Oral Answers to Questions

Vicky Ford Excerpts

Monday 4th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady will know that a consultation on this has just closed, and we will be responding to it shortly. I have said before, and I am happy to repeat, that I see no reason whatever for new houses to be sold on leasehold.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

20. What progress his Department is making on tackling homelessness.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Marcus Jones)]

We are spending more than £1 billion up to 2020 on the implementation of the most ambitious legislative reform in decades—the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017—and establishing a homelessness and rough sleeping implementation taskforce.

[Vicky Ford]

I thank the Government for their work on implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act. Will the Minister give us an update on what money and resources are being made available to local councils so that they can help us to achieve this ambition?

[Mr Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her very good question. We are providing £72 million to enable local authorities to deal with the new burdens. In advance of the implementation next April, the first tranche of actual funding will go out to councils tomorrow. We will also review the new burdens funding within two years of the implementation of the Act.