Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 January 2024 on Local Government Finance Update, HCWS206, when he plans to announce the allocation of funding for local authorities with the highest internal drainage board levies.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 24 January the Government announced that having listened to authorities who continue to face sustained increases in their internal drainage board (IDB) special levies, we would again provide £3 million outside of the 24/25 Local Government Finance Settlement to support those experiencing the biggest pressures. We will confirm the distribution of this funding shortly, when data on projected special levies becomes available.
Separately, at the National Farmers Union Conference in February the Prime Minister and Defra Ministers announced a new one-off grant, up to £75 million, for IDBs in 2024/25. This fund will help IDBs recover from the recent flooding and contribute towards modernising IDB infrastructure, to lower costs and increase resilience to climate change.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on clearing the backlog of local audits in England since the 2015-16 financial year.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department working with system partners has developed proposals to tackle the exceptional circumstance of the current backlog and ensure a return to timely delivery of high-quality financial reporting and external audit in local bodies.
This has been detailed work, balancing various imperatives across the system. Having thoroughly tested the options, I recently wrote to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee and confirmed that the Department, supported by the Financial Reporting Council, and alongside the National Audit Office, will launch consultations on these proposals in the coming weeks. The solution on the table has the agreement of all system partners and is the best proposal to clear the backlog and over time, return to high quality assurance.
Our proposals will include an initial statutory backstop date of 30 September 2024 for local authorities and auditors to publish their audited financial accounts for all outstanding local audits in England up to and including the financial year 2022-23. While these consultations take place, preparers and auditors should continue undertaking existing work to produce and audit local authority financial statements to ensure the system is in the best place possible to implement any final package of measures.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing local authorities to determine property tenure types when allocating sites for housing development.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and reflect this in planning policies, including through their site allocations.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing small business rate relief for furnished holiday lets.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
From April 2023 in order to be assessed for business rates a holiday let property must demonstrate at least 70 days of actual letting activity, and have been available for let for at least 140 days, in the previous year.
Tax policy is a matter for HM Treasury.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of giving local authorities increased powers to secure the eviction of tenants for reasons of anti-social behaviour when the landlord (a) is unwilling to evict those tenants or (b) cannot be located.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Action Plan is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour
Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue.
Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform bill which will be introduced as soon as time allows in this parliament.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring into force each of the measures to change the eviction process for anti-social behaviour set out in paragraph 31 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, published on 27 March 2023.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Action Plan is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour
Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue.
Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform bill which will be introduced as soon as time allows in this parliament.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the white paper entitled A fairer private rented sector, published on 16 June 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing a single Government-approved ombudsman covering all private landlords who rent out property in England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Provision for all private landlords to be members of a single ombudsman is an important part of our reforms set out in the White Paper. Work is underway to ensure an Ombudsman can deliver an effective and efficient service to tenants and landlords.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to ensure that housing association tenants living in rural areas can access right to buy schemes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This Government is committed to the Right to Buy, which has helped nearly two million council tenants to realise their dream of home ownership.
The Prime Minister announced on 9 June 2022, the intention extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants.
We will be working closely with the housing association sector as we develop the scheme, including the approach to those living in rural areas, and will announce more details in due course.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to change the pitch fee review inflationary index from the RPI to the CPI.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to improving protections for park home residents and this includes changing the pitch fee review inflationary index from the Retail Prices Index (RPI) to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). We will introduce the required legislation when the parliamentary timetable allows.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Tax Policies and Consultations published on 23 March 2021, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to change the business rates criteria for self-catering accommodation to account for actual days the property was rented.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
My Department has been working with Treasury and the Valuation Office Agency to agree details of how and when the new criteria will be implemented. In doing so, we have been taking into account the tourism sector's recovery from Covid-19, varying market conditions across England and consistency with other countries within the Union. We will set out further details shortly in the Government's consultation response.