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Written Question
Travellers: Caravan Sites
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the (a) Social Housing Act 2023 and (b) Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 in relation to (i) the protection of and (ii) the provision of opportunities for recourse to action for residents living on local authority-owned Gypsy and Traveller sites that are in need of repair.

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

Responsibility for the provision, repairs and maintenance of traveller sites is with local authorities.


Written Question
Disabled Facilities Grants
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effectiveness of the Disabled Facilities Grant.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Since 2010 Government has invested £5.4 billion billion into the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) (2010-11 to 2023-24), delivering an estimated 550,000 home adaptations in England. Adaptations funded through the DFG include stairlifts, level-access showers and grab rails. These adaptations can reduce emergency admissions to hospital, speed up a return home following a hospital stay and delay, or even prevent, the need for costly residential care in future.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) annually collects voluntary local authority-level data returns on local DFG delivery. Raw data from local authorities is analysed by Foundations, the DLUHC funded national body for DFGs and home improvement agencies. The 2021-22 report on local DFG delivery is available online at the following link.

There is good evidence of the impact and effectiveness of housing adaptations generically, and the DFG specifically. For example, Public Health England’s falls prevention toolkit (2018) compared the impact of different interventions on preventing falls, including exercise classes and home adaptations. It found that adaptations produce significantly higher returns on investment with £1 of investment in home assessment and modification saving £3.17 on health and care costs. If quality of life gains for the individual are considered, savings rise to £7.34 per £1 spent.


Written Question
Refuges: City of Durham
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department is providing to women's refuges in City of Durham constituency.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has provided £3,531,383 since 2021/22 to County Durham and have committed a further £1,216,337 for 2024/25. This funding is for County Durham to commission support for victims of domestic abuse who are residing in refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation locally.

Statutory Guidance and Regulations provide further details to local authorities on how the duties should be delivered on the ground. The Department continues to work closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the domestic abuse sector and the LGA in supporting local authorities, including best practice workshops.


Written Question
Homelessness: Durham
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to financially support community and voluntary organisations that support homeless people in City of Durham constituency.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government recognises that local authorities are best placed to make decisions on what services they provide and what community and voluntary organisations they commission, based on local priorities and circumstances. We are investing over £2 billion over three years in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. Funding through the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 provides local areas and their community and voluntary partners with resources to offer accommodation, support, and a route off the streets for people sleeping rough; the City of Durham has been allocated £680,591.


Written Question
Multiple Occupation: County Durham
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many registered houses in multiple occupation there are in County Durham.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government publishes the Local Authority Housing Statistics annually. These statistics include the estimated number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and estimated number of HMOs which require mandatory licences, broken down by local authority. The data sets can be found here.


Written Question
Multiple Occupation: Electrical Safety
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 effectiveness of local authority enforcement of electrical safety standards in houses in multiple occupation in (a) County Durham and (b) England since 2021.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

All house in multiple occupation (HMO) licences in England require the landlord to ensure that every electrical installation in the house is in proper working order and safe for use. Landlords are also required to supply their local authority with a declaration as to the safety of such installations when requested. Where a landlord fails to comply, local authorities have power to take enforcement action, including prosecution or issuing fines of up to £30,000.


Written Question
Sleeping Rough
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of rough sleeping in winter 2023 in (a) England, (b) County Durham and (c) the City of Durham.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

In September 2022, we published a bold, new strategy: Ending Rough Sleeping For Good. The strategy sets out cross government action and sets out how we are investing £2 billion over three years to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping. We are investing over £530 million across England over three years through the Rough Sleeping Initiative 22-25. The Rough Sleeping Initiative funding provides local areas the resources to offer accommodation, support, and a route off the streets for people sleeping rough all year-round, including winter 2023. Of this investment the City of Durham was allocated £653,750 and County Durham allocated £3,777,842. A breakdown of allocations by local authority can be found here.


Written Question
City of Durham Parish Council: Planning
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether City of Durham Parish Council is a statutory consultee on planning matters.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Provisions in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allow Parish Councils to request, in writing, that the local planning authority notify them of any applications for planning permission in their parish which they specify.


Written Question
Landlords: Databases
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many entries have been made on the database of rogue landlords and property agents under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in (a) England, (b) County Durham and (c) City of Durham constituency since that database was established.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, information from the database can only be disclosed in an anonymised form if no individual or other person to whom the information relates can be identified from the information. Information about the nature of offences, length of ban or value of fines may lead to the identification of individuals entered onto the database.

The Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents is a record of banning orders that are currently in place and is not a register of all banning orders or banning order offences since 2018.


Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Students
Thursday 6th July 2023

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

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 potential impact of the abolition of fixed term tenancy agreements on the (a) availability and (b) cost of privately rented student accommodation.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 190095 on 22 June 2023.