Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to provide free menstrual products to homelessness shelters.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government does not directly commission homelessness shelters or services. In 2025/26 the Government is investing £1 billion in homelessness services, an increase of £233 million on the previous year. Local authorities can use this funding to provide a range of services to meet local need, which may include the provision of menstrual and other sanitary products.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to make public a full register of beneficial ownership of land.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 27 December 2023, the previous government launched a consultation on how to make land ownership more transparent where trusts are involved. The consultation closed on 21 February 2024 and officials in my department are considering the responses received.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of revising the discount offered through the Right to Acquire scheme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No such assessment has been made. Discount levels under the Right to Acquire scheme remain unchanged, and eligible tenants of housing association properties are able to apply for a discount of between £9,000 and £16,000 on the price of their property depending on where they live.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have successfully applied for the Home Ownership for People with Long-term Disabilities (HOLD) scheme since it was launched.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government supports the delivery of the Home Ownership for People with Long-Term Disabilities (HOLD) scheme through the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme. To the end of March 2024, 76 homes had been funded through the Programme as part of the HOLD scheme.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing the requirement for identification at polling stations.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be reporting on the administration of the May elections and the recent General Election. This will include the proportion of individuals turned away for lack of accepted identification. We anticipate publication of their initial findings on voter ID later this month and their full election report later in the year.
In line with our manifesto commitments, we will carefully review the voter ID rules and evaluate how they impacted citizens during the General Election before bringing forward firm proposals for reform in due course. This will of course include full consideration of the Electoral Commission’s findings.
With regard to postal voting at the 2024 General Election, I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 199 on 26 July 2024.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people were turned away from polling stations due to lack of voter identification on 4 July 2024.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be reporting on the administration of the May elections and the recent General Election. This will include the proportion of individuals turned away for lack of accepted identification. We anticipate publication of their initial findings on voter ID later this month and their full election report later in the year.
In line with our manifesto commitments, we will carefully review the voter ID rules and evaluate how they impacted citizens during the General Election before bringing forward firm proposals for reform in due course. This will of course include full consideration of the Electoral Commission’s findings.
With regard to postal voting at the 2024 General Election, I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 199 on 26 July 2024.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to remove the requirement for photo ID at elections.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be reporting on the administration of the May elections and the recent General Election. This will include the proportion of individuals turned away for lack of accepted identification. We anticipate publication of their initial findings on voter ID later this month and their full election report later in the year.
In line with our manifesto commitments, we will carefully review the voter ID rules and evaluate how they impacted citizens during the General Election before bringing forward firm proposals for reform in due course. This will of course include full consideration of the Electoral Commission’s findings.
With regard to postal voting at the 2024 General Election, I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 199 on 26 July 2024.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Departments holds on the leasehold-related costs for the average leaseholder in an apartment block.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Housing Survey contains data on service charge costs and ground rents. The latest data available for 2022-2023, published on 18 July 2024, found that owner occupier leaseholders paid on average £419 in ground rent per year and £1650 per year in service charges. This covers leaseholders in both flats and houses. Details can be found at: English Housing Survey data on leaseholders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Some leaseholders will also pay specific charges like administration, permission and event fees. Leaseholders may also face one-off bills to meet the costs of major works. Obligations to meet these costs will be set out in the lease.
In relation to building safety, under the Building Safety Act 2022 ‘qualifying leaseholders’ in relevant buildings over 11m are protected from costs associated with the remediation of unsafe cladding and non-cladding building safety defects. For qualifying leaseholders, their maximum cap for non-cladding remediation and interim measures is £15,000 in Greater London and £10,000 elsewhere in England.
The Impact Assessment provides further details and can be found at: The Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022 - Impact Assessment (legislation.gov.uk)
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his planned timetable is for confirming the levelling up funding for Warrington North.
Answered by Jacob Young
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to create an independent regulator for parking charge notices.
Answered by Jacob Young
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.