Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he accepted the full severance payment to which he was entitled on leaving his post on 6 July 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 77560 on 8 November 2022.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the administrative costs to his Department have been from the appointment of new Secretaries of State since July 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley
This is a core task for the Civil Service and administrative costs are contained and managed within the Department's existing budgets.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 estimate of the average monthly cost to a local authority of supporting a homeless Ukrainian refugee whose sponsorship arrangement has broken down.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
For arrivals under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, the Government is providing funding to councils to enable them to provide support to individuals and families, including in the minority of cases where someone is left without accommodation.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of warm banks and warm spaces opened by local authorities for use during winter 2022-23; and if he will make an estimate of the average cost of running those spaces by local authority.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available substantial funding in 2022/23 for local government in England. In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme is providing a discount on energy prices this winter for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.
We know that inflation forecasts are higher than they were at the Spending Review. We are working closely with councils and their representatives, as we always do, to monitor the impact on service delivery and budgets.
Local authorities in Wales are in the first instance a matter for the Welsh Government.
The department does not hold the information requested on warm banks and warm spaces.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to provide additional support to local authorities to help cover the increase in inflation and rising energy costs.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available substantial funding in 2022/23 for local government in England. In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme is providing a discount on energy prices this winter for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.
We know that inflation forecasts are higher than they were at the Spending Review. We are working closely with councils and their representatives, as we always do, to monitor the impact on service delivery and budgets.
Local authorities in Wales are in the first instance a matter for the Welsh Government.
The department does not hold the information requested on warm banks and warm spaces.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 the financial stability of local authorities in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available substantial funding in 2022/23 for local government in England. In addition, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme is providing a discount on energy prices this winter for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.
We know that inflation forecasts are higher than they were at the Spending Review. We are working closely with councils and their representatives, as we always do, to monitor the impact on service delivery and budgets.
Local authorities in Wales are in the first instance a matter for the Welsh Government.
The department does not hold the information requested on warm banks and warm spaces.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many beneficiaries of the Homes for Ukraine scheme have presented to their local authorities as homeless as of 14 October 2022.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Homelessness management information pertaining to Ukrainian nationals in England is updated on gov.uk every 4 weeks. The most recent update includes data up to 23 September 2022. A total of 1,915 Ukrainian households have been owed a homelessness prevention or relief duty, based on a response rate of 71% of local authorities. Of this figure, 850 households arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme and 955 households via the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. Further information can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-management-information-ukrainian-nationals-england.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the University of Birmingham's The Dinner Table Prejudice report, published in January 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the rise in Islamophobia cited in that report; and what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on tackling Islamophobia.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
We live in an increasingly tolerant society and prejudice towards Muslims is unacceptable. Muslims in our country should be able to practice their faith in freedom. We have some of the strongest legislation in the world to tackle hate crime and, where groups incite racial hatred or are engaged in racially or religiously motivated criminal activity, we would expect them to be prosecuted. We also have funded Tell MAMA with over £4m between 2017 and 2022 to monitor anti-Muslim hate crimes and support victims.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many times he has spoken with representatives of the East and South East Asian community regarding the impact of covid-19 on Chinatown districts across the UK.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
We have put in place one of the world’s most comprehensive economic responses worth £400 billion – to protect jobs, businesses, and public services throughout and beyond this pandemic. On 21 December, the Chancellor announced a further £1 billion funding for hospitality and leisure businesses, including more than £100 million boost to the additional restrictions grant fund for local authorities in England to support other businesses impacted by the Omicron variant.
The Government has allocated over £13 billion directly to councils in England since the start of the pandemic to tackle the impacts of Covid-19. Over £6 billion is unringfenced in recognition that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major Covid-19 pressures in their local area.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 ensure that Chinatowns around the UK are able to recover from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
We have put in place one of the world’s most comprehensive economic responses worth £400 billion – to protect jobs, businesses, and public services throughout and beyond this pandemic. On 21 December, the Chancellor announced a further £1 billion funding for hospitality and leisure businesses, including more than £100 million boost to the additional restrictions grant fund for local authorities in England to support other businesses impacted by the Omicron variant.
The Government has allocated over £13 billion directly to councils in England since the start of the pandemic to tackle the impacts of Covid-19. Over £6 billion is unringfenced in recognition that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major Covid-19 pressures in their local area.