Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of hotels and hostels by local authority which are (a) below and (b) above 18 metres in height that have high pressure laminate cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department has commenced a data collection exercise which will enable us to build a picture of external wall systems in use on high rise residential buildings. This exercise will collect data on residential buildings 18 metres and over covering private and social buildings, student accommodation and hotels.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of student accommodation blocks (a) below and (b) above 18 metres in height in each local authority areas that have high pressure laminate cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department has commenced a data collection exercise which will enable us to build a picture of external wall systems in use on high rise residential buildings. This exercise will collect data on residential buildings 18 metres and over covering private and social buildings, student accommodation and hotels.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of hospitals by local authority which are (a) below and (b) above 18 metres in height that have high pressure laminate cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department has commenced a data collection exercise which will enable us to build a picture of external wall systems in use on high rise residential buildings. This exercise will collect data on residential buildings 18 metres and over covering private and social buildings, student accommodation and hotels.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of care homes by local authority which are (a) below and (b) above 18 metres in height that have high pressure laminate cladding.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department has commenced a data collection exercise which will enable us to build a picture of external wall systems in use on high rise residential buildings. This exercise will collect data on residential buildings 18 metres and over covering private and social buildings, student accommodation and hotels.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure new builds are meeting fire safety requirements.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The primary responsibility for compliance with the Building Regulations, including fire safety, rests with the person carrying out the building work. This is the builder or developer. Most building work is subject to building control either by the local authority or a private approved inspector, on a spot-check basis. It is the responsibility of the building control body to take all reasonable steps to assess compliance. However, responsibility for compliance remains with the builder or developer.
On 5 July, the Government published a clarified version of Approved Document B (fire safety) to help responsible parties to understand what steps they could take to ensure that their building complies with the building regulations.
We are currently consulting on how we propose to take forward legislative reform for building and fire safety in higher-risk residential buildings implementing recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of planning applications which were refused on the grounds that the sewerage network or waste water treatment facilities did not have sufficient capacity to service those developments in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The information requested is not collected by the Department.
The National Planning Policy Framework expects local councils to work with other authorities and providers, such as water and sewerage companies, to assess the quality and capacity of infrastructure and its ability to meet forecast demands. This includes infrastructure for wastewater and its treatment. This should help inform councils’ Local Plans, which should plan positively for the development and infrastructure required in the area. Further information is provided in our on-line planning practice guidance, ‘Water supply, wastewater and water quality’, available at http://planningguidance.communities.gov.uk/blog/guidance/
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings were built as part of a development that included sustainable drainage systems in England and Wales in each of the last five years;
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The information requested is note collected by the Department. Sustainable drainage systems are delivered locally in line with national planning policy and building regulations. National planning policy in England has clear requirements relating to sustainable drainage systems including that priority should be given to their use if development is considered in areas at risk of flooding. These requirements are underpinned by planning guidance, including guidance on sustainable drainage systems which was strengthened last year. Additionally, developers must comply with the building regulations which give priority to sustainable drainage systems in their hierarchy of arrangements for dealing with rainwater.