Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley 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 reassess the potential merits of making sustainable drainage systems compulsory in new housing developments at risk from flooding.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided and directed away from areas at highest risk. If new homes are necessary in a flood risk area, and no suitable sites at lower risk are available, the local authority should ensure that the development will be safe and will not increase flood risk elsewhere, and include sustainable drainage systems where appropriate.
Additionally, developers must comply with the Building Regulations which give priority to sustainable drainage systems in their hierarchy of arrangements for dealing with rainwater draining from roofs and paving giving access to the building.
We are reviewing our policy for building in areas at flood risk. This will seek to ensure that communities across the country know that future development will be safe from floods. We will assess whether current protections in the National Planning Policy Framework are enough and consider options for further reform.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 October 2020 to Question 96981, to which local authorities his Department has provided additional financial support under the Community Recovery Grant.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Community Recovery Grant support was made available to the following local authorities:
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 October 2020 to Question 96982, whether his Department has rejected any claims to the Bellwin scheme.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
No Bellwin claims submitted in the last 12 months have been rejected in full. Before payment is made claims are assessed against the scheme terms.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 October 2020 to Question 96982, with how many local authorities his Department is working to finalise their application under the Bellwin scheme.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
No Bellwin claims submitted in the last 12 months have been rejected in full. Before payment is made claims are assessed against the scheme terms.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated to local authorities in England to support the work of fire and rescue services in each year since 2010.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The funding that MHCLG allocates to local authorities in England is confirmed each year as part of the annual Local Government Finance Settlement. The Department publishes this data and the funding for both stand-alone Fire and Rescue Authorities and local authorities with fire and rescue responsibilities can be found online at the links below. The Home Office is the responsible department for fire services and provides in addition a number of specific grants to Fire and Rescue Authorities.
These publications show funding allocations but of course this Government believes that local authorities are best placed to know where the spending pressures lie in their local area. This funding is not ringfenced specifically for fire and rescue services, and local authorities may choose to spend the funding as they see fit. Each local authority is accountable to its local electorate for its spending.
This year’s settlement provided the largest year on year increase in Core Spending Power for local authorities in almost a decade: £2.9 billion or an average 4.4 per cent real terms increase.
* The methodology for presenting local authority funding changed in 2015 and to go further back to 2010 would show an inconsistent series.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much additional Government funding has been allocated to local authorities to manage the effects of flooding since November 2019.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Following the activation of the Flood Recovery Framework in November 2019 and February 2020, MHCLG has provided additional financial support to a number of local authorities under the Community Recovery Grant to assist those communities impacted to recover. Further support will be paid out via council tax discounts and business rates relief.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many claims were (a) made and (b) approved under the Bellwin scheme in respect to flooding incidents in England in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department has approved 7 claims in the last 12 months and is working with a number of other local authorities to finalise their applications under the Bellwin scheme.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for local authorities to provide emergency accommodation for people with nowhere safe to stay in the next twelve months.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government is committed to supporting those who are most vulnerable both during this pandemic and beyond. As the pandemic progressed, we provided councils across England with £3.2 billion to manage the impacts of Covid-19,?including supporting homeless?people.
In addition, we are providing £606 million in 20/21 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £238 million increase in funding from the previous year.
On 24 May, the?Secretary of State?announced?plans for thousands of long-term, safe homes?to support many of the?vulnerable rough sleepers who have been supported during the Covid-19 pandemic. This?unprecedented?commitment?– the biggest of its kind since the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative?began?– will be backed by?£160?million?in 20/21 to inject 3,300 new units of accommodation over the next 12 months?, part of?6,000 in total.
The plans are being coordinated by?the Rough Sleeping Taskforce, led by Dame Louise Casey.?This work will?bring together local councils, charities, public sector partners and businesses, leading the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during the pandemic.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what formula the Government used to determine the additional funding for local authorities during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government recognises the impacts that Covid-19 is having on the sector’s finances and capacity. That is why, on 18 April, we announced a further £1.6 billion to support councils in delivering essential front line services. This funding recognises the additional costs and pressures which councils are facing as they respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
This package of support takes the total given to councils to help their communities through this crisis to over £3.2 billion, an unprecedented level of additional financial?support in recent times. It means councils will be able to continue to support the most vulnerable people during the pandemic, deal with immediate pressures and provide additional support across a range of vital services.
We recognise that this continues to be an uncertain picture and we are working closely with local government and the LGA to ensure we have a collective understanding of the costs they are facing. Allocations to individual local authorities will follow as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment the Government has made of the effect of covid-19 on the adequacy of local authority finances.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government announced a further £1.6 billion to support councils in delivering essential front line services, on 18 April. This funding recognises the additional costs and pressures which councils are facing as they respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
This package of support takes the total given to councils to help their communities through this crisis to over £3.2 billion, an unprecedented level of additional financial?support in recent times. It means councils will be able to continue to support the most vulnerable people during the pandemic, deal with immediate pressures and provide additional support across a range of vital services.