Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will take steps to encourage insurance companies to insure buildings with a PAS 9980 assessment of (a) low and (b) medium tolerable that do not require remediation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Building owners are responsible for ensuring that buildings have appropriate buildings insurance in place.
The government encourages insurance companies to provide suitable, fairly-priced insurance for all blocks of flats, whatever the conclusion of the Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls.
Insurers make commercial decisions about the price and terms of cover they offer following their assessment of the relevant risks. Government is determined that insurance companies treat customers fairly and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value. The FCA has been clear it will be monitoring firms and, where necessary, it will take action.
My officials would be happy to speak to the insurance industry about any building brought to our attention, which is unable to obtain any buildings insurance cover.
For buildings that do require remediation, the Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility, led by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and reinsurance broker McGill and Partners, may reduce high premiums for some of the most affected multi-occupancy buildings with fire safety issues.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to reopen the Building Safety Fund for applications in 2022.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is providing £5.1 billion, including £4.5 billion through the Building Safety Fund, to address the fire safety risks caused by unsafe cladding on high-rise residential buildings. This will be used where the original developer and/or the building owner are not funding the works. We will be opening the next phase of the Building Safety Fund at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the council tax rebate scheme, what steps he is taking to help support local authorities with residents who pay council tax in cash.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
My Department will shortly issue FAQs to help local authorities administer the council tax rebate. This will include information on flexible payment options for households, balancing administrative ease and accessibility with the need to manage fraud risk.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to whom the council tax rebate will be paid in cases where tenants pay rent with all bills included, including council tax; and in cases where the landlord receives the rebate, whether there will be a requirement for the landlord to pass it on to the tenant.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
My Department will provide guidance to billing authorities on administering the council tax rebate scheme, including on the eligibility criteria. The associated discretionary fund will allow councils to support people that may need help with their energy bills but who are not eligible for the main scheme.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether local authorities will receive central Government funding for the additional administrative costs incurred in the rollout of the £144 million discretionary fund for vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes that do not pay council tax or that pay council tax for properties in Bands E-H.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government will provide new burdens funding to local authorities to cover reasonable administrative costs incurred in delivering the council tax rebate scheme and the associated discretionary fund.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether additional administrative costs incurred by local authorities in the implementation of the £150 council tax rebate will be a new burdens requirement.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government will provide new burdens funding to local authorities to cover reasonable administrative costs incurred in delivering the council tax rebate scheme and the associated discretionary fund.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2017 to Question 900568, what support is available to businesses that have had their property incorrectly valued by the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Where the valuation of a non-domestic property is altered following a successful appeal, the ratepayer will generally receive a backdated refund. Local authorities also have wide-ranging powers to provide discretionary rate relief to businesses in their area, including where a business is experiencing significant financial hardship. From April 2017, the Government introduced reforms to the appeals system to help reduce the delays caused by large numbers of speculative appeals.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2017 to Question 900568, what compensation is available for businesses that win at appeal but have suffered losses between the original valuation and appeal.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Where the valuation of a non-domestic property is altered following a successful appeal, the ratepayer will generally receive a backdated refund. Local authorities also have wide-ranging powers to provide discretionary rate relief to businesses in their area, including where a business is experiencing significant financial hardship. From April 2017, the Government introduced reforms to the appeals system to help reduce the delays caused by large numbers of speculative appeals.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the revaluation of business rates on businesses in Hackney.
Answered by Marcus Jones
The effect of the revaluation of business rates on businesses in Hackney will depend on the specific circumstances and location of the relevant property.
We announced further measures to support businesses in last week's Budget.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department used to decide where the Right to Buy information booklet was distributed.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Right to Buy campaign aims to ensure that eligible social housing tenants are aware of the increased discounts available through the Right to Buy scheme.
The Direct Marketing activity sets out to raise awareness of the scheme and eligibility as Right to Buy can only be exercised by eligible tenants if they have sufficient information about their Right to Buy.
Direct marketing has been the most cost effective way to reach eligible council and housing association tenants.
Our targeting approach is based on a combination of social housing stock and penetration levels - we target higher stockholding areas to ensure reach and value for money across England.