Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to raise standards for energy efficiency in (a) new-build housing and (b) other new buildings.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government has a duty under section 165 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to carry out a review of the minimum energy performance requirements for new homes in the Building Regulations. The Department has started work on this review and we are considering whether to expand the scope of it to include non-domestic buildings. The outcome of the review will be used to help determine whether any further strengthening of energy performance standards is required.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if the Government will take into account that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have passed 400ppm when deciding on whether to overturn a decision by a local authority not to allow fracking.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Planning law requires that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The National Planning Policy Framework including, where relevant, national planning policy relating to climate change, is a material consideration in planning decisions. In deciding called-in applications or recovered appeals, the Secretary of State will take into account all material considerations which are before him at the time of the decision.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take into account the views of local communities and Lancashire County Council when deciding whether to reverse the council's decision not to allow fracking.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
Decisions on recovered appeals are taken on the basis of the material considerations which are before the Secretary of State at the time of the decision, including material considerations put forward to the local planning authority at the time of the application.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether housing association tenants who part-buy their properties under shared ownership will be able to use Right To Buy to purchase either a share or all of that property.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As is the case with the existing Right to Buy, the agreement with housing associations and the National Housing Federation to extend Right to Buy discounts to housing association tenants will not apply to those people who already own a share in their home, including those who purchased their home under shared ownership.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to respond to people in Moseley in Birmingham who have written to him to express their opposition to proposed boundary changes; and if he will take their views into account in considering such changes.
Answered by Marcus Jones
People who have written to the Secretary of State about the electoral review in Birmingham have received a response explaining that the Secretary of State has no role in this matter which, in accordance with the statute, is being undertaken by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England. This Commission is a Parliamentary body which will lay before Parliament a draft of any Order it intends to make to implement the electoral review; the Commission will consider any representations it receives about the review before laying such an Order.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will set out a timetable for identifying a long-term secure funding model for the supported housing sector.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The supported housing sector provides vital support for some of our country's most vulnerable people. The Government is currently conducting a review of supported housing to ensure we have accurate and up to date information about services being provided. We are committed to ensuring the supported housing sector is on secure financail footing and will continue to keep this under review to provide certainity for the sector.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will meet providers of (a) supported housing and (b) specified housing to discuss the effect of the proposed change to social rents on the viability of those types of housing.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We welcome the opportunity to engage with the supported housing sector to understand how the sector’s views can best be accommodated as we implement our policy. Ministers and officials have been discussing this issue with the National Housing Federation and a number of providers.
We plan to except specialised supported housing, residential care homes, nursing homes and PFI-funded Extra Care housing from the rent reductions. We are continuing to work with the sector on this issue to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information he received about risks connected with the proposed right to buy scheme during the planning of that scheme.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government has a manifesto commitment to extend the Right to Buy to 1.3 million housing association tenants.
The deal we have made with the National Housing Federation ensures that housing associations will give their tenants the opportunity to buy their home with an equivalent discount to the Right to Buy, delivering the manifesto commitment.
The Government is in discussion with the National Housing Federation and the housing association sector to ensure that the right arrangements are put in place to support the implementation and delivery of the proposals.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the total value of contracts his Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We have interpreted the question about the value of contracts to mean spend against those contracts by the Department with private sector providers in the each of the last five financial years.
For 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, we do not hold the information split by private and public sectors.
For the remaining financial years, spend with private sector providers were £131 million in 2012-13 and £134 million in 2013-14.
Spending with our third party suppliers (private and public sectors) has reduced by 53% from £314 million in 2009-10 to £148 million in 2013-14 for the core DCLG Department, delivering a significant saving for taxpayers.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222916, what the total cost to Birmingham City Council will be of funding the Independent Improvement Panel.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
As indicated in the Panel’s Terms of Reference agreed with the City Council, it will be supported by a secretariat provided jointly by Birmingham City Council and the Department for Communities and Local Government, and the expenses it incurs will be shared equally by the City Council and the Department.