Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to work across Departments on supporting people with multiple complex needs who are homeless; and what steps he is taking to support such people out of homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of extending the move-on period from 28 to 56 days for refugees leaving asylum support on homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to continue funding for the Rough Sleeping Initiative after 2025.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff working on the Building Safety Programme in his Department left in the 12 months to 30 April 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Programme and initiatives are staffed by civil servants working within the Safer and Greener Buildings Group of the department which has a wider set of responsibilities than the building safety initiatives.
45 employees permanently left the department having previously worked in the Safer and Greener Buildings Group in the 12 month period ending 30th April 2024. This is broadly equivalent to 11% of staff employed in the Group during the same period and circa 1% of the department’s total workforce in the same period.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to (a) review and (b) expand the criteria for the vaccine damage payment scheme.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All routine policy, including the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), is reviewed on a regular basis. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is currently considering aspects of the scheme, following recent meetings with interested stakeholders.
Separately, work is underway with the scheme’s administrator, the NHS Business Service Authority, to review processes and make administrative changes to improve the scheme within the current legislative framework. Formal consideration of whether any reforms of the VDPS are necessary will form part of Module 4 of the COVID-19 Inquiry, chaired by the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Carol Hallett DBE.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of taper rates for (a) housing benefit and (b) Universal Credit housing elements on people in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The taper rates in Universal Credit (UC) and Housing Benefit (HB) are different and the Department acknowledges the challenge that this creates for those moving into work whilst living in Temporary Accommodation - when transitioning between receiving UC and HB to receiving HB only as their earnings increase.
Officials continue to develop policy and delivery options to improve the customer experience for those reliant on Housing Benefit. Any options involving further investment to strengthen work incentives would require fiscal approval in the normal way.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication in Weaver Vale constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. This has involved asking that suppliers expedite deliveries to boost supplies of these important medicines, and address regulatory issues to ensure continuity of supply. As a result of our ongoing activity and intensive work, some issues have been resolved. Many strengths of lisdexamphetamine and all strengths of atomoxetine capsules and guanfacine are now available, although medicine supply issues remain for some strengths of lisdexamphetamine and methylphenidate. We continue to escalate these issues with manufacturers to ensure that they are taking responsibility for resolving them as quickly as possible, and to drive and monitor progress.
We monitor and manage medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. The Department does not hold information on stockholdings at a local level.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's press release, Government wins landmark case against freeholder owned by multibillion pound railway pension fund, published on 9 May 2024, if he will make an estimate of the number of non-qualifying leaseholders affected by the five successful Remediation Orders.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The five buildings where remediation orders have successfully been achieved include 461 leasehold homes, which will be made safe due to Government intervention. A further 430 homes are subject to ongoing remediation order legal action to ensure remediation work is completed quickly, with one other block of 24 homes already made safe in advance of trial. This totals 915 homes and households.
In addition, remediation contribution orders have also been taken out against three organisations – Yianis Group, Urban Splash and Hollybrook Homes – relating to nine further buildings. This action seeks to recoup the cost of building remediation, including that charged to leaseholders whether they are qualifying or non-qualifying, of around £69.45 million at current estimates. This action impacts 1,035 households.
In total, the department’s Recovery Strategy Unit actions should mean 1,950 households are safer and more financially secure.
The department has not been provided with information regarding the number of non-qualifying leaseholders within these buildings.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's press release, Government wins landmark case against freeholder owned by multibillion pound railway pension fund, published on 9 May 2024, what the (a) legal and (b) administration costs to the public purse were in relation to the five successful Remediation Orders to date.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
These cases were groundbreaking and contentious, marking the first trials under the Building Safety Act. The newness of these cases inherently introduced complexity requiring careful consideration and analysis. On average each of the five successful orders incurred legal costs of approximately £170,000 (one hundred and seventy thousand pounds). We expect that, having been tested, these cases will incur lower costs in the future.
Whilst the information of administration costs is readily available, calculating the costs for this piece of work is challenging as the team handling the cases were also engaged in other tasks concurrently. Furthermore, oversight from colleagues adds to the complexity, making it harder to gauge the time spent, specifically on this work.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his open letter to registered providers on shared ownership and building safety of 19 December 2023, what information his Department holds on the number of providers that have made the details of (a) all relevant policies, (b) subletting and (c) selling and buyback terms available on their websites.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Following the Secretary of State’s letter to the sector last December, the department continues to work with registered providers of social housing and their representative groups, to ensure that relevant information is clearly available online for shared owners living in homes affected by building safety issues. We expect registered providers to update their websites with any necessary information at the earliest possible opportunity.