Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will conduct an impact assessment on the effect of insufficient accessible housing on health and well-being.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN HL8422 and UIN191722 on 26 June 2023 and 3 July 2023.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to increase the supply of accessible housing.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN HL8422 and UIN191722 on 26 June 2023 and 3 July 2023.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the viability of the modular homes sector.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 192723 on 11 July 2023.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact of the closure of modular homes manufacturers on the target to build 300,000 new homes per year.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We are committed to delivering 300,000 homes a year and modern methods of construction (MMC) is a key part of our progress towards that target. The Government is supporting the development and use of MMC, which has the capability of unlocking a range of benefits including increased energy efficiency, quicker delivery of new homes and improving the diversity of the housing sector.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) planning applications that were rejected and (b) houses that were not built due to excess levels of nutrients in the ground in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This department has launched the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund which will boost the supply of mitigation available locally, by funding high quality bids submitted by local authorities. Funding decisions will be announced in due course.
The information requested on planning refusals is not held centrally.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish funding decisions following his department’s call for evidence and expressions of interest for funding for local nutrient mitigation schemes.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This department has launched the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund which will boost the supply of mitigation available locally, by funding high quality bids submitted by local authorities. Funding decisions will be announced in due course.
The information requested on planning refusals is not held centrally.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 support local authorities to mitigate nutrient pollution for planning application approvals.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This department has launched the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund which will boost the supply of mitigation available locally, by funding high quality bids submitted by local authorities. Funding decisions will be announced in due course.
The information requested on planning refusals is not held centrally.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many new home builds have been (a) started and (b) completed in each constituency in each of the last five years
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many planning applications he has called in each month since September 2021; and if he will list the developer for each of those applications.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Numbers of called in decisions are published by the Planning Inspectorate as part of official statistics.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what due diligence has been conducted on loans from the public purse provided to Woking Borough Council as of 7 June 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
On 25 May 2023, the Secretary of State announced that he had considered that Woking Borough Council had failed in their best value duty. Consequently, the Council has been placed in statutory intervention for a duration of five years. Commissioners have been appointed with powers over key council functions, including finance and commercial activities. On 7 June, the Interim Finance Director of Woking Borough Council issued a notice, as required under section 114 of the Local Government Act 1988, that the Council cannot balance its budget in the current or subsequent financial years. The issuance of such a notice is a local decision.
As part of the intervention, the Secretary of State has directed the Council to prepare and agree an Improvement and Recovery Plan to the satisfaction of the Commissioners within six months.
The Government is working closely with Woking Borough Council and its Commissioners to monitor, in detail, the Council's future borrowing requirements.