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 planning applications were called in by the Secretary of State with responsibility for planning in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, (4) 2018, and (5) 2019.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
These figures are published as part of the Planning Inspectorate’s statistical releases. For the calendar years requested, the figures were as follows:
2015 - 26
2016 - 14
2017 - 18
2018 - 7
2019 - 7
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 planning applications the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has called in since 1 January.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Secretary of State has called in nine planning applications since 1 January this year.
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 lost their homes in the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 are now rehoused in permanent accommodation.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
According to the latest data from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC), as of 12th June 2020, of the 201 households from Grenfell Tower and Walk that require rehousing, 194 households have moved into permanent accommodation. Of the 7 households who have not yet moved into a permanent home, they have either accepted a permanent home or have a suitable permanent home reserved for them that meets the Council’s assessment of their housing need.
We expect RBKC to do whatever is necessary to ensure households can move into permanent homes as swiftly as possible, but to do so sensitively and taking into account individual needs, and are continuing to work closely with RBKC to ensure this occurs without unnecessary delay.
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 representations they have received from the Local Government Association about the financial situation of local authorities in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Department regularly meets with council Leaders, Chief Executives of English councils and their representatives, including the Local Government Association, to ensure we have a collective understanding of the issues arising from the Covid-19 outbreak. Local government is a devolved matter, and therefore MHCLG do not engage directly with Welsh councils.
We have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities in England through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the pandemic. The package recognises the additional costs and pressures on finances councils as a result of the current crisis. It demonstrates the Government’s commitment to making sure councils, including upper and lower tier authorities, have the resources they need to support their communities through this challenging time.
In total, the Government has committed over £27 billion to local areas to support English councils and their communities. This also includes: £300 million to support the new test and trace service, £600 million to support providers through a new Infection Control Fund and £12.3 billion of support through the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grants.
We will continue to work with local government and their representatives to ensure they are managing as the pandemic progresses.
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 ensure that no homeless person taken off the streets during the COVID-19 returns to living on the streets.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The latest figures show that nearly 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown period. This includes people coming in directly from the streets, people previously housed in shared night shelters and people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping during the pandemic.?To support councils across England with these efforts, the Government provided £3.2 billion in funding. This is in addition to providing £3.2 million in emergency funding for local authorities to support vulnerable rough sleepers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building on the considerable success so far,?we?announced that Dame Louise Casey will spearhead a taskforce to lead the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during the pandemic.
The taskforce will work hand-in-hand with councils across the country on plans to ensure rough sleepers can move into long-term, safe accommodation once the immediate crisis is over – ensuring as few people as possible return to life on the streets. It will also seek to ensure the thousands of rough sleepers now in accommodation continue to receive the physical and mental health support they need.
On 24 May, we?also announced?plans for thousands of long-term, safe homes?to support many of the?vulnerable rough sleepers who have been supported during the Covid-19 pandemic.?Here,?vulnerable rough sleepers?taken?off the streets during the pandemic can get the specialist support they need to rebuild their lives.
This?unprecedented?commitment?– the biggest of its kind since the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative?began?– will be backed by?£160?million?in 2020 to 2021 to inject 3,300 new units of accommodation?this year, part of?6,000 in total.
This means in 2020-2021, we are providing £606 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £238 million, or 65% increase, in funding from the previous year.
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 support they provide to individuals and communities to establish cooperative community facilities.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Government continues to recognise the importance of community involvement in the ownership and management of local facilities and supports several approaches to achieving this outcome. The £4 million More Than a Pub programme, jointly funded with Power to Change championed the cooperative model of community ownership and has supported 42 groups to achieve ownership of their local pub in England between March 2016 and March 2019. Since 2015, the Government has also provided £6 million funding through its Pocket Parks programme to support 350 partnerships between community-led organisations and their local authority to create useable green space community facilities. Community groups can also access the support and advice they need to take action in their neighbourhood through visiting online resources such as My Community. We are currently exploring the manifesto commitment for a £150 million Community Ownership Fund which will support people who want to protect and bring local assets into community ownership.
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 support they provide to the cooperative housing sector in England, outside of London.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Government supports the community-led housebuilding sector – of which housing co-operatives are an important part – through the Community Housing Fund. The Fund is delivered outside of London by Homes England. Capital and revenue grants are available to community-based groups wishing to take forward schemes to build locally affordable housing.
The Government has also provided a £6 million grant from the Community Housing Fund to support Community Led Homes: a consortium of the major stakeholder groups (including the Confederation of Co-operative Housing). Community Led Homes is able to award secondary “seedcorn” grants of up to £4000 to community-based groups to enable those groups to establish an appropriately constituted body corporate, such as a housing co-operative. Community Led Homes is also using its grant to develop a network of technical advisors to support community-based groups though the process of taking forward their local housebuilding schemes.
The Community Housing Fund is currently scheduled to close in March 2020. Ministers are considering all budgets in the round and allocations for 2020/21 will be confirmed through a business planning exercise. Allocations for future years will be considered at the forthcoming Budget and Spending Review.
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 support they provide to communities to establish community land trusts.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Government supports the community-led housebuilding sector – of which community land trusts are an important part – through the Community Housing Fund. The Fund is delivered outside of London by Homes England and within London by the Greater London Authority. Capital and revenue grants are available to community-based groups wishing to take forward schemes to build locally affordable housing.
The Government has also provided a £6 million grant from the Community Housing Fund to support Community Led Homes: a consortium of the major stakeholder groups (including the National Community Land Trust Network). Community Led Homes is able to award secondary “seedcorn” grants of up to £4000 to community-based groups to enable those groups to establish an appropriately constituted body corporate, such as a community land trust. Community Led Homes is also using its grant to develop a network of technical advisors to support community-based groups though the process of taking forward their local housebuilding schemes.
The Community Housing Fund is currently scheduled to close in March 2020. Ministers are considering all budgets in the round and allocations for 2020/21 will be confirmed through a business planning exercise. Allocations for future years will be considered at the forthcoming Budget and Spending Review.
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 is their policy aim in England for (1) unitary, and (2) two-tier, authorities.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
This Government believes that local government is the bedrock of our democracy and we will ensure that councils continue to deliver essential local services. We are committed to devolving power to people and places, so that every part of the country has power to shape its own destiny, and this year we will publish an English Devolution White Paper setting out our plans.
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 decision by four local authorities in Kent to dismiss the board of East Kent Housing.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made as this is a matter for the local authorities concerned. It is for local authorities to decide whether to engage an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) to manage their housing. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their housing complies with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, regardless of whether the homes are managed by an ALMO.