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, with reference to MIND's report entitled Brick by Brick: A Review of Mental Health and Housing, published in November 2017, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the social housing system supports people with mental health problems.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 176245 on 11 October 2018.
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, with reference to his Department's funding for supported housing policy paper, published in October 2017, what policies the Government is putting in place to ensure funding for non-statutory supported housing is sustained in the long-term.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The government is committed to a long-term sustainable funding model for supported housing as set out in the policy statement published on 31 October.
We are consulting on this model. The consultation closes on 23 January 2018.
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 assessment his Department has made of the effect on the supporting people programme of the removal of ring-fenced funding from that programme.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Nearly all local government core spending power is un-ringfenced. This allows councils, who are independent of central Government, to manage their budgets in line with local priorities. Total Core Spending Power for local authorities in England is set to rise in real terms over the next two years, from £44.3 billion in 2017-18 to £45.6 billion in 2019-20.
This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society and we have already taken several steps during this Parliament to help secure a strong and sustainable adult social care system. The Spring Budget 2017 announced an additional £2 billion funding in England to spend on adult social care in the short-term. This meant that, by the start of this financial year (2017-18), the Government had given councils access to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care over the next three years.
While it is for local authorities to manage funding according to local priorities, the Government expects them to provide the right services to local communities, especially for the vulnerable and older 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 assessment his Department has made of the effect on the supporting people programme of the removal of ring-fenced funding from that programme.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Nearly all local government core spending power is un-ringfenced. This allows councils, who are independent of central Government, to manage their budgets in line with local priorities. Total Core Spending Power for local authorities in England is set to rise in real terms over the next two years, from £44.3 billion in 2017-18 to £45.6 billion in 2019-20.
This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society and we have already taken several steps during this Parliament to help secure a strong and sustainable adult social care system. The Spring Budget 2017 announced an additional £2 billion funding in England to spend on adult social care in the short-term. This meant that, by the start of this financial year (2017-18), the Government had given councils access to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care over the next three years.
While it is for local authorities to manage funding according to local priorities, the Government expects them to provide the right services to local communities, especially for the vulnerable and older 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 Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on women's refuges of proposals to delegate funding for supported housing from central Government to local authorities.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Government is currently consulting on these proposals. We have also committed to review the locally led approach to refuge provision in our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. This review will cover funding for refuges, including the critical care and support costs, and will take place by November 2018 so that our findings can be taken into consideration prior to implementing the new funding model for short term supported housing in 2020.
We are continuing to explore all options for future delivery of refuge services, including a national model for refuges.
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 Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on single homeless people in short-term accommodation of his Department's proposals for the reform of supported housing.
Answered by Marcus Jones
From April 2018 we are implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act, the biggest change to homelessness legislation in decades which will require local authorities to provide early help and support to people, including single people to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.
Short-term supported accommodation needed in crisis or transition, such as homeless hostels or refuges, will now be funded and commissioned directly by the local authority, through a ring-fenced grant from central government.
The model will help more people to sustain or get in to work. The short-term accommodation grant will remove rental costs for the tenants at a particularly vulnerable point in their lives, allowing them to seek work safe in the knowledge that their housing costs will be met. It will also help people who can, to move-on with greater choice about where they go without carrying a legacy of rent arrears and debt.
It will also give local areas a bigger role in commissioning supported accommodation for vulnerable people in their area. Councils have a strong interest in sustainable short-term accommodation which meets local need and will need to demonstrate how they will meet that through strategic plans and needs assessments.
The arrangements described apply to England only, equivalent funding will be devolved to the Scottish Government, and the specific arrangements will be for the Scottish Government to decide.
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 Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of changing places facilities in shopping centres across the UK.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The UK Government continues to support increased provision of Changing Places toilets and in 2013 guidance on changing places was introduced in to Part M (Access to and use of buildings) of the Building Regulations in England which states that:
"In large building developments separate facilities for baby changing and an enlarged unisex toilet incorporating an adult changing table are desirable. Facilities incorporating adult changing tables are more commonly known as Changing Places Toilets and further guidance is available from the Changing Places Campaign website (www.changing-places.org) or by reference to guidance in section 12.7 and Annex G of BS8300"
In 2015 the UK Government and the devolved administrations provided a grant to MENCAP and the British Toilet Association, to develop a website mapping the location of every changing places toilet in the UK.