Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that (a) charities and (b) community interest companies that have contracts with local authorities have an adequate level of unrestricted funding to continue to fulfill their core functions.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities have been outsourcing and using shared service arrangements for many decades. Almost all councils have some service areas provided externally, with varying contract management arrangements.
Local authorities are accountable to local people, and it is for them to determine how best to deliver effective services for their communities. Decisions over tendering and contracts are for councils to make, following their own due diligence process.
Next year’s settlement for local government responds to the pressures councils are facing by providing access to the largest increase Core Spending Power since 2015, an estimated 4.3 per cent real terms increase of £2.9 billion.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will take steps to ensure that people who present as homeless to a local authority are found accommodation in that local authority area.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We are clear that local authorities should, as far as possible, avoid placing households out of their borough. However, in some areas where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation, we are aware that it is sometimes necessary to place households in accommodation outside of the local area. This is set out in legislation and guidance which local authorities must have regard to.
The guidance is clear that where possible the authority should seek to retain established links with schools, doctors, social workers and other key services and support.
If a local authority places a household into accommodation in another local area, they are required by law to notify the local authority of any placement, to minimise disruption to schooling, healthcare and other support. In July the previous Homelessness Minister, Heather Wheeler MP, wrote to all local authorities to remind them of the need to send notifications when placing families out of their area.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings in planning class C3 have been converted to houses of multiple occupancy class C4 without a planning application since the change to regulations on 1 October 2010.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has no plans to remove the permitted development rights that allow for change of use between class C(3) dwelling houses and a class C(4) houses in multiple occupation. We do not hold data on the number of dwelling houses that have converted to houses in multiple occupation since 1 October 2010. Paragraph 53 of the National Planning Policy Framework confirms that the use of Article 4 directions to remove national permitted development rights should be limited to situations where it is necessary to protect local amenity or the well-being of the area.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has any plans to revert to the regulatory regime for planning consent for small houses of multiple occupancy that pertained from 6 April 2010 to 30 September 2010.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has no plans to remove the permitted development rights that allow for change of use between class C(3) dwelling houses and a class C(4) houses in multiple occupation. We do not hold data on the number of dwelling houses that have converted to houses in multiple occupation since 1 October 2010. Paragraph 53 of the National Planning Policy Framework confirms that the use of Article 4 directions to remove national permitted development rights should be limited to situations where it is necessary to protect local amenity or the well-being of the area.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to enable and encourage local authorities to adopt article 4 directions in respect of houses of multiple occupation by making that process more efficient.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has no plans to remove the permitted development rights that allow for change of use between class C(3) dwelling houses and a class C(4) houses in multiple occupation. We do not hold data on the number of dwelling houses that have converted to houses in multiple occupation since 1 October 2010. Paragraph 53 of the National Planning Policy Framework confirms that the use of Article 4 directions to remove national permitted development rights should be limited to situations where it is necessary to protect local amenity or the well-being of the area.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has taken steps to implement the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s recommendation that local authorities in England should have a duty to provide sufficient safe and adequate sites for Gypsies and Travellers based on the pre-2015 Planning policy for Traveller sites definitions of Gypsy and of Traveller.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Under section 8 of the Housing Act 1985, there is a statutory requirement on local authorities to consider the needs of people residing or resorting to their district with respect to the provision of caravan sites. The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) sets out the Government’s planning policy for traveller sites and should be read in conjunction with the revised National Planning Policy Framework. The PPTS is clear that local planning authorities should make their own assessment of need for the purposes of planning. They should identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide 5 years’ worth of sites against their locally set targets. Travellers who do not fall within the definition in Annex 1 of the PPTS should have their housing needs assessed under the National Planning Policy Framework.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to identify the number of private renters who are evicted for rent arrears and in receipt of local housing allowance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department does not hold information on evictions for rent arrears.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to provide supportive housing for adults with learning disabilities whose parents have died or who are unable to care for their children on account of age or infirmity.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Supported housing plays an invaluable role in our society, helping some of our country’s most vulnerable people, including many adults with learning disabilities, to live as independently as possible. Since 2011, we have delivered 27,000 supported housing units for disabled, vulnerable and older people. At the Autumn Statement 2015, we announced £400 million of new specialist affordable homes for the vulnerable, elderly or those with disabilities.
In addition to the work of my Department, the Department of Health has made available, through the Care and Support Specialised (CASSH) Fund, approximately £200 million to fund about 6,000 new homes, including for older people; those with learning and physical disabilities; and mental ill health.
The Department of Health is also working with colleagues in NHS England on the Transforming Care Programme. The programme aims to ensure that people with learning disabilities and/or autism, mental illness or challenging behaviour are not kept in hospitals but are cared for in line with best practice, based on their individual needs. This is in addition to the £25 million capital fund for housing and technology to support people with a learning disability to live independently. Funding has been awarded to 52 separate projects in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years.
Government is also helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely at home through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which can contribute towards meeting the cost of adapting an older or disabled person's property, including people with learning disabilities. In the 2015 Spending Review DFG funding received year-on-year increases and will more than double from £220 million in 2015-16 to over £500 million by 2020.