Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) public inquiry planning decisions he has yet to make where a planning inspector’s report has been submitted to his office and (b) the date on which each of those planning inspectors’ reports were submitted to his office.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Of the 12 cases listed in the Answer of 20 July 2020 to Question UIN 72897, six have since been determined, and one addendum report received. Those cases remaining to be determined are set out below:
Case (local planning authority) | Date Inspector’s Report submitted to MHCLG |
Broad Lane Essington & Holyhead Rd Wergs (South Staffs) | 13/5/19 |
Land north of Barleycastle Lane, Appleton Thorn (Warrington) | 11/12/19, plus addendum report received 09/09/20 |
Land Adjacent Dinnington Road, Woodsetts (Rotherham) | 6/1/20 |
Ellesmere Port Wellsite, Portside One (Cheshire West and Chester) | 6/1/20 |
South-west Sittingbourne/Wises Lane (Swale) | 13/2/20 |
Anglia Square (Norwich) | 8/6/20 |
There are a variety of reasons why decisions may be delayed including policy complexities, and changes in local or national policy which require further correspondence with parties.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2020 to Question 72897 on Planning Permission, what progress he has been made on those public inquiry planning decisions.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Of the 12 cases listed in the Answer of 20 July 2020 to Question UIN 72897, six have since been determined, and one addendum report received. Those cases remaining to be determined are set out below:
Case (local planning authority) | Date Inspector’s Report submitted to MHCLG |
Broad Lane Essington & Holyhead Rd Wergs (South Staffs) | 13/5/19 |
Land north of Barleycastle Lane, Appleton Thorn (Warrington) | 11/12/19, plus addendum report received 09/09/20 |
Land Adjacent Dinnington Road, Woodsetts (Rotherham) | 6/1/20 |
Ellesmere Port Wellsite, Portside One (Cheshire West and Chester) | 6/1/20 |
South-west Sittingbourne/Wises Lane (Swale) | 13/2/20 |
Anglia Square (Norwich) | 8/6/20 |
There are a variety of reasons why decisions may be delayed including policy complexities, and changes in local or national policy which require further correspondence with parties.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the public inquiry planning decisions he has yet to make where a planning inspector’s report has already been submitted to his office; and if he will publish the date on which each of those planning inspectors’ reports were submitted to his office.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The requested information is in the table below:
Case (local planning authority) | Date Inspector’s Report submitted to Department |
Highthorn (Northumberland) | 29/11/17 |
Whitehouse Farm Belper (Amber Valley) (2 cases) | 12/9/18 |
Crich Lane, Belper (Amber Valley) | 4/4/19 |
Broad Lane Essington & Holyhead Rd Wergs (South Staffs) | 13/5/19 |
Land north of Barleycastle Lane, Appleton Thorn (Warrington) | 11/12/19 |
Land Adjacent Dinnington Road, Woodsetts (Rotherham) | 6/1/20 |
Ellesmere Port Wellsite, Portside One (Cheshire West and Chester) | 6/1/20 |
South-west Sittingbourne/Wises Lane (Swale) | 13/2/20 |
Hulton Park (Bolton) | 4/5/20 |
Anglia Square (Norwich) | 8/6/20 |
Citroen site, Brentford (GLA) | 11/6/20 |
There are a variety of reasons why decisions may be delayed including policy complexities, and changes in local or national policy which require further correspondence with parties.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2020 to Question 64913 on Homelessness: LGBT People, how many frontline homelessness workers took part in the training on issues facing vulnerable groups in the 2019-20; and whether the Government plans to provide that training in 2020-21.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
A skilled frontline workforce, capable of supporting an individual who may have a range of complex needs, is essential to delivering good services and ultimately reducing homelessness and meeting the Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping. That is why, as part of the Rough Sleeping Strategy, the Government committed to provide support for frontline staff working with those who are homeless.
The Key Groups Training has been operating since Summer 2019. To date over 2,500 frontline homelessness staff have been trained across the five courses that make up the programme, including a package focused on LGBT homelessness. This includes staff in local authorities, voluntary organisations, commissioned and non-commissioned services and staff in homeless hostels.
The training will continue to be offered free of charge to frontline homelessness workers until December 2020. We are currently working with training suppliers to determine the legacy of this project beyond this date.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid- 19 outbreak on homeless (a) trans LGBTQ+ and (b) BAME LGBTQ+ young people.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We recognise that?LGBTQ+?homelessness is an important issue, particularly among young people, and that?LGBTQ+?people who find themselves homeless may have a different experience of homelessness. This department has provided funds to both charities and local authorities which will enable to them to support their communities, including LGBTQ+ people, whether they have been homeless, are at risk of homelessness or are rough sleeping.
At the beginning of the crisis, our priority was to urgently bring vulnerable people inside so they could self-isolate and stop the virus spreading. We backed this with £3.2 million in emergency funding for local authorities to support vulnerable rough sleepers, and a further £3.2 billion to help councils to manage the impacts of COVID-19, including supporting homeless people. This may include people identifying as LGBTQ+. This has had a huge impact - thanks to the hard work of local authorities, agencies and the homelessness sector around the country – as nearly 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period.? On 24 June we announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the nearly 15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 14 May MHCLG announced £6 million of emergency funding to provide relief for frontline homelessness charitable organisations who are directly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Following a successful bidding process, over 130 charities across England are set to benefit from the £6 million emergency fund. Successful bids included Stonewall Housing which provides housing advice and support for LGBTQ people whether they are homeless, at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.
Announced on 2 May, the Rough Sleeping Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as few people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic return to the streets. Supporting the Taskforce are our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated?youth?homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of homelessness among LGBTQ+ young people.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We recognise that many LGBT people who find themselves homeless may have a different experience of homelessness. However, data on this issue is limited. Sexual orientation is not a mandatory field collected through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection. We therefore do not hold robust or consistent data across local authorities on LGBT homeless households.
In the Rough Sleeping Strategy, we announced a range of measures, including undertaking research with the Government Equalities Office into the nature of LGBT homelessness.
The Department is providing local authorities with training free of charge on Key Groups to help tackle issues facing vulnerable groups, including LGBT people. Delivered by Stonewall Housing, the training package develops an awareness as to why LGBT people may be at greater risk of homelessness, and the barriers LGBT people face when seeking homelessness support. Additionally, the training seeks to outline the statutory and non-statutory options available to support clients. The training programme is expected to cater for 600 members of the frontline homelessness workforce over the course of 2019/20.
We have also put in place bespoke support for local authorities through our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated youth homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Minister for Women and Equalities on the effects of the covid 19 outbreak on LGBTQ+ homeless youth.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
This is a public health crisis more than anything and so requires a health response. We have worked across the public sector in order to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping for all throughout the crisis.
To enable this, our priority is to bring people inside so they can self-isolate and stop the virus spreading. This Government has provided funding to assist local authorities to provide accommodation and support to vulnerable people who are at risk of, or who have been diagnosed with, coronavirus. This may include people identifying as LGBT, as well as those who identify as having another protected characteristic. We will continue to work closely with local authorities to ensure that they have the resources and guidance they need to protect all people who are currently, or at risk of, sleeping rough or becoming homeless. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to make their own decisions about vulnerability when providing services.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, charities across the country including LGBT charities were able to bid for funding through the VCSE fund which is £6 million of emergency funding as part of a £750 million package of government support for UK charities who may have been impacted by the pandemic. This Coronavirus (COVID-19) Homelessness Response Fund was delivered by Homeless Link and applications closed on Wednesday 27 May. This work is to support rough sleepers into long-term accommodation, with more than 15,000 helped off the streets during the pandemic.
We have also put in place bespoke support for local authorities through our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated youth homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.
£3.2 billion of additional funding?was provided to local authorities to enable them to respond to other COVID-19 pressures across all the services they deliver. This is in addition to £3.2 million in targeted funding to ensure that we minimise the risk to those rough sleepers unable to self-isolate. On 24 June we?announced that we are?providing local authorities with?a further?£105 million?to enable them?to?best?support the 15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what housing support his Department will provide to homeless LGBTQ+ youth who have not been rough sleeping during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We recognise that?LGBTQ+?homelessness is an important issue, particularly among young people, and that?LGBTQ+?people who find themselves homeless may have a different experience of homelessness. This department has provided funds to both charities and local authorities which will enable to them to support their communities, including LGBTQ+ people, whether they have been homeless, are at risk of homelessness or are rough sleeping.
At the beginning of the crisis, our priority was to urgently bring vulnerable people inside so they could self-isolate and stop the virus spreading. We backed this with £3.2 million in emergency funding for local authorities to support vulnerable rough sleepers, and a further £3.2 billion to help councils to manage the impacts of COVID-19, including supporting homeless people. This may include people identifying as LGBTQ+. This has had a huge impact - thanks to the hard work of local authorities, agencies and the homelessness sector around the country – as nearly 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period.? On 24 June we announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the nearly 15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 14 May MHCLG announced £6 million of emergency funding to provide relief for frontline homelessness charitable organisations who are directly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Following a successful bidding process, over 130 charities across England are set to benefit from the £6 million emergency fund. Successful bids included Stonewall Housing which provides housing advice and support for LGBTQ people whether they are homeless, at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.
Announced on 2 May, the Rough Sleeping Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as few people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic return to the streets. Supporting the Taskforce are our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated?youth?homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Covid-19 Rough Sleepers Taskforce is taking to address the specific housing needs of (a) homeless LGBTQ+ young people and (b) LGBTQ+ young people who are at risk of homelessness.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We recognise that?LGBTQ+?homelessness is an important issue, particularly among young people, and that?LGBTQ+?people who find themselves homeless may have a different experience of homelessness. This department has provided funds to both charities and local authorities which will enable to them to support their communities, including LGBTQ+ people, whether they have been homeless, are at risk of homelessness or are rough sleeping.
At the beginning of the crisis, our priority was to urgently bring vulnerable people inside so they could self-isolate and stop the virus spreading. We backed this with £3.2 million in emergency funding for local authorities to support vulnerable rough sleepers, and a further £3.2 billion to help councils to manage the impacts of COVID-19, including supporting homeless people. This may include people identifying as LGBTQ+. This has had a huge impact - thanks to the hard work of local authorities, agencies and the homelessness sector around the country – as nearly 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period.? On 24 June we announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the nearly 15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 14 May MHCLG announced £6 million of emergency funding to provide relief for frontline homelessness charitable organisations who are directly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Following a successful bidding process, over 130 charities across England are set to benefit from the £6 million emergency fund. Successful bids included Stonewall Housing which provides housing advice and support for LGBTQ people whether they are homeless, at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.
Announced on 2 May, the Rough Sleeping Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as few people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic return to the streets. Supporting the Taskforce are our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated?youth?homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) nature and (b) scale of LGBTQ+ homelessness using Homelessness Case Level Information Collection data.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We recognise that?LGBT?homelessness is an important issue, particularly among young people, and that?LGBT?people who find themselves homeless may have a different experience of homelessness. However, data on this issue is limited.?Sexual orientation is not a mandatory field collected through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection. We therefore do not hold robust or consistent data across local authorities on LGBT homeless households.