Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to record the number of people in rent arrears.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has established an unprecedented package of support to protect renters throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and as with all policy making, this is informed by a range of data sources.
This comprehensive package includes a range of support for businesses to pay staff salaries which will support renters to sustain tenancies. We have also strengthened the welfare safety-net with a nearly £9.3 billion boost to the welfare system, including an extra £1 billion to increase Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates so that they cover the lowest 30 per cent of market rents.
For those renters who require additional support, there is an existing £180 million of Government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments made available this year, an increase of £40 million from last year and which is for councils to distribute to support renters with housing costs.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 additional funding requirements of local authorities that have a budget shortfall as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Councils across the country are supporting communities, protecting the most vulnerable and helping the NHS in our efforts to combat Covid-19. In order to meet additional cost pressures, 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. This direct?financial support?the Government has?provided is just part of the comprehensive package of support?which includes cashflow measures, support for the homeless, and bus and tram services, not to mention grants and business rates reliefs for businesses. In total, the Government has committed almost £28 billion to local areas to support councils, businesses and communities.
The Secretary of State has also announced measures to address lost income, including:
Our new approach to financial support for councils in the fight against Covid-19 is more robust and longer-term, replacing both previous rounds of allocations. It shares the burden fairly between central and local government. We have reset the whole approach by estimating both expenditure pressures and income reductions through to the end of the financial year, based on what local authorities have told us in the latest financial monitoring and operational response. Over 99 per cent of local authorities responded to our May Covid-19 financial monitoring survey. We are extremely grateful for their continued collaboration, which enables us to understand pressures at a national and local level.
We will continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on local government and would ask that any local authority who is faced with an unmanageable pressure or is concerned about their future financial position should approach MHCLG to discuss.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 viability of allowing shops selling domestic garden supplies that have closed due to the covid-19 outbreak to re-open.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Shops selling domestic garden supplies such as garden centres, are being asked to close along with many other retail premises to minimise the risk of the spread of the coronavirus.
At all times we have been consistently guided by scientific advice to protect lives. The current advice from SAGE is that relaxing any of the measures could risk damage to public health, our economy, and the sacrifices we have all made. The Government has set up five tests that must be met before the lockdown measures (including the closure of certain retail businesses) can be lifted. These consider NHS capacity, death rates, transmission rates, availability of PPE, and avoidance of a second peak of the virus.
It is positive to see the emerging thoughts on how businesses such as garden centres can reopen safely, and in line with wider social distancing measures – we will need to continue to work together on how easing measures could work when it is the right time to do so.