Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce an embargo on housing evictions during the current period of national restrictions; and, if so whether this will apply (1) to tenants of caravans, and (2) to tenants of caravan pitches on residential caravan sites.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
To further protect against Coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission, the Government has changed the law to ensure bailiffs do not enforce evictions in England over the period of national restrictions or over the Christmas period. This means that no eviction notices are to be served until 11 January at the earliest and, given the 14-day notice period required, no evictions are expected to be enforced until 25 January 2021 at the earliest.
The only exceptions to this would be in the most serious circumstances such as: illegal occupation, false statement, anti-social behaviour, perpetrators of domestic abuse in social housing, where a property is unoccupied following the death of a tenant and extreme rent arrears equivalent to 9 months’ rent with any arrears accrued since 23 March discounted. The Government aims to provide further guidance shortly regarding the operation of these exemptions, following consultation with the judiciary.
This applies in relation to tenants on residential caravan sites as well as in relation to tenants of bricks and mortar properties.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the demand for allotments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what assistance they intend to provide to local authorities, including parish councils, to increase the provision of allotments.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Local authorities are responsible for allotments in their area. It is for them to consider issues around local demand and supply. To support immediate and on-going pressures during the pandemic, the government has provided £4.6 billion of un-ringfenced funding to principal councils. We will continue to support local government in managing the pandemic and will keep financial support under review.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many council seat vacancies are currently being held over by principal local authorities in England; and, of these, how many are in seats where the term of office would in any case end next May.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government does not hold records detailing council seat vacancies in England; each local authority is responsible for ensuring vacancies are filled. Legislation has postponed all local polls in England until May 2021.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the average cost to a local planning authority of determining an application for prior consent for a two-storey upward extension to a dwelling house.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The fee for this type of prior approval will be set at a level that is proportionate to the cost to a local authority in determining the prior approval and consistent with fees for other similar prior approvals. This should be less than where the development would have come forward as a planning application.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to announce proposals this year for the reorganisation of local government in England; and whether county council elections will take place in May 2021.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government wants to decentralise giving more power to local communities, providing opportunities for them to enjoy devolution. The Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper, which will be published in due course, will set out our detailed plans and we continue to work closely with local areas to establish solutions to local government reform. There will be no blanket abolition of district councils or cancellation of the county council elections, and no top-down restructuring of local government.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have received from Lancashire County Council for the reorganisation of local government in that county; and what plans they have to consider any such proposals.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
A number of councils, including Lancashire County Council, have requested invitations under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 to submit proposals for unitary local government in their areas. The Government is now carefully considering these requests, and where any invitation is issued it will be for the councils concerned to decide what if any locally led reorganisation proposals they put forward.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the provision of sufficient funding for district councils in two-tier areas to support (1) the public health work of their environmental health staff and departments as part of the work on COVID-19, and (2) tracking, tracing and isolating work in partnership with Government.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Councils across the country are supporting communities, protecting the most vulnerable and helping the NHS in our efforts to combat Covid-19. We are providing local authorities with an unprecedented package of support, allocating £4.3 billion of support for?spending?pressures, including £3.7 billion of un-ringfenced grants and the £600 million Infection Control Fund. In total, the government has provided £5 billion in cashflow measures and almost £28 billion in additional funding for local communities, to ensure they can meet the unique pressures that the covid-19 pandemic has placed upon them. I believe these measures amount to a comprehensive package of support.
The Secretary of State has also announced measures to address lost income, including:
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they have provided to local authorities (1) to maintain existing services, and (2) to temporarily backfill posts in areas such as environmental and public health while existing staff are redeployed to work connected with COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Councils across the country are supporting communities, protecting the most vulnerable and helping the NHS in our efforts to combat Covid-19. We are providing local authorities with an unprecedented package of support, allocating £4.3 billion of support for?spending?pressures, including £3.7 billion of un-ringfenced grants and the £600 million Infection Control Fund. In total, the government has provided £5 billion in cashflow measures and almost £28 billion in additional funding for local communities, to ensure they can meet the unique pressures that the covid-19 pandemic has placed upon them. I believe these measures amount to a comprehensive package of support.
The Secretary of State has also announced measures to address lost income, including:
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make another funding round for schemes for the funding of pocket parks.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
In the last 2 years Government has made £16.3 million available to support parks and green spaces, including:
In addition to this, the Government has recently announced £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund in England. The fund will support projects that are ready to deliver and focus on nature restoration, nature-based solutions and engagement with nature. The fund will protect up to 2000 jobs and create up to 3000 more whilst delivering against the goals of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. Further information on the fund can be found at:
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with councillors and officers (1) of Lancashire County Council, (2) of Blackpool Borough Council, (3) of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, and (4) of Lancashire District Councils since 1 January, on matters relating to proposals for (a) a combined authority, (b) an elected mayor, and (c) reorganisation of local government structures; and what advice they have given to each of those Councils.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
There have been a number of discussions between councils across the Lancashire area and Ministers and officials about possible local government reforms. The government has set out a clear commitment to level up all areas of the country by empowering our regions through devolving money, resources and control away from Westminster, and will set out its detailed plans in the Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper that will be published this Autumn.