Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of giving local authorities increased powers to secure the eviction of tenants for reasons of anti-social behaviour when the landlord (a) is unwilling to evict those tenants or (b) cannot be located.

Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch

The Action Plan is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour

Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue.

Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform bill which will be introduced as soon as time allows in this parliament.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring into force each of the measures to change the eviction process for anti-social behaviour set out in paragraph 31 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, published on 27 March 2023.

Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch

The Action Plan is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour

Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue.

Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform bill which will be introduced as soon as time allows in this parliament.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people have contacted the Warm Homes Discount helpline as a result of being ineligible for an automatic rebate.

Answered by Amanda Solloway

There have been just over 500,000 calls to the helpline from people who were not identified through the data matching as eligible for an automatic rebate this scheme year.

The Government will publish statistics on eligibility in the summer, after the scheme year has ended.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who were eligible for the Warm Homes Discount under the broader group criteria in the previous scheme but do not qualify under the core groups criteria in the current scheme.

Answered by Amanda Solloway

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Bradford South on 9th March 2023 to Question 156174.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress her Department has made on developing proposals to replace the Business Impact Target set out in the Deregulation Target 2015.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

We plan to replace the current better regulation framework, which is underpinned by the statutory Business Impact Target, with a reformed better regulation framework. This will be aligned with our principles for regulation as set out in “The Benefits of Brexit”.

We are finalising the details of these reforms, which we intend to implement following the repeal of the Business Impact Target via the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness with which regulators have complied with the duty to promote growth in the Deregulation Act 2015.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Since it came into effect, the growth duty requires regulators to have regard to the desirability of promoting economic growth, alongside the delivery of protections set out in relevant legislation. Guidance has been produced to assist regulators in fulfilling this responsibility, both at a strategic and operational level, including the proper consideration that must be made before allocating resources, setting enforcement policies, and making sanctioning decisions.

In the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced that the government’s new Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, will oversee a review of the regulator growth duty.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Project Gigabit Winter Update published on 27 February 2023, when she plans to award the contract for Norfolk (Lot 7).

Answered by Julia Lopez

The Project Gigabit procurement for Norfolk launched in April 2022 and is currently in its final stages. Building Digital UK is assessing the bids put forward by suppliers and we aim to award a contract to the successful supplier shortly.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to paragraph 5.2 of the Autumn Statement 2022, CP751, published on 17 November 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on developing a new approach to consumer protection after April 2024.

Answered by Amanda Solloway

The Autumn Statement set out a commitment to work with consumer groups and industry on a new approach to consumer protection in energy markets. Officials are proactively reaching out to stakeholders, to discuss their views on the issue. The Government will set out its position when this assessment is complete, in time to deliver a new approach from April 2024.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of an (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory scheme to require drive through fast food outlets to print the car registration details of each customer's vehicle on the packaging containing their purchased items.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

Defra does not intend to carry out a formal assessment of the potential merits of requiring drive through fast food outlets to implement a vehicle registration number printing system for packaging. We have concerns that the additional burden this would place on businesses and those responsible for enforcement would outweigh the benefits. We support voluntary initiatives aimed at reducing litter.

In recent years we have bolstered local authority enforcement powers, such as by allowing them to issue the keeper of a vehicle, from which litter is thrown, with a civil penalty. Councils also have powers to issue Community Protection Notices which can be used to require the owner of premises, such as fast-food outlets, to take certain actions to tackle litter created by their activities.

Furthermore, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has recently updated planning guidance to clarify the powers available to councils to ensure new hot food takeaways do not increase the impact of litter on local communities. The guidance gives councils advice on what rules they can enforce when new takeaways open, such as ensuring they install more bins and anti-litter signs.

Social Security

Found: Conservative, Faversham and Mid Kent) (added 30 Nov 2021; removed 17 Oct 2022) 0 of 22 (0.0%) James Wild

Found: Geoffrey Clifton -Brown Peter Grant Kate Green Antony Higginbotham Angela Richardson James Wild