theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_57
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_57

Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of planning protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites in the in the update to the National Planning Policy Framework. \p Matthew Pennycook: The powers secured through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 would allow Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment to be replaced with a new framework of Environmental Outcomes Reports.

The government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and will consider how best to reform environmental assessment with this objective in mind. Alongside, reforming building regulations, we will carefully consider how Environmental Outcomes Reports can be used to support our wider carbon reduction targets. In the meantime, the current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_58
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_58

David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 3829 on Islamophobia, whether she plans to undertake a formal consultation on the definition of Islamophobia. \p Alex Norris: The government engages regularly with faith communities to help foster strong working relationships. We are exploring a more integrated and cohesive approach to tackling racial and religious hatred, including Islamophobia, and further details will be set out in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_59

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Basildon Council on (a) their management of homelessness services and (b) the breaches recorded by that Council of the requirement to avoid placing (i) families with children, (ii) pregnant women and (iii) care leavers in temporary accommodation. \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.

MHCLG’s homelessness advice and support team (HAST) continue to work closely with local authorities, such as Basildon Council, to develop B&B elimination plans to reduce families and vulnerable people being placed in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and we will develop a long-term, cross government strategy, to put us on track to end homelessness.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_60
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of limits on the amount that local authorities can spend on temporary accommodation from the Homelessness Prevention Grant on costs to local authorities. \p Rushanara Ali: This Government has inherited record levels of temporary accommodation, and we recognise the pressure this has put on councils. The Homelessness Prevention Grant was never intended to meet all of councils’ temporary accommodation costs. Councils can and do draw from the wider settlement to meet temporary accommodation costs. The government regularly takes a wide range of evidence into account when determining the overall level of funding available for local government services, including expected temporary accommodation pressures in 2025-26.

The majority of funding provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced in recognition that local councils are best placed to understand the needs of their communities. The Government has confirmed there will be over £5 billion additional government grant funding available for local government services in 2025-26, over and above increases to council tax. Of this, over £2 billion is being made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 18954 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Appointments, for what reason her Department was without Non-Executive Board Members since 7 July 2024. \p Alex Norris: Following the decision to appoint new non-executive board members to the Departmental Board, Mo Baines was appointed as Interim Lead Non-Executive Director in October 2024. An open competition for Non-Executive Directors is also underway to bring the Board to full complement and these appointments will be announced in due course. We have full confidence in our ongoing governance arrangements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_62

Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2025, to Question 20980, on MHCLG: Photography; whether the photographer was recruited (a) via open and fair competition and (b) on a full-time contract; and what the pay grade of the photographer is. \p Alex Norris: The role was recruited via fair and open competition. The occupant is on a fixed term loan from another government department, at the pay grade of Grade 7 FTE.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of new homes built to high standards of environmental resilience; and what proportion of housebuilding projects are meeting those standards. \p Alex Norris: Building sustainable homes for the future is a key goal of this Government. Future standards next year will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and ensures they are fit for a net zero future.

The Future Homes Standard consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024, and a government response has not yet been issued. We fully support the need for low carbon homes, fit for a net zero future. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the Future Homes Standard consultation and will publish the Government response in due course.

In addition, in 2021, Part O of the Building Regulations was introduced to mitigate the risk of overheating in new homes. All new homes must now be designed to minimise the amount of unwanted heat.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_64

Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question HL3199 on Government department: cost effectiveness, what requirements local authorities will have to make efficiency savings as part of the Spending Review Phase 2. \p Jim McMahon: The government has committed to a multi-year Spending Review in Spring 2025.

The government is committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to return the local government sector to a sustainable position. This will be done in partnership with local government and on the principle of giving forward notice and certainty to allow time for councils to plan.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_65
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which individual funding streams to local government in 2025-26 are ring-fenced. \p Jim McMahon: The provisional Settlement for 2025-26 makes available £69 billion for local government, which is a 3.5% real terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The consultation on the provisional settlement launched on 18 December 2024 and closed 15 January 2025. The Government is considering responses and will publish a response at the final settlement. As with previous years, the majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities. As set out in the consultation on the provisional settlement, it is our intent to ringfence a number of the social care grants and we will set out details in due course.

The government has committed to simplifying the wider local funding landscape, reviewing and reducing the number of grants and ringfences, and consolidating grants into the Local Government Finance Settlement wherever possible. This will support local authorities to plan budgets more effectively and have greater freedom to deliver local priorities. We are inviting views until 12 February 2025 on our principles and objectives for local government funding reform through a consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_66

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 20283 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, on what date officials met representatives of the People’s Republic of China; whether special advisers were in attendance; whether representatives of other Departments were in attendance; and whether minutes were kept of the meeting. \p Matthew Pennycook: MHCLG officials attended meetings with representatives of the People’s Republic of China in January, April and December 2024, alongside officials from the FCDO. No special advisers were in attendance.

The purpose of attending these meetings was to explain the operation of the UK planning system and answer related queries. The merits of the proposed application for a new embassy were not discussed. Other clarification meetings took place with London-based embassy staff between May and October 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_67

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data her Department collects on resident satisfaction with local government. \p Jim McMahon: The Local Government Association carries out a triannual survey of resident satisfaction with local government across Great Britain. The data is published and available here.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_68
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_68

Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18565 on Recruitment: Location, how many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are on location-neutral employment terms. \p Alex Norris: None. Almost all members of staff are on a contract which specifies a particular office in which they are based. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 January 2025 to question 21618 which provided the number of staff assigned to work in each of our offices as at 31 December 2024. As at 31 December 2024, 31 members of staff were contractually based at their home; equivalent to less than 1% of the total number of staff in the department.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_69

Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on what date the Government will inform councils on its decision on postponing local elections. \p Jim McMahon: A decision on the requests made by councils to postpone local elections will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible. As set out in my letter of 16 December, these requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_70
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 18951 on Local Government Finance, whether the debt of Woking Borough Council will be redistributed to a new unitary local authority covering Woking. \p Jim McMahon: The English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December announced that the Government will facilitate local government reorganisation for two-tier areas and for unitary councils where there is evidence of failure, or where their size or boundaries may be hindering their ability to deliver sustainable and high-quality public services.

Previous Secretaries of State used statutory powers to intervene in a small number of councils failing their Best Value Duty partly associated with high levels of unsustainable debt. We will work with local leaders to explore how best to support local government reorganisation where there has been failure. We will continue to work with Best Value Commissioners in these councils to support the councils’ financial recovery.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_71
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department’s policy paper entitled Planning Reform Working Paper: Development and Nature Recovery, published on 15 December 2024, and pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 20226 on Environmental Impact Assessment, whether Environmental Outcomes Reports will involve carbon reporting of (a) proposed new construction and (b) embedded carbon in existing buildings. \p Matthew Pennycook: The powers secured through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 would allow Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment to be replaced with a new framework of Environmental Outcomes Reports.

The government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and will consider how best to reform environmental assessment with this objective in mind. Alongside, reforming building regulations, we will carefully consider how Environmental Outcomes Reports can be used to support our wider carbon reduction targets. In the meantime, the current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_72
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_72

David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will list the name of each organisation that responded to the National Planning Policy framework consultation excluding those who asked for their submission to be confidential. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20653 on 24 December 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 19356 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, where the public hearings will take place for the public inquiry. \p Matthew Pennycook: The venue for the public inquiry is Tower Hamlets Professional Development Centre, 229 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 6AB. These details are published at the following link.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the responses to the consultation entitled Changes to various permitted development rights, which closed on on 9 April 2024. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is reviewing feedback from the consultation on changes to various permitted development rights and will publish a response in due course.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_75
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_75

Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the full internal Equality Impact Assessment for changes to Right to Buy discounts. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government published a review of Right to Buy discounts on 30 October 2024. It can be found on gov.uk here. The review concluded that maximum cash discounts should be reduced to pre-2012 levels of between £16,000 and £38,000 to enable councils to replace properties previously sold under the Right to Buy, whilst ensuring that tenants who have lived in, and paid rent on their social homes for many years, retain the opportunity to own their home. The government has not published the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) assessment that was prepared to support the decision.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure biodiversity net gain is not used to override protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites and other designated nature sites. \p Matthew Pennycook: Development is restricted on sites which are designated for environmental or amenity value, and the National Planning Policy Framework requires local plans to identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity.

Biodiversity Net Gain is additional to these protections for nature and only required on new development that needs planning permission, therefore only applying on designated nature sites in the very limited circumstances where such development is permitted.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_77
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_77

Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to discourage landbanking. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government wants to see homes built faster and we recognise the frustrations that stalled or delayed sites can cause to communities.

Once housebuilders have been granted permission for residential development, meeting local housing needs and preferences, we expect to see them built out as quickly as possible.

Local planning authorities already have powers to issue a completion notice to require a developer to complete their development if it is stalled. If they fail to do so, the planning permission for the development will lapse.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December includes policies designed to support increased build out rates, including the promotion of mixed tenure development.

In addition, our New Homes Accelerator aims to unblock and accelerate the delivery of housing developments that have for various reasons become delayed, or which are not progressing as quickly as they could be.

To enhance transparency and accountability in respect of build out rates, the government intend to take steps to implement build out reporting following technical consultation.

We also intend to provide local planning authorities with powers to decline to determine planning applications submitted by developers who have failed to implement previous permissions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of creating new unitary authorities on district council housing allocations in the South West. \p Matthew Pennycook: Strategic policy making authorities, which are normally district councils (in two tier areas), metropolitan districts councils and unitary authorities, are responsible for planning for local housing needs.

The government intends to legislate to create a universal system of strategic planning throughout England. Once this system is established, it is anticipated that Spatial Development Strategies (SDS) will distribute housing needs across the strategic planning area in line with existing or planned infrastructure.

In all areas, local plans will need to be in general conformity with the SDS.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_79
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question xx-xxxx-xxxx on Housing: Construction, how many homes are being delivered under each round of the Brownfield Land Release Fund (a) 1 and (b) 2; and what is the target deadline for delivery in each (i) fund and (ii) round. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) is supporting the release of land that will deliver up to 20,789 homes. A breakdown of funding tranches and delivery deadlines is set out below.

Name of round

Funding

Housing Capacity of Land Released

Land release deadline

BLRF1

£65m

6,564

March 2024

BLRF2/1

£35m

2,407

March 2027

BLRF2/2

£67m

6,531

March 2027

BLRF2/3

£68m

5,287

March 2028
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Alex McIntyre:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of social housing in Gloucester constituency. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, steps her Department is taking to help improve housing standards in the private rented sector. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Renters’ Rights Bill includes provisions that will apply a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time and ensure that local councils have proportionate and effective enforcement powers. We are also introducing Awaab’s Law into the private rented sector. We will launch a consultation this year on the content of the Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to increase the supply of affordable housing (a) in Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) generally. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average grant per unit was for a social rent dwelling in the 2015-18 Affordable Housing Programme. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Affordable Housing Programme for 2015-2018 was extended to 2020 at the Autumn Statement 2014.

However, the programme was interrupted at the 2015 Spending Review and the remaining programme budget was consolidated into the Affordable Homes Programme for 2016-2023.

Delivery data for the 2015-18 programme is set out in the National Audit Office (NAO) Report: The Affordable Homes Programme since 2015. The report can be found on the NAO website here.
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Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to commence section 113 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government set out in its response to the NPPF consultation in December 2024 that we will take the steps necessary to implement build out reporting. This will involve implementing the provisions in section 113 of the Levelling–up and Regeneration Act 2023 through regulations, following technical consultation. These provisions will provide local planning authorities with the power to decline future planning applications made by developers who fail to build out at a reasonable rate earlier planning permissions.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 18376 on MHCLG: Birmingham, what other Government hubs operate in Birmingham; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of merging the departmental office with other Government buildings in Birmingham. \p Alex Norris: Apart from our current location at 23 Stephenson Street, the department does not hold information on other Government hubs operating in or planned by the Government Property Agency for Birmingham. We made the decision to close our Birmingham office to consolidate and further develop our presence in the West Midlands region at our existing second headquarters in Wolverhampton.
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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference page 53 of the National Audit Office's report entitled Dangerous cladding: the government’s remediation portfolio, published on 4 November 2024, what proportion of fire risk appraisals of external walls conducted by developers up to 31 December 2024 (a) have been audited by her Department and (b) did not meet the required standard. \p Alex Norris: The Ministry has begun auditing developer assessments and we will be issuing results in greater volumes over the next few months. We also intend to start publishing data about the audits later this year as part of our quarterly remediation data releases. If a relevant assessment obtained by a developer does not meet the standards set out in the developer remediation contract, the developer would be obligated to address the matter.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled Oxford-Cambridge Arc, published 18 February 2021, whether that policy paper remains her policy. \p Alex Norris: This government has put sustained economic growth at the heart of its agenda and recognises that Oxford to Cambridge has a key role to play in delivering on these ambitions. The Oxford to Cambridge region adds over £110 billion to the economy each year, which is underpinned by the area’s world class research, development and innovation strengths. I recognise the region’s potential to make even more of a contribution to the UK economy and government is determined to make this happen. Our commitment to deliver East West Rail, which will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes, and Cambridge, will be central to this ambition.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_88
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support community ownership of local assets. \p Alex Norris: I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 22675 on 17 January 2025.
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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - November 2024, published on 19 December 2024, and in the context of her Department's Remediation Acceleration Plan, published on 2 December 2024, what assessment she has made of the reason why only 10% of buildings that were forecast to start remediation in the last quarter have done so. \p Alex Norris: There are 4,683 buildings covered by the Developer Remediation Contract. To date, developers have identified 1,492 buildings that they will remediate directly – an increase of 135 in the last quarter. Of those, 652 (44%) have started or completed remedial works, including 292 where works have been completed.

Remediation has been too slow. Progress can be slowed by disputes between developers and freeholders over access to the building and/or the scope of works, access to competent and independent assessors, and delay to securing regulatory approvals. On 2 December, we published a joint plan to accelerate developer-led remediation and improve resident experience, as part of our wider published plan to accelerate remediation of all buildings. To date, 38 developers have signed up to the joint plan and thereby committed to make every effort to start or complete remedial work on 80% of their buildings by July 2026 and on all of their buildings by July 2027.
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to improve protections for homeowners facing damage to their homes from neighbouring buildings. \p Alex Norris: The Party Wall Act 1996 currently provides that a building owner carrying out work must not cause unnecessary inconvenience to adjoining owners. This is taken to mean inconvenience over and above that which will inevitably occur when such works are properly undertaken. The building owner must provide temporary protection for adjacent buildings and property where necessary. The building owner is responsible for making good any damage caused by the works or must make payment in lieu of making good if the adjoining owner requests it.

His Majesty’s Government is committed to keeping the Party Wall Act under continuous review. No date or decision has been made to review the party wall act. If the act is reviewed it would require an open public consultation on any proposed legislative changes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase participation in elections. \p Rushanara Ali: The Government is committed to increasing participation in elections by improving voter registration and addressing inconsistencies in voter ID rules that have prevented legitimate voters from voting.

We are also reducing the voting age to give 16- and 17-year-olds the vote in all elections and acting to improve electoral registration.

Firm proposals to deliver on these commitments will be outlined in due course. Progress has already been made with the inclusion of the HM Armed Forces Veteran Card to the list of documents accepted at polling stations.
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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to help (a) Ministers and (b) officials from other departments fully participate in the Inter Ministerial Group on Homelessness. \p Rushanara Ali: The Deputy Prime Minister chairs an Inter-Ministerial Group which includes Ministers from across government and is focused on developing a long-term strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness, an urgent priority for this Government. Departments include the Department for Work and Pensions, Home Office, Department for Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Ministry of Defence, His Majesty’s Treasury, in addition to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Inter-Ministerial Group is supported by a senior officials' board from the same departments. This is alongside regular bilateral meetings between Ministers on the key issues arising.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_93

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department takes to hold to account councils that fail to comply with the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003. \p Rushanara Ali: Too many children are spending years in temporary accommodation, at a point in their lives when they need space to play and develop, nutritious food to thrive and access to education. We must build more homes so we can reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation, which is why we will deliver the biggest increase to social and affordable housing in a generation.

MHCLG’s dedicated team of homelessness advisers continue to work closely with local authorities under the highest bed and breakfast (B&B) pressures, including to develop B&B elimination plans, to reduce families being placed in this accommodation for longer than six weeks.

The Government will also work with 20 local authorities with the highest levels of B&B use for temporary accommodation through a new programme of Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million to test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives.

All temporary accommodation must be safe and suitable for households with babies and children, and we are taking action to improve standards across the housing sector. The death of any child is devastating, and we must do all we can to prevent avoidable deaths. The Homelessness Code of Guidance is therefore clear that temporary accommodation should not be considered suitable for a family with children under 2 if there is not enough space for a cot and that housing authorities should support families to secure a cot where needed.

Housing authorities must, as a minimum, ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Housing authorities have a continuing obligation to keep the suitability of accommodation under review, and to respond to any relevant change in circumstances which may affect suitability. Households may request a review of their accommodation if they feel it is unsuitable.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_94
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_94

Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking with (a) local councils and (b) Bromley Council to tackle homelessness. \p Rushanara Ali: Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.

We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.

We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. In December, MHCLG announced that £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England through the Homelessness Prevention Grant 25/26, of which £6,499,229 has been allocated to Bromley. This funding represents an uplift of £1,595,200 for Bromley compared with 24/25 allocations, an increase of 32.5%, and will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.

This brings total spend on homelessness services to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.

More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_95
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_95

David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme 2021-24 is being allocated by bidding. \p Rushanara Ali: Bidding rounds for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme ended in June 2022. Decisions on where to allocate funding were made by the previous government.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_96
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_96

Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many requests she has granted from local authorities to postpone elections set for May 2025. \p Jim McMahon: A number of councils have responded to my letter of 16 December, making requests involving postponement of their May 2025 elections. A list of those councils can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas.

In my letter I set out that requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe. A decision will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_97
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_97

Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the total cost of the Government's plans for local authority re-organisation. \p Jim McMahon: The English Devolution White Paper sets out the overall case for local government reorganisation, including referencing the 2020 PwC report, “Evaluating the importance of scale in proposals for local government reorganisation”, for the County Councils Network, which estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary structure would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over 5 years, with an annual post-implementation net recurring saving of £700 million.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_98
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_98

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to review the (a) effectiveness of the means testing process for and (b) maximum level of grant available through the Disabled Facilities Grant. \p Rushanara Ali: Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding helps adapt around 55,000 homes annually, helping disabled people and their families to live independently and well in their own homes for longer.

Local authorities already have powers to waive the means test in line with a locally agreed Housing Assistance Policy. To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration, including the effectiveness of the means test process.

This Government is reviewing the suitability of the current grant upper limit. We expect the review to conclude later in 2025. Given that any rise in the upper limit will require additional funding, the Government will say more about its future approach after the Spending Review. In the meanwhile, local authorities have considerable discretion and may fund adaptations above the current £30,000 upper limit in line with a local policy or in exceptional circumstances.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_99
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_99

Simon Hoare:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution in response to the hon. Member for North Dorset during the Oral Statement of 16 December 2024 on English Devolution, Official Report, column 53, when her Department will commence a review into fair funding for rural councils. \p Jim McMahon: The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities.

We are committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to fix the foundations of local government in partnership with the sector and on the principle of giving councils early certainty. As a core part of this plan, the government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February).

These reforms will build on the proposals set out in the previous government’s review of Relative Needs and Resources (also referred to as the ‘Fair Funding Review’), using the best available evidence to inform local authority funding allocations. We will move gradually towards an updated system and will invite views on possible transitional arrangements to determine how local authorities reach their new funding allocations.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_100
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_100

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement of 18 December 2024 on Local Government Finance Settlement, HCWS342, whether the Local Audit Office will itself undertake local government audits; and whether local audit will be undertaken by the private or public sector. \p Jim McMahon: The government’s local audit strategy is seeking views on whether and how to grow public provision, including how to ensure that provision achieves overall growth without reducing private sector capacity.

Consideration is also being given as to whether the Local Audit Office (LAO) should have the power to provide some level of public provision or if the provision should sit separately, and to the role of the Secretary of State and LAO in determining the appropriate proportion of public provision for the market.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_101

Claire Hanna:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to review the rules on donations to political parties in the UK. \p Rushanara Ali: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Question UIN HL3289 on 20 December 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_102

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to recommendation 3 of the report entitled Report on the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election and the May 2024 elections, published by the Electoral Commission, if she will make it her policy that postal voting should be the default option for all overseas voters when they register for elections. \p Rushanara Ali: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 17831 on 12 December 2024.
wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_103
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-22 conversation_103

Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a searchable public database of political adverts to improve transparency for political (a) advertising, (b) donations and (c) spending. \p Rushanara Ali: Under UK law, those promoting eligible digital campaigning material targeted at the UK electorate are required to include an imprint with their name and address, supporting the transparency of political material online.

Political parties, candidates and third party campaigners are subject to campaign spending limits at UK elections. For transparency, they are already required to report on their spending and donations and provide invoices for payments over a certain amount, including money spent on advertising. Following an election, the Electoral Commission publishes details of campaign spending and donations on their website, and details of candidate spending are available from the relevant local authority.

We have no plans at this time to introduce a requirement for a public database of political adverts but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”. We will continue to keep political advertising transparency rules under review.

The Government are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections and, as stated in our manifesto, we intend to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy.