The comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 7 November 2020.
Congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on your achievement.
We look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
The bonds of friendship between the UK and US will only grow deeper and stronger.
The comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 5 November 2020.
The way we have protected rough sleepers from COVID-19 is widely considered to be the best in the world.
At the start of the pandemic we launched Everyone In, which protected thousands of vulnerable people. That work hasn’t stopped and we’ve backed it with £700 million.
As the new national measures come into force, I am launching the Protect Programme to ensure councils are offering everyone sleeping rough on our streets today somewhere safe to go – protecting people from the virus and moving forward with our goal of eliminating rough sleeping.
The comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 5 November 2020.
We have already taken unprecedented action to support renters during the pandemic including introducing a 6 month notice period and financial support to help those struggling to pay their rent.
We are now going further by protecting renters from eviction during the new national restrictions and throughout the Christmas period – with a pause on bailiff activity other than in the most serious circumstances, such as anti-social behaviour or fraud.
Striking the right balance between helping tenants in need while ensuring landlords have access to justice in the most serious cases.
The comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 22 October 2020.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have backed local councils with the funding they need to support their communities, protect vital services and recover lost income.
This extra £1 billion funding will ensure that councils have the resources that they need over the winter and continue to play an essential role on the front line of our response to the virus while protecting the most vulnerable and supporting local businesses.
The comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 15 October 2020.
We will not let these difficult times stop us from properly commemorating the sacrifices of those who protected this country in our darkest hour, and those who are serving in our Armed Forces today.
That’s why we have published advice for councils, so that local Remembrance Day events can take place safely and communities are able to honour our brave service men and women. We are safer because of the sacrifices they have made and the battles they have fought.
The statement made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in the House of Commons on 13 October 2020.
Today, I have announced additional support for rough sleepers this winter, giving local areas the tools they need to protect people from life-threatening cold weather and risks posed by covid-19.
During the pandemic, we have worked closely with local authorities and the sector to offer vulnerable people safe accommodation and support. That work is on- going and in September we had successfully supported over 29,000 people, with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 provided with settled accommodation or move on support.
These efforts have been backed by significant Government support. We have given councils over £4.8 billion to help them to manage the impacts of covid-19, which we have been clear includes their work to support rough sleepers. Over the summer we worked with every local authority to develop a local, tailored plan to support rough sleepers over the coming months. This has been supported by £91.5 million of funding from the Next Steps Accommodation programme, allocated in September.
Today’s announcement further builds on this existing package of support over winter, setting out a plan that gives local areas a range of levers to support vulnerable rough sleepers as we approach winter.
First, there will be a new £10 million cold weather fund for local authorities to bring forward covid-secure accommodation this winter.
Secondly, we will be working intensively with the areas in greatest need, in recognition of the particular challenges they face.
Thirdly, recognising the vital role of the faith and communities sector, we are establishing a new £2 million transformation fund to ensure the voluntary sector can bring forward covid-secure accommodation.
Finally, we are publishing comprehensive guidance to the sector, produced with Public Health England, Homeless Link (the umbrella organisation for homelessness charities) and Housing Justice, to help them open shelters more safely, where not doing so would endanger lives. We know that some night shelters are planning to re-open imminently and our operating principles and additional funding package will help shelter providers and local authorities make any additional winter provision safer from the spread of covid-19.
Today’s announcement is on top of the £112 million rough sleeping initiative funding provided to local authorities in 2020-21, as well as the recently announced funding allocations to provide interim support and winter funding as part of the Next Steps Accommodation programme. We will also be bringing forward 3,300 longer-term units of accommodation this year. In total, the Government are spending over £700 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year alone. We remain committed to transforming the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society, and to ending rough sleeping for good.
In addition, the Government have injected over £9 billion into the welfare system, including helping people with housing costs by increasing local housing allowance rates to the 30th percentile—putting an average of £600 into people’s pockets this year. We have taken action to protect tenants and support them to stay in their homes. Most recently, we have increased notice periods to six months meaning that anyone served notice today can stay in their home until mid-March in all but the most egregious cases, such as those involving antisocial behaviour.
We will set out further detail about how local areas can access this winter funding and support imminently, and I encourage all relevant partners and local authorities to consider how they can best use this funding to save lives this winter.
Comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 4 August 2020.
As we get Britain building we are also laying the foundations for a green economic recovery by investing in vital infrastructure for local communities, creating jobs and building environmentally-friendly homes with a huge £1.3 billion investment announced today.
This government is determined to level up all parts of the country and this funding will not only give a much needed boost to our economic recovery, it will help build the good quality, affordable homes the country needs.
Text of the comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 18 July 2020.
This is a significant milestone on our journey to fundamentally improving building safety and delivering real change that will keep people safer in their homes.
I remain committed to making sure we get this right, which is why I will be publishing the draft Bill for scrutiny and improvement before it is introduced in Parliament.
I am also calling on the industry to actively prepare for these changes now. It is vital that the sector moves in step with us, to provide confidence and reassurance to residents that their safety is firmly at the heart of everything we do.
Below is the text of the statement made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in the House of Commons on 2 July 2020.
I wish to set out to the House the further measures this Government are putting in place so that local government can continue to fulfil its essential role in the national response to covid-19 and lead us through the next phase of recovery.
I said at the start of the pandemic that we would ensure local authorities have the resources they need. To do that, the Government have provided £27 billion to support local councils, businesses and communities; including £3.8 billion of support specifically for local authorities. This funding has allowed councils to deliver for their communities: including helping get rough sleepers off the streets, establishing our shielding programme, controlling infection in care homes and providing support for 800,000 small and medium-sized businesses.
The comprehensive plan I am announcing today demonstrates my commitment by ensuring that local councils have the certainty they need to manage their finances to the end of the financial year. The plan covers covid-related expenditure, income losses from sales, fees and charges, and irrecoverable tax losses.
Additional funding for spending pressures
We recognise the pressures on councils and our communities have not yet passed, and today I have announced a further £500 million to help ensure that councils have the money they need to meet costs in the coming months. I would like to thank councils for the financial information they have provided, and I will continue to work with my cabinet colleagues to monitor the pressures on the sector.
This award follows two previous rounds of grant allocations. The first was primarily focused on getting emergency support into adult social care. The second round addressed both expenditure pressures and income shortfalls. With the benefit of better data, we now plan to address income shortfalls separately to expenditure and so we have created a new formula for the additional £500 million. This formula will reflect the factors which the data returns have told us correlate most closely with expenditure, and will take account of population, deprivation and the way that service costs vary across the country. Details on allocations will be announced in due course.
Non-tax income
The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on councils’ income from sales, fees and charges, for which they could not have planned. To help mitigate this, the Government are also introducing a co-payment scheme to compensate local authorities for relevant, irrecoverable losses in 2020-21. Under this scheme councils bear the first 5% of losses compared to their budgeted income—reflecting the fact these income sources are by their nature volatile from one year to the next—but the Government will support those worst affected by covering 75p in every pound of losses beyond this.
Irrecoverable tax losses
I am also committed to supporting the sector through an apportionment of irrecoverable council tax and business rates losses between central and local government, to be agreed at the spending review. I have announced today that the repayment of collection fund deficits arising in 2020-21, will be spread over the next three years rather than the usual period of a year, giving councils breathing space in setting budgets for next year.
Taken together, these measures will give local councils sufficient confidence to continue to deliver the services their communities rely on. Nevertheless, my Department will continue to work closely with councils to monitor the situation as it develops, and I will return to the House setting out any further measures necessary should a changing situation require it.
Below is the text of the letter sent by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee on 24 June 2020.