Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if she will take steps to modify the Estate Agents Act 1979 so that people need to (a) be registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board and (b) possess a Fidelity Fund Certificate before completing transactions.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
All estate agents are legally required to register with HMRC and must belong to a Government-approved redress scheme. The National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agency Team regulate the estate agency sector, including overseeing the operation and enforcement of the Estate Agents Act 1979 and other relevant legislation.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to enable local authorities to apply sanctions to councillors found to have broken the Local Government Association’s model code of conduct.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In a democracy, it is crucial that elected members in local government inspire confidence and have the trust of the electorate. All local authorities must have a member code of conduct. Councils can decide what their local codes cover, although they must as a minimum conform to the seven ‘Nolan’ principles of standards in public life.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life review of Local Government Ethical Standards recommended strengthening the local government standards system with a range of legislative amendments. The Government response noted that some do not need legislation and can be better taken forward as best practice. We made commitments in response to the review, including on strengthening sanctions, and will engage with local authority representative organisations in due course.
Councils have a number of options if councillors breach the code of conduct, including formal rebuke, removal of portfolio responsibilities and representative roles, and requiring members to undertake training.
It is the role of the Monitoring Officer to ensure that the council complies with the law and their own stated policies and procedures at all times. The Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to appoint at least one Independent Person to assist the Monitoring Officer in investigations into code of conduct breaches.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who have suffered personal injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities. Concerns about the conduct of local authority officers may be taken into account as part of an investigation into a complaint about the local authority. The Ombudsman does not, however, consider complaints solely about the behaviour of officers – such complaints are a matter for the local authority as the employer.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 Government response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life review of local government ethical standards, published on 18 March 2022, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing that response and implementing the recommendations of the review.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In a democracy, it is crucial that elected members in local government inspire confidence and have the trust of the electorate. All local authorities must have a member code of conduct. Councils can decide what their local codes cover, although they must as a minimum conform to the seven ‘Nolan’ principles of standards in public life.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life review of Local Government Ethical Standards recommended strengthening the local government standards system with a range of legislative amendments. The Government response noted that some do not need legislation and can be better taken forward as best practice. We made commitments in response to the review, including on strengthening sanctions, and will engage with local authority representative organisations in due course.
Councils have a number of options if councillors breach the code of conduct, including formal rebuke, removal of portfolio responsibilities and representative roles, and requiring members to undertake training.
It is the role of the Monitoring Officer to ensure that the council complies with the law and their own stated policies and procedures at all times. The Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to appoint at least one Independent Person to assist the Monitoring Officer in investigations into code of conduct breaches.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who have suffered personal injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities. Concerns about the conduct of local authority officers may be taken into account as part of an investigation into a complaint about the local authority. The Ombudsman does not, however, consider complaints solely about the behaviour of officers – such complaints are a matter for the local authority as the employer.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many complaints were submitted to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman about council officers in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In a democracy, it is crucial that elected members in local government inspire confidence and have the trust of the electorate. All local authorities must have a member code of conduct. Councils can decide what their local codes cover, although they must as a minimum conform to the seven ‘Nolan’ principles of standards in public life.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life review of Local Government Ethical Standards recommended strengthening the local government standards system with a range of legislative amendments. The Government response noted that some do not need legislation and can be better taken forward as best practice. We made commitments in response to the review, including on strengthening sanctions, and will engage with local authority representative organisations in due course.
Councils have a number of options if councillors breach the code of conduct, including formal rebuke, removal of portfolio responsibilities and representative roles, and requiring members to undertake training.
It is the role of the Monitoring Officer to ensure that the council complies with the law and their own stated policies and procedures at all times. The Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to appoint at least one Independent Person to assist the Monitoring Officer in investigations into code of conduct breaches.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who have suffered personal injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities. Concerns about the conduct of local authority officers may be taken into account as part of an investigation into a complaint about the local authority. The Ombudsman does not, however, consider complaints solely about the behaviour of officers – such complaints are a matter for the local authority as the employer.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what mechanisms exist to ensure that in cases which are referred to local government monitoring officers, full and fair consideration is given to the legal merits of the case; and if he will make an assessment of the extent to which the difficulty and expense to a member of public of seeking a Judicial Review of the decision in such a case may be impeding access to justice.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In a democracy, it is crucial that elected members in local government inspire confidence and have the trust of the electorate. All local authorities must have a member code of conduct. Councils can decide what their local codes cover, although they must as a minimum conform to the seven ‘Nolan’ principles of standards in public life.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life review of Local Government Ethical Standards recommended strengthening the local government standards system with a range of legislative amendments. The Government response noted that some do not need legislation and can be better taken forward as best practice. We made commitments in response to the review, including on strengthening sanctions, and will engage with local authority representative organisations in due course.
Councils have a number of options if councillors breach the code of conduct, including formal rebuke, removal of portfolio responsibilities and representative roles, and requiring members to undertake training.
It is the role of the Monitoring Officer to ensure that the council complies with the law and their own stated policies and procedures at all times. The Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to appoint at least one Independent Person to assist the Monitoring Officer in investigations into code of conduct breaches.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who have suffered personal injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities. Concerns about the conduct of local authority officers may be taken into account as part of an investigation into a complaint about the local authority. The Ombudsman does not, however, consider complaints solely about the behaviour of officers – such complaints are a matter for the local authority as the employer.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 with local authorities and their representative organisations to help ensure that local government is supported in reinforcing its reputation for ethical local standards.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In a democracy, it is crucial that elected members in local government inspire confidence and have the trust of the electorate. All local authorities must have a member code of conduct. Councils can decide what their local codes cover, although they must as a minimum conform to the seven ‘Nolan’ principles of standards in public life.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life review of Local Government Ethical Standards recommended strengthening the local government standards system with a range of legislative amendments. The Government response noted that some do not need legislation and can be better taken forward as best practice. We made commitments in response to the review, including on strengthening sanctions, and will engage with local authority representative organisations in due course.
Councils have a number of options if councillors breach the code of conduct, including formal rebuke, removal of portfolio responsibilities and representative roles, and requiring members to undertake training.
It is the role of the Monitoring Officer to ensure that the council complies with the law and their own stated policies and procedures at all times. The Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to appoint at least one Independent Person to assist the Monitoring Officer in investigations into code of conduct breaches.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who have suffered personal injustice arising from maladministration by local authorities. Concerns about the conduct of local authority officers may be taken into account as part of an investigation into a complaint about the local authority. The Ombudsman does not, however, consider complaints solely about the behaviour of officers – such complaints are a matter for the local authority as the employer.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 their Department’s employees work from home at least one day a week.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Data on workforce attendance at Civil Service headquarters is published routinely at the following link.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 £3.15 billion funding to the Greater London Authority for the delivery of 90,000 housing starts by the 2020-21 financial year announced in the Autumn Statement 2016, how many and what proportion of these starts have been delivered as of 15 November 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Greater London Authority (GLA) housing statistics are published quarterly and can be found here.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when local authority properties will be required to achieve Energy Performance Certification Level C.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In the Net Zero and Heat and Buildings Strategies (both October 2021), Government committed to consider setting a long-term regulatory standard to improve social housing to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C. No date has yet been fixed where compliance will be required. We will consult with social landlords in due course to seek their views on setting minimum energy efficiency standards, the details of the standards and compliance date.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to reduce the practice of developers aggregating parcels of land for future sale or development.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government is clear that we must tackle the practice of 'land banking', where developers buy up land and leave it undeveloped for years, with no sign of building work taking place.
It is completely wrong that land with planning permission is left idle and undeveloped, with developers waiting for prices to rise and putting the profits of investors above the needs of local communities and families, who are deprived of desperately needed housing.
Through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, we will be taking new powers to fix ‘land banking’ and slow build out.
First, the Bill will make developers commit to a build out trajectory and report annually to councils on their progress so they can be held directly to account. Second, when builders have missed their deadlines, our new streamlined approach to commencement notices will mean that councils can compel developers to ‘use or lose’ the permission. Third, councils will have new powers to block planning proposals from builders who fail to deliver.
Together, these measures will tackle slow build out - making sure that the market provides the new homes that communities need, rather than only lining the pockets of developers and investors.