Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which Minister has responsibility for parks and green spaces.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Parks and green spaces share joint responsibility between the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). DLUHC is responsible for urban parks and green spaces and I am the responsible minister. In DEFRA, the responsible minister for the domestic natural environment, is Rebecca Pow MP and Lord Benyon is responsible for landscape, including national parks.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a ring-fenced grant to assist local authorities in meeting their statutory duty to provide short breaks and respite for seriously ill children.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Supporting the most vulnerable children and young people, and local authorities in maintaining their statutory services, continues to be a key priority for this Government.
The Spending Review 2020 confirmed that the Core Spending Power of local authorities will rise by 4.6% in cash terms from £49.0 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, which is a real terms increase. This real-terms increase builds on the largest year-on-year increase in spending power in a decade and recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain children’s services, including their statutory duty to assess the social care needs of seriously ill children and young people, and to provide respite care where necessary.
The Government has also given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of Covid-19 spending pressures. This unprecedented level of funding is un-ringfenced in recognition that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet service pressures in their local area, including for children and young people.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What steps he is taking to help ensure the provision of accessible homes for older and disabled people.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
By April 2022, the Government will have invested over £4 billion through the Disabled Facilities Grant, which will have funded adaptations to almost 400,000 homes since 2010.
In addition, 10 per cent of units delivered under the new Affordable Homes Programme will be used to increase the supply of specialist or supported housing.
Our current planning rules mean councils must consider the needs of older people and those with disabilities when planning new homes, and the Government recently consulted on options that include introducing higher mandatory accessibility standards for all new homes.