Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of refuge providers in England own their own property; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the licensing regime on those providers.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Under House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) legislation, rooms in licensable HMOs that are under 6.51 square metres cannot be used as sleeping accommodation by one person. Local housing authorities have discretion to consider local circumstances and require higher standards within HMO licence conditions, but must not set lower standards.
The purpose of this legislation is to reduce overcrowding in HMOs. The Government consulted extensively on the changes to HMO licensing at the time and there was broad support for the extension of scope of mandatory HMO licensing.
The Department does not hold information on the number of domestic abuse safe accommodation providers, including refuges, that own their own property.
My Department is working with local authorities to raise standards across the private rented sector, to protect vulnerable tenants, including those living in HMOs.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on domestic abuse refuge providers that own their property and are licensed as Houses of Multiple Occupation of the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Under House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) legislation, rooms in licensable HMOs that are under 6.51 square metres cannot be used as sleeping accommodation by one person. Local housing authorities have discretion to consider local circumstances and require higher standards within HMO licence conditions, but must not set lower standards.
The purpose of this legislation is to reduce overcrowding in HMOs. The Government consulted extensively on the changes to HMO licensing at the time and there was broad support for the extension of scope of mandatory HMO licensing.
The Department does not hold information on the number of domestic abuse safe accommodation providers, including refuges, that own their own property.
My Department is working with local authorities to raise standards across the private rented sector, to protect vulnerable tenants, including those living in HMOs.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding the Government has provided to support integration of British National (Overseas) visa holders in each of the last five years.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is leading the Government's work on welcoming Hong Kong BN(O)s into the UK. While the Department has run integration programmes such as the Controlling Migration Fund and the Integration Area Programme, these were not tailored to BN(O) communities.
The new BN(O) route and access to public services is an unprecedented offer following China’s passing of the National Security Law. This new law significantly impacts the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and since the situation that BN(O) status holders find themselves in has changed, it is right that their rights and entitlements in the UK change too.
The visa route reflects the historic and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking in response to the consultation on the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
For some people, places and communities, the benefits and opportunities of our society are not felt equally. No community should suffer poorer outcomes simply because of the school they went to, the faith they hold, or the area that they live in.
That is why the Government published the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper in 2018 and followed this up with a cross-Government Action Plan in 2019. Since then, significant progress has been made, including providing over 18,000 learner places through new English Language programmes, delivering a new Integration Action Plan covering all relevant Whitehall departments, and setting up an innovative new Integration Area Programme, to identify what works and share this learning nationally
This progress continues today. For example, Government continues to work with the first wave of Integration Areas, as they deliver interventions and build stronger communities and places in Blackburn with Darwen, Waltham Forest, Peterborough, Walsall and Bradford. An evaluation of the Integration Area Programme is scheduled to be published later this year, which will provide further evidence on the impact of this work and help to inform future Government integration policy and programmes.
This Government is proud to continue to ensure that local voices are heard, valued and produce change - so that no community is left behind and that we strengthen work to recognise and value those common themes which bind us all together - not least as we begin to vital process of helping people, places and communities across the whole of the United Kingdom to build back better from the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government's Integration Area Programme from the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper ended; what conclusions were made from that programme; and what plans his Department has to take forward initiatives from that programme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
For some people, places and communities, the benefits and opportunities of our society are not felt equally. No community should suffer poorer outcomes simply because of the school they went to, the faith they hold, or the area that they live in.
That is why the Government published the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper in 2018 and followed this up with a cross-Government Action Plan in 2019. Since then, significant progress has been made, including providing over 18,000 learner places through new English Language programmes, delivering a new Integration Action Plan covering all relevant Whitehall departments, and setting up an innovative new Integration Area Programme, to identify what works and share this learning nationally
This progress continues today. For example, Government continues to work with the first wave of Integration Areas, as they deliver interventions and build stronger communities and places in Blackburn with Darwen, Waltham Forest, Peterborough, Walsall and Bradford. An evaluation of the Integration Area Programme is scheduled to be published later this year, which will provide further evidence on the impact of this work and help to inform future Government integration policy and programmes.
This Government is proud to continue to ensure that local voices are heard, valued and produce change - so that no community is left behind and that we strengthen work to recognise and value those common themes which bind us all together - not least as we begin to vital process of helping people, places and communities across the whole of the United Kingdom to build back better from the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has provided to tackle (a) racism, (b) anti-semitism, (c) Islamophobia and (d) other types of hate crime and prejudices since 2015.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable. The Government takes hate crime very seriously which is why we are clear that victims should be supported and the individuals who carry out hateful attacks must be brought to justice. This Department has, since 2015, supplied over £8,130,000 to combat all forms of hate crime and prejudices.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will list the recipients of funding from the Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grant scheme 2020 to 2021.
Answered by Luke Hall
The names of recipients of funding from the Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grant Scheme 2020- 2021 will be publicly available in due course.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason funding was allocated from the Towns Fund to the low-priority towns of Brighouse, Morley, Stocksbridge and Todmorden.
Answered by Simon Clarke
All towns selected for Town Deals are in the more deprived half of towns in the UK, and the 40 highest priority towns were selected. Of those in the lower priority groups, there were specific reasons for inclusion based on local intelligence about both the challenges in those towns and the opportunity for transformational change. The different reasons for selecting Brighouse, Morley, Stocksbridge and Todmorden are listed in the NAO Review of the Town Deals Selection Process (July 2020).
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding he plans to allocate to the ESOL programme in (a) 2020 and (b) each of the next five years.
Answered by Simon Clarke
a The £5.1 million ESOL for Integration Fund is supporting 30 local authorities in 2020 / 21 to deliver English language sessions for residents with little or no English helping them to integrate more widely with the people, places and amenities in their local area.
Through the Integration Area Programme we continue to fund Integration Areas to deliver English language classes in innovative ways to address local integration challenges – this is supporting communities to better integrate, participate fully in society and access the opportunities that life in modern Britain provides.
Additionally, MHCLG funded resources to support organisations and individuals seeking to provide volunteer led English language clubs were recently published via the Learning and Work Institute website.
b Subject to the Department’s future funding settlement we will explore how MHCLG funds ESOL provision beyond 20/21 at that point.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated from the public purse towards improving support for victims of racially and religiously motivated hatred in the most recent period for which such information is available.
Answered by Luke Hall
My Department has so far allocated £890,000 for hate crime reporting and support of victims for the financial year 2020/21. We are also considering applications to our £2,000,000 Faith, Race and Hate Crime Grant Scheme which closed to applications in May and is to support projects seeking to tackle religiously and racially motivated hate crime as well as social integration.