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1345157

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Homes England: Industrial Relations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether employee representatives were (a) appointed or (b) elected in Homes England in accordance with section 188(1B)(b)(i) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in each of the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	29773
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>During the preceding 12 month period in Homes England, employee representatives were elected pursuant to section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 13/07/2021 15:49:07 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1345158

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Homes England: Conditions of Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to instruct Homes England not to dismiss some or all of its staff and rehire them on different terms of pay.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	29774
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>As laid out in recent statements to Parliament, the Government does not support the use of Section 188, or 'fire and rehire' as a mechanism to achieve settlement of new Terms and Conditions. It is for Homes England to decide how best to manage their pay and workforce issues, and we will support them in achieving a successful pay settlement through the normal process with staff and unions.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 13/07/2021 16:49:47 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1345162

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate has made of the number of positive covid-19 tests that have been recorded for staff in his Department who (a) would usually be based in 2 Marsham Street and (b) had been in 2 Marsham Street while carrying the virus since (i) the beginning of the pandemic and (ii) 15 May 2021.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	29775
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2021 answer text <p>We do not routinely disclose the Covid-19 test results of colleagues usually based in 2 Marsham Street.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 16/07/2021 13:42:17 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1345168

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Right to Acquire Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of giving social housing tenants the right to acquire rented property built prior to 1997.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	29756
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>The Right to Acquire (RtA) was introduced in 1997, through the Housing Act 1996. A Housing Association that accepted government grant from that point accepted that the RtA would be a condition of the grant.</p><p>Backdating the legislation to apply to homes built before 1997 would require forcing Housing Associations to sell ​properties to eligible tenants. However, Government has made home ownership available to certain Housing Association tenants through ​a voluntary agreement with Housing Associations supporting pilots of the Voluntary Right to Buy.</p><p>The Midlands pilot for the Voluntary Right to Buy was launched in August 2018. This pilot has given thousands of Housing Association tenants in the East and West Midlands the opportunity to buy their home with a discount. An independent evaluation for the Midlands Voluntary Right to Buy pilot was published in February 2021. The 2019 manifesto committed to evaluate new pilot areas.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 13/07/2021 15:48:45 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1345182

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Housing Revenue Accounts
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of housing revenue accounts to meet future investment needs in social housing.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	29857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing. We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which will leverage up to £38 billion of private finance and provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. We are keen to see local authorities playing a key role in the delivery of this programme alongside Housing Associations. Alongside this we have introduced a package of reforms to give local authorities increased flexibility over how they can spend their Right to Buy receipts on replacement homes. This package will make it easier for authorities to fund homes using Right to Buy receipts including homes for social rent; allow authorities greater flexibility over the types of homes they provide to reflect the needs of their communities; give authorities more time to use receipts and to develop ambitious build programmes; and make sure more new build replacements are delivered instead of acquisitions, contributing to net supply. Government abolished the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap in 2018, enabling local authorities to borrow for building.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 13/07/2021 15:51:32 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1345202

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which funds he plans to remove competitive bidding from to reduce the amount of funding streams allocated to councils through competitive bidding.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	29804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of providing local authorities with longer-term clarity to enable their forward planning. Decisions about funding beyond this financial year will be made at the Spending Review later this year. Government has a long-standing policy to provide grant funding to local government on a non-ringfenced basis as part of the commitment to greater localism. This policy provides greater funding flexibility to local authorities and supports them to make spending decisions based on their local needs and priorities. The Local Government Finance settlement and the vast majority of local government’s Core Spending Power (£51.3 billion) are un-ringfenced, giving local authorities flexibility over their spending decisions.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 13/07/2021 15:04:33 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1345254

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department (a) has issued or (b) plans to issue to local authority chief executives on ensuring adequate ventilation in council-managed buildings, whether or not with public access, to reduce the risks of transmission of covid-19 infection; to what standards local authority chief executives should (i) plan and (ii) measure such ventilation; what enforcement activity his Department plans to undertake to ensure that guidance is followed; and whether he plans to make funds available for improving standards of ventilation in those building.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	29805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>Public Health England has published guidance on the ventilation of indoor spaces which can be found here: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fcovid-19-ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus%2Fventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-covid-19&amp;data=04%7C01%7CParliamentary%40communities.gov.uk%7Ca82f6e4dcbe5462e884c08d946024c77%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637617797942607493%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=kknMrQxXN60Y3VwKvAXeSOzdBefS7jxFyVG7aoJIc50%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus/ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-covid-19</a> <br> <br> The Health and Safety Executive has published guidance on ventilation and air conditioning here:<br> <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hse.gov.uk%2Fcoronavirus%2Fequipment-and-machinery%2Fair-conditioning-and-ventilation%2Findex.htm&amp;data=04%7C01%7CParliamentary%40communities.gov.uk%7Ca82f6e4dcbe5462e884c08d946024c77%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637617797942617465%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=zsJzTZr8%2BJttZlj%2BRePEpSwPxCQCM1zKBZYB52BQlP8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/equipment-and-machinery/air-conditioning-and-ventilation/index.htm</a> <br> <br> Using this guidance, local authorities should assess the risk from Covid and implement the appropriate transmission risk controls. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks and implement the appropriate controls. HSE is the health and safety enforcing authority for local authority activities and can take proportionate enforcement action. <br> <br> Council-managed buildings are advised to pay due regard to the published guidance above, alongside any sector-specific guidance</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 13/07/2021 15:02:42 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1345272

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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 Plans: Green Belt
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department is providing to local planning authorities on local plans that are constrained as a result of pressures on the Green Belt.
tabling member constituency	Hemel Hempstead
tabling member printed	Sir Mike Penning
uin	29745
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2021 answer text <p>We have published planning practice guidance which sets out how authorities should consider the constraints, such as Green Belt, when determining the suitability, availability and achievability of sites within their plan, and which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/housing-and-economic-land-availability-assessment" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/housing-and-economic-land-availability-assessment</a>.</p><p>This Government is committed to protecting and enhancing the Green Belt, in line with our manifesto. The National Planning Policy Framework outlines strong protections for Green Belt land, and states that a Green Belt boundary may be altered only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process. A local authority should consider releasing land from Green Belt only if it can evidence that it has examined all other reasonable options for meeting its development needs. The local authority should demonstrate that it has used as much brownfield land as possible, optimised densities, and discussed with neighbouring authorities whether they could accommodate some of the development required.</p><p>The Framework strongly encourages the re-use of brownfield, especially for housing, to relieve some of the pressure to consider other land, including Green Belt. It says that local authorities should give substantial weight to the value of redeveloping suitable brownfield sites, including development above transport infrastructure. Communities are also expected to consider gentle densification within settlements to provide more developable land.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 16/07/2021 12:50:42 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning

1345279

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Leasehold
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring maintenance contracts and property enhancement contracts on leasehold properties to be independently reviewed before being awarded.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	29838
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>Leaseholders have existing rights of input into, and challenge of, decisions made by their freeholders on enhancements or maintenance of their properties or communal areas.</p><p>The law is already clear that service charges, and any increase in costs, must be reasonable and where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. The consultation process set out in Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 further sets out a process associated with major works. Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal for it to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges or on section 20 grounds.</p><p>Some leaseholders will also have access to redress schemes – if their freeholder is a social landlord or employs a managing agent, they are currently obliged to be a part of such a scheme. We intend to extend this requirement to all freeholders.</p><p>We also established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across the property sector, which considered how the service charge regime, including transparency of charges, potential caps and major works consultations, operated. The working group published its final report to Government (see: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fregulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report&amp;data=04%7C01%7CJennifer.Rawlinson%40communities.gov.uk%7C94733f49be2c447e72fe08d9453a32bc%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637616938518195477%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=7BEQr5KrJQSUGHAtpLgEUGo83vzfqIIDr8DW5md4ZGk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report</a> ) and we are considering the report’s recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes grouped question UIN 29839 question first answered 13/07/2021 15:50:38 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1345280

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
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	Leasehold
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to award leaseholders with increased right of appeal on decisions that their property management company and freeholder has taken on enhancements and maintenance to their properties or communal areas.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	29839
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2021 answer text <p>Leaseholders have existing rights of input into, and challenge of, decisions made by their freeholders on enhancements or maintenance of their properties or communal areas.</p><p>The law is already clear that service charges, and any increase in costs, must be reasonable and where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. The consultation process set out in Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 further sets out a process associated with major works. Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal for it to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges or on section 20 grounds.</p><p>Some leaseholders will also have access to redress schemes – if their freeholder is a social landlord or employs a managing agent, they are currently obliged to be a part of such a scheme. We intend to extend this requirement to all freeholders.</p><p>We also established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across the property sector, which considered how the service charge regime, including transparency of charges, potential caps and major works consultations, operated. The working group published its final report to Government (see: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fregulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report&amp;data=04%7C01%7CJennifer.Rawlinson%40communities.gov.uk%7C94733f49be2c447e72fe08d9453a32bc%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637616938518195477%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=7BEQr5KrJQSUGHAtpLgEUGo83vzfqIIDr8DW5md4ZGk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report</a> ) and we are considering the report’s recommendations.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes grouped question UIN 29838 question first answered 13/07/2021 15:50:38 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell