Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government has received representations on establishing a scheme for British households to provide temporary accommodation for Hong Kong British Nationals Overseas who decide to move to the UK as a result of persecution by the Chinese Government.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government has not received representations to provide temporary accommodation for British Nationals Overseas (BN(O)s) travelling to the UK. BN(O)s are entitled to travel to the UK and settle according to the conditions of their entry.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department will take to replace all types cladding on apartment blocks.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have published guidance to reiterate the importance of building owners assessing their buildings and ensuring that non-Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems are safe. Advice Note 14, published in 2017 and updated in December 2018, reiterates that the clearest way to ensure safety is to remove unsafe materials.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765761/Expert_Panel_advice_note_on_non-ACM.pdf
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the help-to-buy to scheme to people purchasing house boats as their main residence.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Help to Buy Equity Loan has helped almost 159,000 households buy a new-build home since spring 2013, with 81 per cent of sales being to first-time buyers. This scheme is for new build homes and is not available for houseboats. There are no plans to extend the scheme to such dwellings.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to ban landlords with convictions for serious offences from renting out their property.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
On 6 April 2018 regulations made under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 came into force, introducing banning orders for landlords who have committed serious offences or who are prolific offenders.
Local authorities can now apply to the First Tier Tribunal for a banning order against a landlord who has committed a specified banning order offence. Banning order offences include serious criminal offences and housing offences under the Housing Act 2004. If the Tribunal decides to issue an order, it will determine the length of the banning order which must be for a minimum period of 12 months with no upper limit.
We have published guidance to assist local housing authorities to understand and use their new powers.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 make an assessment of the level of (a) use and (b) value for money of park exercise equipment.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The management of parks and any exercise equipment within those spaces is the responsibility of each local authority. The Government does not hold data on the use or value for money of park exercise equipment.
The Parks Action Group, which was created following the Select Committee response to the Inquiry on the future of public parks, is reviewing a range of issues relating to parks and green spaces in England, including developing priority work streams on usage and value of parks. The Group has committed to review the need for structured physical facilities within parks and will report back to Parliament in the Autumn.
Many local authorities already work very closely on health and wellbeing issues and are keen to develop opportunities for play. Best practice models are shared in the Local Government Association, which is a member of the Parks Action Group and will be a pivotal partner in sharing the learning and best practice from the Group with local authorities.