Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the availability of Great British Insulation scheme grants for loft insulation to properties in Council Tax Band E.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is not a government-funded grant scheme but an obligation on larger energy suppliers to support eligible households in the least energy-efficient homes by installing insulation measures. Support is offered to households in Council Tax bands A-D in England and A-E in Scotland and Wales, based on property values from 1991 in England and Scotland, and 2003 in Wales. These Council Tax bands capture a similar proportion of homes in each nation and serve as a proxy for income, ensuring the scheme proportionately captures low- to mid-income households. GBIS will be reviewed as part of the Warm Homes Plan and lessons from GBIS will inform future schemes, with decisions communicated to industry and the public.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral answer of 20 January 2025 from the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution on Local Government Reorganisation: Devon, Official Report columns 720-721, whether (a) the reorganisation of district councils and (b) other local government reorganisation is optional.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The question in the House was taken in relation to the current applications to join the Devolution Priority Programme. As stated in the House this allows for areas to put forward locally led proposals on both devolution and local government reorganisation. We are very pleased with the level of interest and can confirm again that no area was required to submit proposals by government.
Beyond the Devolution Priority Programme the English Devolution White Paper sets out our priorities in reorganisation where we believe there are clear efficiencies which can redirect resources to frontline services, and this will need to align to the reforms to local government funding. We will expect all two tier areas and smaller or failing unitaries to develop proposals for reorganisation.
We will take a phased approach to delivery, taking into account where reorganisation can unlock devolution, where areas are keen to proceed at pace or where it can help address wider failings. However, we are clear that reorganisation should not slow down devolution, and plans for both should be complementary. We will deliver this process as quickly as possible including through legislation where it becomes necessary to ensure progress.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many requests she has granted from local authorities to postpone elections set for May 2025.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A number of councils have responded to my letter of 16 December, making requests involving postponement of their May 2025 elections. A list of those councils can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas.
In my letter I set out that requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe. A decision will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the total cost of the Government's plans for local authority re-organisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution White Paper sets out the overall case for local government reorganisation, including referencing the 2020 PwC report, “Evaluating the importance of scale in proposals for local government reorganisation”, for the County Councils Network, which estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary structure would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over 5 years, with an annual post-implementation net recurring saving of £700 million.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on what date the Government will inform councils on its decision on postponing local elections.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A decision on the requests made by councils to postpone local elections will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible. As set out in my letter of 16 December, these requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to ensure that local authorities remain democratically accountable for the provision of social care, in the context of her Department's plans for devolution.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no intention of changing local authorities’ democratic accountability for provision of social care. As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, we will reset the relationship with local government, to give the sector more autonomy and put councils on the road to recovery.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to ensure that local authorities in rural areas receive higher levels of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26, in the context of her Department's plans to repurpose funding allocated for the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.
The Rural Services Delivery Grant does not properly account for need and a large number of predominantly rural councils receive nothing from it – that’s clearly not right and a sign we need to allocate funding more effectively. The government is keen to hear from councils about how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer term consultations on local authority funding reform.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that the next local government finance settlement includes additional funding to meet higher costs arising from changes to (a) the national minimum wage and (b) employer National Insurance contributions for (i) social care, (ii) respite, (iii) hospice, (iv) charitable, (v) occupational and (vi) other health providers that have been contracted by (A) local authorities and (B) the NHS.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing. We have listened to voices across the sector and we prioritised local government at the Budget, where we announced over £4 billion in additional funding for local government services, including £1.3 billion which will go through the Settlement.
Overall, the provisional Settlement will mean local government receives an around 3.2% increase overall in Core Spending Power. This is a real terms increase. The government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government.
We will set out further details at the provisional Settlement in December.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to (a) assess and (b) prevent unauthorised sub-letting of social housing for holiday lets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to supporting landlords to tackle the small minority of social tenants who, by cheating the system, deprive those in need of a social home.
Under existing legislation, it is a criminal offence to sub-let social housing without the landlord’s permission. The courts are also able to award the social landlord the profit the tenant has made from their unlawful sub-letting.
Social landlords are encouraged to take a proactive approach to tackling fraud in their stock. If the tenant no longer occupies the property as their only or principal home, they also risk losing their secure or assured status as a tenant and their home.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to bring empty properties back into use; whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing (i) incentives and (ii) penalties to encourage property owners to bring empty properties back into use and (b) making a proportion of her target for new housing the bringing into use of empty properties from existing housing stock.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 6686 on 14 October 2024.