Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to extend the consultation period for expressions of interest from top-tier and lower tier local government in England for forming the new combined authorities outlined in the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government will work with places to deliver a Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) to roll out devolution to an ambitious timeline, aiming to deliver new strategic authorities and elected Mayors by May 2026.
This Programme will provide a fast-track to mayoral devolution for areas ready to come together under sensible geographies which meet the criteria set out in the White Paper.
To meet these ambitious timelines, we have asked areas to express an interest by the 10th of January, so we can begin delivery at pace. For areas not on the DPP, we will continue to discuss how to extend and deepen devolution in their area to a slower timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to allowing enough time for the consultation for the proposed new combined authorities outlined in the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December, to be worked through.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government will work with places to deliver a Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) to roll out devolution to an ambitious timeline, aiming to deliver new strategic authorities and elected Mayors by May 2026.
This Programme will provide a fast-track to mayoral devolution for areas ready to come together under sensible geographies which meet the criteria set out in the White Paper.
To meet these ambitious timelines, we have asked areas to express an interest by the 10th of January, so we can begin delivery at pace. For areas not on the DPP, we will continue to discuss how to extend and deepen devolution in their area to a slower timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their total financial contribution to local authorities in England will be in the financial year 2023–24 for (1) revenue spending, (2) capital investment, and (3) one-off grants, specifically excluding any funding towards local authority expenditure raised locally.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England. Where locally raised council tax is excluded the figure is £25.7billion.
The only one-off grant introduced into the Settlement was the one-off funding guarantee to ensure that every council sees at least a 3% increase in Core Spending Power next year before any local decisions on Council Tax rates.
However, not all funding to local government is provided through the Settlement. For example, the Government is providing capital funding including through the second round of the Levelling Up Fund which will see £2.1billion of taxpayer subsidy provided to 111 local infrastructure projects across the UK. Alongside this, there is the annual Public Health Grant at a total of over £3.4 billion per annum, amongst many other grants.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their White Paper Levelling up the United Kingdom, published on 2 February, when they plan to formally launch the Task Force investigating housing for older people; and what the remit of that Task Force will be.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The new taskforce, as announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, will look at ways better choice, quality and security of housing for older people can be provided, including how to address regional disparities in supply of appropriate and where necessary specialised housing.
Further details of the taskforce including its remit, will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the commitments made in People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform white paper, published on 1 December, what steps they will take to ensure the planning system enables the growth of housing-based care options for older people.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This Government is committed to the provision of homes for older people, including those who require care and support. As set out in our National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities should already assess the types of specialist housing needed for older and disabled people in their areas, and this should be reflected in their planning policies.
We remain committed to working closely with a range of stakeholders to look at how we can further support the growth of a thriving older people’s housing sector. This includes considering the merits of different engagement and delivery models, including proposals from the sector for a cross-Government taskforce.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 20 March 2015, HCWS 438, on unpublished research reports commissioned by the last Administration, what the evidential basis is for the assertion that his Department commissions research better than did previous administrations.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
Since 2010 the Department’s processes for commissioning research from external organisations have been strengthened. All research proposals must meet a set of criteria agreed with Ministers before they can go to tender. These are:
Ministers scrutinise prospective research proposals at an early stage which allows them to influence the research proposal and ensure external commissions meet the Department’s priorities and provide value for money.
Fully-developed research proposals are scrutinised by the Department’s Research Gateway panel – which comprises the Heads of Analytical Profession and senior representatives from Finance and Procurement. This panel reviews the proposed research methodologies, costs and procurement strategy to ensure these are necessary and the commission will deliver robust results at reasonable cost to the tax-payer.
Project officers are challenged by the panel to justify the need for the work, the proposed cost and the expected outputs. The panel routinely encourages the use of innovative research methods to drive costs down. Opportunities for co-funding are routinely investigated before research contracts are procured.
Following approval by the Research Gateway, research proposals are then sent to Ministers for final approval to proceed to procurement. This offers Ministers a further opportunity to ensure that external research commissions are meeting their criteria to deliver robust and cost-effective results.
I would add that the last Administration spent £25.6 million on research projects that were commissioned but not published before May 2010, and many of those projects did not represent value for money for taxpayers - as evident by the fact that many were unpublished for years.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, to Question 218133, to which policies he was referring as the Government's broader social inclusion and integration policies.
Answered by Stephen Williams
I refer the rt. hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement on integration made by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Eric Pickles) on 18 December 2014, Official Report, column 110-118WS and to the Government's Social Mobility Strategy Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers, published in 2011.