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Written Question
Homelessness: Burnley
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)

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 18 March 2024 to Question 17987 on Homelessness: Burnley, how much funding his Department provided to Burnley Borough Council through the (a) Homelessness Prevention Grant and (b) Rough Sleeping Initiative since 2019.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Burnley Borough Council have received £1,080,784 in Homelessness Prevention Grant funding since the first year of the grant, 2021/22. Burnley Borough Council have also been beneficiaries of up to £650,497 through direct allocations and as members of joint local authority bids in Rough Sleeping Initiative funding since they were first funded in 2020/21.

The funding allocations for the Homelessness Prevention Grant are published here: 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24-2024/25. The funding allocations for the Rough Sleeping Initiative are published here:2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23-2024/25.

Policy, guidance, research and grant funding allocations for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping are published here Homelessness and rough sleeping - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Temporary Accommodation: Children
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of children being housed in temporary accommodation.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 14761 on 26 February 2024.


Written Question
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Domestic Visits
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on how many occasions Ministers from his Department have visited (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

This information is not held centrally.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Service Charges
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)

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 it his policy to impose a legal cap on service charges for social housing.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government does not regulate levels of service charges in social housing. Our policy statement on social housing rents states that Registered Providers of social housing are expected to set reasonable and transparent service charges for tenants that reflect the service being provided. Levels of service charge may vary for each property based on a range of factors, including the cost of repairs, maintenance and management of the building.

The Government’s policy statement on rents also states that Registered Providers of social housing should endeavour to keep any service charge increases for tenants within the limit on annual permitted rent increases (7.7% in 2024-25).


Written Question
Freeports: Annual Reports
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answers of 15 March 2024 to Questions 17337 and 17338 on Freeports: Foreign Investment in UK, when his Department plans to publish the UK Freeports Programme Annual Report 2023; and if he will include the information on foreign direct investment performance (a) at the level and (b) for the dates requested in Questions 17337 and 17338.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Announcements will be set out in due course.


Written Question
Regional Planning and Development: Northern Ireland
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their levelling-up measures in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The UK Government is committed to levelling up across the whole of the United Kingdom to ensure that no community is left behind. We are investing £456 million in Northern Ireland to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.

This includes £150 million to develop an Enhanced Investment Zone to provide targeted incentives and interventions to encourage investment and boost growth in Northern Ireland. As well as:

10 years of endowment-style funding for Coleraine & Derry/Londonderry through the Long Term Plan for Towns

£120 million from rounds 1 and 2 of the Levelling Up Fund, investing in infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents.

£127 million set aside through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, of which £76 million has so far been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland.

The UK Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with a significant £3.3 billion spending settlement to stabilise its finances and protect public services. Within this a number of DLUHC funds are being made available to the Northern Ireland Executive.

The full list of the UK Government funds which are being made available to the Northern Ireland Executive was released publicly on Friday 8 March on gov.uk.

The published document confirms that £30 million from the third round of the Levelling Up Fund and £22.6 million from the Northern Ireland allocation for UKSPF have been included in the financial package to increase the spending power of the restored Executive.

We are committed to evaluating the impact of all our funding, as set out in the recently published local growth evaluation strategy.


Written Question
War Memorials: Muslims
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the National Muslim War Memorial will not be situated in Westminster.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

On 6 March the Chancellor announced funding of up to £1million for a new war memorial to recognise the sacrifice and duty of Muslim soldiers who fought and died for this country in both world wars.

It will be a visible reminder of the important contributions of Muslims to British history, and will promote shared values amongst people of all backgrounds through building a better understanding of faith groups’ contribution to wider society. Further information will be provided in due course.


Written Question
Inland Waterways: Planning
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will introduce National Planning Policy Guidance to assist local government planning authorities to provide a consistent approach to (a) canal and (b) associated infrastructure restoration.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The restoration of inland waterways are hugely important to so many communities around the country. Whilst we do not currently have plans to introduce further guidance, we will certainly keep the matter under review.


Written Question
Levelling Up Fund: Strangford
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

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 levelling up funding allocated to Northern Ireland has been for projects within Strangford constituency.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The UK Government is investing over £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.

Overall, Northern Ireland has received around £435 million in Levelling Up funding and Strangford constituency has benefited from this funding, through a range of funds. In addition, a number of DLUHC funds are being made available to the Northern Ireland Executive as part of the financial package, further increasing the spending power available to the Executive and allowing it to invest against its own priorities. The full list of the UK Government funds which are being made available to the Executive is at gov.uk.

Strangford constituency benefits from a share of UKSPF funding of around £104 million for Northern Ireland.

In addition, Northern Ireland has benefited from £150 million funding through the Levelling Up Fund, which includes £3.2 million for Ards and North Down Borough Council’s pedestrian and cycle Green-ways and £5.1 million towards Ulster Rugby’s Club Capital Improvement Project, as well as £30 million set aside from Round 3 towards the financial package for the restored executive.

The Community Renewal Fund has provided £12 million in funding to Northern Ireland, which includes projects within the Council areas in the Strangford constituency and projects Northern Ireland wide worth £6.75 million, where the benefits will be felt in Strangford constituency.


Written Question
Housing: Roads and Sewage
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)

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 financial impact on homeowners of nearby (a) sewage systems and (b) highways not being completed.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

It is for local planning authorities to make an appropriate assessment of infrastructure and its effect on residents. Equally, it is for local planning authorities to determine whether enforcement action is appropriate where infrastructure provision, subject to Section 106 agreement or subject to planning condition, is not delivered.

Specifically on sewage, Section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991 places a duty on a sewerage company to maintain public sewers, and water services regulation authority Ofwat can take enforcement action if a company is in breach.

The Government will continue to look at national policy on this matter to ensure, rightly, our infrastructure continues to support communities up and down the country.