Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of electrical safety issues in local authority housing stock.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The English Housing Survey is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It collects information annually about people’s housing circumstances and the condition of housing in England.
English Housing Survey data shows that local authority (LA) homes are in better condition in respect of electrical safety than other tenures. In 2018, 73% of LA dwellings had all 5 recommended electrical safety features installed. This has increased from 56% in 2010. This compares with 60% of owner-occupied, 62% of private rented and 74% of housing association dwellings.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many residents made homeless by the fire at Grenfell Tower are still in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
All 201 households from Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk have accepted an offer of accommodation, and over 95% (195 households) have moved into a new permanent home
Currently 6 households are not yet in permanent homes. These households are currently living in high quality temporary accommodation. The Council is working with these households at a pace that suits them.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce mandatory five yearly electrical safety checks in the social rented sector.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In the Charter for Social Housing Residents – Social Housing White Paper published on 17 November 2020, we commit to consult on measures to ensure that social housing residents are protected from harm caused by poor electrical safety.
On the 9 March 2021, we announced the launch of a working group to inform the content of the consultation. The first meeting will take place on 29 March 2021, and the group will run until Summer 2021. Meetings will explore proposals to best protect social residents from electrical harm, including consideration of mandatory electrical safety checks.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their proposals in the Supporting Housing Delivery and Public Service Infrastructure consultation to allow conversion of use Class E units to residential on levels of physical activity, given that gyms, swimming pools and sports and leisure facilities are included within that Class.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In developing the proposals we are taking account of any potential impacts of the proposals on people with protected characteristics. A full Impact Assessment has also been prepared which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their proposals in the Supporting Housing Delivery and Public Service Infrastructure consultation to allow conversion of use Class E units to residential on high street recovery plans.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In developing the proposals we are taking account of any potential impacts of the proposals on people with protected characteristics. A full Impact Assessment has also been prepared which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to evidence that overcrowding disproportionately affects those with protected characteristics in their proposals in the Supporting Housing Delivery and Public Service Infrastructure consultation to allow conversion of use Class E units to residential units.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In developing the proposals we are taking account of any potential impacts of the proposals on people with protected characteristics. A full Impact Assessment has also been prepared which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of potential impacts arising from the measures proposed in the Supporting Housing Delivery and Public Service Infrastructure consultation on those with a protected characteristic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In developing the proposals we are taking account of any potential impacts of the proposals on people with protected characteristics. A full Impact Assessment has also been prepared which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the procedures whereby local authorities can provide loans to organisations.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Local government loans fall under the Prudential Framework, which governs how authorities borrow and invest. Loans are classed as investments in Government's Statutory Guidance on Local Authority Investments. The guidance, which councils must have regard to, sets out requirements for transparency and how authorities should assess risks before providing loans. Government is currently reviewing all elements of the Prudential Framework to ensure it is fit for purpose, and carefully considering where changes are needed to better constrain risk and support good investment decision-making. Further, recent reforms to the lending terms of the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB), designed to prevent authorities investing primarily for yield, also apply to where the authorities are borrowing to lend. In such cases, the authority is required to report the eventual use of the money and restrictions over investing primarily for yield apply.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by KPMG Northampton Borough Council: Report in the public interest regarding the Council’s loans to Northampton Town Football Club, published on 27 January.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We are aware of the Public Interest Report concerning Northampton Borough Council and are monitoring the situation. It is for the council to consider and respond to the issues raised in the Report. I understand that they are planning to provide a full response at their Council meeting on 22 February.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the local authority arrangements in Kent.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
There is no question of any top down review or imposition of Government solutions. The Government believes that locally-led changes to the structure of local government can be an appropriate means of improving local service delivery, saving taxpayers’ money and improving local accountability, and is clear that any reform of an area’s local government, where there is strong local support for the principle of a unitary structure, is most effectively achieved through locally-led proposals put forward by those who best know the area.
The Government is aware that there is interest in a number of areas across the country about developing proposals for unitary local government. It is clear, however, that the pandemic has rightly necessitated resources across Whitehall and in local government being re-allocated to tackling Covid-19 and on economic recovery, and this must be Whitehall’s and town halls’ number one priority at present.