Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a disabled children’s innovation fund to help evaluate and provide early-help services to improve outcomes for disabled children and families in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We believe it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services, including early help, are required locally.
Respite care services for disabled children are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs, and it is right that this individual focus continues. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we ensured that respite care services for disabled children and their families were allowed to continue to operate. This applied to services which care for children in and away from home. Where parents have a disabled child under the age of 5, they were also able to establish a support bubble with another household to provide respite care.
To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. We will continue to work with other government departments, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.
In addition to statutory services, we are providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in financial year 2021-22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing respite care for carers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with local authorities, in collaboration with Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure, where possible, the safe resumption of respite services. We also provided £1.49 billion via the Infection Control Fund, which has been used to support the safe reopening of day and respite services. In addition, we have allocated over £2 billion this year to the Better Care Fund which local authorities can access to fund social care services in their areas including respite services.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department is using to assess possible relocations under the Places for Growth programme.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
At Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced that the Government’s new economic campus will be located in Darlington. There will be at least 750 roles based there, across teams from HM Treasury, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Office for National Statistics. The Places for Growth relocation strategy prioritises skills and local talent over cost reductions, providing better value for money for the taxpayer. This is just one part of the Government’s Places for Growth programme which will relocate Civil Servants and public bodies, functions and departmental activities outside of London and the South East.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to expand the 84-night temporary accommodation scheme for prison leavers to the seven probation regions not included in the funding.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As part of our commitment to eliminate rough sleeping, we are working across Government, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Welsh Government and other Government Departments, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation.
On 28 July 2021, the Government announced allocations for the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme, with £13 million allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities to support prison leavers to access private rented sector accommodation. Local authority-led schemes vary and include a mixture of funding deposits, insurance or landlord incentives to help people into their own home, as well as landlord liaison and ongoing tenancy support. The scheme has been developed, together with the Community Accommodation Service, to provide a pathway for prison leavers from prison into their own private rented sector accommodation. No public targets have been set, but local authorities will be providing monitoring information to the MHCLG alongside wider monitoring information on homelessness and rough sleeping.
The Community Accommodation Service is providing transitional housing for up to 84 nights for offenders under probation supervision in five Probation Service regions who are at risk of homelessness on release from prison. We are monitoring the impact of the scheme closely to inform decisions in relation to its development.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how funding provided to local authorities through the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme will be used to support prison leavers into private rented sector accommodation.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As part of our commitment to eliminate rough sleeping, we are working across Government, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Welsh Government and other Government Departments, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation.
On 28 July 2021, the Government announced allocations for the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme, with £13 million allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities to support prison leavers to access private rented sector accommodation. Local authority-led schemes vary and include a mixture of funding deposits, insurance or landlord incentives to help people into their own home, as well as landlord liaison and ongoing tenancy support. The scheme has been developed, together with the Community Accommodation Service, to provide a pathway for prison leavers from prison into their own private rented sector accommodation. No public targets have been set, but local authorities will be providing monitoring information to the MHCLG alongside wider monitoring information on homelessness and rough sleeping.
The Community Accommodation Service is providing transitional housing for up to 84 nights for offenders under probation supervision in five Probation Service regions who are at risk of homelessness on release from prison. We are monitoring the impact of the scheme closely to inform decisions in relation to its development.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison leavers in each region will be helped into private rented sector accommodation through the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme; and how the outcomes of the scheme will be measured.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As part of our commitment to eliminate rough sleeping, we are working across Government, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Welsh Government and other Government Departments, to address the barriers offenders face in securing suitable accommodation.
On 28 July 2021, the Government announced allocations for the Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme, with £13 million allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities to support prison leavers to access private rented sector accommodation. Local authority-led schemes vary and include a mixture of funding deposits, insurance or landlord incentives to help people into their own home, as well as landlord liaison and ongoing tenancy support. The scheme has been developed, together with the Community Accommodation Service, to provide a pathway for prison leavers from prison into their own private rented sector accommodation. No public targets have been set, but local authorities will be providing monitoring information to the MHCLG alongside wider monitoring information on homelessness and rough sleeping.
The Community Accommodation Service is providing transitional housing for up to 84 nights for offenders under probation supervision in five Probation Service regions who are at risk of homelessness on release from prison. We are monitoring the impact of the scheme closely to inform decisions in relation to its development.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
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 help ensure local authorities make sufficient land available for burials to take place locally.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions on local burial space are for local authorities as they are best placed to understand what is required for their local area. Government would not consider intervening at scale unless evidence suggested burial space became a national issue. In the event of a specific request for intervention from a local authority the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government would work with the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for burial law, to support the local authority as appropriate.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) properties classified as heritage assets by his Department, (b) most recent estimate of the value of those properties and (c) annual income derived from those properties.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates/
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the June 2020 finding of Carers UK that 4.5 million people have taken on caring responsibilities following the outbreak of covid-19, what plans his Department has to provide (a) funding, (b) support and (c) advice services to those people.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Act 2014 introduced new rights for carers including an assessment of and support for their needs where eligible by their local authority. We have provided over £11.6 million to a number of charities to support carers and guidance tailored their needs.
We are working with local authorities, in collaboration with Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure, where possible, the safe resumption of day services and other forms of respite care. The Department has provided £1.35 billion to adult social care services through the Infection Control Fund, which has been used to support the reopening of day and respite services. In addition, we have provided over £2 billion this year to the Better Care Fund which local authorities can access to fund social care services in their areas, including respite services.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to (a) recognise the importance of the role of unpaid carers and (b) provide adequate resources to local authorities to support unpaid family carers, including with information, advice and access to respite breaks.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Act 2014 introduced new rights for carers including an assessment of and support for their needs where eligible by their local authority. We have provided over £11.6 million to a number of charities to support carers and guidance tailored their needs.
We are working with local authorities, in collaboration with Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure, where possible, the safe resumption of day services and other forms of respite care. The Department has provided £1.35 billion to adult social care services through the Infection Control Fund, which has been used to support the reopening of day and respite services. In addition, we have provided over £2 billion this year to the Better Care Fund which local authorities can access to fund social care services in their areas, including respite services.