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 recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of economic growth in coastal communities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government recognises that many coastal communities face both shared challenges and opportunities. We are committed to ensuring all areas of the UK, including coastal areas, can grow and prosper.
Coastal communities often face higher deprivation and unemployment, and lower average incomes, health outcomes, educational attainment and productivity. Between 2009 and 2018, 71% of coastal towns experienced slower population and employment growth than the England and Wales average[1].
We continue to work with coastal communities to help them level up, with 11 out of 12 Freeports and 7 of 20 Levelling Up Partnerships being in coastal areas. From current major funding programmes, around £1 billion is flowing to projects in coastal areas from the Levelling Up Fund; over £400 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is going to lead local authorities within or serving coastal areas in England alone, alongside major investment in the other nations; and £75 million extra has been allocated for capital projects in coastal areas as part of announcements at Budget.
[1] Coastal towns in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
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 discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the review of voter ID changes following the May 2023 local elections.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
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 make it his policy to create parliamentary constituencies for British citizens overseas.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
No.
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 the loss of pubs as community facilities as part of his High Street Rental Auction policy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
This Government recognises that British pubs lie at the heart of our communities and will often be a much valued community asset. They not only support local economies and provide space for communities to come together, but the best pubs provide important community services, such as support for vulnerable people, creating a sense of community pride.
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) will be a permissive power for local authorities, which they can use alongside other regeneration tools at their discretion. They aim to tackle the problem of persistently vacant property on high streets and in town centres and empower places to tackle decline by bringing vacant units back into use. HSRAs seek to increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities, and to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups.
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 make it his policy to require the High Street Rental Auction scheme to (a) protect integral pub infrastructure in empty premises and (b) ensure ancillary accommodation for licensees is not lost as a result of sub-division of a premises in order to protect against the permanent loss of pubs as community facilities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
This Government recognises that British pubs lie at the heart of our communities and will often be a much valued community asset. They not only support local economies and provide space for communities to come together, but the best pubs provide important community services, such as support for vulnerable people, creating a sense of community pride.
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) will be a permissive power for local authorities, which they can use alongside other regeneration tools at their discretion. They aim to tackle the problem of persistently vacant property on high streets and in town centres and empower places to tackle decline by bringing vacant units back into use. HSRAs seek to increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities, and to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups.
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 instances of electors leaving behind their voting identification documents in polling stations occurred at the local elections on 4 May 2023.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Government's policy statement on voter identification, which set out the reasons for the forms of identification accepted in polling stations under the new rules, identity cards bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card), including for example the National Union of Students’ (NUS) Totum ID Card, are accepted.
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what reason student ID is not valid for voting ID purposes.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Government's policy statement on voter identification, which set out the reasons for the forms of identification accepted in polling stations under the new rules, identity cards bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card), including for example the National Union of Students’ (NUS) Totum ID Card, are accepted.
The data requested is not held centrally.
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 plans bring the Right To Acquire scheme in line with the Right To Buy scheme.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is keeping its homeownership options under review, however, there are no current plans to bring the Right to Acquire scheme in line with the Right to Buy scheme.
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 take steps to disapply the local connection tests for veterans seeking social housing who left service over five years ago.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government recognises the special position of members of the Armed Forces and their families.
We have changed the law so that those serving in the Armed Forces as well as former Service personnel with urgent housing needs are always given 'additional preference' for social housing.
Statutory guidance is clear that members of the regular Armed Forces, their bereaved spouses and civil partners, and seriously injured reservists, must not be disqualified for an allocation of social housing because they lack a local connection to an area.
The guidance also makes it clear that local authorities are expected to disapply any local connection requirement from divorced or separated spouses or civil partners of Service personnel who are required to move out of accommodation provided by the Ministry of Defence.
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 people are located in temporary accommodation because they are unable to be offered a permanent property due to rent arrears.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The latest statutory homelessness statistics for July to September 2022 can be found here.