Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 to (a) assess whether there is a disproportionate level of homeless or insecure housing among LGBTIQ+ people, (b) ensure that local government services secure adequate resources to tackle root causes of discrimination, lack of acceptance and abuse directed towards LGBTIQ+ people and (c) help ensure the implementation of inclusive service culture provision in all facets of local government.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to tackling discrimination against LGBT people. When delivering and designing their services, local authorities must ensure they comply with the public sector equalities duty.
The Government has worked with Stonewall Housing to provide training to staff working with LGBT individuals across various housing services about the issues they may face and how best to support LGBT people.
The Government has made available an increase in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England from £49 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, a 4.6% increase in cash terms. Nearly all of this funding is unringfenced, recognising the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain current service levels, and giving them the necessary flexibility to respond to local priorities.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 to allocate additional resources to local authorities in London to build affordable and social housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
London will receive £4.8 billion of the Affordable Homes Programme funding to deliver at least 116,000 affordable housing starts by March 2023, and a further £4 billion to deliver 35,000 new affordable homes by 2026 to help with the acute housing challenge in London. We actively encourage local authorities to put themselves forward and play a key role in the delivery of the Affordable Homes Programmes alongside housing associations.
In March we announced that we are giving local authorities in England more freedom on how they spend the money from homes sold through Right to Buy, making it easier for local authorities to fund homes using Right to Buy receipts, including homes for social rent. We encourage local authorities to make the most of the flexibilities available to them to build a new generation of council housing.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to provide housing options to households on local authority housing waiting lists in London.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Statutory guidance on the allocation of social housing issued in 2012 and updated in 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/allocation-of-accommodation-guidance-for-local-authorities ) encourages all local authorities to adopt a housing options approach as part of a move to a managed waiting list.
The guidance recognises that a strong housing options approach brings several benefits, ensuring: that people are offered support to make use of the housing solution which best meets their needs, that expectations about access to social housing are properly managed, and that social housing is focused on those who need it most.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to allocate additional funding to local welfare assistance schemes.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Councils have powers to determine the right local welfare assistance schemes for their area
Resources made available through the 2020 Spending Review and annual Settlement allowed councils in England access to an overall increase in Core Spending Power from £49 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, a 4.6% increase in cash terms. This is in line with last year’s available increase. This recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain current service levels
We have also introduced our Covid Winter Grant Scheme providing funding to local authorities in England to help the most vulnerable children and families stay warm and well fed during the coldest months. It is now running until June as the Covid Local Support Grant, with a total investment of £269 million.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what average time it has taken for his Department to complete its assessments and decision-making on Building Safety Fund applications relating to Enfield.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The rate at which applications to the Building Safety Fund are progressed will be dependent on the readiness of building owners to provide the required information. Following registration, MHCLG contacts building owners or the responsible person to ask for supporting evidence for their technical eligibility for the fund. This will include evidence of the height of the building and materials that are in place.
It is disappointing that over 800 of the total of 2820 registrations to the Building Safety Fund have been unable to provide any of this basic information. We have engaged with registrants and industry bodies to understand the challenges they have in meeting our deadlines and criteria requirements. To address their concerns we have extended the deadlines for the fund to the end of June 2021, giving building owners more time to submit full applications but still reflecting the importance of these critical safety works.
We are also providing expert construction consultation support to actively engage with those planning and undertaking remediation work under the Building Safety Fund to increase the pace of remediation. We expect all buildings with an existing application to be started on site by September 2021.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 is taking to tackle discrimination against people claiming housing benefit in the private rented sector; and what recourse is open to people affected by that discrimination.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Blanket bans against tenants in receipt of benefits have no place in a fair and modern housing market. The Government has worked with the lettings industry to agree an approach to end this practice. Major lettings portals Zoopla and Rightmove agreed to stop the use of 'No DSS' adverts on their websites, and several major lenders agreed to remove restrictions on mortgages which prevented landlords from letting to tenants on benefits.
We will continue to encourage landlords to look at all tenants on an individual basis. Current legislation prohibits acts of discrimination against individuals on the basis of a number of protected characteristics. Where a prospective tenant believes that they have been discriminated against, they should seek independent legal advice or contact Citizens’ Advice for free, impartial advice.
Additionally, it is a legal requirement for letting and managing agents in England to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes. If a prospective tenant feels that a letting agent is acting unfairly or continues to offer a poor service, they can raise a formal complaint.
The Government is committed to delivering a fairer and more effective rental market for all tenants, including our intention to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and introduce a lifetime deposit to ease the burden when moving house. More details will follow in a White Paper published later this year, which will be informed by engagement with stakeholders.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of additional council and housing association homes required to meet demand for social housing in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the housing needs of different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in their planning policies.
Local authorities are best placed to make detailed assessment of the housing needs for different housing types and tenures in their areas, using relevant evidence to produce assessments which are specific to their local circumstances.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 support leaseholders living in buildings under 18 metres in height with (a) dangerous cladding and (b) other fire safety defects in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
On 10 February we announced a generous finance scheme, which will provide leaseholders in buildings of 11-18m with access to finance for cladding remediation costs. This includes costs that are integral to the safe removal and replacement of unsafe cladding systems. We have committed that monthly cladding repayment costs will not exceed £50 a month. Further details of the financing scheme will be made available.
The package of financial measures announced covers cladding because longstanding independent safety advice has been clear that unsafe cladding poses the greatest risk to buildings. This is because it can act as a fuel to a fire. Our approach prioritises action on the risks of unsafe cladding: the costs for remediating this are high, and the risks posed by it are also high.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on processing the application made by Enfield Council in February 2020 seeking approval to implement a Selective Licensing Scheme for the private rented sector in the borough.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Enfield submitted their application for a Selective Licensing scheme in February 2020 and a SoS decision has not been made on their application. Officials have reviewed the Enfield application and recommended that the application is approved. Enfield have chased the status of their application on a number of occasions.
We have also received a number of MSUs and press queries regarding Enfield's selective licensing application. Prior to COVID-19 we aimed for an 8 week turnaround between receiving the application and notifying the LA of the decision. This is not a statutory time limit but is in the non-statutory guidance. Resourcing pressures as a result of COVID-19 have meant this has not been achievable.
A local housing authority may designate a selective licensing scheme on any one or more of the following conditions, housing demand; a significant and persistent problem caused by anti-social behaviour; poor housing conditions; high levels of migration; high level of deprivation; and high levels of crime.
Since 2015 any selective licensing designation - whether singularly or cumulatively with other designations - which covers more than 20 per cent of the private rented stock in the local housing authority area or more than 20 per cent of their geographical area requires confirmation by the Secretary of State before it can be brought into force.
The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government makes the final decision on selective licensing applications.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding allocated to Enfield Council's homelessness services provision.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
In 2020/2021 we are providing £437 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £69 million increase in funding from the previous year. Funding given to local authorities seeks to address local homelessness and rough sleeping variation and is allocated according to demand in their areas.
Every local authority in England works directly with a specialist homelessness adviser from MHCLG, who engage with councils on an ongoing basis in order to help in ensuring that they are provided with the necessary resources and information to address homelessness in their locality.
Further to their work on homelessness, Enfield was identified as an area that would benefit from additional support around rough sleeping and was accordingly assigned a specialist rough sleeping adviser. This adviser works closely with the local authority in order to support and develop their work to tackle rough sleeping in their area and deliver their MHCLG funded interventions.
In terms of specific funding streams allocated to Enfield Council’s homelessness services provision, they have received: