Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring new build accessible property developers to ensure that their new dwellings meet category three needs.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Government recently consulted on various options to raise the accessibility of new homes, including proposals related to category three homes for wheelchair users. We are currently considering responses and will be publishing a Government response.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has set a date for issuing Part L of the Building Regulations and the Future Homes Standard.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We have committed to review the roadmap to the Future Homes Standard to ensure that implementation takes place to the shortest possible timeline. The Department has already consulted on a meaningful and achievable interim increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes as a first step towards the Future Homes Standard. We will be publishing the Government response to this consultation as soon as possible, which will include a roadmap to the Future Homes Standard.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps he is taking to ensure that places of worship can open for (a) private prayer and (b) active worship in compliance with social distancing measures as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are lifted.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Government has announced that from the 15th June Church of England places of worship may be opened for individual prayer, alongside those of other faiths.
The Church of England has been developing advice, following information from Public Health England and other bodies, to enable its churches to be opened safely, and has been communicating that to dioceses for planning purposes. Not all buildings will be able to open for individual prayer on the 15th June, and bishops will be discussing with local clergy the needs of each parish. We expect a phased reopening that takes into account local circumstances and the available resources to enable it to be done safely.
The House of Bishops will be issuing revised advice once the Government has published its own guidance, further to the statement made by Lord Greenhalgh on Saturday 6th June.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to clarify with local enterprise partnerships the level of funding that they will receive to support the recovery of the economy.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are due to receive Local Growth Funding for 2020-21 to support the delivery of the Growth Deals agreed with Government. We have communicated with all LEPs clarifying our approach, and how we will support them manage funding and delivery at this challenging time. That confirmed LEPs will receive two thirds of their Local Growth Fund allocation in May to ensure they have adequate funding to drive forward their programmes where delivery is happening. The final third will be released pending a short light touch review over the summer to understand what if any slippage or disruption the effects of Covid-19 may have caused to individual LEP programmes. This will help everyone understand where further work and support from Government may be required, whilst ensuring funding is awarded when it is needed.
The March 2020 Budget also confirmed up to £387 million in 2021-22 to provide certainty for local areas that they will be able to continue with existing priority Local Growth Fund projects that require funding beyond 2020-21. We have said that we will work closely with LEPs and Mayors to understand the changing needs of local economies, and will look at how this funding could be used alongside other resources to support local economic recovery efforts. Future funding decisions will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local, what the planned role is of Local Resilience Forums in working with local communities to develop post-covid-19 local recovery plans.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The role of Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in recovery is set out in “The Role of Local Resilience Forums: A Reference Document”
It states that “recovery management is best approached from the perspective of community development and is most effective when conducted at a local level, with the active participation of the community and a strong reliance on local capacities and expertise. Recovery is not just a matter for the statutory agencies – the private sector, the voluntary sector and the wider community will play a crucial role.”
MHCLG continues to engage frequently with all LRFs to discuss the Covid-19 response and will work with them as they develop and implement their post-Covid-19 recovery strategies.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of working with (a) hotels and (b) hotel groups to provide refuge for victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On 2 May, the Government announced an unprecedented £76?million package of support to ensure the most vulnerable in society get the support they need during the pandemic. We have secured £10 million of this package specifically for safe accommodation
The MHCLG COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation launched on 7 May and will ensure refuge charities can continue to operate, whilst also helping more victims access vital services during the COVID-19 emergency.
Where refuge charities judge hotels and other temporary accommodation to be necessary, safe and appropriate, they can apply to fund such costs through this new £10 million MHCLG fund
Local authorities can now also secure additional rooms for victims through Crown Commercial Services.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) private and (b) social renters are able to remain in their homes after the covid-19 outbreak in the event of (i) redundancy and (ii) other changes in their financial and personal circumstances.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has introduced significant financial measures to help support tenants to continue to pay their living costs, including rental payments. This includes support for businesses to pay staff salaries, strengthening the welfare safety-net with a £7 billion boost to Universal Credit, and increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates so that they are set at the 30th percentile of market rents in each area.
Emergency legislation is now in place so that landlords will not be able to start proceedings to evict their tenants for at least a three-month period. The courts have also suspended housing possession proceedings. As a result of these measures, no tenant in private or social accommodation needs to be concerned about the threat of eviction during this time. We have?also?been clear?in guidance?that there is a need for landlords to offer support and understanding to tenants – and any guarantor – who may see their income fluctuate.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) building regulations and (b) thermal insulation standards facilitate the development of zero carbon heated homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is fully committed to meeting its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it.
We have committed to introduce a Future Homes Standard from 2025 which means that new homes in England will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and lower energy use through high levels of thermal insulation. In October 2019 we published a consultation on the Future Homes Standard which proposed that new homes built to this standard should have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current building regulations standards. These homes will be zero carbon ready: once the electricity grid decarbonises they will become zero carbon heated homes.
As a stepping stone to the Future Homes Standard, we have also consulted on a meaningful and achievable increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes to be introduced through the Building Regulations in 2020.
The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February 2020. The responses we have received will be considered carefully and a Government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance on social distancing published by Public Health England and the covid-19 outbreak, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of proceeding with large scale planning applications that require public consultations and meetings to be held.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has made clear that local planning authorities should continue to prioritise decision-making during these challenging times to ensure that the planning system continues to function, especially when this when this will support the local economy.
Local planning authorities are still required to undertake a formal period of public consultation of no less than 21 days, prior to deciding a planning application.
Effective consultation allows local planning authorities to identify and consider all relevant planning issues associated with a proposed development. Where relevant considerations are raised by local residents, these must be taken into account by the local authority.
Most planning applications are determined by planning officers through a local authority’s scheme of delegation. Where decisions need to be made by committee, we have introduced legislation that allow council planning committee meetings to be held virtually.
Local planning authorities should take an innovative approach, using all options available to them including their use of technology and electronic communication, to ensure that planning decisions are made and sufficient public participation in the planning process is maintained. The Government is working with the Planning Advisory Service to publish further advice on ways this can be achieved.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who may not have access to the internet are able to take part in the consultation process for large scale planning applications.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has made clear that local planning authorities should continue to prioritise decision-making during these challenging times to ensure that the planning system continues to function, especially when this when this will support the local economy.
Local planning authorities are still required to undertake a formal period of public consultation of no less than 21 days, prior to deciding a planning application.
Effective consultation allows local planning authorities to identify and consider all relevant planning issues associated with a proposed development. Where relevant considerations are raised by local residents, these must be taken into account by the local authority.
Most planning applications are determined by planning officers through a local authority’s scheme of delegation. Where decisions need to be made by committee, we have introduced legislation that allow council planning committee meetings to be held virtually.
Local planning authorities should take an innovative approach, using all options available to them including their use of technology and electronic communication, to ensure that planning decisions are made and sufficient public participation in the planning process is maintained. The Government is working with the Planning Advisory Service to publish further advice on ways this can be achieved.