Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure that Councils make appropriate checks on the capacity of drainage systems when approving new developments.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Planning Practice Guidance outlines that when considering proposals for major development, the local planning authority will need to consult the lead local flood authority on surface water drainage. In addition, the National Planning Policy Framework sets out that major developments should incorporate sustainable drainage systems, unless there is clear evidence that this would be inappropriate. Local authorities can also require developers to make contributions towards flood risk management infrastructure, if required and subject to meeting the relevant, statutory tests.
Under proposals in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the Government has committed to consulting on whether to make water companies a statutory consultee on planning applications, and if so, how best to take this forward. In addition, under the new Infrastructure Levy, local authorities will be required to engage infrastructure providers when considering how Levy proceeds should be spent. These infrastructure providers will be set out in regulations.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to give residents greater input on local developments.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government has brought forward a Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which currently contains proposals to allow communities to understand proposals more easily through making planning more digital and through simplifying the plan-making process. The Bill also currently contains a placeholder clause for ‘street votes’ to give residents a direct way to make their views known on certain proposals. The Bill will continue to be considered by Parliament in the coming months ahead.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help support the provision and maintenance of parks and urban green spaces.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
On 1st August, DLUHC launched the Levelling Up Parks Fund. This Fund will create or significantly refurbish 100 parks across the UK in urban areas where provision of access to green spaces is lowest.
DLUHC has also made significant funds available to local areas under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which can be used to regenerate urban green spaces, where doing so meets local priorities.
The Local Government Finance Settlement also made £54.1 billion for 2022/23 available to local government in England. Local councils have the powers to determine spending on a range of public services, including maintenance of parks and urban green spaces, and are best placed to decide how to meet pressures in their local areas.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will provide guidance to local councils on the risks of pursuing financial schemes which could put public funds at risk.
Answered by Paul Scully
Government expects local authorities to act as prudent stewards of taxpayers’ money. Local authorities have a duty to comply with the Prudential Framework and have regard to statutory guidance and accounting codes when making investment decisions. This includes statutory guidance on local government investments, issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The department is planning to update the guidance as part of its wider approach to addressing risk across the local government capital system, as announced on 12 May 2022.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote financial stability in local authorities.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22.
Local authorities are responsible for their own financial management and for maintaining a balanced budget. The Government continues to engage with councils, and we stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help rough sleepers into long-term accommodation.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 3 September 2022 the Government published a bold new strategy to end rough sleeping, backed by £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping
The strategy sets out a range of policies and programmes to help people off the streets and to sustain their accommodation, including the £200 million Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme, which will provide up to 2,400 longer-term homes for adults facing multiple disadvantage, as well as young people who are already experiencing rough sleeping or are at risk. The strategy also confirms commitment to the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, backed by £433 million, to provide 6,000 longer-term, move-on homes with accompanying support services to those who are rough sleeping, or who have a history of sleeping rough, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of local and devolved government in Scotland and Wales on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
UK Government engaged with each Devolved Administration on the design of UKSPF at both official and ministerial levels. Our engagement with ministers from Devolved Administrations in the weeks leading up to UKSPF publication has helped to inform the most appropriate mix of interventions and local allocations for each nation.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the projects funded through the Levelling Up Fund on local communities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Applications to the Levelling Up Fund are subject to the robust assessment process set out in published guidance. This includes reviewing the alignment of each bid with the Levelling Up Fund objectives and local plans for levelling up. We also assess the value for money and deliverability of every bid.
Additionally, all successful Levelling Up Fund bids are subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation requirements to review the impact of projects in local communities. Details of the approach are set out in our published monitoring and evaluation strategy.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) metro mayors in levelling up their communities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government is committed to working with local leaders to level up the country and reduce geographic disparities across the whole of the UK. The success of mayors such as Ben Houchen has shown how strong and dynamic local leadership can tailor policy to local priorities, attract investment and seize economic opportunities.
That is why the Government has set itself a mission that, by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal, with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution, with a simplified, long-term funding settlement.
Significant progress is already being made, with a Mayoral devolution deal signed with York and North Yorkshire on 1st August 2022 and the first Mayoral combined county authority deal signed with the East Midlands on 30th August 2022. The Government continues to work with places to agree further devolution deals.
The Government is also providing £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment by March 2025 through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). In addition, the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund is investing in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing culture and heritage. The Government welcomes the wide range of bids received for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund; these are currently being assessed and an announcement is expected on successful bids later this year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on improving the safety of residential buildings.
Answered by Paul Scully
Significant progress has been made on improving the safety of residential buildings in England. Our overriding concern has been to address the immediate safety issues posed by having unsafe cladding on medium and high-rise buildings. We have made £5.1 billion available to address life safety fire risks associated with unsafe cladding in high-rise residential buildings, committed to funding the replacement of unsafe cladding on mid-rise buildings; and agreed with major developers that they will pay for remediation on buildings they were involved with. Currently, 95% of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding have been remediated or have work underway, and £1.4 billion has been allocated from the Building Safety Fund, for non-ACM cladding, estimated to cover over 97,000 homes. This scheme has reopened, and support is being provided to applicants to accelerate their applications and remediation plans.
The Building Safety Act gained Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and fundamentally reforms the regulatory system, providing greater assurance that buildings are safe. At its core it clarifies accountability for making sure a building is safe, enhances the assurance provided by the regulator, and strengthens the tools that can be utilised to seek redress. It gives powers for two new regulators - the Building Safety Regulator and the National Regulator for Construction Products who will put in place a stringent new regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings, oversee the performance of public and private building control bodies, and oversee the safety and standards of all buildings and construction products.
A programme of work to strengthen guidance for the industry and competence of professionals is ongoing, including multiple improvements to the Building Regulations and statutory guidance. The use of combustible materials in external walls of new blocks of flats above 18 metres in height is banned and restrictions on their use in new medium-rise residential buildings have been set; guidance to ensure sprinklers are provided as standard on any new residential development above 11 metres has been updated; and consultation on our intention to require multiple staircases on residential buildings above a certain height will start shortly. Better assessments of risk have been enabled by funding and supporting a new standard, PAS 9980, to properly assess risks in buildings proportionately so residents are safe and building owners do not require unnecessary works.