Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2020 to Question 110236, how much additional funding his Department will provide for local authorities per clinically vulnerable person in their council area for the duration of the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Council tax data on the number of empty properties and second homes for council tax purposes as at October 2020 have been published today (Wednesday 11 November). Figures for England can be found in the statistical release and for Coventry within the local authority level tables. The release and tables can be found at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-taxbase-statistics .
Regional data are not published but can be aggregated from the local authority level table published.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Planning for the Future White Paper published in March 2020, what steps he is taking to (a) maintain and (b) enhance (i) green spaces, (ii) nature and (ii) biodiversity and growth and renewal zones.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Planning for the Future included the proposal that local plans would categorise all land as areas for growth, for renewal or for protection. If that reform is taken forward, a local authority would still be expected to protect and enhance valued green spaces and biodiversity in areas earmarked for growth or renewal. Legal protections for landscape and habitat will remain in force, and local plans and decisions should still accord with policies in our National Planning Policy Framework on the natural environment and biodiversity net gain, local green space, and provision of open space for outdoor recreation. Consultation on the White Paper closed on 29 October 2020. Following consideration of all the feedback received, the Government will publish its response in due course. This will set out any decisions and how we would propose to implement them.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what additional financial support his Department is making available to local authorities to assist rough sleepers following the Prime Minister's announcement of 31 October 2020 of further lockdown restrictions.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
During the pandemic, we have worked closely with local authorities and the sector to offer vulnerable people safe accommodation and support. That work is ongoing and has not stopped. In September, we had successfully supported over 29,000 people, with 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 provided with settled accommodation or move on support.
We will continue to work with councils, charities and other partners - backed by over £700 million of government funding this year alone - to protect the most vulnerable in society.
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This includes a new £10 million Cold Weather Fund to support councils to tackle homelessness this winter and bring forward self-contained accommodation where possible. We are also providing local authorities with £91.5 million for interim accommodation and £150 million for long-term homes via the Next Steps Accommodation Programme to prevent those accommodated during the pandemic from returning to the streets.
This is in addition to £6.4 billion to help local authorities to support their communities throughout this pandemic, which includes their work to support rough sleepers.
We are monitoring the situation closely and will be setting out further information on support for rough sleepers shortly.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the additional Government funding that has been allocated to local authorities who prior to the second national covid-19 lockdown announcement were in Tier (a) 1, (b) 2, and (c) 3 of local covid-19 lockdown restrictions; and whether that funding will continue to be delivered by local authorities despite that lockdown announcement.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Government has already provided £6.4 billion directly to councils since the start of the pandemic. This included a commitment by the Department of Health and Social Care of up to £465 million in funding for English local authorities through the Local COVID Alert Level system, on top of £300 million already allocated to local authorities in England for test, trace and contain activity.
We are now providing new funding as we head into the national restrictions. With national restrictions replacing local ones on Thursday 5 November, Government has confirmed further support for local authorities through the extension of the Department of Health and Social Care’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Additional Restrictions Grant and Business Grants for closed businesses, together with backdated cash grants for businesses in Local Alert Level 2 and 3 areas and additional funding for supporting the clinically extremely vulnerable.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much additional funding his Department will provide for local authorities per clinically vulnerable person in their council area for the duration of the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On Monday 12 October, the Prime Minister confirmed around £1 billion of new funding will be made available to councils across England with over £900 million of this funding provided to councils for their ongoing work to support vulnerable people and local communities during the pandemic. This brings the total funding given directly to councils during the pandemic, so far, to £6.4 billion.
In addition to this, MHCLG will provide councils with over £32 million to support Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) people. This is intended to help those who do not otherwise have a support network to access food and meet other needs, enabling CEV individuals to stay at home as much as possible. Councils will also have access to the NHS volunteer responders to assist them in this role.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statement entitled, Government response to the 33rd report of the NHS Pay Review Body, HCWS409, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from social care providers on a pay rise for social care staff in the next year.
Answered by Simon Clarke
This is a matter for the Department of Health and Social Care.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 support district councils in their response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 2 July the Secretary of State announced a further £500 million in unringfenced grant funding for councils to meet pressures they are facing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This unprecedented package of support includes £4.3 billion of support for councils’ spending pressures, comprising £3.7 billion of unringfenced grants and the £600 million Infection Control Fund, bringing the total amount of additional support for councils, businesses and local communities to almost £28 billion.
The Government is also meeting 75p in the pound of lost income such as parking fees and museum entry charges, where that loss of income is more than a council could have been expected to plan for. For many councils, this will be a significant portion of the income lost as a result of the pandemic, particularly where these income streams make up a disproportionate portion of income relative to the size of the authority.
I have heard from many district councils, and the District Councils’ Network, and can offer the reassurance?that our aim is that all councils will be funded for their Covid-19 pressures and placed on a stable financial footing.
Across all three tranches of funding, 86 per cent of Districts have received more than £1 million in support. Individual allocations of the latest £500 million can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the District Councils’ Network on the Government’s plan to tackle the financial challenges faced by district councils as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 2 July the Secretary of State announced a further £500 million in unringfenced grant funding for councils to meet pressures they are facing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This unprecedented package of support includes £4.3 billion of support for councils’ spending pressures, comprising £3.7 billion of unringfenced grants and the £600 million Infection Control Fund, bringing the total amount of additional support for councils, businesses and local communities to almost £28 billion.
The Government is also meeting 75p in the pound of lost income such as parking fees and museum entry charges, where that loss of income is more than a council could have been expected to plan for. For many councils, this will be a significant portion of the income lost as a result of the pandemic, particularly where these income streams make up a disproportionate portion of income relative to the size of the authority.
I have heard from many district councils, and the District Councils’ Network, and can offer the reassurance?that our aim is that all councils will be funded for their Covid-19 pressures and placed on a stable financial footing.
Across all three tranches of funding, 86 per cent of Districts have received more than £1 million in support. Individual allocations of the latest £500 million can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the adequacy of funding for district councils.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 2 July the Secretary of State announced a further £500 million in unringfenced grant funding for councils to meet pressures they are facing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This unprecedented package of support includes £4.3 billion of support for councils’ spending pressures, comprising £3.7 billion of unringfenced grants and the £600 million Infection Control Fund, bringing the total amount of additional support for councils, businesses and local communities to almost £28 billion.
The Government is also meeting 75p in the pound of lost income such as parking fees and museum entry charges, where that loss of income is more than a council could have been expected to plan for. For many councils, this will be a significant portion of the income lost as a result of the pandemic, particularly where these income streams make up a disproportionate portion of income relative to the size of the authority.
I have heard from many district councils, and the District Councils’ Network, and can offer the reassurance?that our aim is that all councils will be funded for their Covid-19 pressures and placed on a stable financial footing.
Across all three tranches of funding, 86 per cent of Districts have received more than £1 million in support. Individual allocations of the latest £500 million can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the District Councils’ Network on the forthcoming Devolution White Paper.
Answered by Simon Clarke
I regularly meet with representatives from the District Councils Network, including via the Economic Recovery Working Group. This group has discussed a number of themes pertaining to the English Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper in recent months, and will continue to do so.