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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the arrangements between local planning authorities and advisory Lead Local Flood Authorities on decision making in the planning system. \p Matthew Pennycook: Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) are statutory consultees within the planning system and provide expert advice on surface water drainage for major planning applications, supporting local planning authorities in the decision-making process.

Local planning authorities must take into account comments raised by LLFAs when determining whether to grant planning permission.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with the International Road Transport Union on the extent of ongoing road haulage difficulties that exist for transportation of freight between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. \p Hilary Benn: I have met with a range of businesses and representative bodies, including those dealing with the movement of goods by road, and I remain committed to continuing this discussion. HM Revenue & Customs has also been engaging regularly with the International Road Transport Union, and their members directly, to provide bespoke support.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 92498 on Terrorism: Northern Ireland, what the evidential basis is that removing immunity from prosecution of perpetrators of crimes during the Troubles will increase the likelihood of them giving testimony on unsolved murders of which they have knowledge; and what assessment he has made of the compatibility of (a) information disclosed by individuals to the ICIR being inadmissible in criminal and civil proceedings with (b) the work of the ICIR not impinging on criminal investigations. \p Hilary Benn: The Government has not removed the prospect of immunity from prosecution for any individual. The provisions in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 were found to be incompatible with our human rights obligations and never commenced. I refer the Honourable gentleman to my answer of 24 November 2025 pursuant to Question 92498.

Regarding the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval, clause 72(5)(c) of the Troubles Bill is clear that it must not do anything which would risk having, or would have, a prejudicial effect on any actual or prospective legal proceedings in any part of the United Kingdom or Ireland.

This is supported by clause 75, which ensures that the ICIR cannot accept a request in relation to a case where an investigation is required for the purposes of ECHR compatibility, or where the Legacy Commission is conducting a criminal investigation. If the ICIR accepts a request, but that case is subsequently subject to a criminal investigation by the Legacy Commission, the ICIR must cease exercising its functions in relation to that case.

This approach to ‘sequencing’ between the Legacy Commission and the ICIR will ensure that the discharge of our ECHR obligations and the conduct of criminal investigations will not be prejudiced by the information retrieval process available through the ICIR.

In any case, the inadmissibility provisions attached to the ICIR relate only to information provided to it. It does not confer immunity on any individual. That means that, while information provided to the ICIR cannot be used in criminal and civil proceedings, individuals to which that information relates can still be subject to legal proceedings should evidence be obtained via other means.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Leader of the House, how many and what proportion of Named Day written questions were answered (a) on time and (b) late (i) by Department and (ii) in total. \p Sir Alan Campbell: The information requested is not held by the Government. Data on response times to written parliamentary questions (PQs) is published following the end of every session by the House of Commons Procedure Committee as part of their continued monitoring and reporting of departmental PQ performance.
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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Budget Statement on 26 November 2025, whether the full investment reserve amount of £2.3bn will be transferred to BCSSS trustees. \p Chris McDonald: The transfer of the full reserve of £2.3bn to BCSSS Trustees has been implemented and the required amendments to the scheme rules agreed and signed.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has received feedback from local authorities administering the Warm Homes Grant on the difficulties of accessing park home sites for the purpose of retrofitting those properties; and if officials have held discussions with representatives of park home sites on retrofitting park homes with the Warm Homes Grant. \p Martin McCluskey: Park homes are eligible for support under the Warm Home: Local Grant (WH:LG). Officials would welcome working closely with local authorities and their supply chains, who deliver the scheme, to unlock any issues and ensure support reaches eligible households. Local authorities in receipt of the Warm Homes: Local Grant are encouraged to contact the department for advice or problem-solving, either through their assigned Delivery Support Manager (DSM) or directly with the department. We remain committed to working collaboratively to ensure park home residents benefit fully from the scheme.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) West Dorset constituency and (b) rural areas can access more competitive fuel prices through the Fuel Finder scheme. \p Martin McCluskey: Fuel Finder will increase price transparency so drivers can compare prices to find the best deal and incentivise greater local competition, including in rural areas.

The expectation is that third party organisations such as price comparison websites, navigation apps, and other app developers will access the data and incorporate into their consumer facing products, which consumers can then use to compare fuel prices in their local area.

In our draft Impact Assessment, we assess this could result in fuel cost savings for drivers totalling £10.4bn over 10 years which amounts to savings of 1-6 pence per litre at the pump. The hon Member can find the Impact Assessment at www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348275308/impacts
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that households in (a) North Cornwall and (b) other rural areas can connect to (i) solar panels and (ii) other renewable energy systems without having to directly fund local grid upgrades where needed. \p Michael Shanks: Under connection charging rules set by Ofgem, domestic connection customers are not liable for any network upgrade costs to accommodate renewable generation up to 3.68kW per phase. For larger systems, the customer may be liable for a proportion of the upgrade costs.

The Government works with Ofgem to ensure grid investment supports all communities, including rural areas. In the current electricity distribution network price control, RIIO ED2, Ofgem has allowed £22.2bn for upfront network investment, including £3.1bn for upgrades. The next price control (2028–2033) will require distribution network operators to produce long-term regional network plans.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will revoke the ban on North Sea Oil and Gas exploration. \p Michael Shanks: On 26 November, the Government published its North Sea Future Plan.

The plan implements the Government’s manifesto commitments to manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan, and to not issue new licences to explore new oil and gas fields.

We are committed to accelerating the transition to the North Sea’s clean energy future to harness the power of the North Sea, boost Britain’s energy security and ensure good, long-term jobs.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department will assess the potential merits of providing funding to upgrade local energy networks to support at-home renewable energy generation in (a) North Cornwall constituency and (b) rural areas. \p Michael Shanks: Government works with Ofgem to ensure grid investment supports all communities, including rural areas. The current electricity distribution price control (RIIO-ED2, 2023-2028) has allowed £22.2bn for upfront investment in low voltage networks, including £3.1bn for network upgrades. For the next price control ED3 (2028 to 2033), Ofgem will use Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) to inform investment ahead of need and ensure a reliable local power grid fit for the net zero transition. These measures will enable timely upgrades and connections for rural communities, supporting renewable generation and other low-carbon technologies, while maintaining affordability for consumers.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent progress has he made in delivering the Great British Nuclear programme. \p Michael Shanks: As announced in June, the Great British Nuclear – Energy (GBE-N) small modular reactor (SMR) programme was allocated over £2.5 billion across the Spending Review period.

In November, the government announced that the SMR project will be sited at Wylfa on Anglesey in North Wales, with initial site activity expected to begin in 2026.

GBE-N has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to develop the UK’s first SMR project and, subject to final government approvals, is targeting contract signature before the end of the year.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of high energy costs on households in rural areas that are not connected to the mains gas grid. \p Martin McCluskey: The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.

The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.

We recognise that we need to support households struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power by 2030, including those in rural communities.

We are currently supporting rural and off gas grid homes through schemes including the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which is aimed at low income and vulnerable consumers.

Support is also available through the Warm Home Discount which has been expanded for this winter, – increasing the total number of households that will receive the discount from 3.2 million to around 6 million.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made on the potential impact of net zero policies on (a) the chemical industry on Teesside and (b) the existing industrial base. \p Chris McDonald: Just last month [13th November]], I was delighted to accept invitations from the chemicals sector in Teesside, and met with over 15 firms from the sector and their supply chain. I was able to see first-hand some of the outstanding firms, facilities, projects and opportunities at Wilton International. I also held a roundtable convened by the North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) , where I had the chance to hear personally from leaders in the chemical industry.

The Government continually assesses the impact of industrial and decarbonisation policies on the chemical industry and broader UK manufacturing sector. This includes through the Chemical Innovation Forum, which is a forum for gaining policy feedback, collaborating and understanding how best to support innovation in the industry to support growth and net zero goals. It is attended by senior-level stakeholders across the chemical industry, including companies active in the Tees Valley.

Government is committed to supporting UK industry to decarbonise and protecting and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in regions across the UK. We are taking ambitious steps to lay the groundwork for further industry investment to reap the benefits of industrial decarbonisation. Building on engagement with industry, a refreshed Industrial Decarbonisation Plan will set the strategic direction for our approach to working with industry towards a competitive and low carbon industrial base in the UK, ensuring growth opportunities are captured in tandem with emissions reductions.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Careers Advisors working in schools receive training in mental health support, to help identify and assist students experiencing mental health challenges. \p Georgia Gould: The department recognises the vital role that careers advisors play in supporting young people to thrive in their future career. We do not expect careers advisors to provide clinical mental health care, but we are committed to ensuring they are better equipped to support, identify concerns and signpost students with mental health challenges towards appropriate support.

The department has been working closely with the sector to explore the development of a continuous professional development package to upskill careers advisers working with young people, including support for young people with mental health challenges. We expect the offer to be available from the 2026/27 academic year

Alongside this, the government is committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has been made of total cash reserves held by (a) schools and (b) colleges. \p Georgia Gould: In the 2023/24 financial year, reserves in the school system totalled more than £6 billion, and the total value of reserves for the further education college sector was over £1.6 billion.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what action is being taken to support SEND transport costs in South Shropshire constituency. \p Georgia Gould: Central government funding for home-to-school travel is provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement which is administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Settlement for the 2025/26 financial year makes available over £69 billion for local government, a 6.8% cash terms increase in Core Spending Power on 2024/25.

To put local government on the road to financial sustainability, the government recently consulted on funding reforms, including a bespoke relative needs formula for home-to-school transport. The consultation response was published here on 20 November:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-fair-funding-review-20.

Challenges in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system are creating pressure on home-to-school travel. We have committed to reform the SEND system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. These reforms will be set out in a Schools White Paper early in the new year.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve early intervention for dyslexic learners. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the hon. Member for Tewkesbury to the answer of 1 December to Question 85049.
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Dr Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what percentage of pupils from primary schools in North Herefordshire can (i) swim 25m (ii) self-rescue as reported through the online reporting tool. \p Georgia Gould: The department is processing the information received through the Digital Expenditure Reporting Return and will publish a summary of quality assured data in the new year.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, from when and how frequently she plans to publish estimations of the impact and effectiveness of RISE teams. \p Georgia Gould: Regional improvement for standards excellence (RISE) teams have already paired over 350 schools with RISE advisers and supporting organisations, including some of our strongest trusts with a record of turning around struggling schools, to share expertise and boost standards.

The department expects to start publishing that data with appropriate comparisons over time during 2026.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, by what measures the impact and effectiveness of Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams will be assessed. \p Georgia Gould: Regional improvement for standards excellence (RISE) teams have already paired over 350 schools with RISE advisers and supporting organisations, including some of our strongest trusts with a record of turning around struggling schools, to share expertise and boost standards.

The impact of RISE intervention will rely on both a quantitative evaluation of the impact on pupils, aligned to the government’s Opportunity Mission for all children to achieve and thrive, and an evaluation on the process and delivery of RISE.

An impact evaluation of the programme measuring change over time in key success measures, such as attainment and attendance, for schools receiving targeted RISE intervention set against a suitable group of comparator schools will be carried out in due course.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools have adequate (a) training and (b) resources to support children with dyslexia. \p Georgia Gould: The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including pupils with dyslexia.  The English Hubs programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, and the Reading Ambition for All programme will improve outcomes for children in primary who need additional support with reading, including those with SEND.

All statutory initial teacher training and early career teacher training must cover adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND. The department has reviewed the content of the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework, adding more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting improving inclusivity for SEND pupils. We have also enhanced the requirement on providers to develop SEND specific training materials.

In 2024 we began delivery of the national professional qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators. This mandatory qualification will support participants to develop the essential knowledge and skills needed to set the strategic direction of SEND policy in schools and the conditions in which pupils with SEND can thrive.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies educational attainment of boys and girls by (a) ethnicity and (b) social class in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester and (iii) Oldham. \p Georgia Gould: All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed. However, educational inequalities exist across the country and at every phase of education, particularly for white working-class children.

These gaps, whether in Oldham or nationally, are not acceptable.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are tackling these inequalities. The department will invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education to close gaps.

The department is rolling out expanded government-funded childcare entitlements and creating thousands of school-based nurseries to increase the provision of quality childcare. We will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority ensuring children and families needing support most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities, can access it. This includes building on the great work already done by Oldham’s seven family hubs funded in this financial year.

We are expanding free school meals to all children on Universal Credit from September 2026 and have delivered record increases to early years pupil premium.

This is alongside work to drive high and rising school standards, including regional improvement for standards and excellence attainment conferences with the North-West conference open to schools in Oldham.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on securing the integrity of the 2026 Senedd elections from interference by foreign state actors. \p Jo Stevens: The UK Government takes any attempts to intervene in democratic processes very seriously. It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes, including from foreign interference.

The Government addresses these challenges through coordinated efforts led by the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Joint Election Security and Preparedness (JESP) Unit which monitor and mitigate election security risks, including foreign interference. JESP maintains regular contact with representatives from Whitehall departments, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as the devolved governments. JESP continues to lead cross-government efforts in preparation and readiness for the 2026 elections, including those to the Senedd Cymru.
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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, for how many days lift number 77 in the Palace of Westminster has been out of order this year; for what reason it remains out of order; and when it is expected to be operating again. \p Nick Smith: Lift number 77 (HOP77) has been out of order for a total of 51 days in 2025 over four occasions, the most recent of which was 47 days.

HOP 77 was returned to service on 7 November 2025 following the replacement of a printed circuit board which controlled the door opening mechanism.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what purposes Parliamentary officials have used AI in the last 12 months. \p Nick Smith: Artificial intelligence represents a range of opportunities to support the work of Parliamentary officials. Every official has access to Microsoft’s Copilot Chat tool, as do all Parliamentary account holders. No records are kept of how that tool is used. Officials are encouraged to use the tool to support their work, with frequent uses being for taking minutes of meetings, summarising information and analysing data within a secure data environment. A pilot of M365 Copilot, the more advanced version of Microsoft’s AI offering, has just concluded. The lessons from that pilot are now being identified and analysed.

Automatic speech recognition is used to support the transcription of proceedings by Hansard, and testing of the use of AI capabilities is taking place in that context. Specific trials have taken place to test whether AI could be used to support the work of the Table Office in processing written questions and a range of teams in retrieving information efficiently in response to queries. These are not yet in “live” use. Active work continues to identify opportunities to safely use AI by PDS and staff across the Houses.

Mr Speaker has established the Speaker’s Group on AI in Parliaments, chaired by Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means, Nusrat Ghani MP. The Steering Group has been established to consider issues relating to AI and parliamentary scrutiny, AI and parliamentary services, and AI and parliamentary public engagement. Work is also underway to refresh guidance and advice for officials on the use of AI, which is expected to be made available early in the new year.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many complaints have been received from hon. Members relating to (a) laptops, (b) other IT equipment supplied under the Hardware Refresh programme and (c) access to MemberHub since 1 January 2025. \p Nick Smith: The Parliamentary Digital Service has a formal complaints process in place for Members to raise concerns about their services. This sits alongside our Member Services team, 24/7 support desk and other support channels, which are available to assist Members and their offices with any issues they may experience.

Since 1 January 2025 the Parliamentary Digital Service has received one complaint from a Member under the formal complaints process which related to all three categories of (a) laptops (b) other IT equipment supplied under the Hardware Refresh programme, and (c) access to MemberHub. No other formal complaints were received from any Members in any of these categories.

In addition, we hold data on the number of incidents Members have raised to the Digital Support Desk in relation to the three categories. These incidents cover technical faults as well as queries on functionality, process or the status of orders.

For each category the number of incidents reported by Members is provided below since 1 January 2025. The percentage in brackets shows the proportion this category represents of overall incidents reported by Members:

233 related to laptops (11%)769 related to hardware more generally (38%)16 related to MemberHub (<1%)

It is not possible to separate out issues raised by the hardware refresh programme in this data.
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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reason the escalator from the House of Commons Members' car park does not cut off automatically when not in use. \p Nick Smith: The escalator is fitted with controls that allow the speed to vary dependent on demand and, in periods of low demand, runs at a slow speed to be energy efficient.

The design of the escalator is such that it does not stop completely – this is a safety feature to ensure that anyone travelling on the escalator is not subjected to any sudden movements which could cause them to lose balance. This is usual in many high traffic areas in buildings of this type.
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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to increase the pension rights of retired firefighters who retired before 2000 on the retained duty system through their modified pension scheme. \p Samantha Dixon: The Department has no plans to extend pension rights under the modified scheme to retained firefighters who retired before 2000.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many performance reviews were undertaken for staff in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a result of such a rating; and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff this represented. \p Samantha Dixon: The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost and time to the department.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 78194 on Affordable Housing: Expenditure, where this information can be found in the annual reports and accounts. \p Samantha Dixon: Within my Department’s Annual Report and Accounts – which can be found here on page 140, expenditure for the Affordable Homes Programme is set out in ‘Note 4 - Operating Expenditure’ under ‘Notes to the Departmental Accounts’, in addition to being included within MHCLG’s budget and outturn throughout.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend the (a) Building Safety Act 2022 and (b) Building Regulations to ensure (i) building owners and (ii) nominated building design professionals can access Building Control records when required. \p Samantha Dixon: Provisions already exist within section 53 of the Building Act 1984 (as amended by the Building Safety Act 2022) to ensure relevant building control information is made available to both local authorities and those carrying out building work when changing building control body.

When a building control body can no longer provider services, they are required to provide the local authority any information it would have obtained had it been performing building control functions itself, and any additional information reasonably required to enable it to do so within 21 days. The building control body must also provide the person carrying out the work, typically the building owner or their nominated building design professional, any such information and other records necessary to allow another building control body to perform those functions.

The Department is considering how best to invest in building control digitalisation to improve the openness, accessibility, interoperability and reusability of building control data and deliver better outcomes for regulators, developers, built environment professionals and members of the public.
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Tony Vaughan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to establish a timeline of when the new private rented sector database will be implemented. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government intends to set out detailed implementation plans for the Renters’ Rights Act in the near future.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what correspondence his Department has received from Cumbria Conservatives on the date of the Cumbria mayoral elections; when that correspondence was received; and whether each item of correspondence received a substantive reply. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The Department received a letter from the Cumbria Conservatives on 23 October 2025. I replied on 4 November 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83810 on Pride in Place Programme: Finance, how much funding has been allocated to each nation in the Spending Review period. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Our Pride in Place programme will see up to £280 million shared among 14 places in Scotland, each receiving up to £20 million over 10 years. Up to £180m will be provided to a further 9 Welsh communities as part of the programme.

These areas will join 10 areas in Scotland and 5 in Wales where work is already underway, taking the totals up to £480m over 10 years in Scotland and £280m over 10 years in Wales.

For Northern Ireland, corresponding funding will be made available. MHCLG and the Northern Ireland Office are working in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive to determine the appropriate delivery approach.

Further details, including funding profiles, will be shared in guidance shortly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_12

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to publish regular data on Pride in Place Programme spending by intervention type. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: From April 2026, following the submission of their Regeneration plans, the 75 Phase 1 places will begin to receive up to £2m a year in programme funding for the next decade. The Phase 2 neighbourhoods announced under the expansion will begin to receive capacity and capital funding from April 2026.

As outlined in our Regeneration Plan guidance, there will be a formalised monitoring process for the Pride in Place Programme – this is the process by which places will keep us updated on what projects and activities they are undertaking to deliver on the interventions they outlined in their regeneration plan. Further guidance on what data we will collect will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_13

Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83816 on Devolution: Cornwall, whether he plans to require Cornwall to (a) join a combined authority with Devon and (b) have a mayor. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Decisions on future devolution beyond the areas on the Devolution Priority Programme, including Cornwall, will be confirmed in due course and will be subject to further local engagement and ministerial decisions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_14

Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department consulted mayors on the proposed Supplementary Vote change for (a) mayors and (b) Police and Crime Commissioners prior to the announcement on 10 July 2025. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engaged with a wide range of local stakeholders during the development of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We engaged with Mayors on the measures in the Bill, including the Supplementary Vote change, ahead of the Bill’s introduction to Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_15

Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 78216 on Community Relations: Expenditure, what each of those 300 projects were; and what reporting requirements there were on how the money was spent. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The Community Cohesion and Resilience Programme (CCRP) funding was allocated to local authorities; those receiving funding and their allocations are set out in the response to PQ 87321. Local authorities were provided with monitoring and evaluation guidance, which included outputs and outcomes to be reported against which directly linked to the Programme’s objectives. Of the 300 projects funded via the CCRP, each local authority delivered their respective projects in line with the programme guidance, delivering a wide range of initiatives in local places to bring communities together.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_16

Peter Lamb:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the independent review into civil unrest in Leicester in 2022 is due to report. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The government is reviewing the panel’s findings and recommendations and will respond in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_17

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of houses of multiple occupation being used to accommodate illegal migrants on (a) the wider private rented housing sector (b) rental prices, (c) the supply of family homes and (d) the (i) availability and (ii) affordability of housing in areas of high demand. \p Matthew Pennycook: In accordance with the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support while their applications for asylum are being considered. Accommodation is provided on a no-choice basis.

Asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected are generally not provided with dispersal accommodation.

The Home Office consults with local authorities across the UK before dispersal accommodation, including Houses of Multiple Occupation, is procured, ensuring the impact on communities is understood. When considering how much dispersed accommodation to procure in any given area, a range of factors are considered including the local housing availability as well as social factors such as pressures on GPs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_18

Bob Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what alternative options for helping to deliver (a) affordable and (b) social housing in London have been considered by his Department. \p Matthew Pennycook: When developing policy, the government considers the merits of an extensive range of potential policy solutions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_19

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the potential impact of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) on (i) community cohesion and (ii) levels of anti-social behaviour, (b) the concentration of HMOs in specific areas and (c) whether additional planning powers should be made available to local authorities to manage those impacts. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department has not undertaken an assessment of the potential impact of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) on (i) community cohesion and (ii) levels of anti-social behaviour.

Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission.

We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_20

Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the planned timetable is for transferring tenants currently on shorthold tenancies to periodic assured tenancies. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government intends to set out detailed implementation plans for the Renters’ Rights Act in the near future.
wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_21

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his Department's policy to (a) guarantee that green belt protections in the West Midlands will be maintained under the devolution of planning powers to the regional mayor and (b) require the consent of affected local councils for development on Green Belt land. \p Matthew Pennycook: The new planning powers and investment flexibilities in the London Housing Delivery package announced jointly with the Mayor of London on 23 October reflect the importance of the Mayor’s role in housing delivery. Through the Planning and Infrastructure and English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bills, we are giving other Mayors these powers so they can also support housing delivery in their area. Green Belt policy will remain set out nationally in the National Planning Policy Framework.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_22

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance to local authorities to ensure mobile network operators are notified for large-scale residential developments. \p Matthew Pennycook: Local planning authorities already have discretion to consult with mobile network operators where it is relevant to a specific application.

In addition to national planning policy and guidance, the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England, published February 2022, sets out the roles and responsibilities for all relevant stakeholders, including applicants and local authorities, when planning for, consulting on and installing telecommunications infrastructure.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_23

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of fire service call outs in response to fires involving solar panels in England for each of the last five years. \p Samantha Dixon: MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England through the Incident Recording System (IRS), which includes the cause of fire and source of ignition. These statistics are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-statistics.

However, the IRS does not record whether an incident involved solar panels. As a result, the Department does not hold data on the number of fire service call outs specifically involving solar panels for the last five years.

Additional information is available here: Number of fires in England with “solar panel” or “photovoltaic panel” mentioned in the additional information free text - GOV.UK. This dataset is based on free-text searches for “solar panel” and “photovoltaic panel” in IRS records, by calendar year. As these results are not systematically categorised, accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Mentions of solar panels may not be closely linked to the fire, as the phrase “solar panel” may have been included in the free-text as part of a wider context, and some FRSs provide no free-text data. The dataset was last analysed and published in 2023, covering the calendar year to December 2022.