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 publication entitled Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - March 2024, published on 18 April 2024, in how many of the 1,911 buildings from social housing surveys that are known to require works was a participant developer under the Self-Remediation Contract the (a) developer and (b) principal contractor.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The Government focus is on ensuring remediation happens as quickly as possible – hence why developers have taken on responsibility for buildings where appropriate. It is for developers to deal with any historical relationship with contractors.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has issued recent guidance to building owners on the timeframe in which they should confirm Cladding Safety Scheme eligibility outcomes to leaseholders.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The Cladding Safety Scheme guidance requires the responsible entity to provide regular updates to leaseholders and residents at any time upon their request, including the eligibility outcomes. Further milestones requiring communications to leaseholders are published on GOV.UK for applicants.

It is essential that life safety fire risks associated with cladding are addressed as quickly as possible to ensure that residents are safe and feel safe in their homes. Most applicants have signed the Grant Funding Agreements in a timely manner. For those not signing in reasonable timeframe, Homes England takes additional escalation steps to ensure that the Grant Funding Agreement is signed. This includes frequent communications with the applicant to understand potential blockers, resolve them, and if necessary, escalation to senior stakeholders for action.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle building owners not signing Grant Funding Agreements for the Cladding Safety Scheme in a reasonable timeframe.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The Cladding Safety Scheme guidance requires the responsible entity to provide regular updates to leaseholders and residents at any time upon their request, including the eligibility outcomes. Further milestones requiring communications to leaseholders are published on GOV.UK for applicants.

It is essential that life safety fire risks associated with cladding are addressed as quickly as possible to ensure that residents are safe and feel safe in their homes. Most applicants have signed the Grant Funding Agreements in a timely manner. For those not signing in reasonable timeframe, Homes England takes additional escalation steps to ensure that the Grant Funding Agreement is signed. This includes frequent communications with the applicant to understand potential blockers, resolve them, and if necessary, escalation to senior stakeholders for action.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which Fires of Special Interest his Department commissioned investigations for in 2023.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The “Investigation of Real Fires” project has been undertaken on behalf of Government since 1988 and gathers information through the investigation of real fires. It ensures that research into fire safety related issues commissioned by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and previously DLUHC adequately responds to emerging challenges, as well as keeping officials and Ministers suitably informed of high-profile incidents, both in England and beyond. This work includes those fires which would previously have been classified as “Fires of Special Interest”.

The most recent annual report covers the period 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023. During that period, 237 fires worldwide were recorded under the contract.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had discussions with mortgage lenders on lending to non-qualifying leaseholders.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Yes.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had discussions with mortgage lenders on lending to non-qualifying leaseholders.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Yes.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety of 22 April 2024, Official Report, column 636, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in low-rise homes with timber and UPVC cladding in the London Borough of Barnet.

Answered by Lee Rowley

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 25644 on 15 May 2024. .

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 Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release, updated on 18 April 2024, how many and what proportion of buildings that have received funding through the Building Safety Fund there are where at least one variation request has been rejected.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Currently one building has been rejected additional funding (variation request) through the Building Safety Fund.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to provide support for homeowners with remediation costs for building safety defects created prior to June 1992.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Eligibility for the Building Safety Fund and the Cladding Safety Scheme is not dependent on when the cladding was installed, just that it was.

Furthermore, we have extended the limitation period under the Defective Premises Act 1972 from six to 30 years retrospectively to allow claims for compensation to be brought against those who have been involved in the construction of a dwelling where the dwelling is deemed not ‘fit for habitation’ at the time of completion.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2024 to Question 19958 on Flats: Fire Prevention, whether the concerns raised with the Department included difficulties with (a) remortgaging and (b) selling properties in buildings under 11 metres; and if he will provide a breakdown of the issues raised for each of the 160 properties.

Answered by Lee Rowley

As my previous answers clearly stated, the department thoroughly reviews every building raised with us. To date only three buildings under 11 metres require remediation and we are in conversation with the relevant owners and developers.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued for cladding remediation in Conservation Areas.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Local authorities are responsible for conservation areas. The Manual to the Building Regulations notes that where the functional requirement of Part B Fire Safety applies to buildings of special architectural or historic interest, local authority building control and conservation officers may be able to advise on how to comply appropriately, if guidance intended for common building situations might prove too restrictive.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of buildings under 11 metres affected by safety issues in which (a) developer-funded remediation will be undertaken, (b) remediation works have started and (c) remediation works have been completed.

Answered by Lee Rowley

As my previous answers clearly stated, the department thoroughly reviews every building raised with us. To date only three buildings under 11 metres require remediation and we are in conversation with the relevant owners and developers.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to set a cap on the maximum cost charged to leaseholders per year for building safety case reports for higher risk buildings.

Answered by Lee Rowley

I refer the Hon Member to the joint statement published here: Joint_Letter_-_Lee_Rowley_and_Philip_White.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number of buildings between 11 and 18 metres in height with aluminium composite material cladding that have not started remediation works.

Answered by Lee Rowley

75 buildings between 11 and 18 metres have been identified as having ACM on the External Wall System and require remediation. 26 have started work and 49 have not. We will continue to push for further progress on this, and all remediation, at the earliest opportunity.

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 Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release, updated on 18 April 2024, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of buildings where remediation works have been completed through the Building Safety Fund where that building has subsequently achieved an EWS1 rating of B1 or above.

Answered by Lee Rowley

As set out previously, the EWS1 form is not a Government process.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number of buildings in which insulation was installed through government-funded grant schemes in which remediation of that insulation is required.

Answered by Amanda Solloway

The Government does not hold the data on the number of buildings where insulation has been installed through a government funded scheme and subsequently required remediation work.

Since 2019, all installations under government energy efficiency schemes have been required to be carried out by TrustMark registered and PAS 2030 or MCS certified businesses to improve the quality of installations and protect consumers. TrustMark registered installers are required to provide all consumers with a guarantee covering the installation work for up to 25 years for a range of energy efficiency measures.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Housing Minister's open letter to mortgage lenders on building safety of 12 January 2022, what information his Department holds on the number of lenders that have waived the annual 1% premium for shared owners who sublet.

Answered by Lee Rowley

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.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the number of buildings under the developer remediation scheme that were (a) transferred out of Government funding schemes and (b) had not started works on site by 30 April 2024.

Answered by Lee Rowley

As at 31 March 2024, developers had taken responsibility for remediating 414 buildings that had applied to the Building Safety Fund, in line with the terms of the developer remediation contract. We intend to publish data on the progress which developers are making towards remediating those buildings in due course.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2024 to Question 21335 on Flats: Fire Prevention, whether Jetty Court in Tower Hamlets is a relevant building under the developer remediation contract.

Answered by Lee Rowley

To date, no developer has accepted responsibility for remediating Jetty House. The building is being remediated through the Building Safety Fund. If the department concludes that the building is covered by the developer remediation contract, the developer responsible will be required to reimburse the cost of works, in line with the terms of the contract.

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 Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release, updated on 18 April 2024, whether any buildings have made new applications to the Waking Watch Replacement Fund since 25 May 2023.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Yes.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many independent audits his Department commissioned under the Developer Self Remediation Terms in relation to building assessments from April 2023 to April 2024.

Answered by Lee Rowley

To date, the department has commissioned 83 independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. The Government is intending to say more on the status of developer remediation in the weeks ahead.

A developer whose Scheme membership has been revoked would become subject to the prohibitions set out in regulations.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of buildings over 11 metres requiring non-cladding remediation works where the building owner meets (a) the developer test (b) the contribution condition.

Answered by Lee Rowley

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 21818 on 23 April 2024.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of publishing monthly data on the number of independent audits conducted on buildings under the developer self-remediation scheme.

Answered by Lee Rowley

To date, the department has commissioned 83 independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. The Government is intending to say more on the status of developer remediation in the weeks ahead.

A developer whose Scheme membership has been revoked would become subject to the prohibitions set out in regulations.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department can take in the event that a building assessment under the developer self-remediation scheme fails to pass an independent audit on more than one occasion.

Answered by Lee Rowley

To date, the department has commissioned 83 independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. The Government is intending to say more on the status of developer remediation in the weeks ahead.

A developer whose Scheme membership has been revoked would become subject to the prohibitions set out in regulations.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to extend protections under schedule 8 of the Building Safety Act 2023 to leaseholders irrespective of when service charge demands were issued.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022 already apply irrespective of when service charge demands were issued.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on how many occasions he has used his powers to call in new planning proposals by developers on the basis of their lack of progress in remediating fire safety defects in legacy buildings.

Answered by Lee Rowley

Any announcements will be made in the usual way.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classing building insurance as a relevant cost that leaseholders can seek to recover through a remediation contribution order.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The purpose of a Remediation Contribution Order is to contribute to remediation.

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 roles in his Department related to the Building Safety Programme on 30 April (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Answered by Lee Rowley

The Building Safety Programme and initiatives are staffed by civil servants working within the Safer and Greener Buildings section of the department.

As at 30 April 2023, there were 3170.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles in the department of which 305.1 FTE roles were within the Safer and Greener Buildings Group.

As at 30 April 2024, there were 3669.5 FTE roles in the department of which 466.7 FTE roles were within the Safer and Greener Buildings Group.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average time taken for PIP reviews to be undertaken in each of the last (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months.

Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities

Average times between the registration date of a PIP review and the review clearance date is provided in the following table, as requested for the three specified time periods.

Notes:

- Source: PIP Atomic Data Store;

- Latest published data is for January 2024, setting the end of each time period;

- Figures are rounded to the nearest week (7 days);

- Figures are for England and Wales only;

- These figures relate to both planned award reviews and changes of circumstances.

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

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.

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

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.

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 - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities

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.

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

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

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

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

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

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

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

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.

Found: Resolved , That Ruth Cadbury and Mike Amesbury be discharged from the Transport Committee and Fabian