Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to (a) measure and (b) report on progress on reducing youth homelessness through the forthcoming homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people.
We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.
We continue to measure the number of young people owed a homelessness duty through the quarterly and annual accredited homelessness statistics, which remain our official and most robust statistics on youth homelessness.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the National House Building Council on the effectiveness of its warranty schemes when faults have been identified in new build properties.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Deputy Prime Minister has not discussed the effectiveness of its warranty schemes when faults have been identified in new build properties with the National House-Building Council (NHBC).
However the department regularly carries out engagement with industry and regulators to better understand the effectiveness of new build warranty schemes, which includes those provided by NHBC.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to include funding for home-to-school transport in the local government finance settlement in the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Funding for home-to-school transport is allocated to local authorities via un-ringfenced funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement. In total, the Local Government Finance Settlement for financial year 2025-26 makes available £69 billion to local authorities.
We invited views from the local government sector through the “local authority funding reform objectives and principles consultation”, which was open from 18 December to 12 February. It sought views on the approach to local authority funding reform to be implemented via the Local Government Finance Settlement from 2026-27.
We will be consulting on more detailed proposals following the Spending Review in June.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken to consult with stakeholders on the adequacy of the rurality weighting in the new council funding settlement.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Places with a significant rural population will on average receive almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power for 25-26, which is a real terms increase alongside new funding available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.
I regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss current and future local government funding, including on rurality. We also invited views from the sector on long-awaited finance reforms through the local authority funding reform objectives and principles consultation. This included our proposal to continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for relative cost differences between local authorities, including differences between rural and urban areas. We will be consulting on more detailed proposals following the Spending Review.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the homelessness sector on tackling youth homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment between (a) young adults and (b) other age groups experience of homelessness; and if she will help support young adult's needs in the homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to include youth homelessness in the cross-government homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 20894 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to consult young people on the homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 20894 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to ensure her Department's policies are trauma-informed; and what guidance her Department issues women fleeing domestic abuse.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government is committed to tackling the horrendous crime of domestic abuse, in line with our manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, with improved support for victims.
Since 2021, councils in England have a duty to ensure that all victims, including their children, have access to support within safe accommodation when they need it.
This is a locally led duty. Each council must work closely with their Local Partnership Board to assess the needs of victims locally and commission the right safe accommodation support services needed to meet the identified need. MHCLG statutory guidance makes clear that all support provided under the duty should meet appropriate quality standards, such as the MHCLG Quality Standards, which state that victims should be assessed and offered trauma informed services on the basis of their individual need for safety and support.
MHCLG also leads the cross-government Changing Futures programme which works with 15 local partnerships in England to improve outcomes for people facing multiple disadvantages, including domestic abuse, using trauma informed approaches.
Government guidance is available here on help available to domestic abuse victims.