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1059641

registered interest
date	12/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 11 February (HL13242), whether local authorities are meeting the government's stated expectations of making savings while continuing to provide excellent services to local communities.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL13661
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2019 answer text <p>Councils have done fantastically well in reforming the way they work to become more efficient, both in back-office functions and front-line service delivery – and we welcome that. But with councils accounting for a quarter of all public spending, we and the sector know there is more to do. Councils need to continue playing their part in tackling the deficit, and we will be supporting them to do so. Across the country, councils are looking at ways to:</p><ul><li>manage demand for transformed services</li><li>deliver services differently with partners,</li><li>make greater use of technology to reduce cost and improve service quality,</li><li>become more commercial, and</li><li>improve staff productivity.</li></ul> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 26/02/2019 14:09:42 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

1059642

registered interest
date	12/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government which local authorities are failing to make savings while continuing to provide excellent services to local communities in line with the government's stated expectations; and what remedial action, if any, they propose.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL13662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2019 answer text <p>Councils have done fantastically well in reforming the way they work to become more efficient, both in back-office functions and front-line service delivery – and we welcome that. But with councils accounting for a quarter of all public spending, we and the sector know there is more to do. Councils need to continue playing their part in tackling the deficit, and we will be supporting them to do so. Across the country, councils are looking at ways to:</p><ul><li>manage demand for transformed services and deliver services differently with partners,</li><li>make greater use of technology to reduce cost and improve service quality,</li><li>become more commercial, and</li><li>improve staff productivity.</li></ul><p>In terms of specific councils, there is no definitive list or “right answer” on this, and it is local areas that are responsible for managing their own resources and performance. My department looks at risk levels in councils so that we can work with the Local Government Association and across Government to support them and prevent financial or service delivery failure.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 26/02/2019 16:17:37 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

1059643

registered interest
date	12/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Property Guardians
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to (1) regulating property guardianship, (2) curbing the practice of housing low-income workers in sub-standard, unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, and (3) reclassifying property guardianship under the regulatory framework applicable to houses in multiple occupation.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL13663
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2019 answer text <p>The Department is reviewing guidance for current and prospective guardians, to ensure it is as clear and useful as possible.</p><p>Officials are also currently reviewing and refreshing the guidance to local authorities on their enforcement powers, including property guardianships. Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities have a legal duty to keep the housing conditions in their area under review and identify any action that may need to be taken. Electrical safety, gas safety and fire safety requirements apply to all private rented sector properties, including guardian properties. The Housing Health &amp; Safety Rating System (HHSRS) can be used to assess hazards in residential premises including those let to property guardians and applies to all parts of a building that are occupied as a dwelling. If a local authority identifies a serious ‘category 1’ hazard, they have a duty to take action and have the power to take action to address ‘category 2’ hazards.</p><p>Whether or not a property is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) is set out in the Housing Act 2004, and this definition can include guardian properties occupied by tenants who hold licences, provided the property being occupied meets one of the HMO tests set out in Section 254 of the Act. There are no plans to change this classification.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 21/02/2019 16:38:49 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

1059646

registered interest
date	12/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Planning
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the town and country planning framework to achieve more efficient decision making.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL13665
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2019 answer text <p>In July last year we published a revised National Planning Policy Framework to provide a clear basis for locally-produced plans and planning decisions. We are continuing to explore improvements to procedures, building on recent reforms such as streamlining the use of pre-commencement planning conditions. We recently consulted on further permitted development rights and changes to use class orders to support the high street and encourage more development, and published the outcome of Bridget Rosewell’s independent review into speeding up planning appeal inquiries.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 26/02/2019 14:05:52 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

1054364

registered interest
date	04/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Rented Housing: Overcrowding
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent of overcrowded living conditions in private rented accommodation as well as social housing; and what remedial actions might be necessary.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL13414
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/02/2019 answer text <p>In 2015 The Government made an assessment of overcrowded living conditions in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Following extensive consultation, we acted by extending the scope of mandatory HMO licensing so that properties used as HMOs in England which house 5 people or more in two or more separate households would require a licence. These regulations came into force on October 1 2018.</p><p>The Government is combatting overcrowding through £9 billion of funding for the affordable homes programme; £2 billion of long-term funding certainty for housing associations up to 2028/2029; and abolishing the housing account revenue cap. This is in addition to measures already in place such as the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenancy Standard which requires social landlords to develop and deliver services to address over-crowding in their homes.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 18/02/2019 15:48:30 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

1050821

registered interest
date	29/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government by how much local government funding has been reduced since 2010; and what assessment they have made of the effect on vulnerable communities of such reductions.
tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
uin	HL13242
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2019 answer text <p>Since 2010 there have been changes to the financing and functions of local government, and therefore spending power, the measure of funding available to local authorities, is not directly comparable over this period.</p><p>Prior to 2013-14, Formula Grant was non-ring fenced money for local government services. It was funded by central government grant and redistributed business rates. From 2013-14, Settlement Funding Assessment became the way central government provided local authorities with non-ring fenced funding for local government services.</p><p>Councils will have had access to over £200 billion over the five-year period 2015-16 to 2019-20, and funding for local government will increase in real-terms next year.</p><p>As democratically elected organisations, local authorities are independent of central government and are responsible for managing their budgets in line with local priorities. However, the Government expects local authorities to meet the challenge of making savings, while continuing to provide excellent services to local communities. It is for local authorities to conduct their own impact assessments of local decisions on residents, including vulnerable adults and children.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 11/02/2019 16:42:57 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley