Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Building upon the success of the Fire Kills campaign, the Department for Communities and Local Government is running a campaign to raise awareness of the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home. The Department has developed new Public Safety Radio Broadcasts that give advice on how best to avoid the risks and how to spot the danger signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. These are available for broadcasters to download free of charge.
The Department has also published guidance to be given to tenants at the start of new tenancies which includes references to new requirements on private landlords to install and check carbon monoxide alarms in rooms where there are solid fuel burning appliances.
The guidance is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-rent.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many complaints about (a) natural gas or (b) inadequate safeguards to detect natural gas have been lodged with councils in the last year.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Department does not hold this information. The Health and Safety Executive collects data on gas related incidents which are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people who are at high risk from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Department does not make a direct estimate of the proportion of people at high risk from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Department has however published analysis that shows solid fuel combustion appliances have the highest risk of accidental carbon monoxide poisonings when compared to other fuels.
Since 2010, Building Regulations in England have required carbon monoxide alarms when new or replacement solid fuel burning appliances are installed.
From 1 October 2015, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 require private rented sector landlords to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their rental property which is used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation where solid fuel is used.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that reviews decisions by local authorities to rule that a person is intentionally homeless are conducted by people independent of that authority.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The homelessness legislation gives households rights to request a review of local authority homelessness decisions. A review may be carried out by the housing authority itself or by someone acting as an agent of the housing authority. Where the review is to be carried out by an officer of the housing authority, the officer must not have been involved in the original decision, and must be senior to the officer who took the original decision.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what provisions are in place to safeguard vulnerable adults who are declared intentionally homeless and who do not want to be separated from family members also declared intentionally homeless in order to be rehoused.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Local authorities are under a duty to provide accommodation to vulnerable households who have made themselves intentionally homeless, for such time as will give the household a reasonable opportunity of securing their own accommodation. They must also provide them with advice and assistance to help them secure their own accommodation. There is no time limit on this duty and authorities should consider each case in light of its particular facts.
Local housing authorities are also under a duty to make arrangements to ensure that social services are aware of cases where households with children may be intentionally homeless.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people have been categorised as intentionally homeless in each year since 2010.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The numbers of households categorised by local authorities as being eligible, homeless and in priority need but intentionally so, in each of the financial years since 2004/05, are shown in the first column of the attached table. The numbers of households for whom the immediate outcome of being accepted by their local authority (due to being eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need) was to be placed in temporary accommodation, in each of the financial years since 2004/05, are shown in the second column of the table.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the likely level of government investment in right to buy schemes in the next five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government wants to help hard working families achieve their dream of home ownership. The agreement with the National Housing Federation will give 1.3 million housing association tenants the opportunity to purchase their home with Right to Buy discounts.
The Government will be working closely with the sector on the implementation of the agreement.
The Right to Buy will be funded through local authorities payments to the Government based on the estimated value of their high value vacant housing, to encourage efficient management of housing assets.
We will announce more details of the costs of the Right to Buy extension in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many households have been placed in emergency temporary accommodation each year since 2010.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The numbers of households categorised by local authorities as being eligible, homeless and in priority need but intentionally so, in each of the financial years since 2004/05, are shown in the first column of the attached table. The numbers of households for whom the immediate outcome of being accepted by their local authority (due to being eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need) was to be placed in temporary accommodation, in each of the financial years since 2004/05, are shown in the second column of the table.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will commission an independent inquiry into the practice of classifying people as intentionally homeless.
Answered by Marcus Jones
How an authority should determine whether or not someone is intentionally homeless is set out in legislation and statutory homelessness guidance, which is available to the public and authorities. It makes clear that housing authorities should consider each case in light of its particular facts and must not adopt general policies which seek to pre-define circumstances that do or do not amount to intentional homelessness. We have no plans to carry out a review.
Homelessness legislation ensures that families and the most vulnerable always have a roof over their head. This includes cases where households have made themselves homeless and are assessed by a local authority as being in priority need for accommodation. The law places a duty on the authority to secure suitable accommodation for a period that enables the household a reasonable opportunity to secure their own accommodation.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department provides to (a) the public and (b) councils on the definition and application of the classification of intentional homelessness.
Answered by Marcus Jones
How an authority should determine whether or not someone is intentionally homeless is set out in legislation and statutory homelessness guidance, which is available to the public and authorities. It makes clear that housing authorities should consider each case in light of its particular facts and must not adopt general policies which seek to pre-define circumstances that do or do not amount to intentional homelessness. We have no plans to carry out a review.
Homelessness legislation ensures that families and the most vulnerable always have a roof over their head. This includes cases where households have made themselves homeless and are assessed by a local authority as being in priority need for accommodation. The law places a duty on the authority to secure suitable accommodation for a period that enables the household a reasonable opportunity to secure their own accommodation.