Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to allocate funding to local authorities to (a) meet losses in income from rents and other commercial payments and (b) reimburse losses arising from outsourced leisure contracts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
On 2 July, the Government announced a co-payment scheme?to compensate?local councils?for?relevant,?unforeseen sales, fees and charges?losses?that are irrecoverable. Councils?will absorb the first 5 per cent of all?relevant,?irrecoverable?losses?compared to?budgets,?with government?compensating?councils?for 75p in every pound?of loss?thereafter.
This scheme is designed to compensate for transactional income losses that are truly irrecoverable. This will include transactional income from customer and client receipts which are generated from the delivery of goods and services and which were budgeted for in 2020/21, including leisure centres, but excluding rents and commercial investment income.
Commercial income losses are more complicated in nature, and the Government recognises that there are a complex set of variables relating to commercial income sources including recoverability.
We are also aware of instances where councils are currently experiencing cost pressures by supporting local services, such as leisure, which are delivered through contracted arrangements. We will continue to work with DCMS and councils over the coming weeks to ensure they are managing as the pandemic progresses. ?The Government stands ready to support any local authority with particular financial concerns.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of enforcement of standards in the private rented sector by local authorities.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department does not currently collect data from local authorities on enforcement of standards.
MHCLG publishes the English Housing Survey annually which collects information about people’s housing circumstances and housing conditions in England. The Department has seen the proportion of private rented homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard fall from 37 per cent in 2010 to 25 per cent in 2018.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national registration scheme for privately rented properties in England to enable a better enforcement of energy efficiency minimum standards.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector are backed up by strong enforcement powers for local authorities, including heavy fines. Recognising the importance of these standards, the Government is considering a range of measures to improve enforcement, striking the right balance between focusing on supporting good landlords and tackling those who wilfully flout their obligations.
In April 2018, using powers under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, we introduced a national database of rogue landlords and letting agents. We are committed to broadening access to this database when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
What steps the Government is taking to tackle the risk of local authorities becoming insolvent as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
We recognise the additional costs and pressures councils are facing as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. We have made £3.7 billion available to councils through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address these pressures. We will continue to work with local government to ensure they are managing as the pandemic progresses.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the level of contribution made by local authorities to raising building standards for new dwellings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. In October 2019, we launched the first stage of a two-part consultation on Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations. We proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of a Future Homes Standard from 2025. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards.
We have consulted on a meaningful and achievable increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes as a first step towards the 2025 standard. The preferred option set out in consultation is a standard that should result in a 31 per cent reduction in emissions, compared to current standards.
We have proposed a stringent minimum standard for energy efficiency, to be applied across the country, to address issues of ambition, consistency, offsetting and targeting. This means that there may no longer be any need for local planning authorities to set higher standards at a local level. Our research suggests that few local planning authorities set higher standards, but those who do often set a 19 per cent improvement over 2013 standards. Our stage-one proposals will see a 31 per cent improvement over 2013 standards. In some local areas carbon offsetting schemes form part of the energy efficiency framework for buildings; and in others energy efficiency standards are targeted at specific kinds of building work. A single, national standard may minimise any confusion and uncertainty for local planning authorities, and better support the growth of supply chains of key products required to deliver the Future Homes Standard.
The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February. The responses we received will be considered carefully, and a Government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring that solar PV be installed on all new homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Mandating a particular renewable technology, such as solar panels, may not be appropriate for all dwellings in all areas. Building regulations and national planning policy encourage the use of renewables without requiring any particular technology. Building regulations are deliberately couched in performance terms, allowing builders, local councils and architects the flexibility to select from a range of renewable energy technologies to suit the potentially unique circumstances of a particular development.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the level of availability of accommodation for British citizens returning from overseas as a result of the covid-19 pandemic who do not have a permanent home in the UK.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
United Kingdom Nationals returning from abroad who have been stranded as a result of Covid-19 and who encounter difficulty sustaining accommodation, are entitled to advice and support under the provisions of the Homelessness Reduction Act. This will include the provision of emergency accommodation for the most vulnerable who return from abroad and are homeless.
Under the Homelessness Reduction Act, local authorities and other public bodies must work together to actively prevent homelessness for people at risk.?Local authorities?must do so?irrespective of whether they are a family or single person,?the?reason they are at?risk, or if they have a local connection to the area.
We have announced over £3.2 billion of additional funding to enable local authorities to respond to other COVID-19 pressures across all the services they deliver, including stepping up support for services helping the most vulnerable, including homeless people.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department policies of (a) the March 2019 The Children’s Society report entitled Nowhere to turn and (B) the finding that since the devolution of crisis support in 2013, the number of people receiving crisis support from either national or local government has reduced by 75 per cent.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
Local welfare provision was devolved to local authorities as the Government believes that they’re best place to understand local priorities.
The Government has made over £200 billion available to councils over this spending review to spend on local services including local welfare provision.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Government has a duty to inform people and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for Brexit.
Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.
Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the level of Council Tax receipts of the practice of second homeowners avoiding the payment of council tax by registering a second home as a business.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
Owners of second homes are generally liable for council tax. Only where a property is available for short-term lets for 140 days or more per financial year, is it considered a holiday-let, and therefore assessed for business rates instead. However, the Government is aware of concerns about holiday homes and is looking into this issue to see if the criteria under which holiday lets are valued for business rates are appropriate.