Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 11 May (HL3496), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what estimate they have made of the number of properties in which second home owners falsely claim to live to avoid council tax.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government has undertaken no such estimate since second homes are liable for council tax, subject to any discounts which the council may apply locally, irrespective of whether they are occupied or not. 95% of properties that are classed as second homes are charged the full rate of council tax.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (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 Affordable Housing Commission Making Housing Affordable Again: Rebalancing the Nation’s Housing System, published in March; and what estimate they have made of the number of properties in which second home owners falsely claim to live to avoid council tax.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government agrees that we need to maximise the supply of new affordable housing and make sure that more people in housing need can have access to a good quality social home.? We announced at Budget 2020 that we are investing £12bn to build affordable homes between 2021/22 and 2025/26. This will be the biggest cash investment in affordable housing for a decade.
All second homes are liable for council tax, subject to any discounts which the council may apply locally, regardless of whether they are occupied. 95% of properties that are classed as second homes are charged the full rate.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much revenue funding they have provided to English local authorities in each year since 2010.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
Spending Power is our best measure of the resources which local authorities can access each year. The definition of Spending Power is not comparable over the period 2010-11 to 2020-21 due to changes in the finance and function of local government. A consistent measure of Core Spending Power is however available for the period 2015-16 to 2020-21. Please see a link to the CSP table on the Gov Website (attached): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2020-to-2021 The full table is under ‘supporting information’.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they have taken in response to the failure of the Crown Prosecution Service to share the findings of its internal review into unprosecuted rape cases with the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate Rape Inspection 2019.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The scope and data set for the HMCPSI inspection was much broader than CPS’ internal report. It therefore would not have been appropriate to share the report itself while the inspection was ongoing. The report subsequently was shared with both the inspectorate and the Attorney General’s Office in January.
I am pleased that the CPS has already accepted all recommendations made in HMCPSI’s Rape Inspection 2019 report and remains a partner in the ongoing cross-Government rape review. This will provide valuable insight into this complex area across the whole criminal justice system, and the CPS is committed to addressing any issues the review highlights openly and honestly.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address mental health problems affecting children, following the increase in the number of children under 11 contacting Childline because of suicidal thoughts and feelings since 2015–16.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are taking action to protect the mental health of all children and young people. Following on from our Green Paper on transforming children and young people’s mental health, we are:
- incentivising every school or college to identify and train a Senior Lead for Mental Health;
- creating new mental health support teams in and near schools and colleges; and
- piloting a four-week waiting time to allow swifter access to specialist NHS services for those children and young people who need them.
The Green Paper has the potential to significantly improve early intervention and prevention, along with expanding the current children and young people’s mental health workforce.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate to ensure that women in Islamic faith marriages can seek redress through the courts in the event that the marriage breaks down.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The law has long made provision for couples, including Muslim couples, to marry in their place of worship in a way that gives them legal rights and protections. The Government shares the concern that some people may nonetheless marry in a way that does not, and without appreciating the consequences.
The independent Sharia review has recommended that it should be an offence for religious celebrants to carry out a ceremony that is outside the ambit of the Marriage Acts. Any legislative proposal, including such an offence, must be thoroughly assessed for its fairness to all religious groups and for how far it could achieve the change of practice intended. That is why it is with the greatest care that the Government is continuing the exploration of both limited reform and non-legislative options that it began in detail in the spring.
Separately from this exploration, the Law Commission began its weddings project in July last year. It will make recommendations for how the wider law on getting married in England and Wales can be systematically reformed in a way that is simple, fair and consistent.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to improve the record of the increase of new jobs in the North East.
Answered by Lord Callanan
The Government is committed to levelling up investment and opportunity across the country. We are working with partners across the North East, including both elected Mayors, where we have committed additional investment of over £1 billion in jobs and infrastructure.
We have also invested £505 million in Growth Deals with the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to improve economic performance, employment, and productivity across the region. This includes working with the North East LEP to create 100,000 additional jobs in the region by 2024. The North East LEP’s most recent report highlighted that the number of jobs in the North East has increased by 74,000 since 2014.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce the Renters’ Reform Bill.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
The Government is committed to enhancing renters’ security and improving protections for short-term tenants by abolishing 'no-fault' evictions and introducing a lifetime deposit, to ease the burden when tenants choose to move. A Renters' Reform Bill to deliver these commitments will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made to ensure that Disabled Facilities Grant is more easily accessible to older tenants in the private rented sector and their landlords.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
Anyone can apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant, including people living in private rented accommodation, subject to a means test and an assessment of need. Tenure should not impact a person’s ability to access the home adaptations they need. The Government also funds Foundations, the national body for home improvement agencies. Foundations works closely with local authorities to promote best practice in the delivery of home adaptations, including providing information and advice to older people living in private rented accommodation and their landlords.
Asked by: Lord Beecham (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all new homes are built to Lifetime Homes Standards.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie
The M4(2) standard, set out in Approved Document M to the Building Regulations, for accessible and adaptable homes is broadly equivalent to the independent Lifetime Homes standard. Planning guidance on housing for older and disabled people published last summer strengthened the link between plan making and the M4(2) standard. Government will also consult shortly on options of how to raise standards of accessibility in all new homes. This is a further step towards raising accessible housing standards.