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Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Evictions
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of private tenants who were evicted under section 21 provisions in 2023 were subsequently accommodated in social housing.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The information requested is not held centrally.


Written Question
Parking: Codes of Practice
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to reintroduce the parking code of practice.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government is taking action to improve the regulation of the private parking industry.

We have recently concluded a call for evidence, and intend to publish an impact assessment and consultation on parking charge and debt recovery limits in the near future.

We are working alongside all relevant stakeholders including industry bodies and consumer groups to implement the Code of Practice as soon as possible.


Written Question
Housing: Construction
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

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 help ensure new housing developments are resilient to flooding.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) outlines the strong protections against flooding for housing, including tests to consider if it can be demonstrated that the development is appropriately flood resistant and resilient.

These tests are in place to protect people and property. Where they are not met, local authorities should not be permitting new development.


Written Question
Sleeping Rough
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many rough sleepers have refused accommodation offered in each of the last five years.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

We collect and publish data on a quarterly basis on the number of people sleeping rough on a single night who have refused accommodation, as part of the quarterly publication of management information about the support for people sleeping rough. The information is available here: Homelessness statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Housing: Sales
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

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 require buyers and sellers to be compensated when the other party withdraws from an agreement to purchase a residential property.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

If a buyer or seller pulls out of a transaction once contracts have been exchanged, they are often already legally obliged to pay compensation to the other party. The amount of compensation will depend upon the individual contract, but it is intended to go towards costs accrued in the transaction, such as legal costs and search fees. Home buyers and sellers are also able to voluntarily enter into reservation agreements in advance of exchange, which can provide protection when property transactions fall through.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

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 potential impact of local councils warning that they may have to issue section 114 notices on (a) service delivery and (b) budgets.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.

Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.

The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authorities have (a) raised concerns relating to their financial position and (b) requested financial assistance since 1 January 2023.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.

Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.

The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many requests have been made by local councils for capitalisation directives in the last 12 months; and of those, how many were accepted.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.

Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.

The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of councils that will issue a section 114 notice in the next 24 months.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The details of in-principle Exceptional Financial Support agreements with councils are published and available on gov.uk.

Councils are responsible for setting their own budgets and taking decisions around spending. Any decision to issue a Section 114 notice is one taken at a local level and is not a matter for the department. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £5.1 billion or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022/23.

The department maintains a regular dialogue with the sector, and we understand the challenges being faced by local government. It is also the case that there have been local failures in financial management and governance in a small number of Councils in recent years; where this is the case the Government will take action, where necessary, to protect tax payer value for money. We stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances, whatever the cause.


Written Question
Local Government Finance
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to resume issuing multi-year financial settlements to local councils.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

We know that local authorities value multi-year certainty, as this allows them to plan spending over the longer term. That is why, in 2022, the Government published the local government finance policy statement , providing councils greater certainty on key aspects of their funding for the next two years to the end of this Spending Review. It is the Government’s intention to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament, when circumstances allow.