Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral statement by the Minister for Veteran's Affairs on Resettlement of Afghans of 19 September 2023, Official Report, column 1253, how many and what proportion of the Afghans that were housed in temporary accommodation under the local authority homelessness provision on 19 September 2023 have since been moved into permanent accommodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The department continues to monitor homelessness in these groups, and further data will be published on this in due course. This will be available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-management-information-afghan-nationals-england.
We publish data on this subject on an ad hoc basis that is voluntarily provided by local authorities. The last time information was published was in September 2023 and related to 1 July 2023 to 31 August 2023. This data was published to monitor the success of the move of Afghans out of hotels into settled accommodation.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many Afghans under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan citizens resettlement scheme are in temporary accommodation provided under local authority homelessness provision.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The department continues to monitor homelessness in these groups, and further data will be published on this in due course. This will be available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-management-information-afghan-nationals-england.
We publish data on this subject on an ad hoc basis that is voluntarily provided by local authorities. The last time information was published was in September 2023 and related to 1 July 2023 to 31 August 2023. This data was published to monitor the success of the move of Afghans out of hotels into settled accommodation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 ban party political adverts from video streaming services.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Political advertising is a fundamental part of any democratic system and is an established way for political parties and campaigners to connect with the public and have their message heard.
The ban on paid political advertising on television and radio (introduced in the Communications Act 2003) continues to be supported across the political spectrum as it levels the playing field in political campaigning.
The Government remains committed to protecting the integrity of our democracy and continues to keep campaigning rules under close review to ensure that digital campaigning remains transparent and fair.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 facilitate greater involvement of architects in the development stage of new housing schemes.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
National planning policy makes clear that local authorities should prepare their own local design codes in line with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code, which can define what well-designed new development means in their local area.
The NPPF and supporting National Design Guide and National Model Design Code emphasise that effective engagement between local authorities, communities, applicants and other interests, such as architects, throughout the design process, including the preparation of design codes, is helpful to achieving well designed and sustainable new development.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 help ensure standards of (a) quality and (b) sustainability in new housing developments.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government legislated through the Building Safety Act 2022 to provide for a statutory New Homes Ombudsman and accompanying Code of Practice that set out expectations of scheme members around standards of conduct and standards of quality of work.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
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 took to increase levels of housebuilding in Birmingham in 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Department has consistently set the conditions for the building of homes – and building them in the right places, including the revision of the NPPF in December 2023 and the Written Ministerial Statement on a long-term plan for housing in February 2024. Beyond that, Birmingham City Council is responsible for setting the plan for building the houses the city needs.
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, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that best practice under the developer remediation contract is (a) captured and (b) shared.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Publicly available data on the developer contract can be found here.
The Department encourages developers to discuss challenges and successes with the oversight team. Best practice examples are shared with other developers as appropriate.
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 information his Department published on the treatment of jointly owned properties under the Building Safety Act's leaseholder protections, prior to his Department's Call for evidence: Jointly owned properties, published on 21 March 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Act can be found here: Building Safety Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).
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, how many audits conducted by his Department from April 2023 to March 2024 under the Developer Self Remediation Terms have required the developer to undertake corrective action in relation to (a) Building and (b) Post-remediation Qualifying Assessments.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Publicly available data on the developer contract can be found here.
The Department encourages developers to discuss challenges and successes with the oversight team. Best practice examples are shared with other developers as appropriate.