Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing private rented sector tenants' protections and rights of redress against (a) landlords and (b) letting agencies under private rented sector deposit protection schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) schemes play a vital role in protecting tenant deposits and providing free alternative dispute resolution, should a deposit dispute arise at the end of a tenancy. TDP providers are appointed as authorised schemes through government concession contracts.
My department is responsible for managing these contracts and monitoring schemes’ performance. The contracts are due to expire in 2026, and as part of the re-procurement we will be reviewing the current system and exploring what improvements can be made to ensure the best possible service for tenants and landlords.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the role of letting agencies on trends in the level of rents in the private rented sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government keeps trends in the Private Rented Sector under review, including the role of letting agents.
The English Private Landlord Survey 2021 asked landlords if they had increased their rent and, if so, what were their motivations for doing so. It found that 64% of landlords surveyed had not increased their rent in the last two years. Where landlords had increased the rent, the most common factor was to account for changes in market rents. 71% of landlords who had raised rents cited changes in market rents as an influencing factor. 34% of landlords who had raised the rent cited advice from an agent as influencing their decision.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to give local authorities greater flexibility in respect to grant funding.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government was elected on a manifesto that stressed a partnership approach with local authorities and an intention to stabilise the funding system, moving away from wasteful competition and towards multi-year funding settlements.
We want to have better join up across interconnected policy areas and investment programmes, reducing burdens for local authorities and fund bidders.
We have been working closely with local authorities and delivery partners to inform best practice in future design and recognise the importance of supporting local capacity and capability, realistic delivery timelines and working in partnership to design future delivery arrangements. As part of this, we are also committed to deepening existing combined authority devolution settlements and widening devolution to more areas, incentivised through new powers over transport, adult education and skills, housing and planning and employment support. We will also continue to offer support for combined authorities working on their local growth plans. Those are the principles we will seek to apply as we plan future local funding.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to end local authority competitive bidding.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government was elected on a manifesto that stressed a partnership approach with local authorities and an intention to stabilise the funding system, moving away from wasteful competition and towards multi-year funding settlements.
We want to have better join up across interconnected policy areas and investment programmes, reducing burdens for local authorities and fund bidders.
We have been working closely with local authorities and delivery partners to inform best practice in future design and recognise the importance of supporting local capacity and capability, realistic delivery timelines and working in partnership to design future delivery arrangements. As part of this, we are also committed to deepening existing combined authority devolution settlements and widening devolution to more areas, incentivised through new powers over transport, adult education and skills, housing and planning and employment support. We will also continue to offer support for combined authorities working on their local growth plans. Those are the principles we will seek to apply as we plan future local funding.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when her Department plans to publish the next round of submissions on homelessness duties owed to Ukrainians by each lower-tier local authority.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Homelessness Pressures Management Information was last published on 3 October 2024. The publication included data submitted from local authorities in England on homelessness duties accepted for Ukrainian households, covering the period from 24 February 2022 until 31 August 2024 and can be found here. We aim to publish these quarterly.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends of the level of demand on statutory services provided by local authorities since June 2010.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities play a crucial role in the delivery of this Government’s missions, from driving growth, to delivering opportunities for all. The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing which is impacting the services councils can provide to local people. Resetting the relationship between national and local government and improving how local government is funded in this Parliament, are crucial in ensuring local people get the support and services they need and deserve.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will incorporate other streams of funding into the Revenue Support Grant.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 524 on 26 July 2024.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the local authority funding gap in the next two years.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon member to the answer to Question UIN 524 answered on 26 July 2024.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Minister for Women and Equalities on reducing the number of women sleeping rough.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We recognise that women sleeping on the streets have different experiences and needs to men, particularly relating to experiences of violence and abuse.
£9.2 million funding is available for women-specific rough sleeping services. We will take action to tackle rising levels of rough sleeping and develop a strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what role her Department will have in coordinating a cross-departmental approach to ending homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness levels have sky-rocketed, and we must deliver long-term solutions. The Government will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country, to get us on back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
The Government is taking action by setting up a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group which the Deputy Prime Minister will chair, bringing together ministers from across Government to develop this long-term strategy.