Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring the provision of sanitary bins in male toilets in statute.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Improving the accessibility and use of buildings is already a part of the Government’s agenda on the built environment. A process has been underway since 2020 to update the building regulations and associated guidance contained in Approved Document M. Simultaneously, a call for evidence on toilet provision was undertaken earlier this year and Written Ministerial Statement HCWS172 followed from it.
The Government is committed to undertaking further technical consultations on both of these workstreams in due course. Upon conclusion of those consultations, responses will be considered, and policy announcements will then be made in the appropriate way.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a statutory obligation to provide sanitary bins in (a) existing and (b) newly built men's public toilets.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Improving the accessibility and use of buildings is already a part of the Government’s agenda on the built environment. A process has been underway since 2020 to update the building regulations and associated guidance contained in Approved Document M. Simultaneously, a call for evidence on toilet provision was undertaken earlier this year and Written Ministerial Statement HCWS172 followed from it.
The Government is committed to undertaking further technical consultations on both of these workstreams in due course. Upon conclusion of those consultations, responses will be considered, and policy announcements will then be made in the appropriate way.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to progress (a) research on the needs of all people using toilets and (b) wider research on Part M of the Building Regulations on access to and use of buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Improving the accessibility and use of buildings is already a part of the Government’s agenda on the built environment. A process has been underway since 2020 to update the building regulations and associated guidance contained in Approved Document M. Simultaneously, a call for evidence on toilet provision was undertaken earlier this year and Written Ministerial Statement HCWS172 followed from it.
The Government is committed to undertaking further technical consultations on both of these workstreams in due course. Upon conclusion of those consultations, responses will be considered, and policy announcements will then be made in the appropriate way.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 20 May 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire on housing for Ukrainian refugees, reference ZA59780.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
A response has been issued to the Hon Member's correspondence.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 15 February 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire, reference ZA58919, regarding council tax.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
A response has been issued.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 24 February 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire regarding the Building Safety Bill, reference ZA59011.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
A response to the Hon Member has been issued.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made since December 2021 on gathering of evidence on toilet provision and facilities to update the statutory guidance as part of wider research on Part M of the Building Regulations.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Toilet provision for men and women' call for evidence closed on 26 February 2021. A very high number of responses to the call for evidence were received, all of which have now been read and analysed. An update will be made in due course.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the policy paper entitled People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform, what recent steps he has taken to progress cross-government working on stimulating a specialist housing market for older people.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 92887 on 20 December 2021.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the White Paper on Adult Social Care Reform, what steps his Department will take to increase collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care to expand housing-based care options for older people.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Both my Department and the Department of Health and Social Care are committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people. We believe that offering older people a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them to live independently and feel more connected to their communities.
Boosting the supply of a range of specialist housing for older people will be key to achieving this aim. We already work closely with the Department of Health and Social care to provide capital funding to incentivise their supply.
As set out in the Department of Health and Social Care’s recent white paper, People at the Heart of Care , a new £300 million investment will embed the strategic commitment to connect housing with health and care in all local places and drive the stock of new supported housing.
We will continue to work across government and with a range of stakeholders to look at how we can further support the growth of a thriving older people’s housing sector.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 17 July 2021, reference ZA57019, addressed to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and transferred to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on or before the 15 September 2021, in relation to obesity concerns.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
A response to the Hon Member's letter has been issued.