Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 5.140 of the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, when plans to publish details of funding for Newton-Le-Willows.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Prime Minister’s Long Term Plan for Towns will see up to £20 million of funding and support from the Government for Newton-Le-Willows over the next decade. I wrote to the Member for St Helen’s North and the Leader and Chief Executive of St Helen’s Borough Council on 19 March 2024 setting out next steps for developing the Long Term Plan for their town. This included details of the funding that will be provided for Newton-Le-Willows.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens 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 support local authorities with housing vulnerable homeless families in (a) St Helens and (b) the North West.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are providing over £1 billion through the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years, including a £109 million top-up this year. This funding can be used to offer financial support for people to find a new home or to work with landlords to prevent evictions, or to provide temporary accommodation where needed. St Helens Borough Council received £474,880 for 2023/24 and has been allocated £375,204 for 2024/25. The North West received £28,066,133 for 2023/24 and has been allocated £21,479,278 for 2024/25. The full list of allocations for local authorities in England is available here.
In addition, in his Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced Government is increasing the Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of market rents from April. This will mean 1.6 million low-income households will be around £800 a year better off on average in 2024-25 and will make it more affordable for families on benefits to rent properties in the private rented sector. Autumn Statement also announced additional UK-wide funding of £120 million to help councils address Ukraine and homelessness pressures in 2024/25. We will announce local authority level allocations of this new funding in due course.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens 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 has made an estimate of the number of community buildings affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 197493 on 11 September 2023.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many new homes were built in St Helens Borough in each year since 2000 by electoral ward.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy is on development on (a) greenbelt and (b) brownfield sites in St Helens and Merseyside.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Details of the Government’s planning policy are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will commit to support freeports for the life of the development, rather than for a specific time period, including at Parkside.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Details of the Government’s free ports programme are published on gov.uk and include a generous package of tax reliefs until 2026 for eligible businesses on Freeport tax sites like Parkside. We are also backing Freeports over a 25-year period through local retention of all business rates growth above an agreed baseline.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the (a) process and (b) timetable is for the creation of a freeport in Liverpool City Region.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Liverpool City Region Freeport is now fully up-and-running, having recently secured final government approvals.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of rough sleepers in (a) St Helens, (b) Liverpool City Region and (c) England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The annual rough sleeping snapshot provides an estimate of known rough sleepers by region.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
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 24 September 2022 of Investment Zones, (a) what measures, (b) what timetable and (c) what local authority areas he is considering for the creation of those zones; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
DLUHC officials are now assessing those proposals received from the Expression of Interest process and will look to publish further information in due course.
The published guidance set out that there will be a high bar for establishing Investment Zones and the government anticipates setting up a specific number of Investment Zones where it can be demonstrated that they will have the greatest impact on growth and housing supply. The precise number of Zones will depend on factors, such as their overall geographic spread and the fiscal cost of the programme.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens 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 publish his Department's assessments of the potential impact of Investment Zones on (a) local, (b) regional and (c) national growth in the UK.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Investment Zones are at an early stage of development with an expression of interest process having recently concluded. DLUHC officials are now reviewing those proposals received and will look to publish further information on Investment Zones in due course.