Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist local authorities in taking action to bring empty dwellings back into occupation and to expedite the administrative and legal process.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
According to the latest published statistics, excluding second homes, there are 719,470 vacant dwellings in England. 265,061 of these dwellings are classed as Long-Term Empty Homes, meaning they have been empty for more than 6 months. These statistics are published annually and accessible on gov.uk.
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 6686 on 14 October 2024 regarding the support government is providing to help local authorities tackle empty homes.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of empty dwellings in England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
According to the latest published statistics, excluding second homes, there are 719,470 vacant dwellings in England. 265,061 of these dwellings are classed as Long-Term Empty Homes, meaning they have been empty for more than 6 months. These statistics are published annually and accessible on gov.uk.
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 6686 on 14 October 2024 regarding the support government is providing to help local authorities tackle empty homes.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help Councils to tackle (a) aggressive begging and (b) anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In March 2023, we launched the Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) Action plan backed by £160 million of funding, to crack down on ASB, restoring people's confidence that these crimes will be quickly and visibly punished. The plan outlines Government's intention to ensure begging can be addressed where it is causing a nuisance. We continue to engage with stakeholders on the detail of the replacement proposals following our consultation last year before separate legislation is brought forward at the earliest parliamentary opportunity.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential prevalence of RAAC in buildings (a) owned and (b) occupied by departmental staff; and whether he has had discussions with local authorities on the potential prevalence of RAAC in local authority- (i) owned and (ii) occupied buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Individual building owners and managers continue to be responsible for health and safety, including responding to safety alerts such as RAAC.
Building owners must address safety risks of all kinds in their buildings through a risk-based, proportionate and evidence-based approach. On the 1 May 2019, the Standing Committee on Structural Safety issued a safety alert on the failure of RAAC planks. Local authorities, like other building owners, are advised to follow available professional guidance.
The Local Government Association has advised members to check whether any buildings in their estates have RAAC, to ensure it can be identified, assessed, and responded to accordingly. This is accessible on the LGA website and in line with the guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers. If further buildings are identified as having suspected or confirmed RAAC, building owners and managers should follow the guidance to put appropriate mitigation in place.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many landlords are registered on rogue landlords databases in England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
There are currently 57 entries on the Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents.
Local authorities are responsible for uploading and maintaining records on the Database. Where records have expired, local authorities are required to remove the entry from the Database.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2022 to Question 84800 on Elections: Proof of Identity what volume of watermarked paper for voter ID documents his Department has ordered as of 6 January 2023; and what proportion of such orders has been delivered.
Answered by Lee Rowley
An initial order of 40 tonnes has been delivered to the relevant supplier with a further 10 tonnes ordered and due for delivery by end of January 2023.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of empty residential properties in England.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The UK Government wants to encourage empty homes back into use, and empower local leaders to reinvest in their communities. Local authorities already have many powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they receive the same level of reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.
The latest data tables on dwelling stock, including vacant homes can be found here.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2022 to Question 84800 on Elections: Proof of Identity, where the watermarked paper for voter ID documents will be produced.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Further to the answer given to Question UIN 84800, HH Associates Ltd, a British based company, have been awarded the contract to provide the watermarked paper and the specialist security printing. The initial paper product will be outside of the United Kingdom; the printing and production of the voter ID document will be undertaken within the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what companies were awarded the contract for providing watermarked paper for voter ID documents; and what is the deadline for this paper being supplied.
Answered by Lee Rowley
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of Government contracts awarded greater than £10,000 are published on contracts finder.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2022 to Question 17012 on Elections: Proof of Identity, when he plans to publish details on the implementation of voter ID cards.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recently published a letter to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee regarding the Elections Act 2022. It sets out details about voter identification and the Voter Authority Certificate, the link to the published letter can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-the-chair-of-the-public-administration-and-constitutional-affairs-committee-regarding-the-elections-act-2022.
Further details on implementation and commencement will be published in due course.