Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 help reduce incidents of Hinduphobia.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Hatred towards Hindus is completely abhorrent and has no place in our communities. The Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it. In 2023/24, the Home Office is providing £3.5 million for protecting places of worship, including for Hindu temples.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 (a) cancelled or (b) altered an article four direction issued by a local authority (i) to suspend permitted development rights for a house in multiple occupation and (ii) for other reasons in the period since 2010.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The requested information is not available for the period since 2010.
Since the national policy on Article 4 directions was amended on 1 July 2021, the department has not cancelled or modified any Article 4 directions which disapply permitted development rights for a house in multiple occupation. Since July 2021, the department has modified Article 4 directions for 10 local authorities for other reasons.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he has held discussions with representatives of the London Borough of Sutton on its Gypsy and Traveller site plan due to be submitted in 2022.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has not held discussions with representatives of the London Borough of Sutton on its Gypsy and Traveller site plan. Due to his quasi-judicial role in the planning system he is unable to comment on specific development plans or their content.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 regenerate high streets and towns.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Regenerating our high streets and town centres is essential to this Government’s commitment to level up the country. The Levelling Up White Paper includes measures to tackle vacant properties and announces 68 further places to receive tailored support from the High Streets Task Force. This builds on the comprehensive funding package already announced including the £3.6 billion Towns Fund.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 proportion of private landlords that are utilising (a) the Government’s current model tenancy agreement and (b) previous versions of the model tenancy agreement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Model Tenancy Agreement is the Government’s suggested contract for assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector. It is a publicly available template which landlords and tenants can choose to use to agree a tenancy, although they are not obligated to do so.
The Government does not collect data on the proportion of landlords using current or previous versions of the Model Tenancy Agreement.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to update Government guidance to local authorities on local parking strategies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government does not have current plans to update guidance on on-street parking.
The Government did support a private members bill to improve the situation for motorists in relation to private parking companies. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act received Royal Assent in 2019. This Act will lead to the creation of an independent code of practice for private parking companies and a “one-stop-shop” for parking appeals.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government laid an advisory Code of Practice for private parking companies in the House of Commons Library. On 3 November 2019, the government announced that the British Standards Institution (BSI) will write the Code in consultation with consumer and industry groups. The Government has committed to developing the final code this year, and will carry out a full public consultation, to give the parking industry, the public and other interested parties the opportunity to have a say.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to update Government Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments guidance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
In February 2019 we announced a package of measures to help support site provision as part of the Government response to the Consultation on Unauthorised Encampments, including a commitment to finalise the 2016 draft guidance on assessing housing need including for those residing in caravans and houseboats.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 ensure that local authorities plan adequately for residential vehicle parking for new-build properties.
Answered by Simon Clarke
It is for local authorities to assess the level of parking required for new developments and to set local parking standards.
The Government has made clear in the National Planning Policy Framework the factors that authorities should take into account when setting local parking standards for residential and non-residential development.
These include considering the accessibility of the development; the type, mix and use of development; the availability of and opportunities for public transport; local car ownership levels; and the need to ensure an adequate provision for spaces for charging plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles.