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Written Question
Building Safety Fund
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications to the building safety fund have been (a) submitted and (b) successful by constituency.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The department publishes a range of statistics regarding building safety which can be accessed here. We note the honourable Member’s interest in further disaggregation of this data and will consider it for future data updates and releases.


Written Question
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Artificial Intelligence
Friday 16th June 2023

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Government's publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in their Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period for which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on those issues in the latest period for which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.

Answered by Dehenna Davison

We do not have a regulator of artificial intelligence associated with this Department.


Written Question
Building Safety Fund
Tuesday 30th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce details of the remainder of the £5 billion Building Safety Fund, including how to apply for grants.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

Buildings that may have missed the original registration deadline for the Building Safety Fund will have a further opportunity to register. Details on how to do this will be provided in due course.


Written Question
Building Safety Fund
Friday 26th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applicants waited (a) 1 month or less, (b) between 2 and 6 months, (c) between 7 and 9 months, (d) between 10 and 12 months and (e) over 1 year for a response to their application to the Building Safety Fund.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Government acknowledges that remediation of unsafe cladding is complex and each individual project will vary in their journey through the funding application process. Information on the Building Safety Fund application process and estimated timelines can be found in the Building Safety Fund application guidance available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-application-process. The latest Building Safety Fund statistics, showing registration and application progress, are available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics

It is the responsibility of the applicant to submit correctly completed applications as soon as possible. The quicker an applicant submits their application, the quicker their application will be processed. A poorly completed full application will result in delays.


Written Question
Rented Housing: Finance
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to publish details on the way in which each local authority spends funds allocated from the £65 million support package for vulnerable renters announced on 23 October 2021.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

The Government announced a £65 million top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant in October to help vulnerable renters hit hardest by the pandemic from becoming homeless.

This funding is available for local authorities to support those eligible for statutory homelessness assistance. As with the existing Homelessness Prevention Grant, local authorities have flexibility to use this funding in the most appropriate way to meet local pressures.

The Government publishes statutory homelessness statistics quarterly which provides information about statutory homelessness applications, including those cases following eviction from the private rented sector. The data is available at a national and local authority level and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#live-tables


Written Question
Rented Housing: Finance
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department plans to take to measure the (a) impact and (b) success of the £65 million support package for vulnerable renters announced on 23 October 2021.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

The Government announced a £65 million top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant in October to help vulnerable renters hit hardest by the pandemic from becoming homeless.

This funding is available for local authorities to support those eligible for statutory homelessness assistance. As with the existing Homelessness Prevention Grant, local authorities have flexibility to use this funding in the most appropriate way to meet local pressures.

The Government publishes statutory homelessness statistics quarterly which provides information about statutory homelessness applications, including those cases following eviction from the private rented sector. The data is available at a national and local authority level and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#live-tables


Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Finance
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the announcement of a £65 million support package for vulnerable renters on 23 October 2021, what the eligibility criteria will be for a private renter to access support from that fund.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

The Government announced a £65 million top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant in October to help vulnerable renters hit hardest by the pandemic from becoming homeless.

This funding is available for local authorities to support those eligible for statutory homelessness assistance. As with the existing Homelessness Prevention Grant, local authorities have flexibility to use this funding in the most appropriate way to meet local pressures.

The Government publishes statutory homelessness statistics quarterly which provides information about statutory homelessness applications, including those cases following eviction from the private rented sector. The data is available at a national and local authority level and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics#live-tables


Written Question
First Time Buyers
Thursday 18th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many homes have been built under the First Homes scheme.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

In order to make First Homes available to local people and key workers as soon as possible, the First Homes Early Delivery Programme encourages housebuilders to convert Market Sale homes currently under construction to First Homes.


Over the summer we announced the launch of the first three First Homes sites in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and County Durham as part of the First Homes Early Delivery Programme, where homes are continuing to become available on the market.


Homes England also concluded a procurement process in October to deliver 1,500 First Homes by March 2023. The outcome of this procurement will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Housing: Construction
Wednesday 17th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of new homes built in each of the last five years that were fitted with (a) gas boilers, (b) heat pumps and (c) other forms of low carbon heating.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data is regularly published on Open Data Communities, and this includes data on the type of heating installed, including for new builds. The latest ONS data release on energy efficiency of housing in England and Wales 2021 also provides some information on this topic and can be found here.

The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the way we heat our homes has to meeting it. We will need to move away from fossil fuel heating in order to meet our commitment.

Later this year we will introduce an interim uplift in building standards that delivers a meaningful reduction in carbon emissions and provide a stepping stone to the Future Homes Standard in 2025. Once the uplift comes into force, new homes will be expected to produce 31% less CO2 emissions compared to current standards. This will deliver high-quality homes that are in line with our broader housing commitments and encourage homes that are future-proofed for the longer-term.


Written Question
Sleeping Rough
Wednesday 17th November 2021

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the long term savings as a result of the Everyone In policy.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

We know that moving people away from the streets, and preventing rough sleeping in the first instance benefits people's lives and saves public money in the long-term. By the end of January 2021, over 37,000 people have been helped, including over 26,000 helped into longer-term accommodation.