Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of emergency accommodation for people with nowhere safe to stay in the next 12 months.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Government has taken significant steps, backed by substantial funding to bring forward support and accommodation for rough sleepers. During the pandemic, we have worked closely with local authorities and the sector to offer vulnerable people safe accommodation and support. That work is ongoing and in September we had successfully supported over 29,000 people, with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 provided with settled accommodation or move on support. This work was supported by the £4.8 billion that Government has given to local authorities to respond to the challenges of COVID-19, which includes their work on rough sleeping.
Additionally, we launched the £266 million Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP). This makes available the financial resources needed to support local authorities and their partners to prevent these people from returning to the streets. The NSAP?is?made up of two?parts, the first part which funds immediate support to ensure people and the rest to bring forward long-term accommodation and move-on support.
On 17 September we announced local authority allocations for the short-term funding aspect of the Next Steps Accommodation Programme. £91.5 million was allocated to 274 councils in England to help vulnerable people housed during the pandemic.
Applications are now being considered for the rest of the fund which is intended to provide over 3,300 additional supported homes this year for those sleeping rough or currently housed in emergency accommodation. The bidding has now closed and details on successful bids will be announced in due course. This is part of broader support to provide 6,000 such homes over four years.
Finally, on 13 October, the Government announced additional support for rough sleepers this winter, giving local areas the tools they need to protect people from life-threatening cold weather and the risks posed by COVID-19.
This additional support builds on the existing package of support and funding, and includes: a new £10 million Cold Weather Fund for local areas to bring forward self-contained and COVID-secure accommodation; a new £2 million Transformation Fund for the faith, communities and voluntary sector to move away from their traditional communal models; and comprehensive guidance to the sector, produced with Public Health England and Homeless Link, to help them open shelters more safely, as a last resort and where not doing so would endanger lives.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What plans his Department has to prevent tenants who have fallen into arrears as a result of financial hardship caused by the covid-19 outbreak being evicted from privately rented properties.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government has offered unprecedented support to help prevent people getting into financial hardship or rent arrears.
We legislated to delay when landlords can evict tenants and the Master of the Rolls, with the support of the Government, paused eviction proceedings for five months, until 23 August. These measures are helping to ensure no-one loses their home this summer as a result of coronavirus.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 publishing a draft code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019; and what plans he has for (a) consultation on that draft code and (b) implementation of a final code.
Answered by Simon Clarke
We are currently working to implement the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019. The British Standards Institution (BSI) have convened a stakeholder group to write the Code, comprising representatives from the parking industry, consumer groups, standards bodies and the retail sector.
Progress has been made in drafting the Code. It will be subject to a public consultation in the coming months, providing an opportunity for the parking industry, the public and other interested parties the opportunity give feedback. The precise dates of the consultation and the implementation of a final code will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
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 support local authorities to provide live-streaming of funerary services during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
It is only right that families have a final opportunity to pay their last respects to those they love at this incredibly difficult time. On 17 April I sent a letter to local authorities outlining how they can develop safe and sensitive ways for funerals to take place, including live streaming and deferred memorial services. On 18 April, £1.6 billion of funding was also made available to support local authorities with the costs of responding to COVID-19, including costs associated with death management. This funding will support councils to continue to deliver innovative solutions which make funerals accessible to the bereaved, where they cannot physically attend.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will allocate funding to the provision of empty hotel rooms to house people fleeing domestic abuse during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
On 5 June my Department announced the allocation of £8.15 million funding to 147 refuge charities through 103 successful bids as part of the £10 million MHCLG Domestic Abuse Emergency Support Fund. This funding will re-open bedspaces which are currently closed due to COVID-19, as well as creating 1210 more bedspaces to support more victims of domestic abuse. The remaining £1.85 million of the Fund has been reopened for applications. This will enable refuge charities to continue to respond during the crisis.
My Department have also put in place a system to enable local authorities who need additional accommodation to meet demand during the pandemic to book rooms for domestic abuse victims through Crown Commercial Services.
An additional £3.2 billion has been provided to support councils in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, including supporting vulnerable people.