Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of Council Tax in England as part of wider proposed sentencing reforms.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax only applies where the court is satisfied that non-payment is due to wilful refusal to pay or culpable neglect. A person cannot be imprisoned for being unable to pay their council tax.
The government is currently consulting on modernising and improving the administration of council tax, and this includes seeking views on changes to how councils collect and enforce council tax. The government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has taken steps to raise awareness of the NVQ in chimney sweeping among the construction and insurance industries.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on how many households were owed a prevention or relief duty in which the lead applicant was aged between 16 and 25 and (a) lesbian, (b) gay and (c) bisexual in 2021-22.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Homelessness Statistics for 2021-22 are available here which includes data on the declared sexual identity of the main applicant in households owed statutory homelessness prevention and relief duties. The department does not publish data on sexual identity by age of the applicant. We do not publish a breakdown of the ‘other’ category to protect identification of individuals in categories with small numbers.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a breakdown of the categories and corresponding figures included in the Other category in the sexuality field of Homelessness Case Level Collection data for 2021- 22.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Homelessness Statistics for 2021-22 are available here which includes data on the declared sexual identity of the main applicant in households owed statutory homelessness prevention and relief duties. The department does not publish data on sexual identity by age of the applicant. We do not publish a breakdown of the ‘other’ category to protect identification of individuals in categories with small numbers.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the results and Government response to the public consultation on extending the database of rogue landlords and property agents will be published; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making that database available to the public.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government has previously consulted on reforming the Database, including on widening access and scope of the Database. We are reviewing next steps in light of our work exploring a national landlord register. We will publish a White Paper this year that will set out our proposals for reform of the private rented sector.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support the needs of elderly Ukrainian refugees.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
All Ukrainian beneficiaries will be granted leave to remain in the UK for 3 years. They will be able to access benefits and public services in accordance with their needs, including healthcare. The Government is working to ensure appropriate support is in place.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a timescale for the creation of (a) the national landlords register and (b) a comprehensive definition of the Decent Homes Standard; and when he expects the first enforcement action to be taken against a landlord under that scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We will publish a White Paper in Spring this year that will set out our proposals for reform of the private rented sector.
We are committed to drive up standards in private rented accommodation and we will be consulting on introducing a legally binding Decent Homes Standard in the Private Rented Sector and a landlord register.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 rogue landlord database in England since that database was established (a) in total and (b) by each English local authority.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
To date, as of 26 January 2022, there have been 61 landlords and property agents listed on the Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents.
These entries can be broken down by local authority as follows:
Local authority | Number of entries |
Aylesbury Vale District Council | 2 |
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council | 2 |
Bournemouth Borough Council | 3 |
Bristol City Council | 1 |
London Borough of Camden | 10 |
Cherwell District Council | 2 |
Coventry City Council | 1 |
Cornwall County Unitary Authority | 1 |
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council | 2 |
Dover District Council | 1 |
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council | 1 |
London Borough of Greenwich | 2 |
Hinkley & Bosworth Borough Council | 3 |
Liverpool City Council | 4 |
Mid Sussex District Council | 2 |
Oxford City Council | 2 |
Plymouth City Council | 1 |
Preston City Council | 1 |
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council | 1 |
Salford City Council | 4 |
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council | 1 |
Stafford Borough Council | 1 |
Stevenage Borough Council | 1 |
Telford & Wrekin Council | 3 |
Thurrock Council | 1 |
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council | 3 |
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council | 2 |
Westminster City Council | 1 |
Wirral Council | 1 |
Wycombe District Council | 1 |
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the adequacy of funding available to local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties to protect victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
MHCLG engaged with local authorities and service providers to ensure that the new duty is funded appropriately.
As a result of this evidence, £125 million new burden funding has been allocated to local authorities, to cover costs of the new duty to provide support in safe accommodation for 2021-22. Funding for future years will be determined as part of the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group published in July 2019.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is considering the recommendations in the report received from the independent working group on the regulation of property agents chaired by Lord Best. The Government is committed to ensuring that those living in the leasehold sector are protected from abuse and poor service. We believe very strongly that any fees and charges should be justifiable, transparent, and communicated effectively and that there should be a clear route to redress if things go wrong.