Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 November 2022, HCWS172 on Building Regulations, if his Department will take steps to ensure that the review considers equal access to male sanitary bins in already established buildings as well as new buildings..
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 83564 on 17 November 2022.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to provide financial support to victims of domestic of violence to help them find alternative accommodation so that they are protected from abuse and harm.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government is committed to the delivery of safe accommodation with support for all victims of domestic abuse. This is part of the Government's overall Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
The Domestic Abuse Act includes new duties on local authorities in England, which came into force on 1 October 2021, to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation.
So far, we have distributed £250 million to local authorities for the delivery of their duties - £125 million in both 2021/22 and 2022/23. On 12 December 2022 we announced a further two years of government funding - £127.3 million and £129.7 million for the delivery of these duties in 2023/24 and 2024/25.
This is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will increase existing awards of Levelling Up Funding, in the context of rising inflation.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department is monitoring the impact of inflation closely through formal reporting mechanisms and regular discussions with local government counterparts and stakeholders.
The Levelling Up Fund has put in place a proportionate project adjustment process. Further discussions are underway about what other support can be offered to mitigate inflationary pressures.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people in Northern Ireland have been issued with sponsor payments under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data on the number of tariff and thank you payments made to all local authorities between March and May 2022 can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-for-ukraine-funding-march-to-may-2022/annex-a-homes-for-ukraine-local-authority-funding-allocations-march-to-may-2022-northern-ireland.
Note: The number of thank you payments may be less than the number of sponsoring households due to delays in authorities making thank you payments, or sponsors not accepting thank you payments.
There is flexibility for how councils can deliver the sponsor payments. Lead sponsors are not eligible for the £350 monthly payment if they are charging the guest rent. For the sponsor, the £350 payment is payable monthly in arrears backdated to the date the Ukrainian national commenced residence in the sponsor’s accommodation.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when awards made in the first tranche of the Levelling Up Fund must be spent by.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
On 27 October, the Government announced £1.7 billion of investment into 105 infrastructure projects across the UK. Funding provided from the Fund should be spent by 31 March 2024, and exceptionally, into 2024-25 for larger schemes.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications have been received from Northern Ireland for the UK Community Renewal Fund; and how many of those applications were successful.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The UK Community Renewal Fund received 83 applications from organisations to deliver projects in Northern Ireland and 31 applications were successful.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the Community Ownership Fund in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The first bidding round of the Community Ownership Fund has now closed and the successful bids have been announced. We are reviewing applications and uptake across the United Kingdom in each nation as part of our first round review and will consider how to increase awareness in the next round.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities officials worked closely with officials at the Northern Ireland Executive, the Northern Ireland Office and the Cities and Local Growth Unit Northern Ireland Area team during the first bidding round to ensure that communities were aware of the fund. They will continue to do this in future rounds.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations to ensure the Fund works for places across the UK. Government officials meet regularly with their counterparts, including the Northern Ireland Executive, to discuss the Fund. Government officials have also held 25 engagement events across the UK, including in Belfast. These were attended by over five hundred representatives from a breadth of sectors.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities to provide accessible play parks for people with disabilities.
Answered by Jake Berry
In October 2019 my Department announced a £1.35 million grant scheme for local communities, working with local authorities to apply for funding to create new pocket parks or renovate existing parks.
Identifying a local need such as accessibility or supporting those with disability issues is one of the key criteria against which applications will be assessed. The application window closed on 31 December and a total of 375 applications were received with 3 per cent specifically addressing issues of disability. Results will be announced in early February.