support take up in their local community
My Department is also providing regular FAQ updates to faith leaders to be disseminated through their networks, including tackling the spread of disinformation on the vaccine.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications have been considered for calling in by his Department since the beginning of 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As of early December, 404 cases have been or are currently under consideration for call in in 2020.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings have been (a) approved and (b) completed in (i) Wakefield, (ii) West Yorkshire and (iii) England in 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The number of housing units granted planning permission in England in the year ending 30 June 2020 is available in Planning Applications in England: January to June 2020, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planning-applications-in-england-january-to-june-2020 (page 10). Separate figures for Wakefield or West Yorkshire are not available.
Estimates of building control reported new build dwelling completions for Wakefield, each local authority in West Yorkshire, and England, in each quarter to June 2020, are shown in Live Table 253a at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building. These cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. The department also publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle antisemitism in (a) Wakefield constituency, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we are taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms. We became the first country to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism in 2016 and we work with the Cross-Government Working Group to Tackle Antisemitism which ensures we can respond quickly to the concerns of Jewish communities. We also provide funds to a number of projects that work across the country to tackle Antisemitism; for example we fund the Antisemitism Policy Trust to support their work to tackle online antisemitism?and help combat this growing area of concern.
This Government is also providing?£14 million?this?year, and provided over £65 million to date, for the Protective Security Grant to protect Jewish schools and community buildings.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has undertaken to tackle islamophobia in (a) Wakefield constituency, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Muslims in our country should be able to practice their faith in freedom. We have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime and, where groups incite racial hatred or are engaged in racially or religiously motivated criminal activity, we would expect them to be prosecuted. We have supported Tell MAMA?(Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks)?with?just over £2.8 million between 2016 and 2020 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred. To remain live to the issues facing Muslim communities, we continue to support the work of the cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group which provides valuable advice to Government on challenges faced by Britain’s Muslim communities and how to address those challenges. We have also established the Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grant Scheme will support established community groups and civil society organisations to run short projects that champion the government's commitment to building a diverse and tolerant society for all faiths and races. Up to £2 million is available for projects to boost shared values and tackle religiously and racially- motivated hate crime.