Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many special advisers have been appointed to her Department as of 30 August 2024; and whether she plans to recruit more.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As of the end of August 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister had appointed four Special Advisers to the department to support her ministerial role.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
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 the written ministerial statement of 30 July 2024 entitled Building the homes we need, HCWS48, what the evidential basis is for the assessment that large areas of the Green Belt have little ecological value.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The latest official Land Use statistics are available at gov.uk here. As these set out, 6.8% of the Green Belt is already developed land. This includes 24,400ha of land which is hardstanding (usually car parks, paved areas, tarmac, or other similar construct). Less than 13% of land in the Green Belt is subject to an environmental designation or other protected area.
In planning terms, the Green Belt serves a number of specific purposes, but the fundamental aim of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. The Green Belt is not an environmental designation.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
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 29 July 2024 to Question 815,on High Rise Flats: Insulation, what enforcement actions her Department plans to take against uncooperative parties.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The pace of remediation has been unacceptably slow. Work is underway through existing programmes to bring together local actors, enforcers and partners to drive efficiencies in the current operation. In parallel, we are developing a comprehensive action plan that will tackle the root causes of the problem, and we will be announcing these in the autumn.
The government’s Recovery Strategy Unit continues to take action against the most egregious actors to force them to fix their buildings and hold them to account for the cost of remediation. To date, the Unit has successfully obtained 10 remediation orders against Grey GR, a subsidiary of Railpen, and Wallace Estates Ltd ensuring 900 homes will be safer. The Unit is now seeking to recover c£72 million of taxpayer and leaseholder funding through remediation contribution orders from Yianis Group, Hollybrook Homes and Urban Splash. Further action will follow.
Buildings in remediation programmes that require additional action are escalated by the department to regulators, as additional pressure from local regulators can help to unblock buildings. Local authorities, fire and rescue services, and the Building Safety Regulator have a range of tools to compel building owners to fix their unsafe building. Regulators have long-standing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The Building Safety Act 2022 bolstered these powers by introducing remediation orders and remediation contribution orders.
We provide funding to local authorities directly, to support their enforcement action, with more than £14 million in funding given to local authorities since November 2022. We also fund the Joint Inspection Team, a specialist team of building safety experts who support councils on building safety inspections.
The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to mayoral authorities on 13 September to support and empower them to deliver local remediation acceleration plans, using their convening powers, relationships and local knowledge. I will convene roundtables to bring together metro mayors with the Building Safety Regulator, National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and other key partners, to support and drive forward this critical work.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
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 29 July 2024 to Question 815 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, what steps her Department has taken to increase the pace of remediation programmes.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The pace of remediation has been unacceptably slow. Work is underway through existing programmes to bring together local actors, enforcers and partners to drive efficiencies in the current operation. In parallel, we are developing a comprehensive action plan that will tackle the root causes of the problem, and we will be announcing these in the autumn.
The government’s Recovery Strategy Unit continues to take action against the most egregious actors to force them to fix their buildings and hold them to account for the cost of remediation. To date, the Unit has successfully obtained 10 remediation orders against Grey GR, a subsidiary of Railpen, and Wallace Estates Ltd ensuring 900 homes will be safer. The Unit is now seeking to recover c£72 million of taxpayer and leaseholder funding through remediation contribution orders from Yianis Group, Hollybrook Homes and Urban Splash. Further action will follow.
Buildings in remediation programmes that require additional action are escalated by the department to regulators, as additional pressure from local regulators can help to unblock buildings. Local authorities, fire and rescue services, and the Building Safety Regulator have a range of tools to compel building owners to fix their unsafe building. Regulators have long-standing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The Building Safety Act 2022 bolstered these powers by introducing remediation orders and remediation contribution orders.
We provide funding to local authorities directly, to support their enforcement action, with more than £14 million in funding given to local authorities since November 2022. We also fund the Joint Inspection Team, a specialist team of building safety experts who support councils on building safety inspections.
The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to mayoral authorities on 13 September to support and empower them to deliver local remediation acceleration plans, using their convening powers, relationships and local knowledge. I will convene roundtables to bring together metro mayors with the Building Safety Regulator, National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and other key partners, to support and drive forward this critical work.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
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 29 July 2024 to Question 815 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, what steps she plans to take to empower (a) regulators and (b) local authorities to act.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The pace of remediation has been unacceptably slow. Work is underway through existing programmes to bring together local actors, enforcers and partners to drive efficiencies in the current operation. In parallel, we are developing a comprehensive action plan that will tackle the root causes of the problem, and we will be announcing these in the autumn.
The government’s Recovery Strategy Unit continues to take action against the most egregious actors to force them to fix their buildings and hold them to account for the cost of remediation. To date, the Unit has successfully obtained 10 remediation orders against Grey GR, a subsidiary of Railpen, and Wallace Estates Ltd ensuring 900 homes will be safer. The Unit is now seeking to recover c£72 million of taxpayer and leaseholder funding through remediation contribution orders from Yianis Group, Hollybrook Homes and Urban Splash. Further action will follow.
Buildings in remediation programmes that require additional action are escalated by the department to regulators, as additional pressure from local regulators can help to unblock buildings. Local authorities, fire and rescue services, and the Building Safety Regulator have a range of tools to compel building owners to fix their unsafe building. Regulators have long-standing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The Building Safety Act 2022 bolstered these powers by introducing remediation orders and remediation contribution orders.
We provide funding to local authorities directly, to support their enforcement action, with more than £14 million in funding given to local authorities since November 2022. We also fund the Joint Inspection Team, a specialist team of building safety experts who support councils on building safety inspections.
The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to mayoral authorities on 13 September to support and empower them to deliver local remediation acceleration plans, using their convening powers, relationships and local knowledge. I will convene roundtables to bring together metro mayors with the Building Safety Regulator, National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and other key partners, to support and drive forward this critical work.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the papers produced for her meeting with local authorities to discuss housing reforms in August 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is not standard practice to publish the papers for this kind of confidential meeting.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) officials, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers have met representatives of Hope Not Hate since the general election.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
(a) Officials have attended forums where Hope Not Hate have been present and have been sighted on reports generated by the organisation since the General Election, (b) details of meetings special advisers have with external organisations are published on gov.uk, (c) details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) it remains her Department's policy to retain the social care precept on council tax and (b) past social care precepts will continue to be ring-fenced; and what plans she has to increase the threshold above which a council tax referendum must be held.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible. Future decisions on council tax will be taken at the spending review in which we are fully engaged.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
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 29 July 2024 to Question 814 on Local Government: Devolution, what role the Council of Nations and Regions will have in the development of local growth plans.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Council of Nations and Regions will facilitate partnership working between the UK Government, Devolved Governments, the Mayor of London, and Mayors of Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities. It will focus on the delivery of public services and shared missions, including growth.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
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 30 July 2024, to Question 1748, on Levelling Up Fund, if she will publish the details of where agreements are in place.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Details of all projects awarded funding through the Levelling Up Fund have been published on gov.uk.
The Chancellor’s July ‘Public Spending: Inheritance’ speech forecasted an overspend of £21.9 billion above limits set by the Treasury in the Spring. We understand that will have caused uncertainty about the status of some projects and the challenge that presents locally. We must, however, ensure that we are making responsible decisions on public spending. Decisions that have fallen on this government to take. In this context, the Chancellor has set out a path to confirming plans for this year and next at the forthcoming Budget on October 30th.