Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to invest additional resources into public health to help public health teams meet any backlog in the demand for services which had to be stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has provided £3.2 billion of additional funding for local government to help them respond to COVID-19 pressures across the services they deliver. Local authorities will take spending decisions based on local priorities and the Government is keeping the position under review.
Funding beyond 2020/21 will be set out at the next spending review.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that future lending terms for the Public Works Loan Board do not restrict councils' access to borrowing, in particular for projects to support economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in areas such as (1) housing, (2) infrastructure, and (3) regeneration.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Local government invests billions of pounds every year to advance local priorities including economic recovery, housing, infrastructure and regeneration. The Government supports this local investment, in part by offering low cost loans to local authorities through the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).
Local government borrowing has grown substantially in recent years, led by a minority of local authorities borrowing from the PWLB to buy investment assets primarily for yield. The Government is clear that this is not an appropriate use of PWLB loans.
The Government is therefore consulting on a limited intervention to stop this activity, while preserving the ongoing availability of PWLB loans to support economic recovery and other core local priorities such as housing, infrastructure and regeneration. The Government hopes to receive responses to this consultation from across the sector.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (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 role of council-run recreational facilities such as leisure centres, parks, and green spaces in tackling obesity; and what plans they have to invest in these services to support their continued financial viability.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Exposure to the natural environment and green space is associated with lower levels of obesity and higher levels of physical activity, but there is unequal access across the population, with those living in the most deprived areas less likely to live in the greenest areas. The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan promotes a sustainable natural environment as a pathway to good health and wellbeing. In the last 2 years Government has also invested £16.3 million on various initiatives to support parks and green spaces, including the Local Authority Parks Improvement Fund; Pocket Parks and Pocket Parks Plus programmes; and the Future Parks Accelerator programme to test and pilot new management and funding models for parks.
Grassroots sports facilities like leisure centres are also important parts of their communities and deliver vital health and wellbeing benefits. Sport England announced a £195 million package of support to help community clubs through this crisis. It recently boosted its Community Emergency Fund by a further £15 million to meet the demand, taking the total up to £210 million. The government are continuing to work closely with the sector to understand the issues they face and discuss how we can support them further.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to extending the timeframe in which local authorities must spend retained Right to Buy receipts from three years to five years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We have listened to concerns raised by local authorities about the effects of Covid 19 on their house building programmes and the difficulties of spending Right to Buy receipts to the three year deadlines. On 12 June, we agreed to a temporary extension of the next expenditure deadline of 30 June by six months, and wrote to local authorities to inform them of this change. More broadly, the Government has consulted on ways we can change the Right to Buy receipts system to help councils build more homes. The proposals included extending the period for local authorities to spend their receipts from three to five years, and the Government’s response to this consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to amend the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 to allow local councils in England to return to physical meetings while maintaining social distancing; and whether any proposed amendments to the regulations will include a hybrid form of meeting.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 enable all local authority meetings to be held remotely and do not preclude physical meetings or a hybrid form of meeting where these can be held in accordance with public health regulations and guidance. It is for each local authority to determine what is appropriate in their specific circumstances, taking legal advice as necessary.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of local councils in preserving heritage; and what plans they have to meet with the Local Government Association and the National Trust to discuss a strategy for the future of local heritage assets.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local government bears great responsibility for the care and conservation of the historic environment. Local planning authorities make many of the decisions regarding change to heritage assets, informed by information they curate on historic environment records (HERs). They have powers to address heritage at risk and are often owners of some of the most important heritage assets in their area.
Together with Historic England, our statutory advisors on the historic environment, we keep in close contact with relevant partners on these issues. In particular, the Heritage Council, which includes the National Trust, is chaired by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism and regularly attended by Ministers from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. This provides the opportunity to ensure that issues such as local stewardship of the historic environment are properly considered. Should this be a theme for a future meeting of the Council the Local Government Association and other relevant stakeholders will be invited to attend.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential health benefits of an active lifestyle; what plans they have to invest in sports and leisure infrastructure; and what steps they are taking to ensure that people benefit from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regular exercise has been shown to treat, manage and prevent a number of physical and mental health conditions. An assessment of the health benefits along with the recommended levels of physical activity are set out in Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers’ report which were updated in September 2019.
On investment in sports and leisure infrastructure, the Government's Sporting Future strategy highlighted the significant role that facilities play in helping people to get more active. To support this, Government through Sport England, is already investing up to £125m from 2017 to 2021 to improve sports facilities across England.
Last year, the Government also announced significant new funding for grassroots football facilities - an additional £550m, linked to our bid for the UK and Ireland to host the 2030 World Cup.
Improving health and wellbeing is a legacy ambition for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. This will include how we maximise the impact of the new sporting facilities being delivered for the Games, such as the redevelopment of athletics facilities at Alexander Stadium, creation of a brand new aquatics centre in Sandwell and the addition of new cycle lanes across the city.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the White Paper on the Mental Health Act 1983 will include measures that prioritise prevention and early intervention, as proposed by the Local Government Association in its Bright Futures campaign and in its submission to the review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
We will publish our White Paper in the next few months. This will set out the Government’s response to Sir Simon Wessely’s Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.
Our intention is that this White Paper will pave the way for reform to the Mental Health Act 1983, and tackle issues addressed by the Review. We will ensure that people subject to the Act receive better care and have a much greater say in that care.
We will consult publicly on our proposals and we will bring forward a Bill to amend the Act when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their plans to reform care and support will consider adults of all ages and unpaid carers, as well as older people.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. The Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year. The Government will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to bring forward their proposals to reform adult social care and support; and whether they intend to work closely with the Local Government Association to take forward those proposals.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. The Government will bring forward a plan for social care this year. The Government will seek to build cross-party consensus and will outline next steps shortly. The Department engages with stakeholders on a regular basis, including the Local Government Association, and will work with them and others as we take forward proposals.