Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made in taking forward the proposal to make Lead Local Flood Authorities a Statutory Consultee on planning applications on surface water drainage as consulted upon by his Department in 2014.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Government has introduced the Lead Local Flood Authority as a statutory consultee under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) Order 2015.
Local planning authorities are required to consult, subject to certain exceptions, the relevant lead local flood authority on planning applications for major development with surface water drainage. In determining the application, local planning authorities are required to take into account any representations received from the authority consulted.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the (a) amount of time and (b) resources that his Department allocated to the production of impact assessments on the UK leaving the EU; and on what date work on those impact assessments started.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
Impact Assessments, typically related to specific new primary legislation before Parliament, are narrowly defined. For example, the Government laid an impact assessment alongside the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which can be found on our website.
Civil servants conduct any Impact Assessments related to legislation as business as usual. Our broader analysis continues.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what monitoring of levels of discrimination against EU citizens in the UK in the fields of securing housing in the (a) private and (b) social sectors his Department has conducted since June 2016.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Nationals of the European Economic Area are eligible for an allocation of social housing if they have a relevant right to reside in the UK under EU law, for example, if they are working, are self-employed, or have a permanent right of residence (after 5 years lawful residence in the UK).
We do not collect information on the levels of discrimination against EU nationals in relation to housing in the private or social rented sector.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what penalties his Department has imposed on businesses not complying with the Construction Products Regulations 2013 since those regulations were introduced.
Answered by Lord Sharma
Compliance monitoring and enforcement of the Construction Products Regulation is carried out by local authorities’ Weights and Measures (Trading Standards) in England, Scotland and Wales and District Councils in Northern Ireland, not the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people (a) living in supported housing and (b) living in supported housing with a mental illness can pay their rent if the proposed reforms to supported housing funding are introduced.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Supported housing supports many vulnerable people, including those with mental health problems, to live independently. Developing a workable and sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority for the Government. Ability to pay rent will depend on a range of circumstances. Those who require supported housing and assistance with their housing costs will continue to be protected. We will set out further details on the Government’s plans in the autumn.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which EU legislation within his Department's responsibilities will (a) be incorporated into UK law through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill and (b) require to be amended under powers in that Bill.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before.
The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Government’s current estimate is that we will need to make between 800 and 1,000 statutory instruments to make exit a reality in UK law.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he is providing to local authorities on incorporating loneliness reduction strategies in strategic planning.
Answered by Marcus Jones
With the support of the Department of Health, the Campaign to End Loneliness developed a toolkit for Health and Wellbeing Boards to help them better understand, identify and commission interventions for the issue of loneliness in older age. This was published in 2013 and can be found here: http://campaigntoendloneliness.org/guidance/
In 2013-14, the Department of Health also added a measure of loneliness to the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework and to the updated Public Health Outcomes Framework. Local authorities can use this as guidance in identifying local needs.
There are various statutory requirements on local authorities to develop strategic planning documents. Local authorities are encouraged to make use of the best available data in developing these documents. Local authorities must also have regard to their public sector equality duty, which requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.
The Housing White Paper set out two ways in which the planning system will be used to deliver more suitable homes for older and disabled people:
Paragraph 1.16 confirmed the strengthening of the National Planning Policy Framework so that local planning authorities are expected to have clear policies for addressing the housing requirements of groups with particular needs, such as elderly and disabled people; and,
The Neighbourhood Planning Bill introduced a new statutory duty on the Secretary of State to produce guidance for local planning authorities on how their local development documents should meet the housing needs of older and disabled people. Guidance produced will place clearer expectations about planning to meet the needs of older people, including supporting the development of such homes near local services.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will provide guidance to local authorities on using Age UK's loneliness heat map to identify local needs.
Answered by Marcus Jones
With the support of the Department of Health, the Campaign to End Loneliness developed a toolkit for Health and Wellbeing Boards to help them better understand, identify and commission interventions for the issue of loneliness in older age. This was published in 2013 and can be found here: http://campaigntoendloneliness.org/guidance/
In 2013-14, the Department of Health also added a measure of loneliness to the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework and to the updated Public Health Outcomes Framework. Local authorities can use this as guidance in identifying local needs.
There are various statutory requirements on local authorities to develop strategic planning documents. Local authorities are encouraged to make use of the best available data in developing these documents. Local authorities must also have regard to their public sector equality duty, which requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.
The Housing White Paper set out two ways in which the planning system will be used to deliver more suitable homes for older and disabled people:
Paragraph 1.16 confirmed the strengthening of the National Planning Policy Framework so that local planning authorities are expected to have clear policies for addressing the housing requirements of groups with particular needs, such as elderly and disabled people; and,
The Neighbourhood Planning Bill introduced a new statutory duty on the Secretary of State to produce guidance for local planning authorities on how their local development documents should meet the housing needs of older and disabled people. Guidance produced will place clearer expectations about planning to meet the needs of older people, including supporting the development of such homes near local services.