Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the extent of adjustments to homeless shelters that would be needed to accommodate dogs belonging to homeless people.
Answered by Luke Hall
We do not hold data on the number and proportion of temporary shelters that are equipped to accommodate the pets of homeless people.
We know that a dog can be an incredibly important companion for those rough sleeping rough. Many night shelters or similar emergency accommodation schemes, funded through the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI), have provision for people’s pets – or the flexibility to provide accommodation with this provision. For example, the RSI funded services in Gloucestershire link closely with the charity StreetVet - who provide treatment and ongoing support for homeless people’s pets.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will he make an estimate of the number and proportion of temporary shelters that are equipped to accommodate the pets of homeless people.
Answered by Luke Hall
We do not hold data on the number and proportion of temporary shelters that are equipped to accommodate the pets of homeless people.
We know that a dog can be an incredibly important companion for those rough sleeping rough. Many night shelters or similar emergency accommodation schemes, funded through the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI), have provision for people’s pets – or the flexibility to provide accommodation with this provision. For example, the RSI funded services in Gloucestershire link closely with the charity StreetVet - who provide treatment and ongoing support for homeless people’s pets.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on his Department's consultation on accessible housing standards.
Answered by Esther McVey
Government will consult shortly on options of how to raise standards of accessibility in new homes. The consultation will include options for making higher accessibility standards mandatory.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
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 is taking to improve the provision of wheelchair accessible housing.
Answered by Esther McVey
Government will consult shortly on options of how to raise standards of accessibility in new homes. The consultation will ask for views on the standard M4(3) for new wheelchair user housing and the level of M4(3) provision in local plan policies.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
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 address the finding of the report entitled Insight report: a forecast for accessible homes, published by Habinteg in June 2019, that one per cent of homes outside London will meet Building Regulations Approved document M Volume 1 M4(3) wheelchair accessible housing standard by 2030.
Answered by Esther McVey
On 25 June, the Prime Minister announced that government will consult on mandating higher accessibility standards for new housing, recognising that too many disabled people still live in unsuitable homes. We will bring forward the consultation on improving accessibility standards at the earliest opportunity, ensuring it happens as part of our full review of Part M of the Building Regulations. Habinteg’s report is important evidence which we will look at carefully as part of our review. New Planning guidance was published on 26 June to support councils to put clear policies in place for addressing the housing needs of older and disabled people.
Also announced on 25 June was a new cross-government disability team that will alongside the Government Equalities Office and Race Disparity Unit in a new Equalities Hub at the heart of government. This team will work closely with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities to develop a new approach to disability, with their views and experiences at the forefront of any new policy.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
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 encourage local authorities to include requirements for new homes to be built to M4(2) and M4(3) housing standards in their local plans.
Answered by Esther McVey
The provision of appropriate housing for disabled people, including specialist and supported housing, is crucial in helping them to live safe and independent lives.
In the revised National Planning Policy Framework, we strengthened policy to create a clear expectation that planning policies for housing in England should make use of M4(2) and M4(3), the government’s optional technical standards for accessible and adaptable housing. In the revised Framework, we also set an expectation that all planning policies for housing should include clear policies for addressing the housing needs of older and disabled people.
In June we published new guidance to help local planning authorities to implement these policies to properly address the housing needs of older and disabled people.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
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 is taking under the Public Sector Equality Duty to ensure that disabled people are not negatively affected by the Government's housing policies.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Ensuring that our policies take into account the different needs of the population and ensure equality of experience, access and opportunity is not just the law, but it helps ensure that our interventions are effective and therefore worthwhile.
The department, like the rest of Government, takes the Public Sector Equality Duty very seriously, ensuring policy development and implementation appropriately takes into account the needs of people with disabilities.