Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding each local authority in England has (a) allocated to planning services and (b) raised in planning fees and charges in 2018-19.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
My Department collects data from local authorities on the total amount of expenditure for development control and building control combined. Expenditure for 2018-19 was reported as approximately £828 million, with funding raised by sales, fees and charges in 2018-19 as approximately £528 million. These figures are set out in the MHCLG local government revenue outturn table RO5 which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2018-to-2019-individual-local-authority-data-outturn
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many fee-paying car parks in each local authority in England are owned by (a) local authorities and (b) private companies.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Department does not collect this information. However, as part of our work to implement the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 and support local authority provision of off-street parking, we are working closely with both local government and private parking stakeholders to gather data and information to inform policy-making in this area.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
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 is taking to encourage local authorities to provide electric charging points in local authority owned car parks.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Parking is the responsibility of local authorities and it is for them to determine what is best for their own area. However, the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) offers a comprehensive package of support. This includes grants for supporting consumers to install charging infrastructure at home and funding for local authorities to support those households without off-street parking.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for the coming into force of the provisions of the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On 3 November 2019 we announced we were contracting with the British Standards Institution (BSI) to develop the Code of Practice as a British Standard. Work with BSI commenced in December 2019, and they are now convening a group of key stakeholders, representing consumers and the industry, to write the Code. We have committed to developing the Parking Code of Practice this year. A public consultation will take place within six months, to give the parking industry, the public and other interested parties the opportunity to have a say. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a new and independent regulatory body to oversee social housing tenancies.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Nothing is more important than ensuring people are safe in their homes. Residents’ voices need to be heard to ensure proper standards are maintained and that where things are going wrong they are picked up and addressed. We want to ensure that there is a coherent and consistent approach to regulation to deliver these objectives, and achieve the best deal for tenants and landlords. Our review of social housing regulation is exploring the most appropriate way of doing so, and we will publish the results of that review in due course.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people who were homeless in 2018 who had previously served in the armed forces.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government collects quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people who present as homeless to English local authorities. Until April 2018, veterans formed part of a wider vulnerable group category that included care leavers, ex-offenders and those who have fled their home because of violence or the threat of violence (other than domestic violence). As a result we are not able to identify the number of veterans presenting as homeless from this period.
In April 2018 the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government introduced a new case-level data collection called H-CLIC (Homelessness Case Level Information Collection). This gives local authorities and Government more information regarding homelessness and those presenting as homeless, including people who self-declared as having served in the armed forces as a separate category
In England from April to June 2018, of the 58,660 households to who, at the point of initial decision, were owed a homelessness duty by the local authority, 0.7 per cent (430) of main applicants stated they had served in the armed forces.
The latest local authority level statistics, and quarterly statistics since 2009, can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness.
This Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy which sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) people and (b) animals injured in incidents involving fireworks during November in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold data for people or animals injured in incidents involving fireworks.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to address concerns raised by small businesses on the effect of the staircase tax.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government is aware of the change in the Valuation Office Agency’s approach to assessing units within buildings in multiple occupation, following the Supreme Court judgement in the Mazars v Woolway case. The Government is considering the implications of this judgement.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the staircase tax on small businesses.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government is aware of the change in the Valuation Office Agency’s approach to assessing units within buildings in multiple occupation, following the Supreme Court judgement in the Mazars v Woolway case. The Government is considering the implications of this judgement.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on the funding of supported housing.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Protecting the vulnerable is one of this Government’s key commitments. Supported housing helps a wide range of vulnerable people and is vital to help underpin this obligation. On Tuesday 31 October, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth and I issued respective written statements to both Houses, setting out the arrangements for the future funding of supported housing (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-10-31/HCWS209/).