Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has had any discussions with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) Welsh Local Government Association on the operation of the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Government continues to work on the design and priorities of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). We will want to discuss with the devolved administrations how the Fund might work in their nations, recognising their expertise in delivering the structural funds.
The Government will consult publically on the design and priorities of the UKSPF later this year, as announced in the Industrial Strategy white paper, to make sure it meets the needs of all parts of the UK.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
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 the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the provision of additional funds to local authorities to improve the fire safety of their housing stock in the 2018-19 financial year.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government has been clear that local authorities, as the responsible body, will need to fund the costs of fire safety work in their own buildings. However, Government will consider financial flexibilities for local authorities to enable essential works to go ahead. This would not include general improvements or enhancements to buildings which go beyond works needed to make a building safe.
If a local authority building owner considers any of their buildings to be unsafe, they will need to determine what measures are essential to make each building fire safe. This will need to be done as part of a whole fire safety strategy for each individual building, taking into account expert advice, any directions or advice from local fire and rescue service, and other fire safety measures present.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Jake Berry
Non departmental public bodies were asked to apply sensible judgment when providing supplier information in the absence of a specific timeframe. All suppliers are Crown Commercial Services' Non-Medical Non-Clinical framework approved.
Organisation | Status | Suppliers Used | Comment |
Planning Inspectorate (PINS) | Executive Agency | Artemis Search, Reed, Hays Specialist Recruitment, Methods Professional Services Ltd, Allen Lane | Suppliers used to recruit specialist IT staff (permanent contracts) and Agency staff |
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEII) | Executive Agency | Admiral Group, Goodman Massons, AV Jobs, ESP Recruitment | QEII have been unable to fill roles due to high demand in their job market, therefore Agencies used to recruit specialist Event Industry and AV/Technical staff. |
Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) | NDPB | None | No requirement |
Homes England (HE) | NDPB | Adecco UK Ltd, Badenoch & Clark, Brook Street, Computer Future Solutions, Depoel Managed Services Ltd, Digital Dragons Global Ltd, Evisa Solutions Ltd, Hays Accountancy & Finance, Malikshaw Limited, Morgan Hunt, Odgers Berndtson, Reed Business Information Ltd, Reed Employment PLC, Sellick Partnership Limited | Access to 160 different suppliers, allow of which are CCS Non-Medical Non-Clinical framework approved. Named list based on suppliers used within the last 12 months |
Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) | NDPB | Badenoch and Clarke, LAW Absolute, Morgan Hunt, Robertson Bell, Venn Group, Goodman Masson, Hays, Morgan Law, Reed | Supplier list based on current and previous assignments |
Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) | NDPB | LAW Absolute, Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd, Michael Page | Seldom need to recruit contingent labour. Most recently used suppliers provided. |
Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) | NDPB | Reed | Other CCS Non-Medical Non-Clinical Framework suppliers would be considered in the event of recruiting specialist professional staff |
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure the costs of making buildings safe are not passed on to tenants.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Landlords are expected to keep their properties free of potential hazards and safe for tenants. Where they fail to do so, local authorities have strong powers under the Housing Act 2004 to require necessary improvements to be made. In the rental market, the extent to which the cost of keeping a property safe is reflected in the rent is a commercial decision to be taken by individual landlords, along with other relevant facts such as the size and location of the property and the level of demand in the area.
Where the tenants are leaseholders they can seek free initial advice, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, from the Leaseholder Advisory Service (LEASE). In addition, Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 consultation process ensures that leaseholders contributing towards the upkeep and maintenance of the building where they live have input into how their money is spent.
The government would like to see building owners doing all they can to protect leaseholders from the costs of interim measures and cladding remediation – either by funding it themselves or looking at alternative routes such as insurance claims, warranties or legal action.
The department is keeping the situation under review.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government's consultation on the Shared Prosperity Fund will open; and when the Government plans to publish a response to that consultation.
Answered by Jake Berry
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be a domestic programme of investment to boost productivity and reduce economic inequality across the country, following our departure from the European Union. We will consult widely on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2018 and will work with the devolved administrations prior to the public consultation.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including funding for cultural programmes in his proposals for a Shared Prosperity Fund after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Government will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to boost productivity and reduce economic inequality across the country following our departure from the European Union.
As announced in the Industrial Strategy, will we consult widely on the design of the Fund in 2018.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been awarded to local authoiities for the improvement of fire safety in their housing stock since the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Building owners are responsible for funding fire safety measures in their buildings. If a local authority building owner considers a building to be unsafe, they will need to determine what measures are essential to make a building safe, based on expert advice and taking into account any recommendations or advice from the local fire and rescue service.
Local authorities should draw on existing resources to implement these measures. However, we will consider the removal of financial restrictions for local authorities where these stand in the way of essential work being done.
36 local authorities have contacted the Department regarding work to ensure fire safety in tower blocks. We have asked 9 of these authorities to provide more detailed information about essential works. So far, 2 authorities have provided this information and my officials are working with them on their requests.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to undertake a public consultation before the launch of the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Jake Berry
My Department is planning to undertake a public consultation before the launch of the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2017 to Question 105962, what the timetable is for the establishment of the Shared Property Fund; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Government has committed to use European Structural Funds money that comes back to the UK following departure from the EU to create a United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund. We will set out a timetable for its development in due course.
The guarantee announced by my Rt Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is also giving all parts of the UK funding certainty.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will discuss with the Department of Transport, the DVLA and the trades associations for private car parking companies reviewing the regulations for the passing of information gained from the DVLA Vehicle Keeper Database by private car parking companies to third parties as part of his Department's consideration of its approach to future Government intervention in the area of private car parking companies.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Private parking companies receive DVLA data on the condition that it will only be used to help follow up alleged parking contraventions. It cannot be further processed for any other purpose. The audit by the Information Commissioner’s Office in March 2016, judged the DVLA’s procedures to offer high assurance that processes to mitigate the risks of non-compliance with the Data Protection Act are in place. My Department has no plans to carry out a review.