Tag: Lord Chadlington

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the relationship between the inability to pay high rents and the risk of homelessness, what they are doing to ensure access to social housing.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The statutory requirement to consider ‘reasonable preference’ prioritises social housing for those who need it the most. The provisions in the Housing and Planning Act that ensure new tenancies are regularly reviewed will enable councils to get the best use out of their social housing.

To enable local authorities to help claimants affected by changes to Housing Benefit who need extra support, we have also increased the level of funding for Discretionary Housing Payment to £870 million in total across this Parliament – a notional 55 per cent increase compared to the previous Parliament.

Whilst households who face homelessness need suitable, settled accommodation it does not always need to be social housing. That is why we changed the law to allow authorities to make offers of good quality private rented sector accommodation. Since 2010 our homelessness prevention funding has helped local authorities and homelessness charities prevent almost a million households from becoming homeless. We want this work to continue and that is why we have maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding though the local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

The government is also committed to delivering affordable housing. Twice as much council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years. The Spending Review in 2016 allocated £8 billion to deliver 400,000 affordable homes this parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the Housing First policy implemented in Utah as a means to tackle homelessness.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

One person without a home is one too many which is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million.

Homelessness is rarely the result of a personal housing crisis alone and we know that many rough sleepers and homeless people have complex needs, such as mental health difficulties or substance misuse, which result in poor life chances.

That is why we announced at Budget 2016 that we are developing a new £10 million national Social Impact Bond programme, to help homeless people with complex needs off the streets. We want to drive innovative ways to support those with the most complex needs, including ‘Housing First’. In doing so, we will look to learn from how other countries have delivered, including the United States and elsewhere.

This work forms part of our wider approach to preventing and reducing homelessness, which also includes a new £10 million rough sleeping programme and an additional £100 million of funding for move-on accommodation for those leaving hostels and refuges.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to engage with individuals who are aware of having an alcohol problem but have not, because they are too ashamed or frightened, sought help.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to provide non-religious support to people with alcohol misuse problems.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what online resources are readily available for people struggling with alcohol misuse.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to provide sanitary products to women sleeping rough.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

One person without a home is one too many, and nobody should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million, including a new £10 million fund to support innovative ways to prevent and reduce rough sleeping, and a new £10 million Social Impact Bond to support rough sleepers with the most complex needs.

We recognise that the needs of female rough sleepers can be different from male rough sleepers, and we expect local authorities to commission services to meet the needs of all those in their local areas. Many commission female-only homelessness projects, which offer women the essential facilities and support they need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in tackling problem gambling.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

This Government wants to ensure that people are protected from being harmed or exploited by gambling. We welcome the ongoing work of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB), the Gambling Commission and the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT) to identify the causes of problem gambling and to implement effective deterrents and treatments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice exempts sports betting around televised sporting events from the 9pm television watershed.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Televised gambling advertising in the UK is governed by the Advertising Codes which are maintained by the Broadcast Committee for Advertising Practice. This is supplemented by a self-regulatory industry code, the Industry Code for Socially Responsible Gambling. An enhanced version of the industry code will come into effect in February 2016. New measures include a commitment that gambling operators will no longer advertise sign-up offers on television before 9pm.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce regulation for the social gaming industry.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Social gaming is already covered by existing consumer protection legislation and other regulatory bodies. The Gambling Commission published the attached report on social gaming in January 2015. The Commission concluded that there was no compelling reason to impose additional regulation on the social gaming sector given that it is already subject to extensive consumer protection legislation.

The Government will continue to keep this issue under review to ensure that appropriate protections remain in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chadlington on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to publish an updated policy on fixed odds betting terminals.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

On 21 January the Government published its evaluation of the £50 regulations introduced in April 2015, which is attached.

The evaluation indicates that a large proportion of players of FOBTs may now be making a more conscious choice to control their playing behaviour and their stake level. We will now consider the findings of the evaluation before deciding if there is a need for further action.