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1313774

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Northern Ireland
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 steps he is taking to ensure that allocations of funding to Northern Ireland under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund take into account the level of other funding streams to that nation.
tabling member constituency	Belfast South
tabling member printed	Claire Hanna
uin	959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK in places most in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people who face labour market barriers.</p><p>We will ramp up funding so that total domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts reaching around £1.5 billion a year.</p><p>The Government will publish a UK-wide investment framework later this year and confirm the funding profile at the next Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 21/05/2021 12:36:44 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4827 label Biography information for Claire Hanna

1313796

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention
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 additional steps he plans to take to protect leaseholders from costs arising from (a) the misuse of flammable cladding and (b) other unsafe structural design features used in the (i) construction and (ii) modification of the apartment blocks containing their flats.
tabling member constituency	New Forest East
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
uin	583
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2021 answer text <p>Longstanding independent safety advice has been clear that unsafe cladding poses the greatest risk to buildings, because it can act as a fuel to a fire. Our approach prioritises action on the risks of unsafe cladding – the costs for remediating this are high, and the risks posed by it are also high. The Government has announced a globally unprecedented investment in building safety and hundreds of thousands of leaseholders will be protected from the cost of remediating unsafe cladding on their homes. On 10 February the Government announced it will provide an additional £3.5 billion grant funding for remediation of unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres, which brings the total investment in building safety to an unprecedented £5.1 billion.</p><p>Lower-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, will gain protection from the costs of cladding remediation through a generous financing scheme. As part of this financing scheme, no leaseholder will pay more than £50 per month towards the cost of cladding remediation. This builds on steps already taken to support leaseholders, including the £30 million waking watch fund to help end excessive costs and new legislation in the Building Safety Bill which will ensure homes are made and kept safer in future. We will publish more details on how the schemes will work as soon as we are in a position to do so.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 17/05/2021 16:29:08 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis

1313824

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	Planning
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Planning for the future consultation.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
uin	882
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2021 answer text <p>The consultation on the Planning for the Future White Paper closed in October 2020, and received around 44,000 responses – demonstrating just how important this is to people.</p><p>Given the number of responses, we are taking time to carefully consider the valuable feedback we received. We will publish the Government response to the White Paper ahead of introducing the Planning Bill to Parliament.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 17/05/2021 16:34:40 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1313833

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	Property Development
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 representations his Department has received on residential developments that have had A1 or A2 EWS ratings re-assessed as B2; and what steps he is taking to ensure the standardisation of results through clarifying who is entitled to carry out those tests.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	896
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2021 answer text <p>The Department is aware of a small number of cases regarding differing EWS1 valuation assessments. Differing assessments may be as a result of further information about a building being obtained. It is for the building owner to explain any changes in valuation assessment. RICS have published a list of professionals suitable to sign an EWS1 form.</p><p>An EWS1 form is not a safety certificate or safety ‘test’. An EWS1 form is not a replacement for a fire risk assessment, carried out by a competent professional.</p><p>To support professionals undertaking work to complete the external wall aspect of fire risk assessments, the Government has commissioned the British Standards Institution to produce a Publicly Available Specification (PAS). Known as PAS 9980, this is a code of practice is designed to ensure that if followed, assessments of external wall systems are consistent.</p><p>The code of practice has been published in draft form for public consultation, which closes on 20 May.</p><p>The Department is funding nearly £700k to train additional assessors. RICS, the body delivering the training, is ensuring alignment with the emergent code of practice.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 19/05/2021 15:59:07 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1313834

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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 Associations: Service Charges
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 it is his Department's policy that housing associations should provide full annual independent audit of service charges with the report published and available to the public and fully itemised bills accompanied with validated receipts.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	897
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The Social Housing White Paper sets out clear transparency requirements for housing associations, with a clear expectation that all social housing residents should be able to know how their landlord is performing. As part of this, the Government has committed to introduce a new access to information scheme for social housing tenants of housing associations, as well as setting expectations for landlords to provide a clear breakdown of how their income is being spent.</p><p>The Government further believes that the service charge requests of all freeholders, regardless of who they might be, should be transparent and communicated effectively, and that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong. A summary of leaseholders’ rights and responsibilities must currently be provided with the demand for charges.</p><p>The Government established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best, to consider transparency of fees and charges alongside the regulation of property agents. 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%7CEileen.Edgeway%40communities.gov.uk%7C1cb6b308a2994c4b456008d916b66565%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637565794896034885%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=UO166clQgSnisLsDyGhepL7WhM0AC%2BMtT9sdWJFN%2FBc%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 question first answered 21/05/2021 12:57:22 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1313837

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	Social Rented Housing: Service Charges
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 a cap on service charge rises at the rate of CPI inflation for social housing tenants.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	898
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>All service charges must be set in line with the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 with service charges payable only to the extent that the costs have been reasonably incurred. The reasonableness of the service charge a social housing landlord is seeking will depend on the nature of the works required and other contributing factors.</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 within CPI+1%, to help keep charges affordable.</p><p>For tenants in Affordable Rent properties the calculation of their gross rent includes service charges. Gross rent for these properties is capped at 80% of market rent.</p><p>Social housing tenants have the ability to apply to the Property Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal for a determination where they do not believe the charges are reasonable, and must be consulted when major works are being proposed.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 21/05/2021 13:37:01 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1313843

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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: Fire Prevention
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 meetings he has had in the last year with (a) leaseholder-run groups, (b) groups that directly represent leaseholders and (c) leaseholders living in blocks which are not fire-safe.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>Ministers regularly meet with leaseholders and their representative groups.</p><p>Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Gov.uk website: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F956236%2FMinisterial_meetings_July_to_Sept_2020.csv%2Fpreview&amp;data=04%7C01%7CPratul.Pal%40communities.gov.uk%7C4bcd6afcc9db47dc4c4208d9191f0f91%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637568443454226894%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=6XWzcbhnvwc6yZK4Prtp07X8WU6vj22w%2BKhQgTGXGC4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/956236/Ministerial_meetings_July_to_Sept_2020.csv/preview</a></p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 21/05/2021 13:37:28 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1313844

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	Buildings: Insulation
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 buildings that were not registered with the Building Safety Fund between 1 June to 31 July 2020 will be eligible for the additional £3.5billion of funding for cladding remediation.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	903
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The announcement on 10 February of an additional £3.5 billion of funding provides assurance for residents that all eligible applications to the Building Safety Fund will be able to proceed. We will publish more details on how the additional funding will work alongside the existing funds soon.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 21/05/2021 13:37:55 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1313845

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	Clarion Housing Group
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 ask the Regulator of Social Housing to provide the number of tenants or leaseholders of Clarion Housing Group it had communications with as part of its recent investigation into that organisation’s repairs services before it concluded there had been no breach of the Homes Standard.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	904
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring a better deal for tenants. In November 2020 we published “The Charter for Social Housing Residents”, which sets out clearly what every social housing resident in England should expect of their landlord. The Charter will deliver a transformation of the social housing regulatory regime, creating proactive consumer regulation and rebalancing the relationship between landlord and tenant. It will ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and fairly, improve the quality of social homes and empower tenants.</p><p>In the Charter we are also committed to deliver a new opportunities and empowerment programme to support resident’s effective engagement with landlords. We are also improving the complaints process for tenants; we have strengthened the Housing Ombudsman’s powers and increased their resources to help improve performance and delivery of services, along with other reforms such as speeding up access to the Housing Ombudsman by removing the Democratic Filter.</p><p>With regards to the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group, the regulator is operationally independent, and Government does not interfere with how it regulates. Its general approach and how it ensures its standards are being met are set out in its guidance ‘Regulating the Standards’. I understand that as part of its recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group’s repairs service, the Regulator met with councillors who were raising concerns on behalf of residents. The Regulator kept the councillors updated on progress throughout the process. The Regulator did not meet directly with tenants or leaseholders as part of the investigation. The Department has not discussed the Regulator’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group with Lord Barwell.</p><p>Housing associations are independent organisations and are in charge of setting their own procedures for tenants to report repairs and complaints. By law, landlords need to respond within a reasonable timeframe, which will depend on the severity of the repair. The 20 working days referred to is a local, i.e. landlord, policy not a departmental policy.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes grouped question UIN 905 906 907 question first answered 21/05/2021 13:02:49 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1313846

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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	Social Rented Housing: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group, for what reason it is his Department's policy that social landlords have 20 working days to respond to any repair that is not deemed an immediate risk to the health and safety of the tenant.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	905
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring a better deal for tenants. In November 2020 we published “The Charter for Social Housing Residents”, which sets out clearly what every social housing resident in England should expect of their landlord. The Charter will deliver a transformation of the social housing regulatory regime, creating proactive consumer regulation and rebalancing the relationship between landlord and tenant. It will ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and fairly, improve the quality of social homes and empower tenants.</p><p>In the Charter we are also committed to deliver a new opportunities and empowerment programme to support resident’s effective engagement with landlords. We are also improving the complaints process for tenants; we have strengthened the Housing Ombudsman’s powers and increased their resources to help improve performance and delivery of services, along with other reforms such as speeding up access to the Housing Ombudsman by removing the Democratic Filter.</p><p>With regards to the Regulator of Social Housing’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group, the regulator is operationally independent, and Government does not interfere with how it regulates. Its general approach and how it ensures its standards are being met are set out in its guidance ‘Regulating the Standards’. I understand that as part of its recent investigation into Clarion Housing Group’s repairs service, the Regulator met with councillors who were raising concerns on behalf of residents. The Regulator kept the councillors updated on progress throughout the process. The Regulator did not meet directly with tenants or leaseholders as part of the investigation. The Department has not discussed the Regulator’s investigation into Clarion Housing Group with Lord Barwell.</p><p>Housing associations are independent organisations and are in charge of setting their own procedures for tenants to report repairs and complaints. By law, landlords need to respond within a reasonable timeframe, which will depend on the severity of the repair. The 20 working days referred to is a local, i.e. landlord, policy not a departmental policy.</p> answering member constituency Walsall North answering member printed Eddie Hughes grouped question UIN 904 906 907 question first answered 21/05/2021 13:02:49 answering member 4635 label Biography information for Eddie Hughes
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum