Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 15 January 2019 to Question 207293 on Local Government Services: EU Nationals, whether carrying out their lives broadly as now includes accessing local authority-provided services.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
EU citizens who remain legally in the UK after our exit from the EU will have their rights preserved. This including maintaining the eligibility to access benefits and services like now, including local authority-provided services such social housing and homelessness assistance. If these individuals go on to acquire settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme they will then be able to access benefits on comparable to UK nationals.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Home Office to ensure that non-UK EU residents in the process of seeking settled status will be able to access local authority-provided services while they are waiting for conferment of that status.
Answered by Jake Berry
My Department continues to work closely with the Home Office to assist on the implementation of the EU Settlement Scheme which will give EU citizens already residing in the UK, and those arriving during the Implementation Period, the opportunity to secure their future residence in the UK and to carry out their lives broadly as now
Once the UK has left the EU, the Government will put in place a new single, skills-based immigration system, which will apply to citizens from both EU and non-EU countries. Current entitlements of EU citizens will remain unchanged until the future border and immigration system is introduced.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statement in the letter of 13 March 2018 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Housing and Homelessness) to the hon. Member for Oxford East, whether the statement that the Government wants to support all landlords to offer longer tenancies where they are wanted means that it is the Government's policy that local authorities will be provided with the flexibility to retain secure tenancies as standard in local Tenancy Strategies under the responsibilities conveyed by the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
I refer the Hon Member to my answer of June 26 2018 to Quesion UIN156488.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
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 June 2018 to Question 155938 whether he has decided on a date for when the next steps will be set out.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced changes to local authority tenancies by making it mandatory for most new council tenancies to be for a fixed term however this has not yet been implemented. Next steps will be set out shortly.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish regulations on local Tenancy Strategies in relation to the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced changes to local authority tenancies by making it mandatory for most new council tenancies to be for a fixed term.
Regulations and statutory guidance are necessary to implement the fixed term tenancy provisions in the Housing and Planning Act and the next steps will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter from the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, reference 3677980 on support for for landlords to offer longer tenancies where they are wanted, whether local authorities will be provided with the flexibility to retain secure tenancies as standard in local Tenancy Strategies, under the responsibilities conveyed by the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 includes provision for regulations to set out the circumstances in which local authorities will have discretion to continue to grant lifetime tenancies.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the review by Eric Ollerenshaw entitled Three Years On: An Independent Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes, published in 2016, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities to collect data on the effect of their local council tax support schemes as by that review.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Government has not issued guidance to local authorities to collect data on the effect of their council tax reduction schemes.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria will be used to determine which local authorities receive the a proportion of the £400 million to support fire safety initiatives.
Answered by Dominic Raab
We want to get funding to local authorities and housing associations as soon as possible, so that they can focus on the job of making their buildings safe. We will announce more details shortly about how councils and housing associations can apply for funding, including conditions attached to the grant.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Ministry holds on the number of people referred to bailiffs for non-payment of council tax by local authorities which (a) provide a full council tax reduction scheme and (b) do not provide a full council tax reduction scheme, for each year since 2013.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Department does not collect the information requested. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 requires all billing authorities in England to develop their own schemes to provide council tax support to local residents.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Ministry holds on the number of people who received a court summons for non-payment of council tax in local authority areas which (a) provide a full council tax reduction scheme and (b) do not provide a full council tax reduction scheme, for each year since 2013.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Department does not collect the information requested. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 requires all billing authorities in England to develop their own schemes to provide council tax support to local residents.