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Written Question
Empty Property: Business Rates
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the monetary value of empty property relief for (a) retail premises (b) industrial premises and (c) all other premises was in each of the last 10 financial years for which data is available.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The information requested is not held centrally.


Written Question
Wind Power: Planning Permission
Thursday 29th June 2023

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he will make it his policy to reduce planning restrictions for new onshore wind farms in England.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 181460 on 24 April 2023.


Written Question
Pocket Living
Thursday 27th April 2023

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had recent discussions with Pocket Living on remediation of fire safety defects in buildings it has developed.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

Officials met Pocket Living in February to discuss remediation of fire safety defects in buildings it has developed, and received assurances that remediation would be carried out at Pocket Living’s cost to the necessary standards.


Written Question
Housing: Fire Prevention
Friday 18th November 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he or his officials will meet with leaseholders at Bridgepoint House, Greenford, to advise them on how the Building Safety Act 2022 applies to the fire safety remediation works in their building.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

I am sorry to hear about the difficulties your constituents in Bridgepoint House, Greenford, are experiencing in relation to the safety of their building. My officials will engage with leaseholders in Bridgepoint House to further understand the issues they face.


Written Question
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Pay
Wednesday 20th July 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors and (c) agency workers who work in his Department and relevant agencies and public bodies receive a wage below that of the (i) UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London and (ii) London Living Wage inside of Greater London, as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Answered by Eddie Hughes

No permanent directly employed staff within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are paid an hourly rate less than that determined by the Living Wage Foundation.

The Planning Inspectorate employs 11 apprentices on a wage below that determined by the Living Wage Foundation who are entitled to 20% time off for training during working hours.

None of the department’s other arms-length bodies pay a wage below that determined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Information on rates of pay for people working for the department’s third-party contractors is not held centrally.

This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the National Living Wage increased to £9.50 per hour. By 2024, the Government have committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Monday 11th July 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to respond to the email correspondence of 23 December 2021 from the hon. Member for Ealing North on the definition of Islamophobia.

Answered by Paul Scully

A Minister will respond to the Hon Member shortly.


Written Question
Buildings: Fire Prevention
Friday 1st July 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy is on whether the (a) developer, (b) contractors hired during construction, (c) leaseholders and (d) other associated parties are responsible for remediating historic fire safety issues on affected buildings.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is clear that those responsible for historical building safety defects must pay to put them right.

The Government has delivered a wide-ranging industry agreement with 47 major residential property developers that they will remediate all buildings above 11 metres in height that they had a role in developing or refurbishing in the past 30 years. These developers have also pledged to refund money paid out by existing Government remediation schemes to fix buildings that they originally developed and will not apply for further funding. Where the developer cannot be traced or fails to agree to cover the costs, cladding remediation will be met by Government grant funding.

The Building Safety Act 2022 contains new powers to ensure that those responsible for building safety defects can be held to account. The Act retrospectively extends the limitation period under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 to 30 years; this provides a route to cost recovery from a wide range of parties, including contractors, developers and architects, where shoddy workmanship and corner cutting have caused buildings to be unsafe. In addition, other new powers in the Act ensure that construction product manufacturers can be held to account for their failures.

The Building Safety Act brings forward legal protections for leaseholders from historical building safety costs. The Act legally protects qualifying leaseholders (those living in their own home or with up to three UK properties in total) from all costs relating to the remediation of unsafe cladding and contains robust and far-reaching protections from non-cladding costs, including those relating to interim measures such as waking watches. Where those directly responsible (e.g. developers) cannot be held to account, building owners and landlords will now be the first port of call to pay for historical safety defects, not leaseholders.


Written Question
Regional Planning and Development: Greater London
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

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 it his policy to publish details of any (a) consultation and (b) consultation responses his Department undertakes relating to the proposed changes to the London Plan as set out in clauses 82 to 91 and schedule 7 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will not affect how the Mayor consults on the London Plan, gains approval for it or either the Mayor's or the Secretary of State's role in relation to it. London Plan policies would, in future, need to avoid conflict with National Development Management Policies - which the Bill empowers the Secretary of State to prepare - and be of strategic importance to more than one borough. The requirement to assist with plan making will apply to prescribed bodies in relation to the London Plan and the Mayor would gain the power to prepare supplementary plans on design matters.

These, and more minor changes, are explained in the Explanatory Notes to the Bill. There have not been discussions or correspondence with the Mayor, nor consultation, on the clauses referred to prior to the Bill's publication, but my officials have had informal discussions with GLA officers following publication of the Bill.


Written Question
Regional Planning and Development: Greater London
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he make it his policy to publish a list of any (a) discussions and (b) correspondence his Department has with the Mayor of London on the potential impact of clauses 82 to 91 and schedule 7 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will not affect how the Mayor consults on the London Plan, gains approval for it or either the Mayor's or the Secretary of State's role in relation to it. London Plan policies would, in future, need to avoid conflict with National Development Management Policies - which the Bill empowers the Secretary of State to prepare - and be of strategic importance to more than one borough. The requirement to assist with plan making will apply to prescribed bodies in relation to the London Plan and the Mayor would gain the power to prepare supplementary plans on design matters.

These, and more minor changes, are explained in the Explanatory Notes to the Bill. There have not been discussions or correspondence with the Mayor, nor consultation, on the clauses referred to prior to the Bill's publication, but my officials have had informal discussions with GLA officers following publication of the Bill.


Written Question
Regional Planning and Development: Greater London
Monday 27th June 2022

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment has he made of the potential effect of clauses 82 to 91 and schedule 7 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill on the powers that would be (a) gained and (b) lost by the (i) Secretary of State and (ii) Mayor of London.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will not affect how the Mayor consults on the London Plan, gains approval for it or either the Mayor's or the Secretary of State's role in relation to it. London Plan policies would, in future, need to avoid conflict with National Development Management Policies - which the Bill empowers the Secretary of State to prepare - and be of strategic importance to more than one borough. The requirement to assist with plan making will apply to prescribed bodies in relation to the London Plan and the Mayor would gain the power to prepare supplementary plans on design matters.

These, and more minor changes, are explained in the Explanatory Notes to the Bill. There have not been discussions or correspondence with the Mayor, nor consultation, on the clauses referred to prior to the Bill's publication, but my officials have had informal discussions with GLA officers following publication of the Bill.