Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has received the final report of the independent review of the Teesworks Joint Venture.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out in the oral statement delivered by the Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety on 29 January 2024, the department received the independent panel's report on 23 January 2024 and the report was published 29 January 2024. A copy is available at the following link.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's online guidance on Freeports, last updated on 6 December 2023, whether (a) HMRC and (b) Border Force is responsible for conducting annual audits of security measures introduced by Freeport operators to mitigate physical, personnel and cyber security risks.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The annual audit which you reference has been superseded by a new approach, where the Freeport governing body will conduct the security audit and then report to the Freeport Security Forum (FSF) led by HMG. The FSF will be chaired by the Home Office and reviewed by experts within relevant departments, including HMT, Home Office and from Law Enforcement authorities. The Annual Freeport Security Audit (AFSA) complements but does not replace the standard UK customs and border security processes that apply to Freeports or similar facilities. Freeport Customs Site Operators are also required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC.
For all English Freeports, the first AFSA is due to take place in the next couple of months. The online guidance on the Freeports webpage will be updated in line with the new process that is being followed in due course.
The report must be agreed and receive sign off by all local strategic security partners. If the FSF is not satisfied with a Freeport’s AFSA, they will work with the Freeport to agree improvement actions to be implemented. A Freeport will not pass annual review until the government is satisfied with the AFSA.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish the Independent Review of the Teesworks Joint Venture.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL572 on 7 December 2023.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which spending programmes their Department devolves for administration to (a) local government in England and (b) other local spending bodies; and what the budget is of each such programme for each year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Further to the announcement made at the Autumn Statement, the Government has confirmed that trailblazer devolution deals in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands will introduce a single department-style funding settlement at the next Spending Review.
Details of major funding programmes, including those administered by local government or other local bodies, are available on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) list the spending programmes his Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The table below sets out funding DLUHC core department devolved in 2021-22. Future years funding will be published in the usual way. The Local Government Finance Settlement can be found using this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2021-to-2022.
Programme Name | Value 2021-22 (£m) |
AFFORDABLE HOMES PROGRAMME | 215.0 |
BETTER CARE FUND PROGRAMME SUPPORT | 0.3 |
BICHESTER | 4.6 |
BRENT CROSS | 29.1 |
BROWNFIELD HOUSING FUND | 157.8 |
BROWNFIELD LAND RELEASE FUND | 64.4 |
BUILDING SAFETY REMEDIATION | 393.0 |
CHANGING FUTURES | 16.0 |
CHANGING PLACES | 0.3 |
COASTAL COMMUNITIES FUND | 0.1 |
COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS | 22.5 |
COMMUNITY HOUSING FUND | 6.0 |
COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP FUND - COF | 1.4 |
COVID-19 CLINICALLY & EXTREMELY VULNERABLE | 61.3 |
CUSTOM BUILD LAND DUTY | 0.1 |
DATA IMPROVEMENT SHARE OUTCOME FUND | 4.1 |
DIGITAL PLANNING REFORM | 1.9 |
DISABLED FACILITIES GRANTS (N) | 573.0 |
DOMESTIC ABUSE | 1.8 |
EAST BANK | 51.6 |
EBBSFLEET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION | 19.0 |
ENGLISH LANGUAGE | 5.2 |
ESTATE REGEN FUND | 14.2 |
FAITH, RACE AND HATE GRANT SCHEME | 0.4 |
FLOOD RECOVERY FRAMEWORK SCHEMES | 3.7 |
FREEPORTS | 3.7 |
FUTURE HIGH STREET FUND | 257.5 |
GETTING BUILDING FUND | 449.9 |
GRT EDUCATION PROGRAMME | 1.0 |
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL PROGRAMME | 1.0 |
HOME OF 2030 | 0.4 |
HOMELESSNESS | 378.8 |
HONG KONG BRITISH NATIONAL OVERSEAS (HKBNOS) WELCOME PROGRAMME | 6.5 |
HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE FUND (CORE) | 37.9 |
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES | 17.7 |
INTERFAITH NETWORK FOR THE UK | 0.3 |
LEP CORE FUNDING | 19.1 |
LESSONS FROM AUSCHWITZ UNIVERSITIES | 0.1 |
LEVELLING UP FUND | 103.2 |
LOCAL DIGITAL COLLABORATION | 12.4 |
LOCAL GROWTH INVESTMENT FUNDS | 347.5 |
LOCAL LAND CHARGES | 0.1 |
LOCAL RESILIENCE FORUMS (LRFS) | 8.1 |
MAYORAL CAPACITY FUND | 9.0 |
MIDLANDS ENGINE | 2.5 |
MODERN PLANNING SOFTWARE | 6.8 |
NCTT | 0.3 |
NEAR NEIGHBOURS | 1.0 |
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING | 7.9 |
NEW DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS | 2.1 |
NEW HOMES BONUS | 622.3 |
NORTHERN POWERHOUSE | 0.5 |
OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE ARC | 1.0 |
OXFORDSHIRE HOUSING | 40.0 |
PARTNERSHIPS FOR PEOPLE AND PLACE | 0.7 |
PFI HOUSING | 138.7 |
PLANNING ADVISORY SERVICE (PAS) | 0.7 |
PLANNING DELIVERY FUND | 5.3 |
PLANNING REFORM | 2.8 |
REDCAR AND CLEVELAND BOROUGH COUNCIL | 3.7 |
REGIONAL CONTROL CENTRES | 4.2 |
REMEMBERING SREBRENICA | 0.3 |
REOPENING HIGH STREETS SAFELY | 26.8 |
RIGHT TO BUY RECEIPTS | 12.3 |
ROUGH SLEEPING | 325.4 |
ROUGH SLEEPING COVID RESPONSE | 40.3 |
SCHOOLS LINKING | 0.2 |
SECRETARIAT FOR THE INDEPENDENT ANTISEMITISM ADVISER | 0.1 |
SHIELDING SUPPORT | 40.8 |
SSI STEELWORKS | 25.7 |
STDC - TEESWORKS WORKS | 11.1 |
STRENGTHENING FAITH INSTITUTIONS | 0.5 |
STRONGER TOWNS CAPACITY FUNDING | 162.4 |
SUPPORTED HOUSING OVERSIGHT PILOTS | 2.4 |
SUPPORTING FAMILIES | 163.7 |
TENANT FEES ACT 2019 | 0.8 |
THAMES ESTUARY | 1.5 |
TOWNS FUND | 0.5 |
TRANSPORT FOR EBBSFLEET | 1.7 |
UK COMMUNITY RENEWAL FUND | 122.5 |
VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTOR FUNDING FOR ROUGH SLEEPING AND HOMELESSNESS | 2.7 |
VOLUNTARY RIGHT TO BUY | 1.4 |
WAKING WATCH | 0.4 |
WESTERN GATEWAY CORE FUNDING | 1.0 |
WINDRUSH | 0.7 |
WOMENS AID | 0.3 |
YOUTH HOMELESSNESS | 0.6 |
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which Minister of his Department is responsible for the day to day administration of the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.
The Fund is jointly managed by HM Treasury, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) policies and (b) grant and funding programmes his Department has introduced to provide support to individuals and organisations in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what funding has been allocated to each of those programmes in the 2020-21 financial year.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Throughout the pandemic, the Government’s priority has been to save lives and protect jobs, businesses, and livelihoods. To support workers and businesses across all sectors the Government has provided an unprecedented package of support worth more than £280 billion.
In light of current restrictions, businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure facing forced closure in England are eligible for a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 to help them through to Spring. This is on top of the existing Local Restriction Support Grant (Closed) which will continue to offer businesses support of up to £3,000 for each month they closed.
Local authorities are being provided with a top up to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) worth £500 million, bringing the total value of ARG to over £1.6 billion. This grant ensures local authorities can support, on a discretionary basis, businesses not eligible for other grants but still affected by restrictions.
Businesses across the UK can continue to apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which as of mid-December had supported 9.9 million jobs. The Government has also extended the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until the end of April 2021, with a boosted package of support providing the self-employed with grants covering 80% of average trading profits. So far SEISS has seen 2.7 million self-employed workers make claims under the scheme totaling £13.7 billion.
Businesses needing access to liquidity can also apply for guaranteed loans through various loan schemes, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Over 1.4 million small and medium sized companies have received Government-backed loans, worth over £68 billion.
This support comes on top of billions of pounds’ worth of business rates reliefs, tax deferrals, and other labour market schemes.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has introduced a number of programmes to support individuals and organisations through the COVID-19 outbreak – spending £5.8 billion in our response to the pandemic. These programmes include funding to support pressure on social care and other services in local government, funding for rough sleepers and the Next Steps Accommodation Programme, and for council tax relief (Hardship Fund).
Full details of my Department’s COVID-19 funding is available in the NAO COVID Tracker: https://nao-mesh.shinyapps.io/Covid_cost_tracker/.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimates he made of the costs incurred by English local authorities in responding to the covid-19 outbreak when preparing the 2020 spending review.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we have worked closely with local authorities to understand the pressures they are facing. Local authorities have completed monitoring returns to assess the impact the pandemic is having on their finances which shows that the estimated additional expenditure up to the end of October 2020 is £4 billion. Based on this, we have allocated £7.2 billion directly to local authorities, with £4.6 billion of this being unringfenced money for authorities to spend how they see fit.
Furthermore, at the Spending Review on 25 November, the Chancellor announced estimated funding of around £3 billion of additional support for Covid-19 pressures next year. The Chancellor also confirmed that Core Spending Power is forecast to rise by 4.5 per cent in cash terms in 2021-22 - a real terms increase. This package means local authorities will be able to access an estimated additional £2.2 billion to support Adult and Children’s Social Care and to maintain universal services.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what projects he (a) has approved and (b) is considering for financing through the Towns Fund in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Seven towns in constituent authorities of the West Midlands Combined Authority – Dudley, Wolverhampton, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, West Bromwich, Bloxwich and Walsall – have been invited to develop proposals for Town Deals.
Three further towns from non-constituent authorities of the West Midlands Combined Authority – Nuneaton, Redditch and Telford –– have also been invited to develop proposals.
Each of these 10 towns are at various stages of developing their proposals for Town Deals.
All 10 towns received accelerated funding in September 2020 for capital projects that would make an immediate difference in the town, helping recovery from the impact of Covid-19. We are continuing to work with the towns as they develop proposals and turn their plans into reality.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what awards have been made from the Towns Fund; to which projects those awards have been made; and what the value is of each such grant awarded.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On 27 October, we announced the first seven offers of Town Deals, worth almost £180 million in total, for Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, Darlington, Norwich, Peterborough, Torquay and Warrington. These landmark deals will see millions invested in projects across the country including updating Blackpool’s famous Illuminations for a return to tourism, the modernisation of Torquay town centre and plans for low carbon-living in Peterborough.
In September, we announced accelerated funding for all 101 towns selected to work with Government to develop a Town Deal. This was to support capital projects that would help them address the immediate impacts of Covid-19. Each town received a grant of £500,000, £750,000 or £1 million, depending on population size. This funding is supporting a range of projects including new green spaces, pop-up business spaces and walking and cycling routes. Further details of the accelerated funding are also here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/80-million-boost-to-towns.
Further announcements will be made in due course.