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Written Question
Homelessness
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support councils in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England to reduce homelessness.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Homelessness levels are far too high. This government recognises the devastating impact this can have on those affected.

We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all. This includes a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, bringing together ministers from across government.

The Government is also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including the delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.

There is £1.2 billion committed through the Homelessness Prevention Grant from 2022 to 2025, of which Chesire East, Cheshire West and Chester received a combined total of £6,442,462.48. Basildon received £3,743,552.85 and Thurrock £3,340,472.94. And, as announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.

The budget committed nearly £1 billion total spend on homelessness services in 2025/26 and is the first step to getting us back on track to ending homelessness. We expect to publish allocations for funding for 2025/26 alongside the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.


Written Question
Affordable Housing
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

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 with Cabinet colleagues to help increase the supply of affordable housing in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer my hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing
Monday 16th December 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of social housing in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.


Written Question
Sleeping Rough
Monday 16th December 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on ending rough sleeping in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) the rest of England.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.

We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.

The Government is also taking action by setting up a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group which the Deputy Prime Minister will chair, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness.

Two unitary authorities in Cheshire received funding to tackle rough sleeping through the Rough Sleeping Initiative in 2024/25:

  • Cheshire East UA received £222 thousand; and
  • Cheshire West & Chester UA received £661 thousand.

Future allocations to local authorities will be announced in due course and made available on gov.uk.


Written Question
Planning Authorities: Staff
Friday 29th November 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

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 of the potential merits of requiring students studying for a royal town planning institute course to complete a 12-month placement within a local planning authority as part of their accreditation.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government recognise the importance of town planning students getting the broadest range of knowledge and experience as they study, including an understanding of the vital work undertaken by local planning authorities. That is why the department funds the Local Government Association’s Pathways to Planning programme. This places non-planning graduates, from a variety of backgrounds and locations, into local planning authorities whilst also receiving a bursary for an RTPI fully accredited master’s course. Many universities offer a year out in industry which benefits students and readies them for work.

More broadly, the government has announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities, including through the recruitment and training of 300 graduate and apprentice planners and the development of skills needed to implement reforms and unlock housing delivery.


Written Question
Homelessness: Death
Tuesday 5th November 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of homeless people who have died while living on the street in each of the last five years in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England; and what steps her Department is taking to end rough sleeping in those areas.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Every death of someone sleeping rough on our streets is one too many. The estimated number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales is published by the Office for National Statistics. You can find the data for between 2013 and 2021 here. ONS are doing further work revising their methodology for the data set to make it more robust so it is likely that their next publication will be in 2025.

We are developing a new cross-government strategy to get us on back on track to ending homelessness and rough sleeping. The £547 million Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) is continuing its support to up to 300 local authorities across England by funding local, tailored rough sleeping services. Cheshire East received £222,000 and Cheshire West and Chester received £661,000 of RSI funding for 2024-25.

As announced at Budget, we are also providing an additional £233 million in 2025-26 to prevent homelessness, taking total spending to £1 billion in 2025-26.


Written Question
Temporary Accommodation: Children
Monday 21st October 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many families with children were housed in temporary accommodation in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. Local authorities report their statutory homelessness statistics on a quarterly basis and these can be accessed: here.

The Government is taking action by setting up a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) will chair, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness.

More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including:

  • Delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.
  • Abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

Written Question
Temporary Accommodation
Monday 21st October 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of families living in temporary accommodation in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. Local authorities report their statutory homelessness statistics on a quarterly basis and these can be accessed: here.

The Government is taking action by setting up a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) will chair, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness.

More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including:

  • Delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.
  • Abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

Written Question
Housing: Health
Monday 14th October 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

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 plans to take to help reduce health inequalities through housing in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is taking steps to reduce health inequalities through housing reforms including extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private rented sector and introducing a new Decent Homes Standard to drive up the quality of rented housing. In addition, as part of the recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, we sought views on changes aimed at increasing the provision of public service infrastructure across England, including hospitals, and addressing issues like childhood obesity. The consultation closed on 24 September and responses are being analysed with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year.


Written Question
First Time Buyers
Monday 14th October 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

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 support first-time buyer households in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire (c) and England.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership. In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, we have committed to introduce a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme and to give first-time buyers the first chance to buy homes.