Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministerial Statement

Departmental Response Times

19 September 2023 · 3 other contributors

Opened by Clive Betts Lab Sheffield South East

HousingParliamentary ProcedureLocal Government

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Clive Betts raised concerns about departmental response times in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.

Key points

  • The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee has published a special report on the Department's response times.
  • The committee expects timely responses from the Government within two months of report publication.
  • The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has consistently failed to meet this standard, with an average delay of almost six months across seven reports.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Government Statement

Clive Betts

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee has published a special report on the Department's response times. The committee scrutinises day-to-day issues affecting constituents and expects timely responses from the Government within two months of report publication, acknowledging delays are rare exceptions. However, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has consistently failed to meet this standard, with an average delay of almost six months across seven reports during the current session. Specific cases include a response on adult social care eight months late, social housing ten months late, and permitted development rights one year and eight months late. The Committee chair expressed concern over repeated delays despite previous promises for improvement. Recently, responses to reforms in the private rented sector are still overdue despite formal and informal requests made by the committee. The statement calls for immediate response within two weeks along with an explanation of delays and assessment from the Cabinet Secretary, urging the Liaison Committee to review Government response times.

Other contributors (3)
  • Mike Amesbury

    Question

    I thank the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), and all its members for the valuable work they do shaping, challenging and scrutinising policy and holding people to account. My constituents, and those of many other hon. Members, are waiting with bated breath for reforms to the private rented sector. The Committee has produced an excellent and powerful report about it, but can I clarify that a response to that report has been requested from the Department on several occasions?

    Minister reply

    Yes. The Committee works on a cross-party basis and our report on the PRS was produced unanimously. We have raised our concerns about the delayed response in person with Ministers at our hearings, and we have also written to Ministers, but still we have not had a response.

  • Bob Blackman Con Harrow East

    Question

    I take no pleasure in rising on the subject of the statement either. I have had the opportunity to serve on the Committee and its predecessors for the last 13 years, since I have been in Parliament, and over that period of time we have worked very hard, on a cross-party basis, to make sure our recommendations are agreed on a cross-party basis. Does the Chair of the Select Committee agree that the Government’s response to the Committee’s report on exempt accommodation was some six months late? Given that I was promoting a private Member’s Bill, which has now become an Act of Parliament, not having a response from the Government was hardly helpful in guiding the House or the House of Lords. Will he confirm that position and that many of the recommendations that the Committee has made would have helped the Government to deliver much better service for all our constituents?

    Minister reply

    Yes, the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. He has served on the Committee all the time I have been Chair. We have worked together closely and he has done an absolutely outstanding job, both on the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which deals with exempt accommodation. Given that the Committee undertook a report on the issue of exempt accommodation, it would have been really helpful, not merely to the hon. Gentleman but to all Members of the House who were looking at that particularly challenging issue, if the Government’s response to our report had been available in a timely fashion, as it could have informed the deliberations and considerations of the hon. Gentleman’s excellent Bill.

Shadow Comment

Mike Amesbury

The shadow minister thanked the Chair of the Select Committee and its members for their valuable work in scrutinising policy. He expressed concern over the lack of a response to the report on reforms to the private rented sector, highlighting that constituents are eagerly awaiting these reforms.

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