Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish the uplift in local authority funding for each local authority.
Answered by Simon Hoare
As set out in the Secretary of State's Written Ministerial Statement on 24 January 2024, the final Local Government Finance Settlement will be published in full early next month, including individual local authority allocations, and the statutory reports which comprise the Settlement will be subject to debate in the House of Commons shortly after.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support flooded (a) businesses and (b) residential dwellings in areas that do not meet Bellwin scheme thresholds.
Answered by Simon Hoare
Further to my answer to Question UIN 9235 on 16 January 2024, The Flood Recovery Framework provides support for flooded businesses and households and operates separately from the Bellwin Scheme which, when activated, can provide support to local authorities for their eligible response costs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to require new developments to use (a) electric and (b) renewable energy.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government is currently consulting out the Future Homes Standard - see here.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help improve the efficiency of social housing construction.
Answered by Jacob Young
Government’s £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 funds the construction of tens of thousands of homes across the country. These include homes for rent, for low-cost home ownership, and specialist and supported housing.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to encourage uptake of shared ownership properties.
Answered by Jacob Young
Demand for shared ownership remains high and our 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of new shared ownership homes right across the country.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of keyworker housing.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Local authorities have discretion about the precise definition of “key worker” allowing individual circumstance and need to be taken into account. Centralised data is, therefore, not collected in the way requested.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty for combined authorities to form working groups on tackling disadvantage.
Answered by Jacob Young
Combined Authorities are already doing positive work to tackle all forms of disadvantage in their areas. The Government is committed to empowering local leadership of local issues and is not looking to enforce particular internal ways of working.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to prevent almshouses from being sold under right to buy; and if he will take steps to help ensure that their status will be protected.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Almshouse accommodation is not eligible for the Right to Buy.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential merits of (a) providing the Environment Agency (EA) a statutory role in the planning process and (b) placing reports from the EA on a statutory footing.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Environment Agency (EA) is a statutory consultee on all planning applications (other than for minor development) on land in an area within Flood Zone 2, or Flood Zone 3.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the (a) number and (b) types of housing available meet local need.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing required to meet the needs of different groups in the community and reflect this in their planning need.