theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps he has taken to encourage trade between Commonwealth countries. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The UK is committed to working with Commonwealth partners and institutions to further strengthen intra-Commonwealth trade and investment. For example, at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Foreign Secretary announced UK funding for the Commonwealth Standards Network (CSN) and the Commonwealth Investment Network (CIN).

The CSN reduces barriers to trade across the Commonwealth by supporting members to meet international standards and thus increase their access to international markets.

The CIN supports small and vulnerable members access investment opportunities through knowledge exchange, capacity building and facilitating relationships with private sector stakeholder groups.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency to benefit from the UK-Japan strategic partnership. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The Government is taking forward a new Industrial Strategy Partnership with Japan to support all UK businesses, including those from Buckingham and Bletchley through joint initiatives in innovation, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing and furthering our economic security partnership in support of growth, jobs and access to essential goods and services needed for the UK's future prosperity.

The Government is also supporting businesses in taking advantage of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in a variety of ways, from online export guidance to events with local chambers and trade associations.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his Commonwealth counterparts on taking steps to strengthen supply chains. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: This Government regularly discusses and takes action to improve mutual supply chain resilience with Commonwealth partners via our network of bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral alliances. Our information sharing MOU with Australia, recent FTA with India, dialogues with partners including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and discussions at the G7, G20, OECD, and WTO reflect the commitment we share to promoting long-term economic stability through transparent, diversified, and sustainable global supply chains. We look forward to continuing discussions at the Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting later this month.
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Lorraine Beavers:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to encourage the insourcing of public services. \p Georgia Gould: This Government is determined to deliver high quality public services and better value for money for the taxpayer. To further this aim, the government has committed to introducing a public interest test to assess whether expiring contracts could be better delivered in-house. This will ensure that the government makes evidenced-based decisions on the best way to deliver public services.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many complaints the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards has received in the period since his remit was amended to allow him to initiate investigations unilaterally. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The 2024-2025 Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards Annual Report covers the exercise of the Independent Adviser’s functions for the year. This was published on 29 May 2025, and is available here.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local billing authorities are required to collect data on the name of each adult in a household when billing a dwelling for council tax. \p Jim McMahon: Councils are required to assess who is liable for council tax for a specific dwelling and whether any discounts, disregards, reductions, premiums or exemptions are applicable to the dwelling or its occupants. However, councils are not required to collect data on the name of every individual resident of a household.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of households that are paying the second homes premium on council tax. \p Jim McMahon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 51402 on 20 May 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2025 to Question 52861 on Empty Property: Council Tax, how many council tax appeals relating to second homes have been considered by the Valuation Tribunal Service since July 2024. \p Jim McMahon: The Valuation Tribunal for England have cleared 1102 Council Tax Liability appeals since 1 July 2024. Fewer than 100 of these cases referenced issues relating specifically to second homes.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Valuation Tribunal Service's Council Tax Manual has been updated since the 2022 edition published on its website. \p Jim McMahon: The last published update for the Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) Council Tax Manual was August 2023. This document can be accessed through the VTS website here. A further update is near completion and will be published in July 2025.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to prevent unitary authorities formed through the Local Government Reorganisation requiring exception financial support. \p Jim McMahon: On 5 February, the Government issued invitations to councils in two-tier areas in England and neighbouring unitary councils to prepare proposals for local government reorganisation. The invitation sets out the criteria against which proposals will be assessed, including that unitary local government must be the right size to achieve efficiencies improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. It is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of their whole area.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to make changes to (a) regulation and (b) guidance in relation to council tax (i) collection and (ii) debts. \p Jim McMahon: The government has announced it will be consulting on modernising the administration of council tax, including its collection and enforcement. The government will consider any necessary changes to regulations or guidance following this consultation.
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Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending National Insurance Contributions relief to town or parish councils that undertake functions typically carried out by principal authorities. \p Jim McMahon: The government recognises the important role town and parish councils have in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of their communities but has no direct role in funding parish and town councils, and therefore has not provided compensation for the increase in the rate of employer’s National Insurance Contributions, consistent with the approach taken by the previous government.

We recognise that the increase in the rate of employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will lead to increased costs for some parish councils, which may require them to increase their precept. We recognise that decisions to increase precepts are not taken lightly by parish councils.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for making a decision on local government restructuring in Surrey; whether she plans to hold a formal consultation process on the number of new unitary councils to be created; when she plans to publish the proposed council (a) wards and (b) divisions for the new unitary councils; and what the latest date is for the passage of secondary legislation to allow for shadow unitary elections in May 2026. \p Jim McMahon: I am currently considering the submissions for unitary local government in Surrey that were received on 9 May. Before a proposal can be implemented the statute – the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – requires consultation. As I set out to the House on 3 June, I will provide the House with a full update shortly.

My expectation remains that in Surrey there will be elections to new shadow unitary councils in May 2026 with a view to going live in April 2027. Warding or divisional arrangements would be included in the secondary legislation that gives effect to a proposal and makes provision for those elections. Any legislation would need to be in force ahead of the date by which the notice of the elections must be published, which for the ordinary day of election in 2026 is 30 March 2026.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025  to Question 50516 on Trade Unions: Finance, whether she plans to update that guidance once the Employment Rights Bill is passed. \p Jim McMahon: No.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has considered extending the remit of Woking Borough Council’s Commissioners to assist the new shadow unitary authority in Woking following local government reorganisation. \p Jim McMahon: Commissioners were appointed to Woking Borough Council in 2023 to facilitate recovery and improvement, following historic commercial mismanagement and major governance failures, with the Council having accumulated an extraordinary level of debt, far exceeding usual levels of borrowing for a council of its size. Woking has required a significant programme of change to improve its financial position and ensure it is operating to the required standard; this work is ongoing.

I asked that Commissioner input be included in the development of robust unitarisation proposals for Surrey. I am currently considering the submissions for unitary local government that were received on 9 May. As I set out to the House on 3 June in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS676, I will provide the House with a full update shortly. If there were a decision to implement a proposal for unitary local government in Surrey, I would expect that Commissioners’ input will continue to be important as part of the process of moving towards the establishment of unitary authorities.
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Sir Jeremy Hunt:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the Rt hon. Member for Godalming and Ash of 3 April 2025 requesting a meeting with the Minister for Housing and Planning to discuss the Community Infrastructure Levy. \p Matthew Pennycook: As set out in previous replies to the Rt Hon Member on this subject, my Department is continuing to review the issues highlighted in the correspondence shared as part of the government’s commitment to strength the existing system of developer contributions.

I would be more than happy to meet with the Rt Hon Member and my office has contacted his with a view to finding a mutually convenient date and time.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Unite trade union press release entitled Birmingham Bin Strike Escalates, published on of 21 May 2025, what role the Best Value Commissioners in Birmingham City Council have in the ACAS negotiations between Birmingham City Council and the Unite trade union on the bin collection industrial action. \p Jim McMahon: Local Authorities are independent employers responsible for agreeing pay and terms for their workforce, and so the ACAS negotiations relating to Birmingham's waste service are rightly being held between the Council and the Unite trade union. Commissioners do not have a direct role in these negotiations; their role is to support the council in line with Directions from the Secretary of State, and ensure the Council is meeting its Best Value duty.
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Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps (a) her Department and (b) the Building Safety Regulator is taking to reduce decision times by the regulator for approving multi-storey residential blocks. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) both recognise the impact of Gateway delays on the construction pipeline of high-rise projects and are taking action to address the current challenges.

The Department is working closely with the BSR to improve processing times and has already taken several actions. As a new function, the BSR has needed to refine and improve its processes. We have provided funding to the BSR to recruit an extra 30 frontline staff to bolster its capacity. On 14 May, the BSR also launched a campaign to directly recruit Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) with significant further recruitment planned in June 2025. The impact of these mitigations will scale up in the coming months as the BSR continues to clear applications.

MHCLG and the BSR are also reviewing better ways to access specialist advice on multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) which assess applications to enable faster assessment times.

Whilst the BSR and MHCLG are exploring all possible opportunities to strengthen the new Gateway process and guidance to industry, it is important to recognise that a significant volume of applications continue to be invalidated or rejected for not meeting the legislative requirements. These are buildings that, had they been constructed, might have placed residents at risk and/or living in housing that did not meet long-standing requirements. It is also important to note that additional information requests for missing details in applications can add between at least 4-6 weeks onto the process. In recognition of this, the BSR issued new guidance in March 2025 to assist applications in preparing high quality applications.
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Olivia Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Community Right to Buy powers proposed in the Devolution White Paper to allow community organisations to take over (a) moorlands and (b) peatbogs. \p Alex Norris: This government is committed to supporting communities across the country and is going further than ever before in giving community organisations the ability to own and manage assets for the benefit of the wider community.

As part of the English Devolution Bill, we will legislate to introduce a strong new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, empowering local people to bring community spaces back into community ownership. We are currently working on the details of the policy, but we want to ensure that it is focused on those assets that play an important role in creating thriving, prosperous communities.
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Connor Naismith:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that the McCloud remedy is enacted for members of the Firefighters' Pension Scheme. \p Alex Norris: Neither the policy responsibility nor administrative responsibility for the firefighters’ pension scheme falls to the Department of Work and Pensions. There have, therefore, been no such discussions.

The Public Service Pensions and Judicial Act 2022 provides that all eligible members will be given a choice to remedy the discrimination set out in the McCloud judgment. Implementation of McCloud remedy is an administrative matter, and the firefighters’ pension scheme is locally administered by each of the individual fire and rescue authorities in England. The government continues to work closely with the fire sector to support the effective implementation of the McCloud remedy for all affected individuals.
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John Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department has taken to implement the Northern Ireland Enhanced Investment Zone. \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.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on Northern Powerhouse Rail. \p Alex Norris: As stated in the Autumn Budget, this government is committed to securing delivery of the Transpennine Route Upgrade and maintaining momentum on Northern Powerhouse Rail by progressing planning and design work to support future delivery, with further details to be set out in due course.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance entitled Guidance for the management of Private Office information and records, published on 29 December 2023, whether her Department is archiving Ministers' official diaries; and whether official diaries include a record of a Minister's location. \p Alex Norris: The Department keeps, and archives, Ministerial diaries in line with the published guidance.
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Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she expects councils to receive feedback on their local government reorganisation plans. \p Jim McMahon: On 3 June I updated the House to confirm that my Department had provided individual written feedback to each area on the interim plans for local government reorganisation that they submitted by 21 March 2025. Areas have been encouraged to share that feedback with MPs and I also published a summary of the feedback to support all areas in progressing their proposals and in the interests of transparency.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she attended her Ministerial offices in Marsham Street in person on (a) 22, (b) 23, (c) 24 and (d) 25 April 2025. \p Alex Norris: The DPM works across multiple locations each week, including 2 Marsham Street and 70 Whitehall. The details of ministerial routines are not shared for security reasons.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that vacant commercial properties owned by institutional landlords do not inhibit small businesses' access to affordable premises. \p Alex Norris: This Government is committed to revitalising our high streets and tackling vacancy. To that end, we have introduced High Street Rental Auctions, new powers for local authorities to bring vacant units back into use by auctioning the lease. We anticipate this will increase cooperation between landlords and local authorities regarding vacant units and make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and local businesses.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review of her plans to close regional offices, in the context of her Department's press release entitled Thousands of Civil Service roles moved out of London in latest reform to the state, published on 14 May 2025. \p Alex Norris: There are no plans to review the decision to close six MHCLG offices by the end of 2026. The Department will continue to progress toward having 50% of staff based outside of London by 2030 compared to 23% in 2020. In doing so MHCLG will maintain at least one office in every English region and in each nation of the United Kingdom.
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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish all (a) research and (b) reports (i) commissioned and (ii) requested by her Department on (A) the Jewish community and (B) Jewish groups and organisations in each of the last three years. \p Alex Norris: This Department has not commissioned any research or reports on the Sikh community, Sikh groups and organisations. The Department did commission some insight research during 2024 with members of the Jewish community in the aftermath of October 7th. We intend to publish the report from this work in due course.
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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data her Department collects on Jewish people in order to meet its public sector equality duty. \p Alex Norris: The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public authorities to have due regard to certain equality considerations when exercising their functions, like making decisions. The Department applies the Cabinet Office's consultation principles when consulting as part of the policy making process.

Individual assessments are made by specific policy teams, and any data involved in the assessment process is not held centrally. Details of MHCLG’s public consultations can be found at: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - Citizen Space.
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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data her Department holds on the number of Sikh people living in deprivation. \p Alex Norris: We do not hold or collect data specifically on people from religious communities living in deprivation. The Indices of deprivation (2019) are publicly available and can be used to identify patterns of deprivation across England and Wales which could subsequently be cross-checked against Census data relating to the geographic locations of people who identified with a religion.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to tackle Islamist sectarianism. \p Alex Norris: Government policy plays a key role in supporting thriving and resilient communities. We are committed to bridging divisions between communities, challenging hatred and promoting good inter and intra faith relations. We continue to work closely with community groups, faith and belief groups, charities, and public sector partners to achieve this.
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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding the Government has allocated to help increase levels of reporting of hate crimes by the Sikh community in each of the last five years. \p Alex Norris: All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Sikhs. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this.

Over the last 5 years, the government has provided funding to True Vision – the police hate crime programme and online reporting portal – to encourage communities to report hate crime and reinforce relationships between communities and policing. As a part of this, True Vision has been working with the Sikh Guard (established by the National Sikh Police Association) and Rakkha initiatives to encourage reporting from within Sikh communities.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is funding the Tell MAMA service in Q1 and Q2 of 2025-26. \p Alex Norris: We thank Tell MAMA for their many years of work in monitoring anti-Muslim hatred and supporting victims. We offered Tell MAMA funding for Q1 and Q2 of 2025-26 – and are disappointed that they have declined this offer.
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Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the value for money of new jobs created by Special Economic Zones in Wales. \p Alex Norris: Government applies rigorous value for money assessment during the development of policy, including in relation to the creation of special economic zones. Welsh Freeports and Investment Zones are required to demonstrate value for money before their proposals are approved. Appraisals are carried out in collaboration with the Welsh Government and consider both direct jobs created and wider economic benefits against the costs of the policy interventions, ensuring that public resources are used effectively to deliver the government's growth mission.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the outline content of the expected qualification standards for housing managers under the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023. \p Matthew Pennycook: It is essential that all staff who work in social housing are appropriately skilled to undertake their roles and that they treat social residents with courtesy and respect.

That is why the government is introducing a Competence and Conduct Standard for the social rented sector that will ensure staff have the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours to carry out their roles, including by setting new qualification requirements for senior housing managers and executives.

The new requirements will improve professionalism within the sector, ensuring tenants receive a good service and are always listened to and treated with respect and dignity.

We are carefully considering the responses received to the consultation on proposals for the Standard which took place last year. Our next steps will be to direct the Regulator of Social Housing in the coming months to set the Competence and Conduct Standard, at which point we will set out the detail of the new requirements and also publish our response to the consultation.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will list the documents that set out the relationship between the Electoral Commission and (a) the Government and (b) Parliament. \p Rushanara Ali: The Electoral Commission is the statutory body responsible for overseeing elections and regulating political finance in the UK. It is independent of government and is accountable to – and funded by – the UK Parliament for its reserved functions through the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission. Its role, powers and governance arrangements are set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to issue updated guidance to local authorities to ensure (a) fair and (b) consistent access for young people to homelessness support services. \p Rushanara Ali: Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people. Youth homelessness will be considered as part of our long-term, cross-government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness for good. Local authorities need to consider homelessness support for young people as part of the Homelessness Code of Guidance (Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities - Guidance - GOV.UK), which includes the duties, and obligations on local authorities towards people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average cost to a local authority is of holding a (a) Parliamentary and (b) local authority by-election; and whether information is held by type of local authority ward. \p Rushanara Ali: The cost of UK Parliamentary elections is met directly by the Consolidated Fund. The estimated cost of a Parliamentary by-election is stated in the relevant Charges Order. The latest order can be found here.

The Department does not hold any data on the costs of local authority elections and by-elections.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41457 on Local Government: Elections, whether the public can request data held by (a) returning officers and (b) electoral registration officers through Re-Use of Public Sector Information requests. \p Rushanara Ali: Regulation 3 of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 defines the public sector bodies to which the Regulations apply, and neither Returning Officers nor Electoral Registration Officers are defined as public sector bodies for these purposes. Consequently, the public are not able to request data held by either Returning Officers or Electoral Registration Officers via these Regulations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of Social Housing Action Campaign's research entitled Tribunals Research Finds Overcharging in 70% of Cases as HA Service Charge Income Soars, published in February 2025; what assessment she has made of trends in the level of service charges being found unreasonable in law; and what steps her Department is taking to prevent unreasonable service charge decisions. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises the considerable financial strain that rising services charges place on leaseholders and tenants. The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on a range of factors, including the terms of a lease or tenancy agreement and the age and condition of a building.

By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Overcharging through service charges is completely unacceptable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.

My Department does not hold data on the number of unreasonable service charge challenges that are upheld by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

The Leasehold and Freeport Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report.

The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has put enforcement procedures in place for local authorities that do not follow their statutory duties under the Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities, published on 22 February 2018. \p Rushanara Ali: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for setting the national framework for housing, including the legislation and Homelessness Code of Guidance to which councils must have regard.

Compliance with legislation, guidance, and the statutory homelessness duties rests with local councils. It is the responsibility of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to investigate individual complaints and take action where they consider councils have not applied their duties correctly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_298

Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to tackle rough sleeping in the Birmingham City Council area. \p Rushanara Ali: For 2025/26, the department has allocated over £3.6 million to Birmingham City Council across rough sleeping grants.

The Government will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_299

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect supported housing in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire. \p Rushanara Ali: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 51474 on 19 May 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_300

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47263 on Returning Officers, whether she provides guidance to local authorities on whether Electoral (a) Returning Officers and (b) Registration Officers are considered to be part of local authorities in relation to the rights to access public sector information. \p Rushanara Ali: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 41457 on 3 April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_301

Monica Harding:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timeline is for the abolition of marriage value as set out in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44852 on 22 April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_302

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she expects Locality to open the window for grant applications for funding to support communities with developing neighbourhood plans in 2025-26. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government will make an announcement in respect of support for neighbourhood planning in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_303

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2025 to Question 44048 on Environmental Delivery Plans, whether measures that require permanent maintenance will be funded from the initial levy. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44048 on 24 April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Dr Rosena Allin-Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of empty properties on the rental market in (a) Tooting and (b) Greater London. \p Matthew Pennycook: Statistics on empty properties are published annually and are accessible on gov.uk here. We do not hold records on vacant homes per constituency.

Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.

Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_305

Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make the industry standard for letterbox height mandatory for all (a) new-build properties and (b) new front door replacements. \p Alex Norris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19554 on 18 December 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people eligible for automatic release from prison after serving 75 per cent of their sentence were convicted of (a) actual bodily harm and (b) grievous bodily harm. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: No prisoners are eligible for automatic release at the 75% point.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_307

Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the potential benefits of outsourcing services and providing services in-house. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Government is committed to ensuring professional Facility Management services across its prison and probation estate. A 2023 assessment conducted in partnership with the Cabinet Office determined that an insourced solution was not the preferred option for future prison and probation maintenance services. Financial analysis determined that an outsourced option would be more cost effective and deliver the best value for money. A programme of work has been initiated that will put in place new contracts for the provision of maintenance services for prisons and probation. These are being competitively tendered. However, this approach is kept under constant review to ensure we get the best value for taxpayers’ money.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_308

Sarah Bool:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Extended Determinate Sentences have been handed down in England and Wales in the last 10 years (a) in total (b) by specific offense. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders in England and Wales found guilty and given an extended determinate sentence, up to December 2024.

This data is available by offence from the Outcomes by Offence Data tool accessed from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_309

Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timeline is for publishing the planned White Paper on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster to the answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53641.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_310

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that place funding for special school pupils is increased in line with (a) inflation and (b) special educational requirements. \p Catherine McKinnell: Special schools receive £10,000 per place, alongside high needs top-up funding, which is paid directly by local authorities to the schools in which their placements are made. It is the top-up funding which is intended to reflect the cost of special educational provision in excess of the place funding, and the department’s guidance to local authorities is that top-up funding levels should be kept under review to reflect changes in costs, such as those incurred through overall levels of inflation and changes in provision.

High needs funding for children and young people with complex needs will be £1 billion higher this financial year than last year. This £1 billion increase, and the additional funding for special schools to help with staff-related costs, will bring total high needs funding to well over £12 billion in 2025/26.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-05 conversation_311

Sir Julian Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on reform of the parental complaints process to include mandatory mediation. \p Catherine McKinnell: It is important that parents and carers have the right to raise complaints with schools and feel they are able to do this and have their concerns heard and addressed by schools. Schools are required to have a complaints policy in place and to act in compliance with this where complaints are raised.

There are routes of escalation for complaints where parents and carers believe complaints have not been handled compliantly, or a school has not adhered to education law. Mediation is an option schools can offer where they deem it appropriate and necessary to support bringing a resolution to complaints.

The department is working and engaging with the sector and parents to understand how the system can be made clearer and simpler, reduce duplication, improve the relationship between schools and families and how this may reduce the number of complaints whilst upholding and maintaining parent and carers rights.