Tag: Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Spending Review announcements on funding for affordable housing and the forecast £1 billion remaining in the 2015–18 Affordable Homes Programme will mean the continuation of availability of grant to complete pipeline projects by Community Land Trusts and community-led housing providers, including for rental homes.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government will honour all existing funding commitments to all schemes which have been allocated funding through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme. This will include any schemes led by Community Land Trusts and community-led housing providers

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people are in need of affordable homes and whether those homes are for rent or to buy.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Department does not publish forecasts of affordable housing need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2016-07-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of any situations where trustees of community land trusts who are also members of parish councils have been prevented from carrying out their duties due to their interests being inaccurately declared as personal and prejudicial, and if so, what advice they plan to provide to all involved to resolve such situations.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are non-profit local organisations set up and run by local people to develop and manage homes and other community assets. They will be regulated according to the specific legal form they have decided is appropriate for their objectives. Consequently, the Department does not retain any central records on CLTs or their trustees.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that commercial short-term lettings of accommodation, such as those offered by the AirBnB website, are safe and comply with fire regulations.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to houses or flats where the premises are not occupied as a private dwelling, including properties offering short term accommodation to paying guests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the cost of housing benefit to the public purse of requiring local authorities to sell their housing stock.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Everyone needs to live within their means. People on benefits should have to make the same decisions and choices about where they can afford to live as people who are not on benefits, and should not expect to be housed in properties that most working households are unable to afford.

The Housing and Planning Bill will require local authorities to make a payment to Government based on the estimated value of their high value housing that is expected to become vacant.

This policy is about councils making best use of their housing stock – selling vacant high value housing to fund the building of new homes which reflect housing need and increase overall housing supply, and to increase home ownership, as set out in the Government’s manifesto.

At the heart of this legislation is the building of more homes. A portion of receipts generated from sales of vacant high value local authority housing will be used to build homes that better meet housing need and increase overall housing supply. In addition to this, housing associations will retain the sales receipt from each home sold through Right to Buy to enable them to re-invest in the delivery of new homes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Leasehold Advisory Service about future demands on its services for free legal advice from leaseholders, landlords, professional advisers, managers and others as a result of expanding the right-to-buy scheme to Housing Association tenants.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

We are working collaboratively with the sector in implementing the Right to Buy extension; Ministers and senior officials continue to engage with partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-10-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) whether they consider the action of Network Rail in closing the level crossing in the East Sussex village of Plumpton Green acceptable, and (2) whether they will call on Network Rail to re-open the affected road running through the village as a matter of urgency; and what arrangements will be made for emergency vehicles, access for disabled people and parents trying to get their children to local schools.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Whilst Network Rail has an otherwise excellent record of completing works at the 6,200 level crossings which it manages with minimal disruption, it is highly regrettable that there appears to have been a lapse in project management in this particular case.

The impact which the continued closure of the crossing is having on the lives of local residents and businesses is not acceptable. Ministers have raised this matter with Network Rail at the highest level to request that the company urgently re-doubles its efforts in partnership with local stakeholders to find a solution and ensure that the crossing can re-open as quickly as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that establishments and organisations that are sited close to the boundaries of two Local Enterprise Partnership areas do not lose out on funding because their clientele and services users come from two different Partnership areas.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Government has given Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) the flexibility they need to meet the needs of local businesses and maximise growth. LEPs can and do work together across boundaries when needed

Ultimately, LEPs are accountable to their local communities and businesses should consult their LEP if they feel their interests are not being met

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many homes have been built on flood plains in each of the last five years; and how many homes have been granted planning permission for building on flood plains.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

This Government takes flood prevention extremely seriously and we are investing £2.3 billion in flood defences over the next six years, as well as protecting flood maintenance spending in real terms over this Parliament.

We have put in place strong safeguards to stop inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding, and are delivering the homes this country needs by taking forward plans to build homes on suitable brownfield land.

The Environment Agency provides advice on whether or not to grant permission, with latest figures showing 99% of proposed new homes had planning outcomes in line with their advice, but final decisions rest with local authorities.

The Department does not collect figures for the numbers of homes for which planning permission for building on a flood plain has been granted.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have conducted a full assessment of the impact of the proposed one per cent cut in rent for social housing tenants on the eight Community Land Trusts (CLTs) that are Registered Providers and whether they will take steps to ensure exemptions for CLTs.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government is committed to reducing welfare spending and is confident that registered providers will be able to adapt and manage these changes. The Welfare Reform and Work Bill provides for registered providers to apply for an exemption from the rent reductions if their financial viability is jeopardised. However, we do not expect providers to budget on the basis that an exemption will be automatically granted, as they should be making all possible efforts to manage the reductions.

The Government has made an assessment of the impact of the rent reduction measures (attached). This is at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006F.pdf.