Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to introduce a community right to buy for nature that would enable local communities to (a) purchase and (b) restore land for (i) environmental and (ii) biodiversity purposes.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to ensuring that communities are able to protect all local assets that are important to them. The new community right to buy, which we are introducing through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, will give communities stronger powers to take ownership of these assets and save them for future community use.
Communities will be able to nominate any asset that furthers the social or economic wellbeing of the community, which will include a range of environmental assets, and purchase these if they are put up for sale.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will (a) make an assessment of the extent of and (b) take steps to help tackle barriers to local authorities practicing ethical divestment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are responsible for their own investments and accountable to their electorate. When making investment decisions, authorities must, however, ensure they comply with legislation and guidance intended to ensure that decisions are prudent, affordable and sustainable.
Investment strategies for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds are set by local pension committees, and include how social, environmental and corporate governance and responsible investment considerations are taken into account. Pension committees must have regard to their fiduciary duty to scheme members and employers when setting their investment strategy and must follow relevant legislation and guidance.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Community Right to Buy powers proposed in the Devolution White Paper to allow community organisations to take over (a) moorlands and (b) peatbogs.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government is committed to supporting communities across the country and is going further than ever before in giving community organisations the ability to own and manage assets for the benefit of the wider community.
As part of the English Devolution Bill, we will legislate to introduce a strong new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, empowering local people to bring community spaces back into community ownership. We are currently working on the details of the policy, but we want to ensure that it is focused on those assets that play an important role in creating thriving, prosperous communities.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, what steps she is taking to help ensure that trees are not damaged during permitted development works.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where development may impact a tree, owners are required to check if the tree is in a conservation area or subject to a Tree Preservation Order. If a tree is subject to either of these, owners are required to obtain the necessary permission to carry out any work in accordance with the relevant legislation.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that contractors are not damaging trees during works.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where development may impact a tree, owners are required to check if the tree is in a conservation area or subject to a Tree Preservation Order. If a tree is subject to either of these, owners are required to obtain the necessary permission to carry out any work in accordance with the relevant legislation.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish guidance on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 8491 on 18 October 2024.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take once the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme is introduced to a) incentivise the continuation of people hosting and b) reduce the risk of homelessness amongst displaced Ukrainians.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
More than two years on, we continue to stand firm with the brave people who remain in Ukraine, and to warmly welcome those who need sanctuary in the UK.
We are greatly appreciative of the overwhelming generosity shown by sponsors in accommodating guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. It is thanks to this generosity that we have been able to welcome over 156,000 Ukrainians to the UK. We continue to encourage those who can offer support to come forward with offers of sponsorship.
We provide a tariff of £5,900 per Ukrainian arrival to councils. This is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding to support households as best suits the local area, including measures to support guests who have left sponsorship to access the private rented sector.
Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme will continue to provide thank you payments to people hosting displaced Ukrainians.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
More than two years on, we continue to stand firm with the brave people who remain in Ukraine, and to warmly welcome those who need sanctuary in the UK.
We are greatly appreciative of the overwhelming generosity shown by sponsors in accommodating guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. It is thanks to this generosity that we have been able to welcome over 156,000 Ukrainians to the UK. We continue to encourage those who can offer support to come forward with offers of sponsorship.
We provide a tariff of £5,900 per Ukrainian arrival to councils. This is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding to support households as best suits the local area, including measures to support guests who have left sponsorship to access the private rented sector.
Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of people from Ukraine that have sought homelessness support after being in the UK for more than six months since February 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
Some of this information is published via survey data which is voluntarily provided and regularly updated on gov.uk.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 Homelessness management information - Ukrainian nationals: England, updated by his Department on 29 June 2023, if he will make an estimate of the average numbers of people in each household of Ukrainian nationals.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities does not currently collect or hold information on the average household size of Ukrainian households who have had a homelessness duty accepted by an English local housing authority.
Through our Homelessness Pressures Management Information, we do collect some homelessness data on Ukrainian households. As of 31 July, English local authorities have accepted 7,300 homelessness prevention and relief duties for Ukrainian households since 24 February 2022. On 31 July, English local authorities reported providing temporary accommodation for 700 Ukrainian households.
Our Homelessness Pressures Management Information data is ad-hoc and voluntarily provided. It is regularly published on gov.uk.