Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will prevent local authorities from informing people that are intentionally homeless and cannot be supported.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
This Government is committed to preventing homelessness and in 2021/22 we provided £310 million in funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant to enable local authorities to implement their duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act. The Act is the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, placing duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. These duties apply irrespective of whether a person may be regarded as being ‘intentionally homeless’.
Households with a priority need whose homelessness has not been successfully prevented or relieved, are owed a lesser duty if they have become homeless intentionally than if they were homeless unintentionally. This ensures that resources, including temporary accommodation and access to settled housing, are prioritised effectively and accommodation is there for people who need it most. In such cases, a duty remains on the local authority to secure temporary accommodation, to provide reasonable opportunity for the household to find their own longer-term accommodation. The authority must also provide advice and assistance in any attempts the applicant might make to secure accommodation.
Intentionally homeless applicants are therefore entitled to assistance under the legislation and can be supported.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many businesses have been victims of criminal cyber attacks in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
It is not possible to provide the number of businesses who have been victims of criminal cyber attacks as the Home Office does not collate this information.
The Cyber Security Breaches Survey estimates the % of businesses each year that have reported a cyber security breach or attack. This surveys approximately 1,000 businesses per year.
The Cyber Security Breaches Survey includes businesses with 1 or more employees. Therefore these figures do not include sole traders. These estimates also exclude SIC A/ Agriculture as this sector is excluded from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce future plans for primary PE and sport premium funding.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and sport premium for the 2022-23 academic year and beyond and will confirm the position as early as possible in the new year.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the rate is of VAT on air source heat pumps.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The UK currently applies a reduced rate of 5 per cent to the installation of air source heat pumps in residential accommodation. Further information can be found in the public notice VAT 708/6 on energy-saving materials and heating equipment: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-energy-saving-materials-and-heating-equipment-notice-7086
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to equalise the zero rate of VAT on new build construction with remediation costs faced by leaseholders in unsafe buildings.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government currently maintains a zero rate of VAT on the construction of new build residential homes.
Remediation work may also qualify for a zero rate as ‘snagging’. This applies when the remediation work forms part of the original construction and the person requesting the remediation work is either the owner, developer, or contractor during the original construction works. Otherwise, remediation work falls under repair and maintenance and attracts the standard rate of VAT.
Going further would come at a cost to the Exchequer. Given this, the Government has no current plans to change the VAT treatment of construction.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his plans are for clinical chairs of the Clinical Commissioning Groups once those Groups are amalgamated into Integrated Care Systems.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England and NHS Improvement have published a human resources framework, co-developed with stakeholders, which sets out principles and guidance to support local organisations implement a safe and effective transition of staff from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to integrated care boards (ICBs). Whilst staff below board level in CCGs are protected by an ‘employment commitment', this does not apply to senior ‘board level’ roles which includes those in the current CCG governing bodies. The framework recognises the need to retain clinical leadership talent wherever possible as this will be central to ICB decision making and has set out a talent approach.
A member nominated by primary medical care providers will have a mandatory seat on every ICB and when designing and developing the new arrangements, NHS England has been clear that they should involve strong clinical leadership at every level.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend right to buy to housing association tenants after the completion of the 2017 pilot scheme.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to the Right to Buy and to spreading the dream of home ownership to even more people. The Midlands pilot of the Voluntary Right to Buy scheme completed this year and has been fully evaluated. The Government is looking at the findings, which will be used to inform future policy. As set out in the 2019 manifesto, the Government will evaluate new pilot areas and we will be announcing more details on that.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his timescale is for amendments to section 121 of the Law of Property Act 1925.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government has previously committed to ensure that where a freeholder pays a rentcharge, the rentcharge owner is not able to take possession or grant a lease on the property where the rentcharge remains unpaid for a short period of time. This will be pursued when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the business rates holiday in response to the covid-19 outbreak for indoor leisure to March 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Budget announced a three-month extension to the business rates holiday for eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that was provided at Budget 2020. This means over 350,000 properties will pay no business rates for three months.
From 1 July 2021, 66% relief will be available subject to a cash cap that depends on whether businesses have been required to close or were able to open. This additional relief takes the total value of support in 2021-22 to £6 billion and means the vast majority of businesses will on average receive 75% relief across the year.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to extend the 5 per cent VAT rate in response to the covid-19 outbreak for indoor leisure to March 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The temporary reduced rate of VAT (5 per cent) was introduced on 15 July 2020 to support the cash flow and viability of about 150,000 businesses and protect over 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. Admission to leisure centres is not included within the reduced rate, but where a leisure centre operates activity that falls within the reduced rate, e.g. an on-site café, that service will qualify.
As announced at Budget 2021, the Government has extended the temporary reduced rate of VAT for hospitality and tourism and it will now end on 30 September 2021. In addition, to help businesses manage the transition back to the standard rate, a 12.5 per cent rate will then apply for a further six months, until 31 March 2022.
This relief already comes at a £7 billion cost to the Exchequer, and there are no plans to extend the scope of the reduced rate. While some businesses in some sectors are disappointed, a boundary for eligibility had to be drawn.
The Government has made available a comprehensive wider package of support which includes extensions to the furlough scheme; extensions to the COVID-19 loan schemes; grant support; a business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure business properties; mortgage holidays; enhanced Time to Pay for taxes; and VAT deferrals.