Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will provide transitional loss protection for local authorities affected by the new taper on New Homes Bonus.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government based its decisions to reform the New Homes Bonus on the need to sharpen its incentive effect to increase the delivery of new homes. The Bonus has been successful in encouraging authorities to welcome housing growth, however, it did not reward those authorities who are the most open to growth.
The changes to the scheme are being made to increase the focus of the Bonus on delivery of new homes, to reward those authorities who are really committed to growth whilst also freeing up resources to be recycled within the local government settlement to support authorities with particular pressures, such as adult social care.
The reforms are being made following a 12 week consultation on the proposals and the views expressed were taken into consideration in the consultation analysis. Those areas who deliver the most housing growth will continue to benefit most from the Bonus under the new scheme. The payments for the Bonus in 2017/18 are £1.2 billion and will still be worth £900 million in 2018/19.
The Government chose to take a moderate approach to reforming the Bonus from the options consulted on and also to stage the changes to give authorities time to adapt their plans, we will therefore not be providing transitional funding.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much New Homes Bonus funding has been received by (a) Swindon Borough Council and (b) all local authorities in each year since the inception of that funding.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Swindon Borough Council has received the following amounts in New Homes Bonus in each year since its inception:
Year 1 (2011-12): £1,451,214
Year 2 (2012-13): £2,783,259
Year 3 (2013-14): £4,005,405
Year 4 (2014-15): £5,074,524
Year 5 (2015-16): £6,102,568
Year 6 (2016-17): £7,007,604
The total amount of New Homes Bonus which has been awarded to Local Authorities since its inception is:
Year 1 (2011-12): £ 199,260,649
Year 2 (2012-13): £ 431,890,216
Year 3 (2013-14): £ 668,339,313
Year 4 (2014-15): £ 916,973,547
Year 5 (2015-16): £ 1,167,637,982
Year 6 (2016-17): £ 1,461,855,324
I will place a table that shows how much New Homes Bonus has been received by all local authorities in each year since the inception of this funding, in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the findings of the Ollerenshaw review of local council tax support.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Department is carefully considering the recommendations made by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE. The Government’s response to the review’s findings will be published in due course.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to maintain payments of the New Homes Bonus at the current rate for those local authorities which use the funds received from that bonus to cover the cost of adult social care.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government has introduced changes to the New Homes Bonus to sharpen the incentive effect of the Bonus to increase the delivery of new homes, whilst freeing up resources to be recycled within the local government settlement to support authorities with particular pressures in adult social care. We chose to take a moderate approach from the options we consulted on and to stage the changes to give authorities time to adapt their plans. The changes will apply to all authorities in the same way. Those areas who deliver the most housing growth will continue to benefit most from the Bonus under the new scheme and bonus payments will remain un-ringfenced so authorities can chose how to allocate the funding to meet local priorities The Government has given local authorities access to up to £7.6 billion in dedicated social care funding over the Spending Review period 2016/20. Taken together with the funding announced at the Spending Review 2015, these new changes mean that local government will have access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending every year in this Parliament.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the findings of the Ollerenshaw Review of Local Council Tax Support.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The Government is carefully considering the findings of the Ollerenshaw Review and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will take steps to raise awareness among landlords of the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Housing Act 2004.
Answered by Lord Barwell
We expect all landlords to understand and comply with their legal responsibilities and the majority do so, providing decent and well managed homes. We want to support these landlords and avoid placing unnecessary burdens on them. We encourage landlords to improve their knowledge and professionalism, including their understanding of their legal responsibilities, by becoming a member of a landlord accreditation scheme, such as those run by the landlord associations or many local authorities. In addition, we have published guidance for landlords on, for example, their responsibilities under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which was introduced by the Housing Act 2004. A small minority of landlords exploit their tenants, placing them in unsafe and unsuitable accommodation. The Government is determined to crack down on these rogue landlords who have no place in the sector.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on drawing up a register of rogue landlords.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced a package of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords, including a database of rogue landlords and property agents. The database is currently being developed and we expect it to become operational in Autumn 2017.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage developers to offer optional eco-friendly extras in new-build properties.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Building regulations set stretching minimum standards including on sustainability issues like energy efficiency and water efficiency. However developers can build to higher standards if they choose. The Government is always encouraged to see developers aspire to build to standards beyond building regulations where they choose to do so.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to strengthen the protections afforded to private rent tenants under section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972.
Answered by Lord Barwell
All homes should be of a reasonable standard and all tenants should have a safe place to live regardless of tenure. Under the Housing Act 2004 and following an inspection under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the local authority can serve a notice on the landlord to require improvements to a property.
We have strengthened these measures through the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to take action against rogue landlords. These include a database of rogue landlords and property managers, banning orders, civil penalties of up to £30,000 and extended rent repayment orders.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to allow local authorities to set multi-annual budgets.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The annual balanced budget requirement is a key element of the local authority financial control framework. It means that the council is content that underlying income will cover ongoing costs and future commitments in a sustainable and manageable way.
In addition to preparing annual balanced budgets local authorities should prepare multi-year Medium Term Financial Plans. In order to support effective multi-year financial planning the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government published an historic four year local government finance settlement on 8 February 2016. Councils across England applied for the four year offer on the 14 October and the government will respond as soon as practicable.