Asked by: Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether financial support has been provided to the Housing Ombudsman in relation to the Landlord Ombudsman Service and, if so, the amount and the terms under which it has been provided.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lord to my oral response on 18 January 2024 (Official Report, HoL, Volume 835, Column 471).
The Renters (Reform) Bill allows the Government to select a scheme through an open competition, or appoint a provider to deliver a designated scheme. As the Minister of State for Levelling Up announced at Commons Committee stage of the Bill, the Government’s preference at this time is to deliver the PRS Ombudsman through the Housing Ombudsman Service (“HOS”), who provide social housing redress.
Following this announcement, we are working with HOS to explore what a streamlined redress service could look like. This work is in its early stages and we will engage with the sector during the process.
HOS has not been appointed as PRS Landlord Ombudsman administrator to run a designated scheme. A final decision on the provider will be made in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have designated the Housing Ombudsman the preferred provider of the Landlord Ombudsman Service without an open and transparent process to find the best provider.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Lord to my oral response on 18 January 2024 (Official Report, HoL, Volume 835, Column 471).
The Renters (Reform) Bill allows the Government to select a scheme through an open competition, or appoint a provider to deliver a designated scheme. As the Minister of State for Levelling Up announced at Commons Committee stage of the Bill, the Government’s preference at this time is to deliver the PRS Ombudsman through the Housing Ombudsman Service (“HOS”), who provide social housing redress.
Following this announcement, we are working with HOS to explore what a streamlined redress service could look like. This work is in its early stages and we will engage with the sector during the process.
HOS has not been appointed as PRS Landlord Ombudsman administrator to run a designated scheme. A final decision on the provider will be made in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to ring-fence funding for housing related support to match 2010 levels of £1.6 billion a year allocated to local authorities for that purpose.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Funding to local authorities for housing related support is through the Local Government Finance Settlement. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion or 7.5% in cash terms on 2023-24.
Having listened to the views of local government, on 24 January the Government announced additional measures for local authorities in England worth £600 million. This includes £500 million of new funding for councils with responsibility for adult and children’s social care, distributed through the Social Care Grant.