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  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that starter homes are affordable; and how his Department determines its definition of affordability of such homes.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Government expects starter homes to be entry level properties; where the value reflects the average first time buyer price in an area. We are introducing maximum price caps after the discount has been applied to ensure that they are in reach of the typical first time buyer; and are working with the sector to secure a transparent valuation process to ensure starter homes are valued fairly in each area with a genuine discount.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding formula and criteria were used by his Department to assess which local authorities would receive a transitional funding grant.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    An explanatory note on the method of allocation of the Transition Grant has been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/510870/Explanatory_note_on_the_allocation_of_the_Transition_Grant.pdf

    Copies have been made available in the Library of both Houses.

    “

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of transitional funding grants on adult social care provision in areas that (a) receive additional funding and (b) have not been allocated a transitional funding grant.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The 2015 Spending Review considered a wide range of factors that could impact on the costs local authorities face in delivering local services. It recognised the important priority and growing costs of adult social care and offered a package of measures worth up to £3.5 billion a year by 2019-20 to address these pressures. This includes a dedicated social care precept of up to 2% a year and £1.5 billion additional funding by 2019/20 through the improved Better Care Fund.

    The 2016/17 Local Government Finance Settlement included a new approach to allocating funding that ensures councils delivering the same set of services receive the same percentage change in settlement core funding for those services. The Transition Grant supports those local authorities that did not benefit from the new approach, helping them transition to a world where local resources instead of central government grant fund local services. An explanatory note on the method of allocation of the Transition Grant has been published and copies have been made available in the Library of both Houses.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy that provisions to end lifetime tenancies in the Housing and Planning Bill will maintain the secure tenancies of tenants who choose to move to more suitable accommodation because of a disability.

    Brandon Lewis

    Where existing lifetime tenants transfer to another social home, local authorities will retain a discretion to offer the tenant a further lifetime tenancy. We will set out the circumstances in regulations, and will give serious consideration to whether these should include disabled tenants who need to move to more suitable accommodation.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been purchased in (a) England, (b) the East Midlands and (c) Ashfield constituency through the Help to Buy Scheme in each year since that scheme was introduced.

    Brandon Lewis

    Since the launch of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan, Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Help to Buy: NewBuy schemes, the total number of homes sold under all schemes total 138,997 in England, of which 15,684 are in the East Midlands.

    Figures for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan and Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee show 494 homes sold in the Ashfield constituency. Figures for the total number of homes sold under the Help to Buy: NewBuy schemes are not published at this level.

  • Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what final estimate of damage in the Yorkshire and Humber region caused by recent flooding his Department has provided to the EU Commission.

    James Wharton

    The UK Government submitted an initial application to the European Union Solidarity Fund on Friday 26 February which included a provisional estimate of the costs of direct damage incurred by storms Desmond and Eva. We are in the process of refining our cost estimations and figures, and will update Parliament once the application is finalised.

  • Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what consultation took place with patient representative groups and charities representing older people on the changes to attendance allowance proposed in the provisional local government finance settlement 2016-17.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    In December, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced that the Government will be consulting on giving councils in England “more responsibility to support older people with care needs – including people who, under the current system, would be supported through Attendance Allowance”. We want to explore if there is a better way to provide support for older people with care needs through local integration and we intend to launch a consultation on this in due course. Any change would not affect those already receiving Attendance Allowance. The consultation will be an open process that will give everybody a voice in determining the nature of any reform and will inform the decision about whether and how to proceed with any reform.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU member states who are living in social housing in the UK.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne-Marie Trevelyan on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Housing Survey, how many household reference people (HRP) of each nationality held housing of each tenure type in each of the last five years; and what proportion each nationality represents of the overall number of HRPs for each tenure type in each such year.

    Brandon Lewis

    The department collects details on the nationality of all household reference persons in the English Housing Survey. However, the sample size of the English Housing Survey does not permit us to report detailed nationality statistics.

  • 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 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what average time the Housing Ombudsman has taken to complete a case in each year since 2009-10.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Housing Ombudsman is an independent body whose objective it is to resolve disputes involving tenants and leaseholders of social landlords and their voluntary members. The average times taken to complete a case, which are within the Housing Ombudsman’s formal remit are provided below.

    2009-10: 23 weeks

    2010-11: 15 weeks

    2011-12: 17 weeks

    2012-13: 23 weeks

    2013-14: Not available

    2014-15: Not available

    2015-16: 41 weeks

    The levels of complaints and enquiries have increased year on year since 2006 and there was a 64% increase between 2012-13 and 2014-15, which is partly due to an extension of The Housing Ombudsman’s remit to cover local housing authorities.

    At a DCLG Select Committee hearing, in January 2016, the new Housing Ombudsman made a commitment to reduce the backlog of older cases within their formal remit dating back from previous years. Very substantial progress has been made and by 31 March there were only 9 cases outstanding over 12 months old.