Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2017 to Question HL1415, when the report of the working group on electrical safety in the private rented sector will be published.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Following Royal Assent of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, a Working Group of relevant experts was established to provide recommendations to Ministers on what, if any, legislative requirements for electrical safety in the private rented sector should be introduced. The Working Group has now concluded and the report and its recommendations are being considered.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of charging business rates for properties with solar panels on state schools in England and Wales.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency, made independently of ministers, and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. We have put in place a £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme for England to support those rate payers facing increases at the 2017 revaluation. Business rates policy in Wales is devolved to the National Assembly for Wales.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many urban transformation centres are planned under the Northern Powerhouse Plan; what the remit of such centres will be; when each such centre will be operational; and how much has been spent and committed on the establishment of such centres to date.
Answered by Andrew Percy
The government has not made any decisions on the N8 proposal to create a network of Urban Transformation Centres. The government will continue to work with the N8 universities to explore their proposals.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for the future of the homelessness prevention grant.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Decisions around locally funded services will be set out in the provisional Local Government Settlement, which we intend to announce before recess.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on recipients of the expiry of the Business Rates Reoccupation Relief scheme at the end of March 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government is continuing to consider representations, which included business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on recipients of the expiry of the Small Business Rate Relief scheme at the end of March 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government is continuing to consider representations, which included business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of small firms likely to be affected by the expiry of the Small Business Rate Relief scheme at the end of March 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government is continuing to consider representations, which included business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government's aim to build 275,000 affordable homes during this Parliament will be in addition to the Government's aim to deliver 200,000 new Starter Homes.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government remains committed to delivering 275,000 new affordable homes between 2015 and 2020. This means we will build more new affordable homes than during any equivalent period in the last twenty years.
The Government is committed to building 200,000 starter homes over the course of this Parliament, to provide affordable homes for purchase with 20% discount are available to first time buyers under 40.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people were assisted by the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2014-15.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Homelessness prevention grant is part of our £500 million investment in local authority and voluntary sector homelessness services. It has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless since 2010 and assisted 220,800 in 2014-15 alone.
The Government does not evaluate the effectiveness of local authority grants including the Homelessness Prevention Grant. As democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent from Central Government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government. Together with the money raised through council tax and other local sources, they have considerable freedom to work with their residents to decide how best to spend available resources on local priorities.
My Department regularly engages with a wide range of partners on homelessness prevention. We have received five written representations directly from local authorities on the future of the grant since April 2015.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have contacted his Department on the future of the Homelessness Prevention Grant in the last six months.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Homelessness prevention grant is part of our £500 million investment in local authority and voluntary sector homelessness services. It has helped local authorities to prevent 935,800 households from becoming homeless since 2010 and assisted 220,800 in 2014-15 alone.
The Government does not evaluate the effectiveness of local authority grants including the Homelessness Prevention Grant. As democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent from Central Government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government. Together with the money raised through council tax and other local sources, they have considerable freedom to work with their residents to decide how best to spend available resources on local priorities.
My Department regularly engages with a wide range of partners on homelessness prevention. We have received five written representations directly from local authorities on the future of the grant since April 2015.