Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether costs incurred by a local housing authority in establishing and maintaining a register under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 may be taken into account when determining the reasonable fee for supplying a certified copy or extract under subsection (5) of that section.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.
They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.
We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.
There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.
The government keeps licensing regulations under review.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of whether data protection legislation prevents local authorities from enabling searches by licence-holder name of public registers maintained under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004, where the name and address of the licence holder are prescribed particulars of that register.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.
They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.
We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.
There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.
The government keeps licensing regulations under review.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Information Commission on updating guidance on the online publication of personal data contained in statutory public registers, including landlord licensing registers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.
They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.
We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.
There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.
The government keeps licensing regulations under review.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has considered requiring registers maintained under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 to be made available online in a searchable and machine-readable format.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.
They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.
We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.
There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.
The government keeps licensing regulations under review.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 issued guidance to local housing authorities on the calculation of reasonable fees under section 232(5) of the Housing Act 2004.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.
They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.
We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.
There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.
The government keeps licensing regulations under review.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 and the Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 to ensure that statutory landlord licensing registers are readily accessible to the public in digital form.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.
They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.
We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.
There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.
The government keeps licensing regulations under review.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department provides to (a) Enfield Council and (b) other local authorities on (i) restricting formal call-in procedures to key decisions and (ii) ensuring that such restrictions do not limit the wider powers of overview and scrutiny committees under section 9F of the Local Government Act 2000, as amended by the Localism Act 2011, to scrutinise non-key decisions and other actions taken by those authorities.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Sections 9F(2)(a) and 9F(4) of the Local Government Act 2000 set out how local authorities should make sure their respective scrutiny committees have the power to review and scrutinise decisions made by the executive, commonly referred to as ‘call-in’ procedures. Guidance on ‘call-in’ procedures was published in 2000 alongside the Act. More recent guidance funded by central government was published in 2023 by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny.
Enfield Council has not received additional guidance from HMG on the use of call-in powers. Local authorities are responsible for setting their own rules on how call-in should be used, including the thresholds and procedures for using it, whilst ensuring they comply with their obligations under the Local Government Act 2000.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Gambling Impact Assessments enable local authorities to disapply the aim to permit presumption by creating a rebuttable presumption against the granting of new gambling premises licences in areas designated as being saturated with existing gambling premises.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Once introduced, gambling impact assessments will enable licensing authorities to adopt a presumption to reject applications in areas covered by the policy. This will mean that the presumption in favour of granting a licence resulting from the “aim to permit” principle will no longer apply in areas covered by a gambling impact assessment. However, licensing authorities will still be required to consider all premises applications even where a gambling impact assessment is in force.
On the 11th August, the Prime Minister announced that DCMS will consult on repealing the “aim to permit” from the Gambling Act 2005. The consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help support the warehouse industry in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Jacob Young
Warehousing is a key part of the country’s supply chains, ensuring vital goods are available to businesses and consumers. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the specific locational requirements of different sectors.
This includes making provision for storage and distribution operations at a variety of scales and in suitably accessible locations. Enfield’s strategic position provides an important role in delivering economic growth to the area, and delivering the right sort of warehousing and logistical infrastructure is a key part of this.
My department will continue to work with the sector to maximise productivity.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many entries have been made on the database of rogue landlords and property agents under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London since that database was established.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Local authorities are responsible for making entries to the Rogue Landlord database; you may wish to contact Enfield Council to ask their current view on its use. Details of how the database works can be found in the Housing and Planning Act 2016.