The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received from bodies and organisations in support of fixed-term local authority tenancies.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
I refer the noble Lord to my answer to him to question HL5779.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to give guidance to the operator of Southern Rail services on ensuring passenger safety when short formation services are in use.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Each operator is responsible for the safety of their staff, passengers and services. The Office of Rail and Road’s duty is to ensure that those responsible for keeping Britain’s railways safe for passengers and providing a safe place for staff to work do so.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what impact they expect fixed-term tenancies to have on (1) local authorities’ ability to fulfil their housing obligations for homeless families, and (2) levels of homelessness.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Homeless households and those owed the main homelessness duty will continue to be prioritised for social housing by means of the statutory ‘reasonable preference’ categories.
The requirement for local authorities to offer fixed-term tenancies in future is designed to ensure that landlords get the best use out of their social housing by focusing it on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. As it should increase the number of available social lettings over time, it should mean that more homeless households are able to access the social rented sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current average length of a local authority secure tenancy.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Information is not held centrally on the length of life time local authority tenancies. The English Housing Survey showed that in 2013/14 the average time that local authority tenants had lived in their current home was just over 12 and a half years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of how many fixed-term local authority tenancies will be granted annually.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The provisions in the Housing and Planning Bill will ensure that in future all local authority tenancies granted to new tenants will be on a fixed-term basis. Local authorities will have a limited discretion to offer further lifetime tenancies to existing tenants who seek to transfer to another social home.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated reduction in the number of local authority right-to-buy applications annually as a result of the introduction of fixed-term tenancies.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Right to Buy will continue to apply to new fixed-term tenancies as it already does to flexible tenancies. Tenants will still be able to fulfil their aspirations of owning their own home.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the annual change in local authority rental income as a result of the introduction of fixed-term tenancies.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
We do not expect the introduction of fixed-term tenancies will have a material impact on local authority rental income.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on community cohesion of the introduction of fixed-term local authority tenancies.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Continuing to provide lifetime tenancies to households that may only experience temporary need compounds the situation that sees 1.2 million households on social housing waiting lists, and 236,000 social tenants forced to live in overcrowded conditions due to lack of suitably sized properties, while 380,000 households occupy social housing with two or more spare bedrooms. This is not a good use of scarce social housing and it is not likely to lead to strong and cohesive communities.
The provisions in the Housing and Planning Bill require that towards the end of the fixed term the landlord must review the tenant’s circumstances. Where they are broadly unchanged, the landlord will be able to grant a further tenancy in the same home.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-02-02.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation they have completed on the introduction of fixed-term local authority tenancies.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The previous Coalition Government consulted on proposals to create a new local authority flexible tenancy with a minimum fixed term of two years in November 2010 – in ‘Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing’. The flexible tenancy was introduced by the Localism Act 2011.
In the Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced the intention to review the use of lifetime tenancies in social housing to limit their use and ensure that households are offered tenancies that match their needs and make best use of the social housing stock.
Since then DCLG officials have engaged with local authority landlords, through a series of meetings and regionally based focus groups, in developing proposals to introduce a new fixed-term tenancy of between 2 and 5 years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of Coperforma’s management of patient transport in Sussex.
Lord Prior of Brampton
We are advised by NHS England that four organisations including Coperforma completed the Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire (PQQ) in order to submit their bid for the contract and of these the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd and Coperforma Ltd were assessed as passing the PQQ. An Invitation to Tender was issued to all three organisations on 3 August 2015.
NHS England advises that Coperforma’s bid was evaluated in line with criteria published at the start of the process by a group of subject matter experts, clinicians and patient representatives and the bid was assessed as demonstrating a comprehensive response. The award of the contract to Coperforma was approved by all seven Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
We understand that the lead commissioner, High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, awarded Coperforma the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract for Sussex, which commenced on 1 April 2016. The CCG acknowledges that early performance of the new non-emergency Sussex PTS has not been acceptable.
For this reason High Weald Lewes Havens CCG, on behalf of all seven Sussex CCGs, has begun an inquiry with an aim for a report to be available for review by June 2016 with interim progress reports.