To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Special Educational Needs: Finance
Monday 22nd November 2021

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the announcement in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, how much and what proportion of the £4.8 billion in new local authority grants he plans to designate to tackling the backlog in Education, Health and Care Plan assessments.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition

High needs funding is part of the core schools budget. The 2021 Spending Review announced a further £4.7 billion in the core school budget by 24/25 compared to previous plans, including £1.6 billion in 22/23 on top of already planned increases from the 2019 Spending Review. This takes the total core schools budget to £56.8 billion in 24/25.

The additional LGDEL funding announced at the 2021 Spending Review will support councils to meet pressures across the range of their responsibilities. We will say more about the distribution of this funding at the provisional settlement.


Written Question
Supported Housing
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether cross-departmental discussions have taken place on housing-with-care.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

Offering older and vulnerable people a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them live independently and feel more connected to their communities. This Government is committed to providing suitable homes for older people, including extra care housing, which contributes to levelling up across communities. Housing-with-care allows individuals to choose where they want to live, with whom, how they can best be supported, and what happens in their home. Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care provide capital funding to incentivise their supply. Our planning rules already mean councils must consider the needs of older people when planning for new homes. In 2019, we published guidance to help councils implement the National Planning Policy Framework policies.

We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing. The Department of Health and Social Care are also continuing to subsidise new supply of specialist housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.

The Government's plan for health and social care, announced on Tuesday 7 September, also recognised the important role of housing, and supported housing in particular, in providing care and support to people in the community.

Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care are committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people and how we can further support its growth. We are engaging closely with both the sector and a range of other stakeholders on this issue.  I look forward to engaging with representatives in the sector further and value their insight.


Written Question
Supported Housing: Planning Permission
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential barriers in the planning system to the expansion of housing-with-care.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

Offering older and vulnerable people a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them live independently and feel more connected to their communities. This Government is committed to providing suitable homes for older people, including extra care housing, which contributes to levelling up across communities. Housing-with-care allows individuals to choose where they want to live, with whom, how they can best be supported, and what happens in their home. Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care provide capital funding to incentivise their supply. Our planning rules already mean councils must consider the needs of older people when planning for new homes. In 2019, we published guidance to help councils implement the National Planning Policy Framework policies.

We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing. The Department of Health and Social Care are also continuing to subsidise new supply of specialist housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.

The Government's plan for health and social care, announced on Tuesday 7 September, also recognised the important role of housing, and supported housing in particular, in providing care and support to people in the community.

Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care are committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people and how we can further support its growth. We are engaging closely with both the sector and a range of other stakeholders on this issue.  I look forward to engaging with representatives in the sector further and value their insight.


Written Question
Supported Housing: Older People
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to expand provision of housing-with-care for older people to help reduce pressure on the wider care system.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

Offering older and vulnerable people a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them live independently and feel more connected to their communities. This Government is committed to providing suitable homes for older people, including extra care housing, which contributes to levelling up across communities. Housing-with-care allows individuals to choose where they want to live, with whom, how they can best be supported, and what happens in their home. Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care provide capital funding to incentivise their supply. Our planning rules already mean councils must consider the needs of older people when planning for new homes. In 2019, we published guidance to help councils implement the National Planning Policy Framework policies.

We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing. The Department of Health and Social Care are also continuing to subsidise new supply of specialist housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.

The Government's plan for health and social care, announced on Tuesday 7 September, also recognised the important role of housing, and supported housing in particular, in providing care and support to people in the community.

Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department of Health and Social Care are committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people and how we can further support its growth. We are engaging closely with both the sector and a range of other stakeholders on this issue.  I look forward to engaging with representatives in the sector further and value their insight.


Written Question
Housing: Older People
Monday 22nd March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking taking to increase the supply of housing-with-care for older people.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The growth of this sector is important for meeting the needs of the ageing population and supporting our housing supply objectives. We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing. DHSC are also continuing to subsidise new supply of specialist housing for older and disabled people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing (CASSH) Fund.

We are continuing to work closely with the sector and across Government to look at how we can further support its growth. This includes considering the merits of different engagement and delivery models including the proposals for a taskforce.

Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 16 Mar 2021
Levelling Up

"Despite having higher rates of child poverty and unemployment, Salford has been categorised as priority 2 for investment, behind the constituencies represented by the Communities Secretary and the Chancellor. We now know that the single biggest factor in prioritisation was the length of commute by car. Can the Minister explain …..."
Baroness Keeley - View Speech

View all Baroness Keeley (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Levelling Up

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 25 Jan 2021
Council Tax: Government’s Proposed Increase

"Throughout this crisis, local councils have been on the frontline of fighting covid-19 and I would like to pay tribute to every member of local authority staff across the country for the work they have done over the last year, particularly the staff of Salford City Council. Whether it is …..."
Baroness Keeley - View Speech

View all Baroness Keeley (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Council Tax: Government’s Proposed Increase

Written Question
Planning Permission
Monday 21st September 2020

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consultation his Department carried out with (a) Salford city council, (b) Greater Manchester resilience forum and (c) other bodies referenced in Schedule 1(1) to the Town and Country Planning (Border Facilities and Infrastructure) (EU Exit) (England) Special Development Order 2020 Order.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Special Development Order requires a border department to engage with local authorities and a range of other parties ahead of any submission to my department to seek to use a site for border facilities and associated infrastructure.


Written Question
Planning Permission
Monday 21st September 2020

Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that permissions under article 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Border Facilities and Infrastructure) (EU Exit) (England) Special Development Order 2020 are subject to consultation with local residents and businesses.

Answered by Christopher Pincher

The Special Development Order does not approve the use of specific sites, and the border departments defined in the Order are required to seek approval from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to use and develop a specific site.

The Order requires a border department to engage with local authorities and a range of other parties ahead of a formal request for approval to use a site. The Order sets out that a request for approval must include a report setting out the engagement activities that have been undertaken, and the outcomes of those activities. The report should include a statement of the period given to engagement parties to make representation being no less than 14 calendar days.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 22 Jul 2020
Rented Homes: End of Evictions Ban

"Lifting the evictions ban from 24 August is expected to put more than 200,000 people at risk of eviction, and changes introduced by the Lord Chancellor on Friday will have no teeth unless the court is given discretion in ground 8, section 8 cases. Does the Minister recognise that making …..."
Baroness Keeley - View Speech

View all Baroness Keeley (Lab - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Rented Homes: End of Evictions Ban