Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who do not hold a valid photo ID to vote in elections requiring that identification as of 1 February 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Cabinet Office has published an extensive survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, which includes geographical breakdowns. The results have been published here.
Cabinet Office research shows that 99% of those aged 18-29 held an accepted form of photographic identification, and 98% of those aged over 70 hold an accepted form of photographic identification.
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the required forms of photographic identification, or whose appearance has significantly changed in comparison to their existing identification documents, can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate that matches their current appearance.
Polling station staff will be given appropriate training and there will be a requirement for privacy screens to allow electors who wish to have their form of identification viewed in private able to do so.
The Electoral Commission will provide a comprehensive, targeted communications campaign and guidance, raising awareness throughout the electorate of the new voter identification requirements.
Northern Ireland has successfully operated photographic identification in polling stations since 2003, when introduced by the last Labour Government.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October to Question 65688 on Private Rented Housing, what his indicative timescales are for the introduction of the proposed renters reform legislation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Legislation will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the indicative timescales are for the introduction of the proposed renters reform legislation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone deserves to live in a safe and secure home, and the government has repeated its commitment to the ban on section 21 no-fault evictions to protect tenants. Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for the Government. We intend to legislate in this parliament.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether developments in the Government's proposed investment zones will be required to (a) ensure no net loss for nature, (b) follow International Finance Corporation's Performance Standard 6 mitigation hierarchy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Investment Zones are currently at an early stage of development and local authorities have been asked to express interest only in taking part at this stage.
The published expression of interest guidance has been clear that applications which refuse to commit, in principle, to mitigate environmental impacts on or off site will not proceed.
DLUHC officials are now assessing those proposals received and further information on the approval of Investment Zones will be forthcoming in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to require Investment Zones to drive nature’s recovery, and communities’ access to nature-rich green space, by mandating green infrastructure and restoration in these zones; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Investment Zones are currently at an early stage of development and local authorities have been asked to express interest only in taking part at this stage.
The published expression of interest guidance has been clear that applications which refuse to commit, in principle, to mitigate environmental impacts on or off site will not proceed.
DLUHC officials are now assessing those proposals received and further information on the approval of Investment Zones will be forthcoming in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to increase the local government settlement in line with inflation or above, ahead of the local government finance settlement; and if he has had discussions with local authority leaders about their ability to (a) plan for (b) provide public services without this information; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22.
Inflation forecasts are higher than they were at the Spending Review. How that interacts with the finances of local government is not straightforward. We are working closely with local government to understand the impact of inflationary pressures. My department speaks regularly to local government and their representatives to understand their financial position.
Local authorities will receive support through the government's Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will provide a discount on energy prices this winter for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.
The Government recognises how important certainty is to local authorities, and we aim to provide that whenever possible. We will be announcing the 2023/24 Local Government settlement in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that First-Tier Tribunals making Market Rent Assessments cannot increase tenants' rents on the basis of improvements resulting from a means-tested grant applied for by a tenant; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At present, when determining a rent in market rent cases the tribunal will ignore any improvements by the tenant. This is to ensure that such improvements will not have the effect of inflating the rent.
The White Paper 'A Fairer Private Rented Sector', published in June 2022, provides further information on the most recent Government announcements in this policy area.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the levels of discretionary social fund applications to local authorities over the last 2 years; what discussions he has had with local authority chief executives on the additional burdens faced by local authorities linked to the increase in the cost-of-living for residents; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
Local authorities have powers to provide local welfare assistance. Following the abolition of the Discretionary Social Fund in 2013, funding is instead made available to deliver local welfare assistance through the Local Government Finance Settlement. The majority of funding provided through the settlement is un-ringfenced in recognition of the fact that local authorities are best placed to decide on local priorities
The Local Government Finance Settlement 2022/23 makes available £54.1 billion for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22
In recognition of the pressures on household budgets, the Government is extending the Household Support Fund from October 2022 to March 2023, with a further £421 million to help households with the costs of essentials. The management information for the first Household Support Fund scheme has now been published: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-management-information-6-october-2021-to-31-march-2022.
The Government is providing broader support, with the new 'Energy Price Guarantee' saving the average household at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This is in addition to a package of support worth £37 billion in 2022/23.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made in analysing the consultation responses to the call for evidence on local authority remote meetings that closed on 17 June 2021; what the reasons are for not having published the (a) findings and (b) Government's next steps following the consultation; if he will publish those finding and next steps; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government issued the call for evidence on remote meetings last year to gather views and inform a longer-term decision about making permanent provisions for councils to meet remotely or in hybrid form. The Department has considered the responses and we have been weighing the pros and cons of the idea.
The Government will be issuing its response to the call for evidence which will set out our intentions on this matter shortly.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
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 announcement on 26 July 2022 that £10 million will be made available over three years to support providers of night shelters to transform their services in England through the Night Shelter Transformation Fund, if he will remove the criteria that only permits the submission of applications by organisations with a turnover of up to £5 million; if he will place a copy of his reply to the letter from Andy Winter, Chief Executive of the Brighton Housing Trust, dated 27 July 2022 about that criteria in the Library; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund is available to small to medium sized faith and community organisations with up to £5 million annual turnover who provide accommodation and support to people experiencing rough sleeping in a night shelter setting. DLUHC have utilised intelligence from the sector and knowledge gained from previous funds of this kind in forming this eligibility criteria. As detailed in the Fund's prospectus, organisations with a higher turnover may apply in specific circumstances, for example if an organisation is the only local emergency accommodation provider in a particular area.
I encourage Brighton Housing Trust to contact our sector partners Homeless Link or Housing Justice to discuss other grant funding opportunities. Brighton Housing Trust may also wish to contact their local authority partners to discuss further opportunities.