Tag: John Healey

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26142, if he will publish the names of the successful bidders to become trusted partner pilots for the purposes of universal credit alternative payment arrangements.

Damian Hinds

The landlords selected give a representative sample and consist of stock owning Local Authorities, Arm’s length managed organisations (ALMOs) and Housing Associations.

The six Housing Associations below form the original proof of concept landlords who have continued to pilot Trusted Partner since it began in March 2015.

• Magenta Living
• First Choice Homes Oldham
• Places for People
• Community Gateway
• Your Housing Group
• New Charter

The individual landlords below form the second phase of the Trusted Partner Pilot:

• A2Dominion Group
• Aster Group
• Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Councils
• Catalyst Housing Ltd
• Eildon Housing Association
• Highland Council
• Home Group Ltd
• Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing
• London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
• NPT Homes
• Riverside
• Sanctuary Housing Association Ltd
• Shoreline Housing
• Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing
• Southampton City Council
• Together Housing Group
• Wheatley Housing Group
• Your Homes Newcastle
• Cardiff consortium

This is a group of social landlords piloting a collaborative working approach where they are building on an existing partnership working approach towards housing in Cardiff. The members of the group are:

• Cardiff Council
• Wales & West Housing Association
• United Welsh Housing Association
• Linc Cymru
• Cardiff Community Housing Association
• Hafod Housing Association
• Taff Housing Association
• Cadwyn Housing Association

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the total area of the direct commissioning site at Northstowe has planning permission for housing development.

Brandon Lewis

The planning process is ongoing for these sites. This will be completed in due course working closely with the local communities and local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the size is of the area of land available for the direct commissioning site for housing at Connaught Barracks.

Brandon Lewis

The planning process is ongoing for these sites. This will be completed in due course working closely with the local communities and local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the new town of Northstowe will be developed to schedule.

Brandon Lewis

We are committed to the first housing starts on the land owned by the Homes and Communities Agency at Northstowe by the end of 2018, following the necessary infrastructure and other preparatory works. We envisage around 400 homes being started by March 2020 and the cumulative total rising to around 3,000 by March 2025. The detail of the tenure mix will be confirmed following the conclusion of negotiations with the local authority but there will be a very strong focus on the delivery of starter homes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23605, whether he plans to publish the thresholds for council homes to be taken into account when calculating the levy on councils contained in Part 4 of the Housing and Planning Bill before the relevant part of that Bill is debated at Committee Stage in the House of Lords.

Brandon Lewis

The high value threshold will be informed by the data that local authorities have supplied regarding their council housing. This data is currently being validated. Further details will be available shortly.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons the publication of the Bonfield Review, due to be published in March 2016, has been delayed; and when he expects that review to be made available.

Margot James

The report of the Independent Review of Consumer Advice, Protection, Standards and Enforcement for UK home energy efficiency and renewable energy measures is in the course of completion and will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2016, The Government will directly build affordable homes, for what reasons the Homes and Communities Agency was ultimately unable to reach a commercially acceptable agreement for the development in Lower Grayling Well.

Brandon Lewis

The holding costs for the site relate to the entirety of the site and are consistent with the legal and health and safety obligations of the Homes and Communities Agency as land owner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many leases of what tenure are planned for the new homes to be built on the direct commissioning sites at (a) Northstowe, (b) Old Oak Common, (c) Daedelus Waterfront, (d) Connaught Barracks and (e) Lower Grayling Well.

Brandon Lewis

The holding costs for the site relate to the entirety of the site and are consistent with the legal and health and safety obligations of the Homes and Communities Agency as land owner.