Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the leader of Lancashire County Council on the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We have stepped up our preparedness significantly and are speaking regularly to councils and partners, including through a delivery board and a network of nine regional lead chief executives. Every council has designated a Brexit Lead Officer to work with central government to intensify their local preparations and, in total, we have made £77 million available to help local areas get ready for Brexit.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has for the formation of a Pennine Lancashire unitary authority.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
It is for those in the area to consider whether a Pennine Lancashire unitary authority would be the best way forward, as my Rt Hon Friend, the then Secretary of State, told the House on 22 July 2019 (HCWS1790). If the area requests that we formally invite councils to submit a proposal for such an authority, we would do so if that request demonstrates local opinion is coalescing around a single unitary option for the area, which would be likely to meet our publicly announced criteria for unitarisation.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
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 cost to the public purse of recruiting a new Chair of the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Answered by Jake Berry
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) are independent bodies, supported by an accountable local authority. Government ensures uniform standards are met through the National LEP Assurance Framework, which sets out that chairs are expected to be influential local leaders of high integrity. To meet these standards each LEP makes its own decisions locally for recruitment and associated costs which are subject to scrutiny by the accountable body.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
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 ensure the social housing system supports those with mental health problems.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Social Housing Green Paper recognises many landlords play a role that goes beyond their key responsibilities, which includes providing guidance to vital services such as mental health services. Through the Green Paper, we are seeking to gather evidence on the impact of the important role that many social landlords are playing.
Social housing and more widely, supported housing, provides a vital service for vulnerable people, including people with mental health issues. Safeguarding provision and supply of appropriate supported accommodation is a priority for my department and we will continue to provide capital grant funding to promote new supply of supported housing.
Our recent announcement confirming funding for all supported housing will stay in Housing Benefit, will also give confidence to the sector to continue to invest in new supply. We are also reviewing oversight arrangements for all supported housing. As a Government, we are investing record levels in mental health, spending £11.98 billion in 2017/18.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much money has been allocated for the establishment of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Jake Berry
We continue to work on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and decisions on the operation and allocation of the Fund will be made as part of the 2019 Spending Review.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent progress his Department has made on reforming ground rents for leasehold property.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Since the Government’s announcement on 21 December 2017 to limit new leases to a peppercorn rent, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of developing a detailed approach to implementing this policy. We will make further announcements in due course, and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs); and if he will publish a ranking of LEPs against that assessment.
Answered by Jake Berry
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) are a valued part of the local institutional framework and play an important role in delivering our ambition for growth in all parts of England. This Government has provided £12 billion through the Local Growth Fund to deliver over 1000 projects across the country.
We have a robust process for monitoring LEP performance. This is based on engagement with local teams who provide LEPs with day to day support, quarterly LEP monitoring returns relating to their Growth Deal projects, and an annual performance review. These processes lead to an agreed set of actions and next steps to ensure that LEPs continue to perform at their best.
Through our LEP Review we will continue to strengthen LEPs, so that they continue to drive sustainable private sector-led growth and job creation.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of public houses that will be affected by the planned changes in business rates from April 2017 in (a) East Lancashire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
At revaluation, the government adjusts the value of business rates to reflect changes in the property market. An estimated three quarters of businesses will see no change or a fall in their bills from 1 April thanks to the business rates revaluation and reforms to Small Business Rate Relief. 600,000 businesses are set to pay no business rates at all. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority who do face an increase. It is not possible to estimate these figures for individual councils because it is for local authorities to assess eligibility for Small Business Rate Relief.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of organisations with charitable status that will be affected by changes in business rates to be introduced from April 2017 in (a) East Lancashire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department is not able to estimate the effect of changes to business rates on organisations with charitable status because it does not hold information about which properties have charitable status. Eligibility for charitable rate relief is determined by local authorities.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many enforcements under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System have been made as a result of category 1 hazards relating to (a) gas safety and (b) electrical safety in each local authority in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This information is not held centrally.
Overall the quality of privately rented housing has improved rapidly over the past decade. Surveys show that 84% of private renters are satisfied with their accommodation. A small number of rogue or criminal landlords knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation. We have introduced measures in the Housing and Planning Bill to crack down on these landlords so that they either improve the service they provide or leave the sector. Proposals include a database of rogue landlords and property agents, introducing banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a tougher fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties of up to £30,000.