Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to appoint a Minister for Parks and Green Spaces.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government recognises that parks and green spaces are vital to communities and the people they serve, which is why the £9 million Levelling Up Parks Fund (LUPF) announced in August 2021 as part of the Levelling Up agenda will help to increase accessibility to quality green space across the UK, and level up areas which are most deprived of green space and provide communities with a place to come together.
The Park Action Group met on 2 January 2018, 23 May 2018, 5 February 2019 and 4 June 2019. The Park Action Group delivered a number of workstreams that remained active until the outbreak of COVID-19. The group’s achievements includes an analysis of available funding for public parks. The experts who delivered it directly advised the Government on the design of the new Levelling Up Parks Fund. We have several forums which allow us to engage across departments on issues related to parks and green spaces and with stakeholders. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
As with all departmental business, the Secretary of State maintains overall responsibility for the work of the department, and I support the Secretary of State on policy matters relating to parks and green spaces.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's policy is on sustainable construction in the building of new homes.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
It is vital that the buildings we construct now are sustainable and fit for the country’s net zero future, and the department is working to reduce the carbon emissions from our new buildings.
We introduced a significant uplift in energy efficiency standards in June 2022 and our flagship Future Homes and Buildings Standards will, from 2025, make sure that new buildings are ready to run with zero carbon emissions as the grid decarbonises.
These operational carbon emissions are only part of the picture, though, and this year we will consult on our approach to measuring and reducing embodied carbon in new buildings.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in the context of the Babbs Mill tragedy in December and the death at Bedford Lakes in August, what steps he is taking to help ensure safety in and around lakes.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
There is ongoing work across government to ensure that appropriate lessons are learned from this terrible tragedy. Owners and operators of water assets are responsible for safety on their inland waterways.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on existing leaseholders.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 75940, on 9 November 2022.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of Business Improvement Districts to local regeneration.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have a significant role to play in regeneration of high streets and towns across England. Published in April 2022, British BIDs’ spring report states that BIDs contribute approximately £145 million each year to their communities.
Many BIDs deliver a range of projects which help to regenerate the local area, from funding ambassadors to act as a visible and welcoming presence on city streets, to undertaking projects which help to keep the BID area clean and safe.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he plans to take through proposals in the Levelling Up White Paper to assist ethnic minority business owners.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government's levelling up missions will spread economic opportunity and support businesses to fulfil their potential through investment in R&D, skills, connectivity, and business finance across the country.
The Levelling Up White Paper drew on the findings of the independent Commission for Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED), which emphasised that geography is a key factor affecting equality of opportunity and social mobility, and geographical and ethnicity-related factors are closely interrelated. In action 56 of the Government’s response to CRED, the Inclusive Britain report, the Government committed to support HSBC to develop and launch a pilot for a competition-based, entrepreneur support programme in spring 2022
By reducing spatial disparities across the UK, particularly in the places where they are most stark, the plans set out in the Levelling Up White Paper will improve the lives of groups with the worst outcomes, complementing and supporting our wider work to tackle race and ethnic disparities.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 Government's Levelling Up White Paper, what assessment his Department has made of the need to tackle poverty as part of that strategy.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
The United Kingdom is one of the greatest countries in the world, but not everyone shares in its success. Pockets of inequality and deprivation exist, with differentials both within and between regions. The Government’s central task is to level up the UK by spreading opportunity more equally across the country, addressing inequality and deprivation in those areas that have been left behind.
The Government’s levelling up missions will spread economic opportunity through investment in R&D, skills, connectivity and business finance. The missions and measures on schools and communities announced in the White Paper, including Education Investment Areas and major investment in youth provision, will target areas of highest need, while the missions and actions to make neighbourhoods safer and ensure decent homes, including in the private rented sector, will address key barriers which contribute to and entrench poverty.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people seeking social housing who are (a) single mothers and (b) families who have children with special educational needs.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The proportion of single mothers who acquired a new social housing letting in 2019/2020 was 20.1% of all new lettings. In 2018/19 single mothers made up 19% of all new lettings.
We do not collect information on whether families with children who are seeking social housing have children with special educational needs. The proportion of families who acquired a new social housing letting in 2019/2020 was 10.4% of all new lettings.
This information is published on CORE social housing lettings at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-lettings-in-england-april-2019-to-march-2020
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what metrics the Government plans to use to assess the effect of the levelling up agenda on children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
These metrics can be found here: See Spending Review 2021 Priority Outcomes and Metrics
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an estimate of the total amount of rent arrears owed by British businesses as at October 2021.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
Many businesses have not yet fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic, particularly in vulnerable sectors such as hospitality and retail
Government has committed to ringfencing rent arrears accrued by businesses affected by enforced closures during the pandemic, and introduce a system of binding arbitration to be used as a last resort if landlords and tenants cannot come to a resolution. Full detail will be announced in due course.