Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of planning regulations on the accessibility of pavements for public use.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 763 on 13 November 2023.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 (a) trends in the number of professionals who are qualified to audit local authority accounts in England and (b) the potential impact of those trends on the sustainability of local government finances.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Chartered Institute of Public Accountancy has been contracted to develop a qualification designed to bridge the gap between corporate and local audit qualifications, widening the pool of auditors. The first cohort for the course is expected to be enrolled in early 2024.
The Financial Reporting Council is making progress on work on a local audit Workforce Strategy. Initial recommendations for short to medium term measures will be presented to the Local Audit Liaison Committee in December; after that the Financial Reporting Council will update the Public Accounts Committee directly.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to reduce backlogs of audit opinions for local government bodies.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is continuing to engage across the local audit sector, including local authorities on the proposals set out in the system wide statement published in July. Further details will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has held discussions with (a) local authorities, (b) retailers, (c) Keep Britain Tidy and (d) other stakeholders on banning the sale of disposable barbecues.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support he is offering Birmingham City Council to help maximise business rate retention.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Through the Trailblazer devolution deal with the West Midlands Combined Authority, the Government has agreed to 10 years of 100 per cent business rates retention arrangements in Birmingham from 2024-25, offering certainty in funding over the longer term to support economic growth.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent (a) discussions and (b) consultations he has held on the proposal to bring Warwickshire into the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 20 July the Leader of Warwickshire County Council advised that they had decided not to pursue at this time their plans to explore joining the WMCA. This is a matter for the Council.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps he has taken with local authorities to improve the take-up of (a) Universal Credit, (b) Council Tax Support and (c) social tariffs.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is in regular contact with councils about the range of support to households.
The Department for Work and Pensions has worked with key organisations and charities on the transition to Universal Credit from other benefits and regularly promotes Universal Credit at relevant events.
Council tax support is the responsibility of local authorities who must consult upon and publish their schemes.
To raise awareness of social tariffs amongst eligible households, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has worked with consumer groups, charities and broadband and mobile companies to launch a 'Help for Households' awareness campaign.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 14 July 2023 to Question 192913 on Religion, with which faith-based organisations the Government has a policy of not engaging; and whether this was communicated to the Independent Faith Engagement Adviser as part of his work on the review.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The independent faith advisor's contract and payment terms were approved in the usual way.
The call for evidence questionnaire has been published on gov.uk page. The questions asked during interviews were not scripted.
In relation to the call for evidence, a broad range of individuals and organisations submitted responses.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are those of Mr Bloom.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review, with due consideration to existing official and Ministerial level engagement and communications.
In line with previous practice, a further breakdown of costings not be published.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 14 July 2023 to Question 192907 on Independent Faith Engagement Review, if he will publish the (a) questionnaires and (b) interview scripts used as part of evidence gathering process.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The independent faith advisor's contract and payment terms were approved in the usual way.
The call for evidence questionnaire has been published on gov.uk page. The questions asked during interviews were not scripted.
In relation to the call for evidence, a broad range of individuals and organisations submitted responses.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are those of Mr Bloom.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review, with due consideration to existing official and Ministerial level engagement and communications.
In line with previous practice, a further breakdown of costings not be published.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 14 July 2023 to Question 192908 on Independent Faith Engagement Review, which organisations (a) responded to the call for evidence and (b) were contacted directly by the Independent Faith Engagement Adviser.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The independent faith advisor's contract and payment terms were approved in the usual way.
The call for evidence questionnaire has been published on gov.uk page. The questions asked during interviews were not scripted.
In relation to the call for evidence, a broad range of individuals and organisations submitted responses.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are those of Mr Bloom.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review, with due consideration to existing official and Ministerial level engagement and communications.
In line with previous practice, a further breakdown of costings not be published.