Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Baroness Grender, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to make provision for the rights of renters.
A bill to amend the Housing Act 1988 to abolish assured shorthold tenancies; to extend the grounds upon which landlords of residential housing may recover possession; and for connected purposes
Baroness Grender has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
There are currently 47 oil and gas extraction sites in England.
One new oil field has been granted production consent in the last two years – Horse Hill (in Surrey).
The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing online pornography through the new online safety framework. Where pornography sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, they will be subject to the new duty of care.
The government expects that the majority of commercial pornography sites, including those that are most visited, will be captured through the new online safety regime. Only those commercial pornography sites which do not host user-generated content and instead publish their own content will not be in scope. We will continue to review our proposals to ensure we deliver the most comprehensive protections for children online.
The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing online pornography through the new online safety framework. Where pornography sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, they will be subject to the new duty of care. Commercial pornography sites which allow private user to user communication will be in scope. Where commercial pornography sites do not have user-generated functionality they will not be in scope. The online safety regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography.
We expect companies to use age assurance or age verification technologies to prevent children from accessing services which pose the highest risk of harm to children, such as online pornography. We are working closely with stakeholders across industry to establish the right conditions for the market to deliver age assurance and age verification technical solutions ahead of the legislative requirements coming into force.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:
(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;
(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;
(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.
The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:
Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.
The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.
The 18 closed theory test centres are:
Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.
Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:
(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;
(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;
(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.
The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:
Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.
The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.
The 18 closed theory test centres are:
Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.
Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:
(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;
(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;
(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.
The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:
Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.
The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.
The 18 closed theory test centres are:
Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.
Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.
The Benefit Cap aims to provide fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable.
We introduced £9.3bn of welfare measures that benefit those facing the most financial disruption and, in May 2020, less than five per cent of the two million Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claimants living in the private rented sector, 93,830 tenants, had their benefit capped.
From April 2020 Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to cover the lowest 30th percent of local rents. This £1bn investment will benefit over 1 million households with an average increase of £600 this year. This will help alleviate the pressure on Discretionary Housing Payments that claimants can apply for through their Local Authority if they need additional support to meet rental costs.
We have provided £180m in Discretionary Housing Payments to Local Authorities in England and Wales for 2020/21, which includes an additional £40m to help tackle affordability pressures in the private rented sector.
All questions of planning permission for oil drilling extraction sites in the last 5 years have been local planning matters. Therefore central government has not made decisions on this. As planning is a devolved matter, this answer relates to England only.
The EWS1 form was introduced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to assist in valuation of high-rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Each lender has their own policies regarding valuation requirements. Some do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. Where requested the EWS1 assessments are commissioned by individual building owners and so the department does not hold data on their use. The Department is working to estimate the potential impact of these requests on leaseholders and sales, and is urging a pragmatic approach by lenders and valuers, especially for lower rise blocks where the Department does not support the blanket use of EWS1.
The External Wall System form (EWS1) and process is designed and implemented by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in conjunction with mortgage lenders to assist with valuation of high-rise residential buildings. Some lenders do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. It is not a Government policy or regulatory requirement and the department does not hold data on its use.
The External Wall System form (EWS1) and process is designed and implemented by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in conjunction with mortgage lenders to assist with valuation of high-rise residential buildings. Some lenders do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. It is not a Government policy or regulatory requirement and the department does not hold data on its use.
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 is the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades. It placed new duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. These duties have not been amended by the Civil Procedure Rules.
Local authorities must work with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness within 56 days to develop personalised housing plans, tailored to focus on the needs and circumstances of the household. They must do so irrespective of whether they are a family or single person or the reason they are at risk.
Local authorities also have a duty to provide or secure the provision of advice and information about homelessness and the prevention of homelessness, free of charge to any person in their district.
The Government has established an unprecedented package of support to protect renters throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
When courts resume possession hearings they will prioritise the most egregious cases, ensuring landlords are able to progress cases such as those involving anti-social behaviour and other?serious issues.
The Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential Tenancies: Protection from Eviction) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force on 29 August 2020. They extended emergency measures in the Coronavirus Act 2020, meaning that from 29 August landlords are required to provide longer notice periods of six months when seeking possession of residential property, in all but the most egregious cases. These new requirements only apply to notices served after the 29 August.
The Government has established an unprecedented package of support to protect renters throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Government has recently announced that the stay on possession proceedings will end on 20 September 2020. Once cases resume, the provisions in Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020, together with a new temporary Practice Direction, will put in place procedures to manage possession proceedings. Under those arrangements, any possession notice served during the full period of the stay from 27 March, when the suspension began, to 20 September may be reactivated upon the landlord’s application. Following reactivation these cases may be referred to a judge for directions or listed for disposal.