Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether landlords are exempt from applying for a licence from a local authority for a House in Multiple Occupation if only part of the building is occupied by asylum seekers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Currently all houses in multiple occupations (HMOs) in which 5 or more unrelated people live, or 3 or more in areas with additional licensing, must be licensed, including those occupied by asylum seekers.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made on the availability of adapted housing for people with disabilities in Walsall.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
DLUHC does not hold data on the availability of adapted housing in Walsall.
However, local authorities including Walsall have a statutory duty to provide home adaptations to eligible disabled people, subject to a means test and assessment of need through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG).
On 10 May, DLUHC provided each local authority with their allocation of the £573 million funding for the DFG for 2023/24. Walsall received £4,202,771.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the parking charge notice practices of CP Plus Limited.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency publishes this data on registered vehicle keeper data requests made by private parking companies.
The Government is very aware of concerns about the poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators and is taking action to improve standards and create a fairer system for motorists. My department is implementing the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, which involves the development of an independent Code of Practice for private parking companies.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with local authorities on returning to (a) town halls and (b) other office facilities following the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Local authorities are independent of central government. Now that all COVID-19 restrictions are no longer in force, it is for them to determine their own working arrangements, with a return to usual service being the norm.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will extend the deadline of his consultation on reform of the National Planning Policy Framework beyond 2 March 2023.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has no such plans.
If the Rt Hon Member has any specific concerns please write to me with further details.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the Government's policy is on building a battery energy storage systems on green belt land.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that most new building is inappropriate in Green Belt and should be refused permission unless in very special circumstances. When considering any planning application affecting Green Belt land, the local authority should ensure that substantial weight is given to any harm to the Green Belt. ‘Very special circumstances’ will not exist unless the potential harm is clearly outweighed by other considerations.
The latest NPPF published in July 2021 expects planning policies and decisions to support transitioning to a low carbon future by requiring renewable/low carbon energy generation and identifying areas for this infrastructure. It is rightly for the individual local authority to assess each case and judge whether an applicant has successfully argued that ‘very special circumstances’ would justify a planning permission in Green Belt.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will set out the process for allocating levelling up funds.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities has used a range of approaches to determine how funding is distributed through our levelling up funds, depending on the outcomes the department wants to achieve in places.
The Department recently published explanatory notes setting out the assessment and decision-making process for the Levelling Up Fund and the Community Renewal Fund. Information on the selection process for Town Deals is also on gov.uk.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of the Government's levelling up funding will be allocated to (a) Walsall South constituency and (b) Walsall Borough.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
This Government is committed to levelling up, and delivering the economic and social priorities to boost living standards across the UK. As part of this agenda, the following funds have been announced and more information is available on the gov.uk website: £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, £3.6 billion Towns Fund, £830 million Future High Street Fund, £220 million Community Renewal Fund that will help to shape the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and £150 million Community Ownership Fund.
Walsall will receive up to £42.6 million (£21.3 million Bloxwich, £21.3 million Walsall) as part of the Towns Fund, subject to approval of the full business case, and over £11 million from the Future High Street Fund. The West Midlands Combined Authority, the lead applicant, will receive over £5 million as part of the Community Renewal Fund, with direct and indirect funding benefit Walsall. The Levelling Up Fund is a competitive fund, with funding distributed to places across the UK based on successful project selection. Further detail on how future rounds of the Levelling Up Fund Fund and UKSPF will operate from 2022-23 onward will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in light of proposals to open a new deep coalmine in Cumbria.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
A public inquiry, overseen by an independent Planning Inspector, is scheduled to begin in September. The inquiry will hear the evidence for and against the proposal, and once completed, the Inspector will prepare a report and recommendation for Ministers, based on that evidence. As this application will come before Ministers for decision it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the environmental effect of proposals to open a new deep coalmine in Cumbia.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
A public inquiry, overseen by an independent Planning Inspector, is scheduled to begin in September. The inquiry will hear the evidence for and against the proposal, and once completed, the Inspector will prepare a report and recommendation for Ministers, based on that evidence. As this application will come before Ministers for decision it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.