Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October to Question 68037 on Veterans: Repossession Orders, what information his Department holds on how many people took up new social housing lettings in the year 2020-21.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
CORE Social Housing Lettings data provides information on new social housing lettings in England and the published statistics on social housing lettings between April 2020 and March 2021 can be found here.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the application portal for round two of the Levelling Up Fund bids will open.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Work is ongoing to open the application portal for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund as soon as possible. In the meantime, applicants already have access to all the information needed to develop their applications. We have encouraged places to use these tools to prepare their applications in readiness to upload when the portal launches.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2021 to Question 61, which were the three towns in Yorkshire and the Humber that Ministers decided not to invite to bid for funding under the Towns Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
Officials made a number of recommendations for ministers’ consideration. The selection process was robust, comprehensive and fair and it is right that where judgments were required, these were made by ministers.
The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will support even more places across the UK to transform and future-proof their town centres and highstreets, by investing in infrastructure to improve everyday life.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 29 of the report published by the National Audit Office on 21 July 2020, entitled Review of the Town Deals selection process, for what reason 16 towns in Yorkshire and the Humber were selected to bid for funding under the Towns Fund when officials in his Department recommended that 19 towns in that region should be invited to bid.
Answered by Luke Hall
The process for selecting Town Deals was designed by civil servants in the Department and agreed by previous Ministers. Regional spread was an important priority and Ministers therefore considered the priority towns by region. All towns in the highest priority group for each region were selected. Ministers then used their judgment and local knowledge to select those in the medium and lower priority groups. In making that judgment, Ministers looked at both opportunities arising from investment in the wider area, and potential job losses in the future. Ministers were responsible for qualitative judgments and took the final decisions.
The Department has published a summary of its Accounting Officer Assessment which sets out the details to this selection process here.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason four low priority areas in Yorkshire and the Humber were invited to bid for funding under the Towns Fund.
Answered by Luke Hall
The selection criteria for Town Deals was set by officials and took into account a range of factors including deprivation, skills levels and exposure to economic shocks. From this list of eligible towns, Ministers selected the 101 towns invited to develop town deal proposals in line with advice from officials. It was appropriate that Ministers made the selection rather than officials, due to the need for qualitative judgement and accountability for decision-making.
The Department has published a summary of its Accounting Officer Assessment which sets out the details of this selection process here.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason Thurnscoe, Barnsley, Mexborough, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Rawmarsh and Wath-upon-Dearne were not invited to bid for Towns Fund funding when officials in his Department scored them higher for income deprivation than Goole, Whitby, Wakefield, Todmorden and Brighouse, which were invited to bid.
Answered by Luke Hall
The selection criteria for Town Deals was set by officials and took into account a range of factors including deprivation, skills levels and exposure to economic shocks. From this list of eligible towns, Ministers selected the 101 towns invited to develop town deal proposals in line with advice from officials. It was appropriate that Ministers made the selection rather than officials, due to the need for qualitative judgement and accountability for decision-making.
The Department has published a summary of its Accounting Officer Assessment which sets out the details of this selection process here.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason Thurnscoe, Barnsley, Mexborough, Bolton-upon-Dearne, Rawmarsh and Wath-upon-Dearne were not invited to bid for Towns Fund funding when their total score, following an assessment by his officials of their need and growth potential, was higher than the scores for Whitby, Shipley, Wakefield, Todmorden, Stocksbridge, Brighouse and Morley, which were invited to bid.
Answered by Luke Hall
The selection criteria for Town Deals was set by officials and took into account a range of factors including deprivation, skills levels and exposure to economic shocks. From this list of eligible towns, Ministers selected the 101 towns invited to develop town deal proposals in line with advice from officials. It was appropriate that Ministers made the selection rather than officials, due to the need for qualitative judgement and accountability for decision-making.
The Department has published a summary of its Accounting Officer Assessment which sets out the details of this selection process here.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many regulatory judgements were issued by the Regulator of Social Housing in relation to fire safety concerns since June 2017.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Regulator of Social Housing sets standards that registered providers are required to meet - including that a landlord meets all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of the occupants of their homes. Failure to comply with a standard may result in the regulator publishing a Regulatory Judgement or a Regulatory Notice depending on the nature of the failing.
In relation to fire safety, there was one Regulatory Notice against a housing association in 2017/18. There were five Regulatory Notices in 2018/19 (four housing associations and a local authority)
From 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 there were 13 Regulatory Notices issued in total (six housing associations and seven local authorities). In addition, there were 2 Regulatory judgements issued due to health and safety concerns, including fire safety.
From 1 April 2020 to date, no Regulatory Notices have been issued relating to fire safety.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data will be regularly published by Homes England and to what schedule.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Homes England are committed to the government’s transparency agenda and regularly publishes information which includes:
Report | Publication Frequency | Content |
Housing Statistics | Bi-annual | The report covers housing delivery, outlining the housing starts and completions within the period. |
Help to Buy Housing Statistics | Annual | The report covers performance and financial delivery data. |
Annual Report and Financial Statements | Annual | The report covers performance and financial delivery data. |
Expenditure Transparency Report | Monthly | This report covers all transactions above £250. |
Annually and as additions are made. | Register of interests for the members of the Homes England board, committees and management team. | |
Help to Buy Equity Loan Statistics | Quarterly | This report covers quarterly data on the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, setting out the number of homes purchased and value of equity loans issued under the scheme in England. |
Help to Buy Loan Repayment Statistics | Annual | The report covers data on the repayment of Help to Buy Loans. |