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Tag: Mark Menzies

  • Mark Menzies – 2023 Parliamentary Question on Reforming the Leasehold System

    Mark Menzies – 2023 Parliamentary Question on Reforming the Leasehold System

    The parliamentary question asked by Mark Menzies, the Conservative MP for Fylde, in the House of Commons on 9 January 2023.

    Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)

    Whether his Department is taking steps to reform the leasehold system.

    Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)

    If he will bring forward legislative proposals to give freeholders rights to directly challenge management and service charges equivalent to those of leaseholders.

    The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lucy Frazer)

    The Government are committed to building on the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 and delivering the second phase of our major two-part leasehold reform programme within this Parliament. This will make it easier for leaseholders to purchase their freeholds and will establish greater fairness between those parties.

    bI welcome the steps taken by my right hon. and learned Friend and look forward to seeing them progress into law. Nationally, much of the focus has been on high-rise flats, but in Fylde there are many new housing developments completed in recent years with leasehold issues of their own. In light of that, what action is she taking to ensure that these reforms include those living on recently completed housing developments?

    Lucy Frazer

    I can give my hon. Friend assurance that the many measures we will bring in will affect not only new purchasers but existing leaseholders. We will be bringing forward legislation later in this Parliament.

    Richard Fuller

    In my constituency, Councillor Weir of Great Denham, Councillor Gallagher of Shortstown and Councillor Dixon of Stotfold are leading efforts on behalf of local residents who own a freehold property to challenge excessive fees, lack of transparency and poor service by estate management companies. Will the Minister review the terms of reference of the property ombudsman to make it easier for homeowners—freeholders—to challenge these unfair practices?

    Lucy Frazer

    My hon. Friend is right to highlight unfairness in relation to freeholders. Estate management companies must be more accountable to homeowners on how money is spent to maintain privately managed estates. We will be giving freehold owners on these estates new rights to challenge costs and appoint a manager, as well as requiring private estate management companies to join a redress scheme.

    Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)

    The Minister will know that in some parts of the country, residents are impacted by chief rents. The Rentcharges Act 1977 extinguishes all chief rents in 2037, but many of the property companies that hold the chief rents are now using sharp practices and scams to con their residents out of extra money by sending questionnaires to residents about home improvements they have had. What is she doing to tighten up on these scams and sharp practices?

    Lucy Frazer

    The hon. Member makes an important point, and I know that freeholders are paying charges for maintaining communal areas, known colloquially as “fleecehold”. It is something we are looking at, and I am happy to update him on that.

    Hilary Benn (Leeds Central) (Lab)

    Just before Christmas, a constituent of mine received a service charge bill in respect of her leasehold flat for fire-stopping works. Leaseholders rightly believe they should not have to pay to fix fire safety defects, and they think the Building Safety Act 2022 protects them from having to do so. Can the Minister therefore set out for the House in what circumstances it is still lawful for the owner of a building to charge leaseholders to fix fire safety defects?

    Lucy Frazer

    As the right hon. Gentleman will know, we are taking a number of steps in the Building Safety Act 2022 to strengthen protections for the residents living in these buildings. The Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley), or I will write to the right hon. Gentleman on his specific question.

    Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)

    I welcome what the Minister has said about bringing forward legislation, which this House needs to pass as soon as possible, to protect leaseholders in ways put forward by the Law Commission, with proposals commissioned by the Government. Will she also consider how to make leaseholders parties to the building insurance for which they pay the premiums? For some reason, they are not thought to have an interest in it, but they should. That needs to change.

    Lucy Frazer

    I have had a number of conversations with my hon. Friend; I know he is very committed to this area. He will know that we are bringing in legislation in due course that will make it much easier for leaseholders to enfranchise their leases. I am already looking at the particular area that he mentions.

    Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)

    Last month marked five years since a previous Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid), promised to liberate leaseholders from “feudal practices”. We have obviously had some progress in terms of new builds, but existing leaseholders are still facing the same problems. I recognise the warm words from the Minister, but can she confirm that we will see legislation coming forward this year to deal with all the existing problems that leaseholders face?

    Lucy Frazer

    What I can confirm is that we will be bringing forward legislation in this Parliament to make valuations easier for those extending their leases, to make the lease extension experience easier and cheaper, to make it quicker for freeholders to take control of the management of their buildings with a right to manage and a number of other measures.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership in progressing Growth Deal projects.

    James Wharton

    The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal with Government will invest over £250 million across Lancashire.

    Good progress has been made to date, with 15 out of the 39 projects in the programme underway, and a further 13 due to commence shortly.

    Projects under construction will, amongst other outcomes, support the construction of 850 housing units, create over 2,000 jobs and add over £28 million GVA per annum to the local economy.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-20.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to further develop the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

    Mr David Gauke

    We have made huge progress in building a Northern Powerhouse, from investment in transport, enterprise and culture to agreeing five landmark devolution deals across the North. We remain fully committed to doing everything we can to strengthen the Northern Powerhouse, including investing £13bn in transport over the course of this parliament, further improving skills through the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy and encouraging even more foreign investment into the towns and cities of the North. Next year, 55% of the North’s population will vote for a mayor to oversee economic decision making in their local area.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support innovation in assistive technology for use by people with dementia.

    Jane Ellison

    Dementia is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020. The Government will implement the Prime Minister’s Challenge in full to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020.

    As part of the 2020 Challenge, we want to see greater provision of innovative and high quality dementia care, delivered in a way that is personalised and appropriate to the specific needs of the person with dementia, their family and carers. This includes providers incorporating new ideas including technology solutions into everyday practice. We also want to see research on assistive technologies and assisted living, including research on how information and communication technologies can best help people with dementia and carers.

    The Department and NHS England recently launched seven ‘Test Bed Sites’ in England. These sites will evaluate the real world impact of technologies, testing them together with innovations in how the NHS services are delivered, to improve health and care outcomes. Three of the Test Beds will have a focus on dementia.

    A number of programmes have been launched to support usage of technology for the benefit of people including those with dementia and their carers. These include:

    – The Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) Programme;

    – A TECS resource for Commissioners; and

    – The Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare and Regional Innovation Fund initiative.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what responsibilities his Department has for (a) formulating and (b) overseeing regulation of the shale gas industry; and if he will make a statement.

    Jesse Norman

    Responsibility for formulating and overseeing regulation of the shale gas industry has been transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The Department will fulfil the same role previously undertaken by the Department of Energy and Climate Energy.

    The Government has been clear that shale development must be safe and environmentally sound. The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering concluded that risks can be managed if industry follows best practice enforced by regulation [1]. We already have one of the most robust regulatory regimes in the world for shale gas and we will look to continuously improve it as the industry develops.

    [1] The Royal Society and The Royal Academy of Engineers, Shale gas extraction in the UK: a review of hydraulic fracturing, 2012

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) improve the provision of care for patients with lung disease and (b) increase funding for research into lung diseases.

    Jane Ellison

    Respiratory disease is specifically covered in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published Quality Standards for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer setting out the markers of high-quality, cost-effective care.

    Expenditure by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on research relating to respiratory disease has increased from £15.7 million in 2009/10 to £25.5 million in 2014/15 (the latest available figure).

    The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022. In this competition, a number of clinical areas of particular strategic importance to the health of patients are highlighted including respiratory disease.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Trade

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to negotiate a trade deal with the Mercosur trading bloc.

    Greg Hands

    The EU is currently negotiating a trade deal with Mercosur. Until we have left the EU, the UK will remain a member of the EU with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails.

    In due course, Britain will be leaving the EU. This offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate, in time, our own trade agreements and to be a positive and powerful force for free trade. The Prime Minister has established the Department for International Trade to promote British trade across the world and ensure the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy. We will engage fully with a broad range of stakeholders, including both governments and business over the coming weeks and months as we prepare for the negotiation with the EU and other international partners.

  • Mark Menzies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Menzies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2015-10-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to improve the provision of work in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

    Andrew Selous

    We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work. Improvements have been made to increase work but we want to go further. We are looking at the ways in which this might be achieved.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36891, whether it is his Department’s policy to retain a Jobcentre Plus in Fylde; and for what reasons officials in his Department did not inform the hon. Member for Fylde of his Department’s plans to redevelop the Jobcentre Plus at Westmoreland House in Lytham St. Annes.

    Priti Patel

    The department is in the process of reviewing all of its estates requirements as the current contract for most of the estate comes to an end on 31 March 2018.

    As building contracts come to an end landlords may explore what options are available to them, including making planning applications. In many cases this will be a sensible commercial decision even if the landlord intends on continuing to let their property to DWP.

    In this case the landlord of Westmorland House has acted independently of DWP in applying for planning permission. No decision has been made on the future of this Jobcentre Plus.

    Commercial negotiations are underway on the entirety of our estate at this time and it is not appropriate to comment further on individual sites while negotiations are in progress.

  • Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Mark Menzies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to tackle illegitimate and fraudulent activity by claims handling companies.

    Sir Oliver Heald

    Tackling bad practices by claims management companies (CMCs) is a priority for the Government. Action already taken includes the removal of over a thousand CMC licenses since 2010 and the issuing of over £2 million in fines.

    Collaborative work between the Claims Management Regulation Unit and other regulators has resulted in the successful disruption and prosecution of criminal operations by CMCs engaged in fraudulent and illegitimate claims.