Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Portsmouth City Council applied to participate in the High Street Rental Auctions scheme.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs) can be used by any local authority in England to auction the lease of persistently vacant commercial properties. 11 local authorities are Early Adopters of High Street Rental Auctions. These will be amongst the first to deliver and champion these powers, working closely with the department and helping to shape future guidance. Portsmouth City Council did not apply to become an Early Adopter but is still able to use these powers. A fund of over £1 million is available to all English local authorities to support the delivery of HSRAs.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of establishing a cross-departmental programme led by the Cabinet Office to (a) develop a long-term strategy and (b) ensure funding for tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG), bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.
The Government is working at pace to deliver these new initiatives. The Government’s spending plans will be set out at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps has she taken to ensure that the drive to build new social housing will include (a) an assessment of how much additional supported housing is required and (b) provision to deliver the correct level of supported housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. We will bring forward details of future investment at the Spending Review.
Minister Ali set out on 10 September that the Government will publish shortly additional research on the supply and demand for supported housing. We will set out our plans for supported housing in due course.