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  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to provide employment and social enterprise opportunities for (a) the homeless and (b) those at risk of homelessness in (i) the West Midlands and (ii) Birmingham, Northfield constituency.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The government is committed to preventing and reducing homelessness. We have increased central government funding for homelessness programmes to £139 million over the Spending Review period. We have also maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding for local government, totalling £315 million by 2019/20. One person without a home is one too many, and we are clear that more needs to be done to ensure that support is available for some of the most vulnerable in society.

    We recognise that employment and social enterprise opportunities are key factors to help people avoid homelessness and secure a sustainable place to live and build personal resilience. That is why we have invested £15 million to improve outcomes for young people through the Fair Chance Fund. This funding is turning around the lives of around 1,900 18 to 25 year olds with complex and overlapping needs, by supporting them into accommodation, education, training and employment. Young people are being supported by seven projects across the country including in Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Walsall and Wyre Forest and the majority of projects are funded by social investment. We will build our learning on this to our £10 million Social Impact Bond for people with complex and multiple needs. In addition we have funded a £40 million Platform for Life programme, providing affordable shared accommodation for homeless young people, so that they have a stable platform for work.

    Moreover, we are actively working across government and through our local partners to help vulnerable people find a job and get into training. STRIVE, a joint pilot project with BEIS, DCLG and DWP, is helping homeless people into jobs by improving their basic English, maths and IT skills and is being delivered by Crisis and St Mungo’s. We are continuing to drive cross government action through the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness which is making sure that homelessness is an integral part of every department’s planning and that policies are joined up.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2016 to Question 42908, for what reasons he does not plan to release the Planning Inspector’s report before issuing his decision on those appeals; and if he will make it his policy to publish that report in advance of the decision being issued.

    Gavin Barwell

    As is normal practice, the Inspector’s report on the Cuadrilla Appeals for sites around Preston and Roseacre and Wharles in Lancashire, will be published alongside the decision.

  • Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19679, how much land in East Dorset District Council area is designated as green belt.

    Gavin Barwell

    Figures for the amount of land designated as Green Belt in each local authority area as at 31 March 2016 are included in Annex Table 1 of the department’s Green Belt Statistics 2015/16, published 8 September 2016. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-green-belt-statistics-for-england-2015-to-2016.

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  • Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19683, how much land in Purbeck District Council area is designated as green belt.

    Gavin Barwell

    Figures for the amount of land designated as Green Belt in each local authority area as at 31 March 2016 are included in Annex Table 1 of the department’s Green Belt Statistics 2015/16, published 8 September 2016. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-green-belt-statistics-for-england-2015-to-2016.

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  • Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Maggie Throup – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to increase the powers of local authorities to (a) remove travellers camped illegally on public land and (b) recover site clean-up costs from those illegally settled on public land.

    Gavin Barwell

    Local authorities and the police have a range of strong powers that enable them to take action against unauthorised encampments and developments. Ministers sent a summary of these powers to all council leaders, Police and Crime Commissioners and Police Chief Constables in March 2015:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418139/150326_Dealing_with_illegal_and_unauthorised_encampments_-_final.pdf

    The government is open to suggestions for how enforcement could be strengthened and continues to keep this issue under review.

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  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 3 May 2016 to Question 35113, what powers his Department can exercise if the Social Housing Regulator is failing to protect tenants from serious detriment by registered providers.

    Gavin Barwell

    The Social Housing Regulator may use its enforcement powers if a Registered Provider of Social Housing has failed to meet a regulatory standard. This includes ensuring that thier stock is adequately maintained and there is no serious detriment to their tenants.

    However, if tenants of Registered Providers are not satisfied with the way the Regulator has handled their case, they will have to access the Regulator’s complaint process. This involves complaining directly to the Regulator, the Regulator will reply within 20 working days. If the tenants are unhappy with the way their complaint was handled at the first stage, they can escalate their complaint to the Regulator’s legal service team as an independent review of the original complaint. If they are still unhappy with the response, then they can refer their complaint to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, who will carry out an independent review.

    If following the Regulator’s complaint procedure they are still unhappy, they can ask their MP to take their complaints to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review the handling of their complaint. Full details of how to make a complaint against the Regulator can be found on the Homes and Communities Agency’s website.

  • John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much central government funding has been (a) made available for tenant training in each of the last 10 years and (b) allocated, or he plans to make available, for tenant training in (i) 2016 and (ii) each subsequent year of the current Parliament.

    Gavin Barwell

    We do not hold data on central government funding for tenant training prior to financial year 2009/2010. Since 2010/11 Government has funded the National Communities Resource Centre (NCRC), the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) and Tribal Education. Funding as follows:

    Tribal Education

    2010/11: £256,600

    National Communities Resource Centre

    2010/11: £350,000

    2011/12: £136,492

    2012/13: £267,350

    2013/14: £131,159

    2014/15: £285,100

    2015/16: £90,000

    Tenant Participation Advisory Service

    2011/12: £170,000

    2013/14: £668,700

    2014/15: £518,310

    2015/16: £160,000

    A decision has not yet been made regarding funding for this and future years.

  • Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Alex Chalk – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Chalk on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to grant local authorities greater powers to resolve neighbour disputes arising from the reservation of parking spaces using traffic cones, refuse bins or other items.

    Andrew Jones

    It is an offence under Section 148(c) of the Highways Act 1980 for a person to deposit anything on the highway to interrupt the use of a highway. Local authorities have powers under Section 149 of the Highways Act 1980 to notify the person who deposited the item or items to remove them, or refer the matter to a Magistrates’ Court if he or she fails to comply. The Government believes that the current powers are adequate to deal with such matters.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the Government was involved in the legal agreement drawn up in 1998 to transfer the estates involved in the Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust to Old Ford Housing Association.

    Gavin Barwell

    We do not know whether Government was involved in drafting the legal agreement itself – this could only be determined at disproportionate cost – but the Government was involved in the development of, and preparatory work leading to, the transfer to Old Ford Housing Association.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library a copy of the advice provided to the Housing Minister prior to authorisation of the stock transfer of the Parkside estates to Old Ford Housing Association.

    Gavin Barwell

    We do not know whether Government was involved in drafting the legal agreement itself – this could only be determined at disproportionate cost – but the Government was involved in the development of, and preparatory work leading to, the transfer to Old Ford Housing Association.