Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure housing stock built in areas susceptible to flooding is adequately protected from flooding risks.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises the devastating impact flooding can have on communities. National Planning Policy is clear that development should be directed to areas with the lowest risk of flooding. Where no alternative sites are available, permission should only be granted where it can be demonstrated that it will be safe for its lifetime taking account of the vulnerability of its users, without increasing flood risk elsewhere, and, where possible, will reduce flood risk overall.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of the rise in homelessness as published on 3 October in the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government's report Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2023–24.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The statistics published on 3 October shows that the most common reason for loss of accommodation for households threatened with homelessness was termination of a private rented assured shorthold tenancy (AST). For households that were already homeless, the most common reason was that their family or friends were no longer willing or able to accommodate them. The Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 evictions for both new and existing tenancies at the same time, giving all private renters immediate security and assurance.
The Government will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many new homes they expect to build in the current year.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The department does not publish forecasts of new builds.
The most recent data for new dwellings shows an increase of 232,820 dwellings in the year to 31 March 2022. This represents over 75% of the Government’s ambition to see 300,000 new homes a year.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in delivering their policy of creating new garden cities in England; when they expect the builds to be completed; and how many dwellings will be created.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Garden Communities Programme is supporting 47 locally led Garden Communities (12 Garden Towns and 35 Garden Villages) to deliver over 320,000 homes by 2050. The programme has awarded c.£58 million of capacity support funding to assist places in delivering against their proposals, plus c.£12 million funding to help deliver infrastructure to unlock homes. As of December 2021, local authorities report that over 33,000 homes have been completed across 17 projects supported by the programme.
As well as homes, we expect the programme to support the delivery of over 200 schools, c.68 health and care centres, almost 200,000 jobs, green infrastructure and over 150 community facilities.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Covid Recovery Commission Ambition 2030: A Partnership for Growth, published on 27 April; and what plans they have to implement its recommendations.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We welcome the good work done by the Covid Recovery Commission in considering how a long-term national prosperity plan can deliver growth and increase living standards in the UK.
As we emerge from the pandemic, we need a plan which ensures we Build Back Better from COVID-19. That is why we have published Building Back Better: our Plan for Growth. Building on this, we will publish a Levelling Up White Paper later this year setting out how bold new policy interventions will improve livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic.
We will continue to review and consider recommendations made by the Covid Recovery Commission in future policy.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the Levelling-Up white paper; and whether the white paper will seek to increase the spread, funding and powers of metro mayors.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Later this year we will publish a Levelling Up White Paper setting out how bold new policy interventions will improve livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic.
We remain committed to devolving power to people and places across the UK. Our plans for strengthening local accountable leadership will now be included in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with leaders of each of the combined authorities in England about (1) further devolution of powers, and (2) increased funding, to aid the economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Ministers meet regularly with the leaders of the combined authorities in England, both bilaterally and as a group. Forthcoming meetings will include discussions on economic recovery, the Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper, and priorities for the Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to local authorities on the pedestrianisation of streets to facilitate greater space for restaurants and bars to trade while practicing appropriate social distancing.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The COVID-19 Secure: Urban Centres and Green Spaces guidance provides owners and operators with a framework to support social distancing in our town centres and parks. This was published on 13 May and subsequently updated on 26 June 2020. The guidance provides local authorities with practical advice in considering how greater space for restaurants and bars to trade can be provided while ensuring social distancing can be facilitated and maintained in urban centres. This includes advice on pedestrianisation of streets.
Traffic authorities already have powers to close roads for a variety of reasons, including pedestrianisation, through Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs). There is updated statutory guidance on the traffic management duty in response to COVID-19 on the gov.uk website (attached) at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reallocating-road-space-in-response-to-covid-19-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities. This encourages authorities to make changes to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians.
The Department for Transport laid regulations on 22 May 2020 making it easier and quicker for traffic authorities to make TROs to deal with coronavirus.