Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a new taskforce to assess how to accelerate the delivery of housing for older people.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Both the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care are committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people. We are engaging closely with both the sector and a range of other stakeholders on this issue. This includes considering the merits of different engagement and delivery models including proposals from the sector for a cross-Government taskforce.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has for the Coastal Communities Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Whether there will be another round of the Coastal Communities Fund or the Coastal Revival Fund is a matter for the next Comprehensive Spending Review.
The Government is committed to levelling up all parts of the UK. We published a prospectus at Budget for the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund which will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK. In addition, as announced at Spending Review 2020, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK in places most in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people who face labour market barriers. We will publish a UK-wide investment framework for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund later this year and confirm multiyear funding profiles at the next Spending Review.
The Government is supporting coastal communities to recover from the pandemic. On 20 March we announced a new £56 million Welcome Back Fund to support a safe and successful reopening of our high streets and seaside resorts, giving people the reassurance that they can shop and socialise in a COVID-secure way. This builds on the £50 million Reopening High Streets Safely Fund (RHSSF) announced on 25 May 2020, doubling local authority funding allocations and significantly increasing the scope of eligible activity.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for the future of the Coastal Communities Fund; and whether those plans include providing grant for (a) ports, (b) harbours and (c) other infrastructure to support the UK fishing industry.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
This Government recognises the unique challenges facing coastal communities and is committed to levelling up all areas of the UK. However, whether there is another round of the Coastal Communities Fund is a matter for the comprehensive Spending Review.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the infrastructure requirements of the UK fishing industry.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
This Government recognises the unique challenges facing coastal communities and is committed to levelling up all areas of the UK. However, whether there is another round of the Coastal Communities Fund is a matter for the comprehensive Spending Review.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with sheltered housing providers on their concerns on the effect of any caps on service charges on their ability to adapt to meet the changing needs of their residents.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Ministers and officials have been engaging closely with sheltered accommodation and extra care housing providers. We value the role this type of housing plays in enabling older people to maintain their independence and are clear our approach to sheltered housing must enable providers to continue delivering these important services for their vulnerable residents.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the funding model for short-term supported housing and sheltered housing incentivises new development to meet both current and future demand.
Answered by Nigel Adams
With demand for supported housing set to increase, changes made to the system now will be vital in securing the future of the sector. Our approach to funding reform must both help protect current provision and boost new supply. We want our proposals to put funding for the sector on a long-term sustainable basis, promoting investment in new development, whilst ensuring value for money. We have taken stock of consultation responses and will be responding on this soon.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with smaller providers on the definition of short-term supported housing; and if he will make it his policy to ensure that those homes and services are not put at risk as a result of any new arrangements for funding housing costs.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have been engaging closely with providers, including smaller ones. We know how important short-term supported accommodation is to vulnerable people when they have faced a crisis in their lives – and supply of good quality hostels and refuges is an important part of our response to ending rough sleeping. We are committed to protecting this provision and the vulnerable people who rely on it. We have been listening carefully and believe that our forthcoming proposals will reflect this.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) his and (b) other Government Departments have carried out an economic assessment of the amount of money supported and sheltered housing schemes save the public purse annually.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Supported housing is a vital service in a country that works for all. It brings savings to other parts of the public sector, such as health and social care, as well as helping those services to deliver better outcomes for vulnerable people. Analysis by my Department in 2016, based on a report commissioned from Frontier Economics on Specialist Housing in 2010, estimated that the net fiscal benefit of providing supported housing is £3.53 billion per annum. We are clear that our approach on supported housing must continue to underpin the vital contribution that supported housing makes to the country.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to ensure that that the funding model for sheltered housing will take into account the need for service charges to reflect the actual costs of providing services.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Sheltered and extra care housing plays a vital role in maintaining independence for older people. I am clear, therefore, that our approach for sheltered housing must give providers the certainty they need to maintain current provision and invest in new supply. We have been engaging closely with providers to ensure that we achieve this, whilst recognising the need for proportionate oversight and transparency. We will be responding to our consultation on this shortly.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 123225, how the Government plans to fund extra stays for people whose stays in short-term supported housing exceed two years.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
As I set out in the response to my Hon Friend to Question UIN 123225 on 22 January 2018, our proposals are not linked to an individual’s length of stay. Schemes meeting the short-term support housing definition will be funded, not the individual residents.
Where an individual requires an extended stay, which may be the case if their needs are more complex, the funding the scheme has received will not be affected.