Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of Voter Authority Certificate applications in England have been rejected as of 1 March 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 165271 on 20th March 2023.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what training is provided for (a) polling station officers and (b) returning officers on assessing the (i) veracity of official documents and (ii) authenticity of photo IDs.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the answer given to Question UIN 124038 on 19th January 2023 and to the response to the UQ on 21th February 2023, I refer the Hon. Member to the following publications on new burdens funding, the electoral commission’s polling station handbook, and to the application process for a Voter Authority Certificate.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government plans to provide additional guidance on the criteria by which a photographic ID is deemed recognisable.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the answer given to Question UIN 124038 on 19th January 2023 and to the response to the UQ on 21th February 2023, I refer the Hon. Member to the following publications on new burdens funding, the electoral commission’s polling station handbook, and to the application process for a Voter Authority Certificate.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish how much funding was awarded to each local authority in England to promote and raise awareness of the new Voter ID rules.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the answer given to Question UIN 124038 on 19th January 2023 and to the response to the UQ on 21th February 2023, I refer the Hon. Member to the following publications on new burdens funding, the electoral commission’s polling station handbook, and to the application process for a Voter Authority Certificate.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in each English region who (a) do not have the photographic ID required to vote in May’s local government elections and (b) have signed up for the free voter ID certificate for May’s elections.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 151260 on 28 February 2023.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Building Safety Act 2022 defining leaseholders as either qualifying or non-qualifying for legal protections from historical building safety costs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the new guidance does not prevent remediation works to be carried out in a timely manner.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Building owners must ensure that buildings are safe. All qualifying leaseholders are protected from historical safety remediation costs for cladding-related work. This protection includes all works, and non-qualifying leaseholders, if their building owner or landlord is or is associated with the developer responsible for that defect. If a leaseholder owns a total of more than three properties, their principal home always qualifies for the protections if it is in a relevant building. Where this is not the case, non-qualifying leaseholders are liable for historical safety remediation costs as per the terms of their lease, in the same way they were before the Act came into force. This amount cannot be increased to replace money that qualifying leaseholders are protected from paying.
The Act provides a toolkit of measures to allow landlords and others to pursue those responsible. The Government has made it very clear that any necessary remediation work should not be delayed. The Act provides for interested parties - including local authorities and leaseholders - to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a remediation order where historical safety remediation work does not commence in a timely manner. These orders are enforceable as if they were orders of the county court, ensuring that landlords comply with their new liabilities under the Act.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Building Safety Act 2022 defining leaseholders as either qualifying or non-qualifying for legal protections from historical building safety costs, what assessment he has made of the ability of non-qualifying leaseholders to afford building remediation works.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Building owners must ensure that buildings are safe. All qualifying leaseholders are protected from historical safety remediation costs for cladding-related work. This protection includes all works, and non-qualifying leaseholders, if their building owner or landlord is or is associated with the developer responsible for that defect. If a leaseholder owns a total of more than three properties, their principal home always qualifies for the protections if it is in a relevant building. Where this is not the case, non-qualifying leaseholders are liable for historical safety remediation costs as per the terms of their lease, in the same way they were before the Act came into force. This amount cannot be increased to replace money that qualifying leaseholders are protected from paying.
The Act provides a toolkit of measures to allow landlords and others to pursue those responsible. The Government has made it very clear that any necessary remediation work should not be delayed. The Act provides for interested parties - including local authorities and leaseholders - to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a remediation order where historical safety remediation work does not commence in a timely manner. These orders are enforceable as if they were orders of the county court, ensuring that landlords comply with their new liabilities under the Act.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to make funding available to leaseholders where neither the developer nor the building owner is able to fund the essential remediation of non-cladding related fire safety issues.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Building owners must ensure that buildings are safe. All qualifying leaseholders are protected from historical safety remediation costs for cladding-related work. This protection includes all works, and non-qualifying leaseholders, if their building owner or landlord is or is associated with the developer responsible for that defect. If a leaseholder owns a total of more than three properties, their principal home always qualifies for the protections if it is in a relevant building. Where this is not the case, non-qualifying leaseholders are liable for historical safety remediation costs as per the terms of their lease, in the same way they were before the Act came into force. This amount cannot be increased to replace money that qualifying leaseholders are protected from paying.
The Act provides a toolkit of measures to allow landlords and others to pursue those responsible. The Government has made it very clear that any necessary remediation work should not be delayed. The Act provides for interested parties - including local authorities and leaseholders - to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a remediation order where historical safety remediation work does not commence in a timely manner. These orders are enforceable as if they were orders of the county court, ensuring that landlords comply with their new liabilities under the Act.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of whether landlords are using online platforms such as Airbnb to bypass Homes of Multiple Occupancy regulated standards.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
A property is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) if it meets the definitions set out in the Housing Act 2004. Landlords of these properties cannot bypass HMO management regulations and, if applicable HMO licensing, by letting them through short term lettings platforms.
We are aware, however, that the proliferation of short-term lets has prompted concerns. The government's Call for Evidence to gather more information on the sector to inform the development of policy options was held between June and September of this year, and received almost 4,000 responses. We are therefore introducing a registration scheme for short-term lets through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the process is for assessing the potential merits of Investment Zones in South West of England.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Policy announcements will be made in the usual way.