Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 7 December 2020 (HL10627), when they expect to publish the three-month review of the spending of the £30 million allocated on 8 October 2020 to help local authorities in England fund their COVID-19 compliance and enforcement work.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In November 2020, a £30 million ringfenced Compliance and Enforcement Grant was allocated to all district and unitary authorities in England to spend on COVID-19 compliance and enforcement related activities. In January 2021 MHCLG issued an activity and spend survey to all councils in receipt of the grant. The responses from this informed a review of how the grant was being utilised.
The Department have no plans to release the findings of the three-month review. Information was provided in confidence by local authorities during the grant period to support the development of Government policy. The information gathered as part of the review was used to inform successive iterations of the ‘Local authority COVID-19 compliance and enforcement good practice framework’, (attached) which was archived on 19 July 2021 but it still available for reference.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the exercise by local authorities of the compliance and enforcement activities related to COVID-19; and whether all such activities have been carried out in compliance with the Guidance to support local authority compliance and enforcement activity, including COVID-19 secure marshals or equivalents published on 8 October.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On 8 October, the Government allocated £30 million to local authorities in England to help them fund their Covid-19 compliance and enforcement work. There will be a three month review of the spending of that grant. Government's regular engagement with local authorities indicates they are working hard to help people comply with the rules, in partnership other local agencies such as the police.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps Homes England is taking (1) to encourage, and (2) to create, opportunities for small and new-entry builders in the housing construction sector; and what plans they have, if any, to reflect these steps in the specification for the forthcoming tender for Homes England's Delivery Partner Panel 4.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Homes England’s strategic objectives include helping small builders grow into medium builders and to encourage new entrants into the market. The Home Building Fund specifically focuses on supporting SME builders who are unable to access suitable finance in the marketplace. It does this by providing development finance direct, as well as through lender frameworks designed to encourage and enhance the supply of liquidity in the market to the SME builder.
In addition, Homes England looks to ensure SMEs can access land through its Land Hub, and the agency’s standard building lease sets out a legal obligation for a proportion of homes to be built out by SMEs or Registered Providers.
Work to replace the current Delivery Partner Panel (DPP3) is focused on diversifying the housing market and increasing SME access to public land opportunities, in line with the agency’s strategic objectives.