Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether a commission fee was added by Gallions Approach Management Ltd to the application to the Building Safety Fund in relation to the application for Drift Court in the London Borough of Newham, reference London_1595.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
In the submission to the Building Safety Fund (BSF), Gallions Approach Management Ltd, the applicant for Drift Court, Newham, did not add a commission fee to their application to the BSF.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
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 22 January 2024 to Question 9728 on Building Safety Fund: Newham, whether his Department requires a new Principal Accountable Person to submit a fresh application to the Building Safety Fund in the event of resignation by the Company Secretary at Gallions Approach Management Ltd.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
If an Applicant changes managing agent, they will need to assure the department and its delivery partners that funds already paid are properly accounted for and (if applicable) transferred to the service charge account of the new managing agent. Subject to appropriate diligence checks, future payments can be made into the new managing agent’s account.
In the event of the resignation of the company secretary, Gallions Approach Management Ltd will remain the entity responsible for the project and the Building Safety Fund (BSF) application, and subject to the entity’s obligations under the Grant Funding Agreement and any other relevant contracts. There is no need to submit a new application to the BSF.
The department has entered into a Grant Funding Agreement with Gallions Approach Management Ltd. Their corporate governance is primarily a matter for the Applicant. The Applicant may wish to seek independent legal advice.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will permit funds allocated by the Building Safety Fund in relation to the application for Drift Court in the London Borough of Newham, reference London_1595, to be allocated to an account of a new managing agent in the event of resignation by the Company Secretary at Gallions Approach Management Ltd.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
If an Applicant changes managing agent, they will need to assure the department and its delivery partners that funds already paid are properly accounted for and (if applicable) transferred to the service charge account of the new managing agent. Subject to appropriate diligence checks, future payments can be made into the new managing agent’s account.
In the event of the resignation of the company secretary, Gallions Approach Management Ltd will remain the entity responsible for the project and the Building Safety Fund (BSF) application, and subject to the entity’s obligations under the Grant Funding Agreement and any other relevant contracts. There is no need to submit a new application to the BSF.
The department has entered into a Grant Funding Agreement with Gallions Approach Management Ltd. Their corporate governance is primarily a matter for the Applicant. The Applicant may wish to seek independent legal advice.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
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 11 January 2023 from the Rt hon. Member for East Ham, reference ST102443.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
A response to the Rt Hon Member issued on 27 March 2023. A copy of the letter was resent by email on 26 January 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
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 potential impact a change of directors at Gallions Approach Limited will have on its Building Safety Fund application for Drift Court, reference London_1595.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The application to the Building Safety Fund for Drift Court, Beckton, Newham has been assessed as eligible for funding and a grant funding agreement was completed on 12 January 2023. Work to remediate unsafe cladding on the building has commenced and is expected to complete in July 2024.
A change of directors at Gallions Approach Limited will not affect the application to the Building Safety Fund as the grant funding agreement remains legally extant.
We recommend any new directors of an organisation that has applied to the Building Safety Fund seek to familiarise themselves with their application, in recognition of their legal duty, as directors of the Responsible Entity, to make their building safe.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the status is of the Building Safety Fund application made by Gallions Approach Limited for Drift Court, reference London_1595.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The application to the Building Safety Fund for Drift Court, Beckton, Newham has been assessed as eligible for funding and a grant funding agreement was completed on 12 January 2023. Work to remediate unsafe cladding on the building has commenced and is expected to complete in July 2024.
A change of directors at Gallions Approach Limited will not affect the application to the Building Safety Fund as the grant funding agreement remains legally extant.
We recommend any new directors of an organisation that has applied to the Building Safety Fund seek to familiarise themselves with their application, in recognition of their legal duty, as directors of the Responsible Entity, to make their building safe.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data on market rents in retirement communities the rent review tribunals proposed in the Renters Reform Bill will use.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 9626 on 18 January 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which UK Shared Prosperity Fund projects have been selected for randomised controlled trials as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund evaluation strategy.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We have recently concluded the feasibility stage of our randomised controlled trials programme, and have selected a local authority to develop trial proposals with. We will publish further details as part of wider updates to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) evaluation strategy in due course.
Randomised controlled trials are just one part of the UKSPF evaluation, which will involve many local authorities across all parts of the UK. The UKSPF evaluation will utilise impact, process and value for money evaluation at the intervention level, as well as deep-dive case studies at the local authority level to help build a detailed understanding of how well the UKSPF has delivered for places.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the costs to charities of applying for funding from the people and skills element of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We have given responsibility for delivering the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to local government. Local leaders know best what their local communities need and we have provided a flexible fund that empowers local authorities to deliver that. It is for local authorities to determine the application process for accessing UKSPF.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing Homeless Prevention Grant funding for local authorities before 2025 on the number of homelessness individuals.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
At the last Spending Review, the department was allocated over £2 billion to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. We have allocated the vast majority of this funding across our core programmes.
We are providing over £1 billion through the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years, including a £109 million top-up this year. Temporary accommodation is an important way of ensuring no family is without a roof over their head. The Government is committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by preventing homelessness before it occurs in the first place.
The department continues to work with local authorities and partners in the voluntary and community sector to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including to assess the effectiveness of our interventions on homelessness and rough sleeping.