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1491393

registered interest
date	21/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Consultants
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much his Department has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will publish a breakdown of (a) the amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) the name of each consultancy contracted, (c) the specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
tabling member constituency	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
tabling member printed	Neale Hanvey
uin	42243
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>Figures for consultancy spend are included each year in the Department's annual report. Details of contracts awarded valued at £10,000 (inc VAT) or more are published on <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fcontracts-finder&amp;data=05%7C01%7CCaroline.Lallis%40levellingup.gov.uk%7C6c9bb817237640f9594808da76e8d7a8%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637953039659700752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Bh%2B9bvD8wIraQpfgjp5gfQOZxygWiJY%2BAKBJViezMCU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder</a>. Information on our spending, including consultancy, is published regularly as part of our Transparency information <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fdluhc-spending-over-250-march-2022&amp;data=05%7C01%7CCaroline.Lallis%40levellingup.gov.uk%7C6c9bb817237640f9594808da76e8d7a8%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637953039659700752%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=iL0TkZNLrS3P%2FIkzUCxcbWiUSwhfbebcWtC%2FtyuInXU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dluhc-spending-over-250-march-2022</a></p><p>Consultancy contracts are procured in line with Government procurement rules and are also subject to internal and Cabinet Office assurance through the spending controls process.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 05/09/2022 14:31:59 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4782 label Biography information for Neale Hanvey

1491451

registered interest
date	21/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Agency Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much his Department has spent on (a) agency workers and (b) agency retainer fees in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.
tabling member constituency	Hemsworth
tabling member printed	Jon Trickett
uin	41939
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2022 answer text <p>Please see below the figures for Agency staff spend</p><p><br>2020 - £4,203,377.57<br>2021 - £7,785,868.09<br>2022 - £2,369,262.08</p><p>We have interpreted your reference to agency retainer fees as the fees charged at the commencement of the provision of a search recruitment service; this is only applicable when recruiting for a permanent or fixed term post. Agency retainer fees are not applicable to the contingent labour market.</p><p>The department does not separate the costs of agency workers, contingent labour, or associated agency retainer fees in our accounts. A breakdown could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 07/09/2022 09:01:21 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	410 label Biography information for Jon Trickett

1491020

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Rented Housing: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the £65 million support package for vulnerable renters announced by his Department on 23 October 2021, how much and what proportion of that funding has been distributed by (a) region and (b) local authority as on 20 July 2022.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield South East
tabling member printed	Mr Clive Betts
uin	40735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2022 answer text <p>The Government provided councils with £310 million in funding for the Homelessness Prevention Grant in 2021/22. They can use this funding flexibly to meet their homelessness and rough sleeping strategies – for example, to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions or to provide temporary accommodation, among other preventative measures.</p><p>In October 2021 the Government provided a £65 million top-up to this funding to help councils prevent those with rent arrears from becoming homeless. You can find the breakdown of funding by local authority level at this link: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fhomelessness-prevention-grant-2021-to-2022&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cjudith.tovey%40levellingup.gov.uk%7Ce73b62b90b90404bf30f08da8a5e730e%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637974435496309142%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=%2FpaVMiweIynvH%2B8URdojjr25LQTPCpvZVddOWerNzlI%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-2021-to-2022</a>.</p><p>The regional breakdown is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Region</p></td><td><p>Total Allocated Funding from £65m Winter Top Up</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>London</p></td><td><p>£31,270,590</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South East</p></td><td><p>£9,602,616</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East of England</p></td><td><p>£5,195,237</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>£4,207,125</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>South West</p></td><td><p>£4,089,696</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North West</p></td><td><p>£3,890,791</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Yorkshire and the Humber</p></td><td><p>£2,713,453</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>East Midlands</p></td><td><p>£2,458,347</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>North East</p></td><td><p>£1,033,367</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 07/09/2022 08:43:15 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	394 label Biography information for Mr Clive Betts

1491029

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Buildings: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to make the deed of certificate provided for by the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2022 available to leaseholders.
tabling member constituency	Greenwich and Woolwich
tabling member printed	Matthew Pennycook
uin	40865
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The leaseholder deed of certificate sets out the information that building owners need for the purposes of applying the leaseholder protections. This is set out in the Schedule to the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2022. The certificate can be found <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.legislation.gov.uk%2Fukdsi%2F2022%2F9780348235791&amp;data=05%7C01%7CParliamentary%40levellingup.gov.uk%7C48c715a9844e48c6774408da8f3f49c1%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637979799222511256%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=4SBDt2Oy8ndw%2B28jbu6VpyvJRliXkR6rLU%2Bj4ZNOZD8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p>The certificate has also been uploaded to the GOV.UK website as part of the Building Safety Leaseholder Protections: Guidance for leaseholders and can be found <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Fmandatory-information-required-from-leaseholders-and-building-owners&amp;data=05%7C01%7CParliamentary%40levellingup.gov.uk%7C48c715a9844e48c6774408da8f3f49c1%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637979799222511256%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=2DMMvVFLLNiAD5cergfey8BlHzRhTRY9LBzSDpOt9Lk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">here.</a></p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 05/09/2022 14:20:02 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4520 label Biography information for Matthew Pennycook

1491038

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Buildings: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the developer pledge for building safety, whether developers will be required to remediate buildings to the standard required by the Regulator in order that buildings are not fixed initially by the developer and then need further work to satisfy the Regulator.
tabling member constituency	Milton Keynes North
tabling member printed	Ben Everitt
uin	41003
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>We want to make sure that buildings are made safe quickly and proportionately. Over 45 of the largest developers have already signed a pledge to take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical, fire-safety defects on buildings 11 metres and over that they had a role in developing or refurbishing.</p><p>On 13 July, we published the draft of a contract with developers. The draft contract, once finalised and executed, will turn the commitments made in the pledge into a legally binding agreement.</p><p>The draft agreement includes the requirement for developers to ensure that, once the necessary remediation work has been performed, a fire risk assessment and/or a fire risk assessment of external walls (depending on the defects originally identified) signing off that the risks have been satisfactorily addressed is issued.</p><p>Whilst it is possible there may be some work for which the original developer is not responsible, the expectation is that developers will fix all life critical fire safety defects arising from the original development or refurbishment. Building works will be overseen by a building control body (although this will always be the Building Safety Regulator for higher-risk buildings) and will need to comply with Building Regulations.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 05/09/2022 14:30:43 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4836 label Biography information for Ben Everitt

1491062

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Housing: Care Leavers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to provide housing assistance to care leavers similar to that of the veterans scheme.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	40771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2022 answer text <p>Local authorities have the freedom to tailor their allocation priorities to meet the need of their local communities, including care leavers. In framing their social housing allocation scheme, they must ensure that reasonable preference (priority) is given to people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds.</p><p>Statutory guidance also makes clear that we expect local authorities to make provision for appropriate exceptions to their residency requirements for an allocation of social housing and take proper account of special circumstances, including the needs of care leavers.</p><p>The Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy confirmed £3.2 million funding in 2022/23 will provide targeted support to young people leaving care most at risk of homelessness, including rough sleeping, in 69 local authorities identified as having the greatest concentration of young people at risk. It will also provide on-going support for children’s services and housing teams to improve partnership working.</p><p>The Government will also continue investment into the ‘Staying Put’ programme and scale up the number of local areas offering the ‘Staying Close’ programme, which enable young people leaving care to stay with, or in touch with, former foster families and children’s homes for longer – building their resilience as they transition to independent living.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 06/09/2022 12:43:17 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1491201

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what advice his Department provides to leaseholders living in blocks where lenders require an EWS1 certificate to progress a sale but freeholders refuse to apply for such a certificate.
tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
uin	40740
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>An EWS1 form is used as a valuation tool to inform lenders of financial risk. The Building Safety Act introduced clarity on liabilities for making buildings safe and financial protections for leaseholders. As a result, on July 15<sup>th</sup> the largest mortgage lenders confirmed that, subject to their normal policy requirements, they will be able to lend on any property that is part of a developer or government remediation scheme or properties that are protected by the new statutory protections, as evidenced by a qualifying lease certificate. This statement can be found <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukfinance.org.uk%2Fpolicy-and-guidance%2Fguidance%2Fstatement-industry-support-leaseholder-protections-within-building&amp;data=05%7C01%7CBSP_PQ%40levellingup.gov.uk%7C57b1e53e67c54d08933808da6bc4b6eb%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637940789859711382%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=aUNifeefBmssFRWaXFks4P5XGNA6pyWeiJ88NdUI97o%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Qualifying leaseholders will no longer face bills to remediate unsafe cladding systems on their building, removing financial risk. We are working with the industry to quickly operationalise these changes and expect the challenges faced by those struggling to buy and sell, including the need to access EWS1 forms, will be eased.</p><p>Leaseholders should complete the deed of certificate in the Leaseholder Information Regulations to demonstrate they own a qualifying lease and benefit from the protections. Further guidance for leaseholders on the leaseholder protections and completing the certificates has been published by the Department <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Fbuilding-safety-leaseholder-protections-guidance-for-leaseholders&amp;data=05%7C01%7CBSP_PQ%40levellingup.gov.uk%7C57b1e53e67c54d08933808da6bc4b6eb%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637940789859711382%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=ScmGcZ1JyLES%2BQsVSIKYUiKI1OQljaMBhzXv062D1jY%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 05/09/2022 14:29:45 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

1491224

registered interest
date	20/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Private Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to consult on his Department's white paper entitled A fairer private rented sector, published on 16 June 2022.
tabling member constituency	Greenwich and Woolwich
tabling member printed	Matthew Pennycook
uin	40867
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The plans set out in our White Paper were informed by extensive formal and informal consultation with stakeholders from across the Private Rented Sector (PRS). We have no further plans to formally consult on the White Paper but will continue to undertake wide-ranging engagement with tenants, landlords, local councils and interested groups in the sector</p><p><br>We know that these reforms cannot deliver the change needed without the input of those that live and work in the PRS.</p><p>The consultation responses that we published alongside the White Paper can be found at gov.uk</p><ul><li>Housing Court Reform: call for evidence</li><li>Post Implementation Review of the mediation pilot response</li><li>Tenancy Reform Consultation response</li><li>Tenancy Deposit Reform: call for evidence</li></ul> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 05/09/2022 14:21:30 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4520 label Biography information for Matthew Pennycook

1488850

registered interest
date	13/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Housing Associations: Service Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to review the practice of service charging by housing association landlords.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Dan Carden
uin	36090
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2022 answer text <p>The law is clear that variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. The Government believes that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong.</p><p>The Government's policy statement on rents for social housing (published in February 2019) encourages registered providers of social housing to keep increases for services charges in line with inflation, within CPI+1% per annum, to help keep charges affordable. It also states that tenants should be supplied with clear information on how service charges are set, and in the case of social rent properties, providers are expected to identify service charges separately from the rent charge.</p><p>The Regulator of Social Housing's Rent Standard notes that registered providers must comply with all the requirements and expectations of the Government's Rent Policy Statement on the setting, increase and decrease of rents and service charges.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 18/07/2022 15:06:45 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4651 label Biography information for Dan Carden

1488976

registered interest
date	13/07/2022
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Landlords: Databases
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many entries have been made on the Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents in (a) England, (b) Birmingham and (c) Birmingham Erdington constituency since that database was established.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Erdington
tabling member printed	Mrs Paulette Hamilton
uin	36144
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2022 answer text <p>There are currently 57 entries on the Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents.</p><p>There are currently no entries listed on the Database in the Birmingham and Birmingham Erdington Constituency.</p><p>Local authorities are responsible for uploading and maintaining records on the Database. Where records have expired, local authorities are required to remove the entry from the Database.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes question first answered 18/07/2022 15:07:39 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4938 label Biography information for Mrs Paulette Hamilton