Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support disabled people living in social housing to obtain the home adaptations necessary to their wellbeing.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Since 2010, Government has invested over £4 billion into the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to contribute towards the cost of home adaptations for eligible disabled people of all ages and tenures, including those living in social housing, so they can live independently and safely.
The Government will commit a further £573 million for the DFG each year between 2022-23 to 2024-5. The Adult Social Care White Paper, People at the Heart of Care, also confirmed that we are taking steps to reform the DFG to ensure the grant benefits more people who need home adaptations, including people living in social housing. Government will be consulting on these reforms in 2022.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has received an application from Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council to the UK Community Renewal Fund.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The lead authority, in this case Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA), was responsible for submitting bids to the UK Community Renewal Fund. LCRCA invited bids from a range of project applicants, appraised and prioritised projects and submitted a shortlist to UK Government which selected projects based on the published assessment criteria.
We have checked and no bids were submitted for the UK Community Renewal Fund from Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council by LCRCA.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the covid-19 Parking Pass to healthcare support staff.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to PQ16235 on 21 June 2021.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) criteria and (b) minimum requirements his Department has provided to local authorities on the appointment of school crossing patrol wardens.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
MHCLG does not issue guidance to local authorities on the appointment of school crossing patrol wardens.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to provide more accessible toilets in town centres.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Public toilets are a valuable community amenity that allow all members of the community to access vital services in our towns and high streets. This Government recognises the important role they play and as a result, has provided a broad range of support to not only maintain access to these vital facilities throughout the pandemic but is also taking steps to increase provision of accessible, Changing Places toilets.
At Budget 2018, we offered 100 per cent business rates relief for public toilets across England supporting local authorities, in their responsibility for opening, maintaining and overseeing toilet provision in their area.
As we begin to return to normality following COVID-19 restrictions, the Government has further supported local authorities to increase toilet provision and support repair, maintenance and enhanced cleaning regimes through the £56 million Welcome Back Fund. This funding is available to all areas of the Country and has helped to ensure a safe and successful return to our high streets and town centres.
In addition, we are soon to launch the £30 million Changing Places programme. Delivered in partnership with the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK, this programme will substantially increase the provision of Changing Places accessible toilets in existing buildings across England, allowing people who need these facilities to get out and about, and enjoy the day-to-day activities many of us take for granted.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that local authorities in priority category 3 without capacity funding apply for the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.
The Fund will be allocated competitively. Funding will be delivered through local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, and through local delivery partners and public sector bodies in Northern Ireland.
The index places areas into category 1,2 or 3 based on the local area’s need for economic recovery and growth, improved transport connectivity, and regeneration.
These bandings will form part of our criteria for assessing bids. The bandings do not represent eligibility criteria, nor the amount or number of bids a place can submit.
Following the launch of the Fund, Ministers and officials held webinar events open to all local authorities to provide details on the design of the new Fund, including how to apply.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken since May 2010 to tackle garden grabbing and protect residential gardens.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
In June 2010 the Government removed domestic gardens in built-up areas from the definition of ‘brownfield’ land. This strengthened the discretion of local authorities to refuse intrusive new dwellings on residential garden land. We retained that policy when we revised the National Planning Policy Framework in June 2018. This does not impose a complete ban on the use of redundant garden land for housing. We expect local authorities to consider what is the appropriate density for a residential area, to resist inappropriate development, and to ensure green infrastructure is maintained in built-up areas.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average plot size is of a (a) detached and (b) semi-detached house with a garden according to information held by (i) his Department and (ii) the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
MHCLG’s English Housing Survey records details relating to the land immediately surrounding a dwelling, referred to as the dwelling’s plot. The plot may be private (i.e. exclusive access) or shared (e.g. where a block of flats have a shared garden). The plot may consist of hard landscaping (e.g. concrete, tarmac, paving, gravel), soft landscaping (e.g. lawn, flower/vegetable beds), or a combination.
In 2016, the latest year for which data are available, 83 per cent of homes (19.7 million dwellings) in England had private plots; 1 per cent (296,000) had a shared plot (ref: Annex Table 1.5: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2016-stock-condition).
In 2016, the average private plot size was 275.6m2(ref: Annex Table 1.5: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2016-stock-condition). The department does not regularly publish data on plot size, by dwelling type. The Valuation Office Agency does not hold complete data on plot sizes for domestic properties and is therefore unable to determine the average plot size for detached and semi-detached properties.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate the English Housing Survey has made of the number and proportion of dwellings that have gardens.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
MHCLG’s English Housing Survey records details relating to the land immediately surrounding a dwelling, referred to as the dwelling’s plot. The plot may be private (i.e. exclusive access) or shared (e.g. where a block of flats have a shared garden). The plot may consist of hard landscaping (e.g. concrete, tarmac, paving, gravel), soft landscaping (e.g. lawn, flower/vegetable beds), or a combination.
In 2016, the latest year for which data are available, 83 per cent of homes (19.7 million dwellings) in England had private plots; 1 per cent (296,000) had a shared plot (ref: Annex Table 1.5: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2016-stock-condition).
In 2016, the average private plot size was 275.6m2(ref: Annex Table 1.5: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2016-stock-condition). The department does not regularly publish data on plot size, by dwelling type. The Valuation Office Agency does not hold complete data on plot sizes for domestic properties and is therefore unable to determine the average plot size for detached and semi-detached properties.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's document entitled Land value estimates for policy appraisal, what the average value is of hectare of residential land in each local authority in England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department intermittently commissions and publishes land value estimate data from the Valuations Office Agency. The latest release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-value-estimates-for-policy-appraisal-2017
The published document has values for typical sites in each local authority, which can be considered a median value. However, alternative metrics for an average value, such as the mean, are unavailable.