Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will (a) remove the Affordable Housing Grant embargo placed on Cornwall Council and (b) take steps to (i) restore and (ii) backdate the grant.

After being served a regulatory notice for health and safety failings, the previous Government prohibited Cornwall Council from accessing new Affordable Homes Programme funding. While I very much welcome the steps that the authority has taken toward addressing the identified breach, it is for the independent Regulator of Social Housing to determine when it might be appropriate to withdraw the notice.

Following the introduction of the new consumer regulation regime on 1 April, the RSH now issues regulatory judgements, which include new consumer gradings, rather than regulatory notices.

In light of these changes, the Government intends to consider its policy with regard to withholding AHP funding following breaches of consumer standards.