Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has notified staff to (a) tell or (b) remind them that they can sell annual leave in the last four months.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department does not currently have such a policy.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
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 ensure his Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department adheres with CS Management Code and workforce equalities data is shared regularly with relevant trade unions, such as the Departmental Trade Union Side.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department maintains a positive relationship with our trades unions and shares a broad range of appropriate material with them, depending upon the subject under discussion.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
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 the effectiveness of his levelling up policies in tackling inequality.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The levelling up missions are central to the government’s plan to tackle inequality across the UK. While these are long-term objectives for 2030, we are making early progress through rolling out gigabit broadband, introducing education investment areas, opening freeports, and devolving powers from Westminster.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill sets out proposals for an annual report on levelling up missions as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what records his Department keeps relating to staff working times under Regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations 1998; and how long those records are kept for.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Department's policies and processes are supported by payroll and other records that are retained for at least two years.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans (a) to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the conduct of insurers offering Professional Indemnity Insurance to those tasked with the remedial works on unsafe buildings or (b) for the Government to underwrite or indemnify the risk under an extension to the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We do not have plans to regulate the behaviour of insurers undertaking PII as this is activity already regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in line with their statutory objectives under the Financial Services and Market Act (2000) legislation.
We understand that some construction professionals are struggling to obtain appropriate PII, particularly for fire safety work. This directly relates to the Government's remediation objectives. We have been engaging with industry to investigate these challenges. This includes developing an industry survey with the Construction Leadership Council to provide a robust evidence base of the challenges in construction PII.
We are also monitoring the effect of PII restrictions on applications to the Building Safety Fund and are engaging with suppliers to ensure they have appropriate PII cover. We continue to work across Government and with industry, to investigate solutions that may improve the availability of PII and continue the delivery of remediation at pace.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning projects are being (i) undertaken and (ii) considered for his Department.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to PQ83796 on 10 September 2020.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation affects the right of recognised unions in his Department to bargaining information as set out in Section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Answered by Jake Berry
Government Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has not affected the rights of unions in the Department to bargaining information provided under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department complies with the requirement set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code that time off with pay for safety representatives will not be set against facility time allowed under existing arrangements.
Answered by Jake Berry
The department has an obligation to provide reasonable paid time off to recognised trade union representatives to undertake trade union duties. This also includes paid time off for safety representatives as set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code
In line with the legislative obligation, set out in the Trade Union Act (2016), information relating to facility time for relevant union officials is published annually, with facility time defined by that Act as including time off taken by a relevant union official. Time off is permitted by the official’s employer, including where this arises under “regulations made under section 2(4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974”.
The Government recognises there are significant benefits to both employers and employees when organisations and unions work together effectively to deliver high quality public services, but facility time within the public sector must be accountable and represent value for money.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Department is continuing to prepare for a smooth exit from the EU, whatever the circumstances of that exit, ensuring that we effectively manage the policies, activities and priorities for which we are responsible. Forty staff are currently working on the central management and co-ordination of the Department's EU Exit activity and we anticipate that additional people will join these central teams in the near term. Additionally, individual teams across the Department are focused on those issues that will require action or support in relation to our exit from the EU.