Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any immediate plans to increase the overall size of the British Army.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence is reviewing whether it is now right to reduce the Regular Army to 73,000, as planned under Future Soldier. That process is ongoing.
Defence's plans to modernise the force will be outlined in an update to the Defence Command Paper to be published before the summer.
Any specific policy changes or updates required related to defence capability and force design will be determined following the publication of the Defence Command Paper.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 17 March (HL6130), what assessment they have made of the research conducted by CarbonLaces which found that Energy Performance Certificates overestimate energy use by 344 per cent.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out previously, ministers keep the EPC system under review.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 16 March (HL6171), even allowing for waiting times for the Future Pension Centre having been higher than expected, why calls from the public remain unanswered.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP Futures Pension Centre helpline has experienced unprecedented levels of contact from customers considering whether to pay voluntary National Insurance Contributions (VNICS) before the deadline due to recent media publicity. To alleviate customer concerns about meeting the deadline for paying VNIC’s, HM Revenue & Customs has announced it will extend the deadline to pay these contributions until 31 July 2023. DWP have also provided additional resource directed to the telephony lines and will continue to review resourcing options to meet the current call demand.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce a bill to address the issue of leasehold reform.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As has been the case under successive administrations, announcements about future legislation will be set out in the normal way.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people in England over the age of 18 live in leasehold properties.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department does not hold this data.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what forms of redress are available for those with complaints against letting agencies where they are not members of recognised industry standards associations.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As part of a fair and just housing system, the Government is committed to making sure that landlords and tenants are protected from abuse and poor service. This is why we introduced in October 2014 a legal requirement for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the two Government-approved redress schemes. Agents who fail to comply can be fined up to £5,000. The two schemes are: The Property Ombudsman (https://www.tpos.co.uk/) and the Property Redress Scheme (https://www.theprs.co.uk/).
Whether or not letting agencies choose to also be members of an industry standards association, landlords and agents have access to redress via the redress schemes.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce regulations covering the operation of letting and property management companies in order to rectify bad practices.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As part of a fair and just housing system, the Government is committed to making sure that homeowners and tenants are protected from abuse and poor service. This commitment includes raising professionalism and standards amongst property agents (letting, estate and managing agents), protecting consumers while defending the reputation of good agents from the actions of rogue operatives. We therefore welcome the ongoing work being undertaken by the industry itself to raise professionalism and standards across the sector, including on codes of practice for property agents. We will continue to work with industry on improving best practice.
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to legislate to ensure that freehold homeowners who pay estate rentcharges have the right to challenge their reasonableness and to go to the tribunal to appoint a manager to manage the provision of services.
Mandating professional qualifications was one of the areas the Government asked Lord Best's independent working group on regulation of property agents to look at as part of its review. We are considering the recommendations on qualifications and training for property agents alongside the others in the working group's report.
There are several qualification providers operating in the property agent marketplace, including those not affiliated with any trade association or professional body. It is also a legal requirement for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what existing (1) qualifications, and (2) training, are required to establish a letting or property management company.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As part of a fair and just housing system, the Government is committed to making sure that homeowners and tenants are protected from abuse and poor service. This commitment includes raising professionalism and standards amongst property agents (letting, estate and managing agents), protecting consumers while defending the reputation of good agents from the actions of rogue operatives. We therefore welcome the ongoing work being undertaken by the industry itself to raise professionalism and standards across the sector, including on codes of practice for property agents. We will continue to work with industry on improving best practice.
When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to legislate to ensure that freehold homeowners who pay estate rentcharges have the right to challenge their reasonableness and to go to the tribunal to appoint a manager to manage the provision of services.
Mandating professional qualifications was one of the areas the Government asked Lord Best's independent working group on regulation of property agents to look at as part of its review. We are considering the recommendations on qualifications and training for property agents alongside the others in the working group's report.
There are several qualification providers operating in the property agent marketplace, including those not affiliated with any trade association or professional body. It is also a legal requirement for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of who was behind the attack on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; and what evidence they have for that assessment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government takes the protection and resilience of subsea and offshore infrastructure seriously. Departments work together to protect it from malicious and other hazards such as accidental damage. The Department awaits the findings of the ongoing investigations into the deliberate damage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to avert any impending shortage of private rental accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
According to the English Housing Survey, the proportion of Private Rented Sector (PRS) households has remained relatively stable for nearly a decade. The PRS was 19% of households in 2013-14 and continues to be at 19% according to the latest data for 2022. We also recognise, however, that there is pressure on the PRS.
Generally, the Government is firmly committed to driving up the supply of new homes and working towards its ambition of delivering 300,000 homes per year to help create a more sustainable and affordable housing market.