Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to survey the extent to which inflammable cladding has been used in significant quantities in (a) NHS hospitals and (b) other publicly-owned buildings; and what requirements he plans to promulgate for the replacement of that material.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
MHCLG publishes data on the identification and remediation progress of high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings (hospitals and schools) in England with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations. The latest data is available here .
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the (a) rights and (b) quality of life of existing leaseholders in apartment blocks of policies that encourage the construction of additional floors above them while they are in residence.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We have recently introduced new permitted development rights to allow certain existing buildings to extend upwards by two storeys to create new homes. The rights are subject to prior approval by the local planning authority on specific matters including a proposals potential impact on the amenity of neighbours. This ensures that people who might be affected by such a development can feed their views into the decision making process.
The terms of individual leases will determine whether a freeholder can add additional floors to a property with or without the consent of existing leaseholders.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) assessment has been made of lessons learned and (b) directives have been issued by his Department as a result of the cyber-attacks on (i) Hackney and (ii) Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils; what other Councils have been cyber-attacked; whether each of those Councils had effective data back-up systems in place prior to being attacked; and what assessment he has made of whether all local authorities now have adequate back-up capabilities.
Answered by Luke Hall
MHCLG continues to work with local government, industry and other government agencies to monitor and assess the cyber threats faced by councils. We are working with partners to help councils improve and strengthen their resilience and defences. We would not comment on individual incidents, but recent attacks on Redcar & Cleveland and Hackney have helped to refine our response to ever changing threats.
The recent Spending Review made £16 million available to support the modernisation of local authorities’ cyber security systems. This funding will support the development of a cyber health framework, a clear universal baseline for all councils. In addition, it will see more than 2000 staff trained across England, and offer support to modernise old, insecure legacy systems.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to enable town and parish councils to recover lost income caused by the covid-19 crisis; and what discussions he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the equity of compensation arrangements for such losses by town and parish councils, relative to those applying to the principal local authorities.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Government does not directly financially support parish councils. Parish councils are funded through a precept collected from within the overall council tax paid by the residents of the parish. The Government has announced a further £1.6 billion of funding to meet additional pressures arising from the pandemic and help continue to deliver frontline services, taking the total amount of support to local government to £3.2 billion. Parish and Town Councils should liaise with the relevant principal authorities on how this money is allocated in their area.