Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure good governance in London Borough of Tower Hamlets since May 2022; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is committed to ensuring the good record of transparency, probity, scrutiny, and accountability is maintained across councils in this country.
The Government expects a well-functioning local authority to act transparently in carrying out its functions. Local authorities must comply with the statutory Best Value Duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement, having regard to efficiency, economy and effectiveness. Local authorities are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, meaning members of the public are entitled to request information from them.
On 4 July, the Government published draft statutory guidance on Best Value Standards and Intervention for consultation. The guidance provides greater clarity to the local government sector on how to fulfil the Best Value Duty by describing what constitutes best value, the standards expected by the department and the models of intervention at the Secretary of State's disposal in the event of failure to uphold these standards.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding his Department has provided for coastal community revival projects since December 2019.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Coastal Communities Fund, which ran until 2022, supported a large number of projects with a total investment of £187 million.
Seven out of the eight English Freeports are in coastal areas, in addition to all four Freeports in Scotland and Wales. 22 coastal areas are benefiting from over £673 million of investment via the Towns Fund. Such communities also continue to benefit from the Levelling Up Fund, where we have just announced our support for over 100 more projects, including in the coastal communities of Blackpool, Cleethorpes and Great Yarmouth. Coastal communities also benefit from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has taken steps to support inter-faith community cohesion in Leicester in the period since September 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department continues to take steps to support inter-faith community cohesion. For example, this government is supporting Dame Sara Khan's independent review of Social Cohesion and Resilience which is due to report in the Autumn, and I am considering additional options to take forward.
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 182308 on 27 April 2023.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the Inter Faith Network on community cohesion in the UK.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department continues to take steps to support inter-faith community cohesion. For example, this government is supporting Dame Sara Khan's independent review of Social Cohesion and Resilience which is due to report in the Autumn, and I am considering additional options to take forward.
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 182308 on 27 April 2023.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2023 to Question 169443 on Mayors: Powers, what were the conclusions of that public sector equalities duty analysis; and if he will place a copy of that analysis in the House of Commons Library.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the published letter to ministers relating to PSED assessments. Further announcements and publications will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on long-term funding for social care.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he had with (a) Mayors and (b) Metro Mayors on formulating the Budget 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Ministers and officials work closely with all layers of local government including mayors and metro mayors.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department conducted an equality impact assessment on the new powers and funds for the Metro Mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands announced in March 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I can confirm that the Department conducted public sector equalities duty analysis for each of the 'trailblazer' deeper devolution deals and for the capital regeneration projects in these city regions, and that this analysis was considered by ministers prior to final approval.
We have also gone further, to reiterate what is written in the trailblazer devolution deal documents, in exercising existing and newly devolved functions, the mayors and mayoral combined authorities will continue to adhere to their public sector equality duties.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the ability of local councils to fill vacancies in (a) social care and (b) refuse sectors; and what the cost per year is to local authorities of carrying vacancies in those sectors.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Local authorities work closely with providers in their local area to deliver social care, many aspects of which are provided by independent organisations and companies. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on work relating to the refuse sectors.
The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment has been made of the potential impact of increased energy costs on local authority finances; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As we have set out previously, we recognise that councils are facing higher costs. At the Autumn Statement, the Government announced significant additional resources for local government, making available approximately £6.5 billion of taxpayer subsidy for local government to deliver core services in 2023/24 and 2024/25 in addition to what was agreed at the 2021 Spending Review.
In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme is providing a discount on energy prices this winter for councils whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.