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 Nottinghamshire.
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.
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 government arrangements in Lincolnshire.
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.
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 government arrangements in Derbyshire.
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.
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 government arrangements in Oxfordshire.
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.
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 estimate they have made of the number of people who are (1) homeless, and (2) rough sleeping.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is clear that no one should be without a roof over their head. That is why we are spending over £700 million this year and will be spending over £750 million next year to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, further demonstrating the Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping.
The latest homelessness and rough sleeping data can be found (attached) on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all those who were displaced due to the fire at Grenfell Tower are in permanent residential accommodation.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
All 201 households from Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk have accepted an offer of accommodation, and over 95% (194 households) have moved into a new permanent home.
Those households not in permanent homes, are currently living in high quality temporary accommodation; these households have either already accepted a permanent home, or have a suitable permanent home reserved for them. 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 review the effectiveness of warranties on construction projects.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Government is clear that warranties on construction projects need to be fit for purpose and provide proper protection for consumers. It is the responsibility of the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate new build warranties and protect consumers. If a consumer is unhappy with the warranty provider’s action, they can contact the Financial Ombudsman Services for free.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the commitment to implement the Future Homes Standard by 2023 was removed from The ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, published on 18 November; and if so, why.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We committed in Planning for the Future to review the roadmap to the Future Homes Standard to ensure that implementation takes place to the shortest possible timeline. We will be publishing the Government response to the Future Homes Standard interim uplift consultation as soon as possible. This will set out a roadmap to the Future Homes Standard.
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 the Local Government Association Fragmented Funding, published on 22 September.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is grateful to the LGA for their work on behalf of local government.
Government has a long-standing policy to provide funding to local authorities on a non-ringfenced basis. This is based on recognising that the removal of ringfences supports good, efficient and innovative financial management at a local level and gives local authorities the freedom and flexibility to make spending decisions based on their local needs and priorities. However, there are occasions where Ministers collectively consider that there is a recognised need to designate specified resources for specific purposes.
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 Locality, Communities Work: How community organisations can lead the post-Covid jobs recovery, published on 16 September.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Communities Work: How community organisations can lead the post-Covid jobs recovery report by Locality on local and national recovery is clearly timely. It is a reminder of the importance of working with local partners to address the challenges we will face as we recover from the economic effects of the pandemic. We remain committed to gaining a clear picture of how local economies are impacted by Covid-19 and how we can effectively enable local areas to recover. We will continue working closely with community organisations as we work through this.