Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in delivering a combined authority and metro mayor for the Solent and Hampshire.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In the Levelling Up White Paper the Government committed that by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.
We welcome the ambition demonstrated in the recent Pan-Hampshire Deal Prospectus and we look forward to working with local councils across Hampshire and the Solent.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the number of people sleeping rough.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We have made good progress towards our goal to end rough sleeping. Since the peak in 2017 we have seen a sustained decrease in rough sleeping numbers, with rough sleeping on a single night 49% lower in 2021 than in 2017, according to the official snapshot. However we are not complacent and recognise that times are tough for many people.
Our latest published management information, which provides more timely but unverified data on rough sleeping, shows that there were 2,900 people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in September 2022 - up 20% since the same period since last year. We know based on previous trends that rough sleeping figures increase during the summer months and decrease during the winter months, so some seasonal fluctuation is anticipated.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic period in their approach to rough sleeping.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The pandemic response, including 'Everyone In', saved hundreds of lives - an estimated 266 Covid-19-related deaths were avoided in 2020. By March 2022, we had helped over 43,000 people into settled accommodation or supported housing pathway as part of our response to the pandemic. We continue to support all local areas across England to promote vaccination amongst people sleeping rough.
The pandemic response made clear the powerful impact that can be achieved when government, local government, and the voluntary and community sector work together with health and housing partners.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many homes they plan to construct in the Oxford–Cambridge Arc (Ox–Cam Arc); in what years they will be built; and how many will be built each year.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In October 2021, Government completed a 12-week public consultation gathering views to shape a vision for the OxCam Arc Spatial Framework. We continue to work through next steps, in alignment with the priorities set out in the Levelling Up White Paper and will provide more information in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities concerning the Oxford–Cambridge Arc (Ox–Cam Arc); and what matters each discussion covered.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Department engages regularly with local authorities across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. These discussions cover a breadth of issues, including local growth, devolution, regeneration, infrastructure, housing and levelling up.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of a specialist housing court; and when they will make an announcement of their intentions regarding establishing such a court.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government published a call for evidence in 2018 to better understand and improve the experience of people using courts and tribunal services in property cases and to consider the case for a housing court. A government response is being prepared and will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their appointment on 23 July 2019 of an independent expert to advise on a definition of Islamophobia, when they intend to appoint a second independent adviser to work with Imam Qari Asim.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We will outline our next steps with the review on the Definition of Islamophobia in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made with reaching a definition of Islamophobia since their statement on 23 July 2019 that "there needs to be a formal definition of Islamophobia to help strengthen our efforts against anti-Muslim hatred".
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This Government remains committed to stamping out anti-Muslim hatred and all forms of religious hate crime. It is unacceptable for anyone to feel unsafe while practicing their religion and we continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Muslim hatred. The adoption of a definition of Islamophobia by the Government remains under consideration.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in tackling Islamophobia.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This Government has taken strong steps in tackling anti-Muslim hatred in our society. These have included providing TellMAMA with over £4m between 2017 and 2022 to support Muslim victims of hate crime. We have ensured the Protective Security Grant has supported over 84 Mosques to receive enhanced protection measures. Most recently, we have held a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders from the field of countering anti-Muslim hatred to discuss how we can build on this success.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what purposes, if any, they consider will be served by a register of landlords which will not be served by the Landlord–Tenant redress scheme.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is committed to requiring all private landlords to belong to a redress scheme. This will give tenants in the private rented sector a free, non-adversarial route to getting disputes with their landlord resolved outside of court where they have a legitimate complaint about their home. It will also support long-term improvements in the sector.
We have also committed to exploring the merits of introducing a national landlord register in England and there are a range of potential benefits that different models of registration could have, which are additional to those served by expanded redress provision.
These include, but are not limited to, providing local authorities with intelligence on private rented sector properties in their locality, making it easier for private landlords to understand their obligations and helping tenants decide whether to rent a property.
As part of exploring proposals for introducing a landlord register in England, we are considering how the register could interact with wider commitments for reforming the private rented sector.