Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department’s process is for (a) recording and (b) keeping minutes of all meetings relating to Government business.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Specific procedures are in place for external meetings involving ministers. These are publicly available and can be found in the Guidance on the management of Private Office Papers.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what impact assessment has been undertaken of the potential effect of the end of the £20 universal credit standard allowance uplift on local government budgets throughout the country.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Since the start of the pandemic, the Government’s priority has been to protect lives and people’s livelihoods. This includes continually supporting individuals and businesses.
The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19.
Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a Covid support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced with the success of the vaccine rollout. Now the economy is reopening and as we continue to progress with our recovery our focus is on helping people back into work.
Any extension to the uplift or further Covid support is a matter for HMT.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if the Government will take steps to strengthen consumer redress rules to increase the confidence of buyers of new build homes of the quality of those homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is committed to improving redress for new build homebuyers when things go wrong. On the 5 July 2021, the Government introduced the Building Safety Bill into Parliament, which includes provision for the New Homes Ombudsman scheme to provide dispute resolution to, and determine complaints by, buyers of new build homes against developers.
Once arrangements for the scheme have been made, developers will be required to become and remain members of the scheme. Where the ombudsman determines a dispute in favour of the complainant, they may order redress such as paying compensation, and where this is not complied with, the scheme may expel the member.
The New Homes Ombudsman provisions are for new homes built in England. Housing is a devolved matter and within the competency of the devolved legislatures and we are in discussions with the devolved administrations about the New Homes Ombudsman provisions, and they are considering how this policy might be taken forward in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
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 publish the assessment metrics used to assess local authorities in relation to the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
As set out in the prospectus published at Budget, the index used for the Levelling Up Fund places areas into category one, two or three based on the local area’s need for economic recovery and growth, improved transport connectivity, and regeneration. We will shortly publish further detail on the methodology used to calculate the index.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Northern Ireland, (iv) Scotland and (v) Wales in each month from August 2020 to December 2020.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on COVID-19 and other national campaigns on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine Government transparency arrangements.