theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 60122 on Armed Forces: Buildings, if he will list the locations of his Department's seven sites in Fylde constituency. \p Al Carns: The location of the seven sites in Fylde constituency, managed by the Ministry of Defence, can be found below:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much their Department has spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for languages other than (i) British Sign Language and (ii) languages native to the UK for people contacting (A) their Department and (B) its agencies in 2025. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide language services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provisions of the Equality Act.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

The total cost of translation and interpretation services in FY24/25 was £30,208,228.05, excluding British Sign Language and the Welsh language.

To support the answer to part b, the below tables show the split per contract and per commissioning body for FY 24/25. These tables include interpretation and translation services only.

Lot 1 Contract (Face to Face)

Excludes: English

Commissioning Body

Total FY 24/25

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

£25,921,301.19

The Probation Service

£1,116,839.04

Crown Prosecution Service

£316,223.31

Cafcass

£241,885.26

HM Prison Service

£105,849.83

Legal Aid Agency

£77,950.08

Office of the Public Guardian

£3,510.95

HM Inspectorate of Prisons

£815.90

Official Solicitor and Public Trustee

£189.34

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman

£329.20

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

£50.65

Total

£27,784,944.75

Translation & Transcription Contract

Excludes Language pairs:

English (United Kingdom) > Welsh (United Kingdom)

Welsh (United Kingdom) > English (United Kingdom)

English (United Kingdom) > English (United Kingdom)

Commissioning Body

Total FY 24/25

HM Prison Service

£1,485,869.95

Official Solicitor and Public Trustee

£284,540.39

The Probation Service

£280,647.57

Crown Prosecution Service

£143,853.76

Cafcass

£116,820.56

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

£64,112.15

Independent Monitoring Authority

£6,057.43

HQ

£4,012.18

Office of the Public Guardian

£6,496.96

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

£1,095.89

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman

£24,431.67

HMIPEW

£3,479.31

Independent Monitoring Board

£270.13

Legal Aid Agency

£11.56

Parole Board

£1,382.34

HM Inspectorate of Prisons

£201.45

Total

£2,423,283.30
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of effectiveness of her Department's programmes for supporting offenders in returning to employment in Sutton Coldfield constituency. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers to get more people with convictions into work.

We have launched regional Employment Councils, including for the region East, North & West Midlands. For the first time, they bring businesses together with probation and the Department of Work and Pensions to support offenders leaving prison.

In addition, Prison Employment Leads, Employment Hubs, ID and Banking Administrators and Employment Advisory Boards are in every resettlement prison, including at HMP’s Birmingham, Oakwood and Featherstone in the West Midlands region. They play a key role in getting offenders work-ready, matching them to jobs on release and linking prisons with local businesses.

The proportion of ex-offenders in employment within six months of release in the West Midlands was 25.7% in the year to March 2024, an increase of 5.7 percentage points from the previous reporting year to March 2023.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will consider reviewing sentencing guidelines to increase the severity of the punishment for repeat offenders of graffiti. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The maximum sentences available for criminal offences are set by Parliament and the maximum penalty for the offence of criminal damage is ten years’ imprisonment.

The independent judiciary will determine the appropriate sentence in individual cases within the maximums set by Parliament, and in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

In October 2019, the Council issued guidelines on criminal damage, which provides sentencers with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. This is available at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/crown-court/item/criminal-damage-other-than-by-fire-value-exceeding-5000-racially-or-religiously-aggravated-criminal-damage/.

Whilst the Government has no current plans to ask the Council to consider reviewing the criminal damage guidelines, it is open to individuals to approach the Council to ask that they do so.
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Liz Saville Roberts:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what categories of information are routinely collected by prisons on prisoners. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Prisons collect a wide range of information. The main categories are: personal and demographic; legal and custodial; health and wellbeing; risk and behavioural assessments; education and employment; rehabilitation and progress monitoring; and daily activities and privileges.
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Liz Saville Roberts:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will list the number of care experienced prisoners with home addresses in Wales that were in prison in (a) Wales and (b) England by the local authority of their home address in each of the last five years. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: We are committed to addressing the disproportionate number of care-experienced prisoners in England and Wales, both by improving support for people with care experience while in the criminal justice system, and by working with colleagues across government to reduce the number of people with care experience who enter the criminal justice system.

Whilst we are working to improve data, our records are primarily based on children and adults self-reporting care experience and there are many reasons why people may choose not to disclose this information. We are therefore unable to provide reliable figures to answer these questions.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on increasing the number of convictions for tool theft. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Lord Chancellor regularly engages with the Home Secretary on a range of criminal justice matters and recognises the serious impact that tool theft has on tradespeople and small businesses.

The Ministry of Justice and Home Office are working closely through the National Vehicle Crime Group, which brings together all police forces in England and Wales to coordinate efforts to reduce vehicle-related thefts, including the theft of tools from vans.

With regards to individual cases, convictions and sentences is a matter for the courts based on the evidence in the case before them.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 60731 on Elections: Essex, which local elections will take place on that day. \p Jim McMahon: Elections are scheduled to elect Councillors to Basildon Borough Council, Brentwood Borough Council, Castle Point Borough Council, Colchester City Council, Epping Forest District Council, Essex County Council, Harlow District Council, Rochford District Council, Southend-on-Sea City Council and Thurrock Council.

The government's consultation on Devolution Priority Programme areas closed on 13 April. We are now carefully considering the evidence collected to determine whether the statutory tests have been met in each of the areas, including Greater Essex.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase political engagement amongst young people. \p Rushanara Ali: The government, in its manifesto, committed to increasing the engagement of young people in our democracy, by giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections. The government believes that enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections will foster early and sustained participation in civic life and enhance engagement in our democratic processes. We want young people to find their voice and exercise their right to vote – registering to vote is a vital first step towards doing that.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what evidence she will use to decide on the composition of unitary councils in Cambridgeshire. \p Jim McMahon: New unitary councils must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. The population size of 500,000 or more – as set out in the invitation and in the English Devolution White Paper – is a guiding principle, not a target. We understand that there should be flexibility, especially given our ambition to build out devolution and take account of housing growth, alongside Local Government Reorganisation, and have asked that all proposals, whether they are at the guided level, above it, or below it, should set out the rationale for the proposed approach clearly.

All proposals will be assessed against all the criteria in the invitation. Decisions on the most appropriate option for each area will be judgements in the round, having regard to the statutory guidance and the available evidence. That evidence will include information provided by the councils as part of their proposals, representations received during the statutory consultation, and other relevant information available.
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Sarah Bool:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed Fair Funding Review 2.0 on the financial settlement for North Northamptonshire Council. \p Jim McMahon: On 20 June 2025, we launched the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation on proposals to update and reform the funding system through the 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement. Subject to consultation, our proposals will create a balanced, more transparent and simpler Settlement.

We will publish the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this year, which will inform local authorities, including North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire Councils, of their provisional multi-year allocations, and allow authorities to make budget decisions and plan for the course of the multi-year Settlement.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 53762 on Licensing Laws: Fees and Charges, what her planned timetable is for publishing the response to that consultation. \p Jim McMahon: The response to the consultation Local Authority Principles and Objectives: gov.uk (Local authority funding reform: objectives and principles) was published on Friday 20 June 2025. The link to the response can be found gov.uk here.

In parallel, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation, which sets out further questions on Sales, Fees and Charges reform. The link to that consultation is gov.uk here.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with Lancashire County Council on the financial sustainability of local services under the proposed devolution deal. \p Jim McMahon: The funding and delivery of local services provided by local authorities including Lancashire County Council is separate from the Lancashire Combined County Authority. There have therefore been no discussions about the financial sustainability of local services in relation to devolution. We are continuing to work with Lancashire Combined County Authority to deepen their existing devolution agreement and, dependent on their ongoing governance review, we will explore a path towards mayoral devolution for the region.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the criteria by which communities may qualify for capital grants from upper tier local authorities for physical and social regeneration funding. \p Jim McMahon: At Spending Review, we announced support for up to 350 deprived communities, which includes the 75 places named in the Plan for Neighbourhoods in March 2025. The investment will support communities to drive forward the changes they want to see in their neighbourhoods, championing local leadership, fostering community engagement and strengthening social cohesion. Further details will be published in due course.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 54880 on Council tax: billing, whether local billing authorities are able to require the individual residents of a dwelling to declare whether the property is their (a) primary and (b) secondary residence. \p Jim McMahon: The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 requires billing authorities to take reasonable steps to determine whether any discounts or premiums are applicable. This includes a power to require information to be provided about the persons liable for the bill on a dwelling. It is for each authority to decide when to use these powers.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust's decision to cease using fire co-responders in category on cardiac medical emergencies on the viability of fire stations in the South West. \p Alex Norris: Collaboration between emergency services has a vital role to play in keeping the public safe in a way that optimises efficiency and effectiveness. However, it is for local emergency service providers to decide what collaborative activities will best serve their communities’ needs.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 55289 on Police: Employment Contributions, whether the methodology used to calculate the National Insurance mitigation for police officers is the same as that used to calculate the funding for firefighters. \p Alex Norris: Government funding for fire and rescue services is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) in the form of revenue support grant (RSG) and retained business rates.

In recognition of the decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions, the Government will provide £515 million to English local councils, including mayoral combined authorities and fire and rescue authorities, allocated based on an assessment of each council’s share of relevant net service expenditure.

The 2025/26 LGFS was published on 3 February and sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £69.1m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.
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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support (a) the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and (b) other local fire and rescue services to (i) manage risks from (A) wildfires, (B) flooding and (C) other major incidents, and (ii) collaborate with police and ambulance services. \p Alex Norris: Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, such as a wildfires, flooding, and other major incidents. Under the National Framework, FRAs are required to prepare Community Risk Management Plans, having regard to the views of other key local responders. These local plans identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks, and make provision for prevention and protection activities, and appropriate response to incidents.

We work with the National Fire Chiefs Council, FRAs and Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) to maintain, review and develop capabilities. This includes multi- agency working and use of the Joint Emergency Services Principles (JESIP) framework, that improves co-ordination and collaboration among blue light services and with other partners.

The Government is providing funding of £17.9m in 2025/26 to FRAs who host national resilience capabilities, including Royal Berkshire FRS. These capabilities are widely used in day-to-day operations by FRSs and help to enhance both local responses, and responses to major and national scale incidents. Further, the Government provides funding of £15.1m in 2025/26 to the lead authority on national resilience (Merseyside) to assure the capabilities.

Since 2024 the Government has also funded a national resilience wildfire advisor.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the target number of civil servants in her Department is in each year of the Spending Review 2025. \p Alex Norris: We are aiming to reduce the number of Civil Servants working in this department by at least 10% over the course of the Spending Review period. This in line with the government’s wider Civil Service reform plan and commitment to reducing administration costs of the civil service by 15% by 2030.

We are implementing an ambitious efficiency plan to support this objective, focused primarily on reducing back-office costs and building a leaner, more efficient, and highly skilled workforce. This will enable us to deliver the government’s priorities while maintaining the flexibility to respond to emerging needs. Civil Servants in frontline roles will continue to be aligned with the funding and priority programmes that underpin these activities.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much their Department has spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for languages other than (i) British Sign Language and (ii) languages native to the UK for people contacting (A) their Department and (B) its agencies in 2025. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG spent £59,064.46 on translation and interpretation services in FY24/25, excluding the languages specified in the question.

MHCLG does not report on translation and interpretation separately.

MHCLG does not pay for these costs for any of its agencies.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, April 2025, published on 30 May 2025, what the services commissioned from Allied Publicity Services Manchester were. \p Alex Norris: These data lines were published in error. The relevant publication has now been updated
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Gavin Robinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on developing the Enhanced Investment Zone for Northern Ireland. \p Alex Norris: Since confirmation at Autumn Budget of the continuation of the Enhanced Investment Zone, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has worked in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive to drive forward the co-development of the design and delivery of the Enhanced Investment Zone. Further detail on the focus of the Enhanced Investment Zone will be confirmed later this year, following significant progress on developing proposals for the sectoral focus.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's transparency data, MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, if she will publish the specification of the research commissioned from Frontier Economics Ltd. \p Alex Norris: The research commissioned from Frontier Economics Ltd. referenced in MHCLG’s transparency data published on 28 April 2025 refers to two separate contracts: the Towns Fund Evaluation and the UKSPF Intervention Evaluation. A feasibility study for these evaluations, which set out the requirements for the work commissioned, has been published and can be accessed here:
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department has provided for cladding removal and remediation in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25, (c) 2025-26 and (d) each other year of the Spending Review; and how much will be raised in taxes on developers for this purpose. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG has provided for cladding removal and remediation:

(a) 2023-24, £647m (Actuals)

(b) 2024-25, £438m (Actuals)

(c) 2025-26 £1003m (Current financial year budget allocation)

Following the Spending Review which agreed the overall funding envelope for MHCLG, the department will undertake a detailed budget allocation process t for 2026-27 onwards. MHCLG funding for 2026-27 onwards is therefore not currently delegated to a programme level.

We estimate that we will need to raise £3.4billion pounds from the Building Safety Levy. The levy is due to come into operation in October 2026 and is likely to be in operation for ten years. The levy will be reviewed every three years.
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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing funding for the development of neighbourhood plans on parish councils. \p Alex Norris: As part of the Spending Review we’ve looked at all the services and programmes the government supports to identify those that should now be in a position to support themselves without ongoing funding. After more than a decade of taxpayer support, we believe that support for neighbourhood planning groups should be possible without further government funding. Parish and Town Councils have access to their own resources which they can choose to use for neighbourhood planning if they wish. With the end to the national structure for support, planning consultants should be able to innovate and offer groups lower cost support more targeted at their particular ambitions and needs.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37349 on Education: British National (Overseas), what steps her Department has taken (a) before 19 March 2025 and (b) since 19 March 2025, in response to the publication of the report by British Future entitled Working it Out: Hong Kongers, Employment and the Cost of Living, published on 29 October 2024. \p Alex Norris: The UK provides a welcoming home to Hong Kongers today and it will continue to do so for Hong Kongers tomorrow. In March 2025, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced its fifth year of funding for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme, which continues to provide support to Hong Kongers in the UK, including through a network of 12 Welcome Hubs helping BN(O)s understand and connect to services in their local area.

We also recently closed a competitive tender process for the delivery of a new programme to provide English language and employment support for Ukrainians and Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) visa holders. This programme will provide support for up to 4,000 individuals.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 57180 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Internet, if she will publish her Department's Acceptable Use policy. \p Alex Norris: I will deposit a copy in the House library.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many responses have been received for each of her Department's consultations since 4 July 2024. \p Alex Norris: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5412 on 11 October 2024 and the answer to Question UIN xx-xxxx-xxxx on 4 December 2024.
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Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff network events took place in her Department in May 2025; and what the names of those events were. \p Alex Norris: Staff networks are collaborative volunteer networks, organised by staff themselves rather than the department. As a result, events are organised by staff themselves, not the department. We are aware of the following (internally) published events that these networks organised in May 2025.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding is available to support age-adapted housing developments in (a) rural and (b) semi-rural constituencies with high numbers of retired residents. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises the importance of helping older people to live independently at home for as long as possible and enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market, including retirement or sheltered housing.

The Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 includes delivery of supported housing, including for older people, across the country. At the Spending Review the Chancellor announced £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36;

Funding is available through the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to support eligible older and disabled people, including in rural and semi-rural constituencies, to adapt their homes. The government awarded an £86 million in-year uplift to the DFG for 2024-25, bringing the total funding for 2024-25 to £711 million. We are also providing £711 million for 2025-26.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Rural Housing Enabler programme provides grant funding to ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) to deliver and manage a network of independent advisors who work with communities to develop affordable housing schemes across rural England. The advisors help identify suitable development opportunities in communities, and support site owners and community representatives to navigate the planning system and create developments that meet the needs of local people.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increased social housing investment on reducing reliance on private landlords. \p Matthew Pennycook: Over time, increased investment in social housing will reduce reliance on the private rented sector.

At the Spending Review the Chancellor announced £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure the continuation of core funding to (a) Fylde council and (b) other rural councils during the transition from the Rural Services Delivery Grant to the Recovery Grant. \p Jim McMahon: The government took the difficult decision to end the Rural Services Delivery Grant as it did not properly account for need and a large number of predominantly rural councils received nothing from it.

In 2025-26, places with a significant rural population are receiving almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power compared to the previous year, which is a real terms increase.

The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. We are currently consulting on reforming the local government funding system via gov.uk The Fair Funding Review 2.0 and invite views and supporting evidence on this issue and beyond.

Our updated assessment of need will more effectively capture variations in demand for services within a local authority. We are also proposing to continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for the different costs faced in delivering services, including in rural and urban areas. This includes a new proposal to consider the remoteness of an area alongside its accessibility.

We will ensure our approach is informed by the latest data and evidence and are inviting views and supporting evidence from the sector and the public on this approach.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy for all new homes to be built without a gas connection. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises that we need to move away from fossil fuel heating to meet our commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Future Homes Standard (FHS), to be introduced through the Building Regulations in autumn this year, will effectively preclude the use of gas boilers in new homes. We would therefore expect the majority of new homes to be built without a gas connection.

However, the FHS will not set standards for the fuels used, or emissions from, gas cookers or hobs. While most FHS homes are likely to be built with electric cooking (since, as set out above, developments are unlikely to be connected to a gas main), this will ultimately be a choice for individual developers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what percentage of people living in social housing were not in the country (a) five and (b) 10 years ago. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department does not hold the required information to answer the question.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of houses in new towns will be sold at market prices. \p Alex Norris: The government established an independent New Towns Taskforce last year to develop recommendations on suitable locations for new towns to create new thriving communities, and act as a catalyst for economic growth. The Taskforce will deliver a final shortlist of recommendations to ministers this summer, including how to deliver and fund new towns.

We are learning lessons from the past to ensure that our next generation of new towns are well-connected, well-designed, sustainable and attractive places where people want to live and have all the infrastructure, amenities and services necessary to sustain thriving communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Part O of Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations on her plans to develop beautiful communities. \p Alex Norris: The intention of Part O is to reduce the risk of overheating in new residential buildings. Overheating in buildings has been highlighted as a key risk for the health and productivity of people and businesses in the UK, and we must ensure that new homes do not increase that risk.

The Building Regulations are outcome based and not prescriptive, and two different Part O compliance routes have been put in place to enable design flexibility and allow for innovative, beautiful and compliant designs.

As part of the Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation, which closed in March 2024, we sought evidence on whether current overheating standards are appropriate or require amendment. The Government will set out the evidence it received on Part O during this consultation and its response to this in Autumn 2025, when the Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation response will be published.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Cat Eccles:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to encourage (a) private car park operators and (b) retailers to ensure that parent and child parking bays are properly (i) monitored and (ii) enforced. \p Alex Norris: Provision of parking spaces and management of parking facilities on private land is a matter for private landowners and parking operators, where those are employed. Whilst private landowners and parking operators can provide dedicated parking bays for parents with children, any rules about their use will be enforced by the retailers themselves or private parking firms contracted to manage these spaces.

Where such bays exist, their misuse can attract a notice of a parking charge of up to £100. However, to issue a notice of parking charge private landowners or parking operators have to be a member of the DVLA accredited parking trade association and adhere to the industry Code of Practice. Among other things, this Code of Practice requires to clearly set out parking terms and conditions on signage within car parks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to monitor compliance with consumer protection legislation by private parking companies. \p Alex Norris: The Government is aware of concerns regarding the actions of some private parking operators and is determined to drive up standards across the sector.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.

As part of this, the Government will be launching a consultation on its proposals to raise standards in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on the operation of private parking management and appeals systems. \p Alex Norris: The government is committed to raising standards across the private parking sector. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the government to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. The government is progressing with plans to protect and support motorists and will be launching a consultation in due course.

As part of this work, my officials have regular monthly meetings with the two parking Trade Associations and quarterly meetings with motorist representatives. In addition to these regular meetings, officials also have ad hoc meetings with both groups, dependent on business needs.

On 9th June, I hosted a meeting with the two parking Trade Associations and motorist groups to hear their views on the Code of Practice.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to require water companies to be statutory consultees for housing developments in West Dorset constituency. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 60676 on 23 June 2025.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 57065 on Leasehold: Ground Rent, what her planned timetable is for that proposed legislation. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation. Further details will be announced in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to Local Planning Authorities on allocating reserve sites in their local housing site plans that would only become operational when first-choice sites are unavailable when the building needs occur. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government’s Planning Practice Guidance on housing and economic land availability assessment sets out how local planning authorities should identify and assess sites for their suitability for allocation in their Local Plans.

Local planning authorities, through their local development plans, should establish a housing requirement figure for their whole area, which shows the extent to which their identified housing need can be met over the plan period.

It is for individual local planning authorities to determine the most appropriate strategy to meet the housing needs of their area, and which sites are most suitable to meet their housing needs.

They are expected to justify their approach through public consultation and independent examination of the Local Plan.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Planning Inspectorate has made appeal decisions on asylum accommodation in the last 12 months. \p Matthew Pennycook: Planning appeals are not routinely categorised by whether an appeal features a decision on asylum accommodation. As such, it is not possible to confirm whether any appeals relating to this have been considered in the last 12 months in the time given.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms for restrictions under section 157 of the Housing Act 1985 on rural housing markets. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has not made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement mechanisms for restrictions under section 157 of the Housing Act 1985.

There are currently 52 authorities in England that have areas designated as rural.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much was raised in right to buy receipts in each year since 2011-12; and what proportion of those receipts was spent on affordable housing. \p Matthew Pennycook: Receipts from Right to Buy (or equivalent) sales of local authority stock for the financial year 2012-13 onwards are published in the attached Table. There are no published figures for earlier years.

With regard to the proportion of such receipts spent on affordable housing, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 16195 on 5 December 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with Dorset Council on expanding social housing provision in West Dorset. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to all local authorities, including Dorset Council, after the Spending Review detailing the announcements made in relation to social and affordable housing.

For an overview of them, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 58440 on 17 June 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59412 on Government Departments: Reviews, if her Department will publish the line by line review of its spending conducted for the Spending Review 2025. \p Alex Norris: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is committed making savings and efficiencies, with SR funding allocations agreed on this basis.

These funding allocations – informed by the findings of the ZBR – are the first step in a wider plan to finalise budgets for different projects and programmes, with any necessary savings decided through that process. The savings taken forward will be subject to the normal rigorous business planning processes, and in-year financial management.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has consulted with specialist flooding experts on the potential impact of the proposed new town locations on flooding. \p Matthew Pennycook: The New Towns Programme aims to create environmentally resilient places that support the government’s net-zero agenda through sustainable design, nature enhancement, low-carbon infrastructure, and responsible development, including flood risk mitigation.

In developing proposals for new towns, the Taskforce will work with local leaders and communities to consider the different impact of new towns, including any environmental impacts.