Asked by: Al Carns (Labour - Birmingham Selly Oak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that residents of exempt accommodation and HMOs receive sufficient support and local infrastructure to enable them to integrate into their communities.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which will introduce licensing and national support standards across England to ensure supported housing residents receive support tailored to their individual needs. I will publish a consultation on the draft licensing regulations later this year.
Alongside this, the department has issued guidance and provided new burdens funding to support local authorities in developing supported housing strategies, which will assess the supply and demand for different types of supported housing in their areas.
While these reforms are being implemented, my officials continue to work closely with Birmingham City Council to address concerns about supported exempt accommodation.
Local authorities already have a range of powers to tackle poor-quality accommodation. Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing schemes play an important role in ensuring properties are safe, well maintained and properly managed, and councils have robust enforcement powers where landlords fail to comply.
Local planning authorities also have a wide range of enforcement powers, backed by strong penalties for non-compliance with planning regulations. However, it is for individual authorities to determine whether enforcement action is appropriate in the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Al Carns (Labour - Birmingham Selly Oak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that HMOs and exempt accommodation are appropriately licensed and comply with local planning regulations in Birmingham.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which will introduce licensing and national support standards across England to ensure supported housing residents receive support tailored to their individual needs. I will publish a consultation on the draft licensing regulations later this year.
Alongside this, the department has issued guidance and provided new burdens funding to support local authorities in developing supported housing strategies, which will assess the supply and demand for different types of supported housing in their areas.
While these reforms are being implemented, my officials continue to work closely with Birmingham City Council to address concerns about supported exempt accommodation.
Local authorities already have a range of powers to tackle poor-quality accommodation. Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing schemes play an important role in ensuring properties are safe, well maintained and properly managed, and councils have robust enforcement powers where landlords fail to comply.
Local planning authorities also have a wide range of enforcement powers, backed by strong penalties for non-compliance with planning regulations. However, it is for individual authorities to determine whether enforcement action is appropriate in the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Al Carns (Labour - Birmingham Selly Oak)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that HMOs and exempt accommodation are distributed evenly at both the local and national level to help support community cohesion.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which will introduce licensing and national support standards across England to ensure supported housing residents receive support tailored to their individual needs. I will publish a consultation on the draft licensing regulations later this year.
Alongside this, the department has issued guidance and provided new burdens funding to support local authorities in developing supported housing strategies, which will assess the supply and demand for different types of supported housing in their areas.
While these reforms are being implemented, my officials continue to work closely with Birmingham City Council to address concerns about supported exempt accommodation.
Local authorities already have a range of powers to tackle poor-quality accommodation. Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing schemes play an important role in ensuring properties are safe, well maintained and properly managed, and councils have robust enforcement powers where landlords fail to comply.
Local planning authorities also have a wide range of enforcement powers, backed by strong penalties for non-compliance with planning regulations. However, it is for individual authorities to determine whether enforcement action is appropriate in the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Al Carns (Labour - Birmingham Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress her Department is making with West Midlands Railway to restore the number of passenger train services to six trains per hour on the Cross-City line between Kings Norton, Bournville and Selly Oak.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is working with West Midlands Trains, Network Rail and regional partners on options to increase Cross-City line frequencies while maintaining wider network performance and reliability. In parallel, longer-term interventions through the Midlands Rail Hub are being considered. The Department will assess these proposals against operational, capacity and value for money considerations before making any decisions on future service levels.