theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_787
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

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Tom Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of funding under the Towns Fund was allocated to projects involving (a) formal and (b) informal play spaces. \p Alex Norris: There are 8 Town Deal projects worth £15.9m which explicitly contain a play space element.

There are also 8 Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) projects which explicitly contain a play space element, however MHCLG only has FHSF allocations by place and does not track spend at the project level.

Please note that a play space is often one element of a broader Towns Fund project; hence departmental spend data may not reflect the actual amount of Towns Fund spent on play spaces (formal or informal) at the local authority level.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to investigate the number of fires caused by self-installed solar panels on residential properties. \p Alex Norris: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs). This data includes the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available on gov.uk here.

Data collected through the Incident Recording System (IRS) does not include data on whether fire incidents attended were caused by or involved solar panels, nor their installation method.
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Sarah Bool:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) training and (b) resources her Department has provided to fire and rescue services to respond to battery energy storage system-related incidents. \p Alex Norris: It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training to safely respond to the wide range of incidents that they attend.

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) also provides guidance to fire and rescue services to help keep firefighters and the public safe. In 2023, the NFCC published guidance on Battery Energy Storage System sites.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with the National Fire Chiefs Council on the adequacy of mental health and wellbeing support for firefighters in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England. \p Alex Norris: Government supports the work that the National Fire Chiefs Council is doing through its Wellbeing Board to assist services to drive positive improvements in mental health provision for their workforce. It is for fire and rescue authorities to work with their individual service to ensure that the right support is in place to meet local needs and circumstances. The Government does not assess the needs of individual or services or at national level.
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Alice Macdonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department has taken to ensure the provision of sufficient infrastructure for new housing developments. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 26106 on 5 February 2025.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of low housing stock on young families in (a) North Cornwall and (b) other rural areas. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises the impact of low housing stock on young families in North Cornwall and other rural areas.

We are taking decisive action to boost the supply of homes of all tenures and are giving further consideration to what more we can do to promote rural affordable housing and support local authorities to respond to the pressures caused by excessive concentrations of short-term lets and second homes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

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Sarah Green:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of redeveloping heritage properties on meeting housing targets. \p Matthew Pennycook: There are no plans to weaken heritage protections in the planning system.

The responsibilities of local planning authorities to recognise and protect their historic assets, making use of built heritage and conservation expertise as necessary, remain unaltered.

But the sympathetic conversion of historic buildings into new homes can support our housing targets, especially if the building is derelict.
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Emma Foody:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to reform estate adoption. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will consult this year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.

Further details are set out in the comprehensive Written Ministerial Statement I made on 21 November last year.
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Jodie Gosling:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that councils are accountable to their constituents during complaints processes. \p Jim McMahon: Councils should follow the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which sets out how complaints should be considered fairly and effectively.

Residents dissatisfied with their complaint outcome can refer their complaint to the Ombudsman who will independently look at whether public services are being delivered properly.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department holds up-to-date data on the number of fires linked to (a) disposable and (b) single-use barbecues. \p Alex Norris: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available on gov.uk here.

Data collected through the Incident Recording System (IRS) does include data on whether primary fire incidents attended were caused by barbecues. However, it does not include data on the type of barbecue, for example if it was disposable or single-use.

In the latest statistics published on cause of fire, for year ending March 2024, of 46,135 accidental primary fires, 242 were started by barbecues.

We are reviewing the IRS, and the data it collects, and considering what categories to record in the future.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Levelling Up Missions Annual Report 2024-25, published on 21 May 2025, whether she plans to continue collating metrics on well-being. \p Alex Norris: While this Government has drawn a line under the levelling up missions framework, we remain committed to monitoring well-being and tackling regional inequalities through our five central missions.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to chair the cross-government Wellbeing Analysis Board, which aims to promote and improve the delivery of wellbeing analysis across government. Well-being metrics will continue to be collected through established surveys including the ONS Annual Population Survey and the Community Life Survey.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2025 to Question 52711 on Visits Abroad: Ethiopia, what the purpose was of her visit to Ethiopia. \p Alex Norris: The Deputy Prime Minister’s role includes acting in support of the Government’s international agenda – supporting investment and international collaboration is a key focus for the Government.

The Deputy Prime Minister carried out diplomatic, business and humanitarian engagements to demonstrate the UK’s commitment to the region and promote ambitions for partnerships and mutual economic growth.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of Invest Staffordshire to her Department’s delivery of her priorities for (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire. \p Alex Norris: Invest Staffordshire was launched at UKREIIF in May 2025. It aims to promote key strategic investment sites and economic opportunities in Staffordshire. We hope to see it play an important role in promoting economic growth, attracting private sector investment, and supporting local businesses to scale and innovate.

The Department values this partnership and remains committed to supporting initiatives that deliver real, lasting benefits for residents and businesses across the region.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with fire and rescue services to help increase levels of (a) resilience and (b) preparedness in (i) central government, (ii) local authorities, (iii) local communities and (iv) emergency services. \p Alex Norris: Fire and Rescue Authorities have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, such as a major fire or flooding and extends to areas such as cyber security. Fire Rescue Authorities also have discretionary powers to respond to incidents under their core functions in the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) and in response to the risks set out in their Community Risk Management Plans prepared under the National Framework. These local plans identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks and make provision for prevention and protection activities and appropriate response to incidents.

The Government provide grants to Fire and Rescue Authorities to support and maintain the national resilience capabilities which are widely used in day-to-day operations by Fire and Rescue Services to enhance both local response and response to major and national scale catastrophic incidents. Central Government works with the National Fire Chiefs Council, Fire and Rescue Services and Authorities who play an active role in supporting the work of Local Resilience Forums which all contributes to ensure a multi-agency approach to prepare and respond, as well as recover from such incidents.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she used her office in 70 Whitehall on 7 November 2024. \p Alex Norris: The DPM works across multiple locations each week, including 2 Marsham Street and 70 Whitehall. The details of ministerial routines are not shared for security reasons.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending a statutory duty on flood response to the Fire and Rescue Service. \p Alex Norris: Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this government. In Autumn 2024, as the minister previously responsible for fire, the Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson asked officials to undertake further work alongside Defra and other relevant partners to understand in more detail if there are gaps in the fire and rescue services flooding response and resilience system.

Fire and Rescue Authorities have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. Fire Rescue Authorities also have discretionary powers to respond to incidents under their core functions in the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) and in response to the risks set out in their Community Risk Management Plans prepared under the National Framework. At this time, a clear rationale for introducing a statutory duty has not been determined.

However, MHCLG officials and representatives of fire and rescue services will continue to work with Defra, as the lead government department for flooding, and its partners to understand the challenges that fire and rescue services face and consider how best to ensure that all partners involved in flood response have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
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Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of (a) the adequacy of social housing provision and (b) the length of the waiting lists to access social housing. \p Matthew Pennycook: With over 1.3 million people on social housing registers, the government is clear that there is a chronic shortage of social housing in England. That is why we are committed to the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding for a generation.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of social housing. \p Matthew Pennycook: At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).

The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.

We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.

We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.

The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of potential benefits of including landlords of residential boats in the proposed Private Rented Sector database. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22356 on 17 January 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed delayed homes penalty would apply to sites where the original applicant has gone into administration and the site (a) has and (b) has not commenced. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government’s ‘Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out’, which can be found on gov.uk here, sets out initial proposals for how the Delayed Homes Penalty would operate.

We look forward to receiving feedback on the consultations from hon. Members, local authorities, housebuilders and other important stakeholders before determining next steps.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to p.61, Appendix 2 of the document entitled Annex 1: Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects reform of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Impact assessment, published on 6 May 2025, for what reason the dates listed in that document for the next updates to National Policy Statements differ to those on p.25 of the Plan for Change, CP 1210, published on  December 2024. \p Matthew Pennycook: The dates the hon. Member refers to relate to different aspects of our reforms to National Policy Statements (NPSs).

The ‘next summer’ date referred to in the government’s Plan for Change relates to the commitment made by the Chancellor on the 8 July last year to update relevant NPSs within the next 12 months.

The government also committed itself to legislate to ensure that all NPSs are updated at least every five years. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes a transitional period for older NPSs. To comply with the legislation, any NPS which is more than five years old at the time the Bill receives Royal Assent, will be required to be updated within two years.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48127 on Planning Permission: Equality, whether the Planning Inspectorate requires planning appeal applicants to provide personal diversity or protected characteristic information. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Planning Inspectorate do not require appellants to submit personal diversity information or details relating to protected characteristics. PINS Inspectors are mindful of human rights considerations when making decisions and are fully aware of their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) as set out under the Equality Act 2010. All actions and decisions are guided by the Franks Principles and our organisational Code of Conduct.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Levelling Up Missions Annual Report 2024-25, published on 21 May 2025, whether her Department considered implementing the social fabric index target in the pride of place mission. \p Alex Norris: The Social Fabric Index ‘Adapted Relationship Thread’ was included as one of four headline metrics in the February 2024 Statement of Levelling Up Missions for the Pride in Place mission. The underlying data for the index is not publicly available, requiring the creation of a new measure with the think tank Onward who conceived the index. Following the July 2024 election this Government moved away from the levelling up agenda so the metric was not implemented. This government is instead tackling regional inequalities through its five central missions, as stated in the recently published Levelling Up Missions annual report.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to commence the provisions on consumer protection in the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019. \p Alex Norris: Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. The purpose of the Code of Practice is therefore to raise standards in the parking sector, which will, in turn, benefit the motorists who use private parking facilities.

The Government is currently reviewing how best to raise standards in the industry, and we plan to launch a consultation on this shortly.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with local councils on the provision of free parking near (a) parks (b) recreational areas and (c) high streets. \p Alex Norris: Local authorities are empowered to determine their parking arrangements, as they are best suited to understand the best way of responding to local needs.

They must do so in a way which meets standards set by national government that parking policies should be proportionate, support town centre prosperity, and reconcile competing demands for kerb space, and ensure traffic moves freely and quickly on their roads and the roads of nearby authorities as required in the Traffic Management Act 2004.

As such the Secretary of State has not held any discussions with local councils regarding the provision of parking.
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Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what role the Artificial Intelligence Directorate plays in supporting the digital transformation of local government services. \p Jim McMahon: MHCLG’s Artificial Intelligence Directorate supports local government to harness the power of artificial intelligence, data analytics and other digital innovations so that their services are more responsive to the needs of their communities, provide better value for money and are secure. The directorate includes the Local Digital team, which has been working with local government since 2018 to improve digital transformation and cyber resilience across local government.

My officials are working closely with local government and key partners across government on this work including with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 51398 on Flags: Festivals and Special Occasions, how much funding has been allocated by her Department to support Historic County Flag Day in July 2025. \p Jim McMahon: The Department will continue its annual celebration of Historic County Flags Day in July 2025 by flying all registered historic county flags of Great Britain in Parliament Square. The final cost of the event this year will be confirmed after the event has taken place.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what meetings she has had with the Fire Brigades Union since 4 July 2024. \p Alex Norris: The fire and rescue policy function transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 01 April 2025.

The government is proactively engaging with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) alongside other fire and rescue sector stakeholders both at Ministerial and at official level. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth has met with the FBU on several occasions and addressed the FBU spring conference.

The FBU are also members of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Fire and Rescue Reform (MAGFRR) which has been established under this government and has met twice. The MAGFRR brings together key fire and rescue sector leaders to discuss policy and key issues.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for fire and rescue services in Greater Manchester. \p Alex Norris: On 3 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue.

These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities including Greater Manchester receiving an increase in core spending power of £69 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

In 2025/26, Greater Manchester Combined Fire Authority will have core spending power of £142.3 million; an increase of 4.2 per cent on 2024/25.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) her Department and (b) the Planning Inspectorate has issued guidance on the definition of readily accessible under Schedule 1, Class A, of The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. \p Matthew Pennycook: We have not issued any guidance on the definition of readily accessible under Schedule 1, Class A, of The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to make (a) solar panels, (b) electric vehicle charging points and (c) battery storage mandatory on new build (i) commercial and (ii) domestic buildings. \p Alex Norris: The Government is committed to bringing forward the Future Homes and Buildings Standards later this year. These standards will ensure that new homes and buildings are future proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency. Solar panels will play a fundamental role in the new standards. We also expect other low carbon technologies, such as batteries, to play a role where appropriate.

With regards to electric vehicle charging points, Part S of the Building Regulations came into effect in June 2022. Part S requires new residential and non-residential buildings with associated parking spaces to have electric vehicle charging points.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 42631 on Historic Environment Records, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of historic environment records in (a) increasing certainty in the planning process and (b) ensuring that heritage increases economic growth; and if she will publish a timetable for implementing (i) section 230 of and (ii) other outstanding measures from the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. \p Matthew Pennycook: Following Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) in October 2023, a small number of provisions were commenced by the previous government, for example relating to pavement licensing, planning enforcement and certain reforms to the compulsory purchase process.

Building on these measures, in September last year, a power enabling local authorities to bring forward affordable housing, national health or educational facilities through the use of compulsory purchase without paying ‘hope value’ compensation where justified in the public interest was fully commenced.

On 25 May, the government launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential development using powers in the LURA. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the government intends bring forward the regulations to implement these measures at the earliest practical opportunity with the new build out reporting framework coming into force from 2026.

The government has not undertaken an assessment of the potential merits of Historic Environment Records or set out an implementation timetable for Section 230 of the Act.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to increase community involvement in the planning process in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 46945 on 30 April 2025.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that local (a) planning committees and (b) communities are consulted as part of the planning process. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Planning and Infrastructure Bill does not change the consultation rules on local planning applications.

Representations can be made by interested parties, and these are considered by the relevant decision maker – whether that be a local planning officer or planning committee.

On 28 May, the government published a technical consultation on reform of planning committees. It can be found on gov.uk here.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help support the construction of new homes in Woking constituency that have planning permission but construction has not yet commenced. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out (which can be found on gov.uk here) and the technical consultation on implementing measure to improve Build Out transparency (which can be found on gov.uk here) published by the government on 25 May 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report entitled Securing the ballot: Report of Sir Eric Pickles’ review into electoral fraud, published in August 2016, if she will take steps to implement Recommendation 50. \p Jim McMahon: The previous Government responded to this review’s recommendations in December 2016. Statutory overview and scrutiny guidance was updated in April 2024 to take account of deeper devolution to mayoral combined authorities and the creation of combined county authorities.
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Matt Turmaine:What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of children in temporary accommodation. \p Rushanara Ali: We are delivering the biggest increase to social and affordable housing in a generation.

We have also invested almost £1 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

And we are developing a cross-government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_824

Steve Yemm:What steps she is taking with local authorities to help uplift public sector pay for people in local government. \p Jim McMahon: Local authorities are independent employers responsible for setting pay and terms and conditions for their staff. There is no role for the department in this process.

We are supporting councils to fix the foundations by reviewing the underlying funding formula, bringing back multiyear settlements and targeting high demand areas like Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, SEND and Temporary Accommodation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_825

Jack Rankin:Whether she plans to mandate local government reorganisation. \p Jim McMahon: The English Devolution White paper set out our plans to facilitate a programme of local government reorganisation, and to do so as quickly as possible.

Councils in two tier areas and small neighbouring unitary councils have already been invited to submit proposals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_826

Llinos Medi:What steps her Department is taking to develop a future funding model for local councils in rural areas. \p Jim McMahon: As the hon Member will be aware, Local Government is a devolved matter.

The government is absolutely committed to supporting rural communities.

This year’s Settlement saw places with a significant rural population on average receive almost a 6% cash increase in their Core Spending Power.

We are introducing an improved and updated approach from 2026-27, directing funding to where it is needed most.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_827

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Brewing Communities: How we can create new towns that foster successful pubs, high-streets and flourishing neighbourhoods, published on 17 January 2025. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Question UIN 35940 on 13 March 2025, Question UIN 42674 on 7 April 2025, and Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_828

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Deputy Prime Minister's speech at UK Real Estate and Infrastructure Forum, on 20 May 2025, what steps her Department plans to take to move Homes England to a more regionalised model. \p Matthew Pennycook: As set out in my letter to Homes England’s Chair on 30 September 2024, which can be found on gov.uk here, Homes England is currently working with my Department to progress the rapid implementation of a new Target Operating Model to ensure Homes England has a sustainable, regional and place-based operating model to reflect the shifting focus to delivering successful placemaking and align with our wider devolution agenda.

Further detail on Homes England's approach to regional working will be set out in a revised Strategic Plan which will be published later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_829

Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of (a) the duplication of scanned signatures and (b) technical problems with the Electoral Registration Officer Portal since its introduction in 2023; how many (i) local authorities and (ii) postal vote applications have been affected; if she will list which local authorities have been affected; and whether there were periods when duplicate signatures could not be checked. \p Rushanara Ali: On 13 May 2025, MHCLG identified a software bug with the batch application upload functionality on the Electoral Registration Officer Portal (ERO Portal), which had existed since 21 March 2024.   The bug could lead to misallocated signature images for certain elector records stored in local authority Electoral Management Systems (EMS). The issue would only present where an elector had applied for a postal vote via a paper form, where an ERO had included their application in the batch paper upload feature of the ERO Portal, and where there was a large volume of processing of batched application uploads. Our investigation also concluded that the issue was more likely to present where there were network performance issues. The issue was fixed on 14 May 2025, and further cases have since been prevented from occurring

An analysis conducted on the data held in the ERO Portal was used to identify duplicated signature images in the data. This analysis identified a potential 112 cases of exact duplicate images caused by this issue across the ERO Portal data, out of a total of 2,257,946 postal vote applications. In total, we identified 64 Electoral Registration Offices, across 67 local authorities, where we had identified a duplicated signature

Due to the data retention periods of the ERO Portal, the data analysis was only able to check for duplicates between 14 May 2024 and 14 May 2025. EMS suppliers have been able to provide support for ERO teams to check for duplicated signatures between 21 March 2024 and 14 May 2024

ERO Portal users across local authorities were updated throughout the investigation. MHCLG engaged directly with local authorities believed to be impacted by this bug to inform them of potential cases so they could be investigated and rectified by individual ERO teams. We continue to work closely with EMS suppliers to support impacted ERO teams.   Technical issues on the ERO Portal are routinely documented and communicated through digital service governance processes. As part of this, any lessons that can be taken from technical issues are discussed and analysed, whilst preventative mitigations are then adopted in software development practises. We also work closely with the LA elections sector to collate and evaluate user feedback, which feeds directly into our roadmap for continuous product improvements.
wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_830
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_830

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has undertaken research into the causes of (a) vacant and (b) long-term vacant dwellings; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to council tax (i) discounts and (ii) premiums on the reporting of such dwellings. \p Jim McMahon: There are a range of reasons for why a property may be vacant for a period of time and the Government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use. Councils have the discretionary power to charge a council tax premium on second homes and long-term empty homes. However, this government has introduced exceptions to those premiums, in line with the consultation response published by the previous administration, to reflect individual circumstances.

The government does not make any reporting assessments based on the premium
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_831

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has responded to the Unite trade union request for fair council funding of 19 May 2025. \p Jim McMahon: The previous government committed to improving and updating the way in which local authorities are funded through the “Fair Funding Review” - but this was not delivered. We will make good on this commitment and implement long-awaited reforms through a multi-year settlement in 2026-27. We will set this out in more detail through further consultation following the Spending Review, and welcome views across the local government sector and the public.

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and this includes ensuring that borrowing is affordable and managed sensibly. The Government has already announced that, where councils deem it necessary to undertake additional borrowing to support their financial recovery, we will not replicate the previous government’s punitive approach of making that borrowing more expensive through an additional 1% premium.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_832

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what area of land is defined as Greater Cambridge. \p Jim McMahon: Greater Cambridge is comprised of the city of Cambridge and the surrounding South Cambridgeshire District Council.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_833

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many new homes have been (a) started and (b) completed since 5 July 2024. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 39650 on 25 March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_834

Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether  levels of deprivation in (a) Goldsworth Park, (b) Canalside ward and (c) other areas are taken into account when deciding levels of funding allocated to local authorities. \p Jim McMahon: In the 2025-26 Settlement, the new, one-off, Recovery Grant, worth £600 million, was targeted towards areas with greater need and demand for services, with deprivation used as a proxy for this, and less ability to raise income locally. The metrics used are based on the most recent publicly available data, including the IMD 2019 which is made up of 33,000 lower layer super output area (LSOA) scores. We have used this LSOA data to determine allocations for the Recovery Grant, noting the importance of considering the variance between all small areas that make up an authority. This grant is the first meaningful step towards funding reform starting to correct the unfairness of the current system.

The government is planning to use the best available evidence to assess differences in the need for local government services – including deprivation – and resources available to local authorities. We will set this out in more detail through further consultation following the Spending Review, and welcome views from local government representatives and the public.
wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_835
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_835

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of how long housing delivery of 300,000 per year would need to be sustained to result in a reduction in the ratio of wages to house prices to 1997 levels. \p Matthew Pennycook: As the hon. Member is aware, the government has not set interim annual targets in respect of its ambitious Plan for Change milestone of delivering 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. As such, we do not have an annual housing target of 300,000 homes. Due to the reduced levels of housing supply that we inherited from the previous government, we have been clear that rates of housebuilding will have to increase significantly in the later years of the Parliament.

House prices are influenced by a variety of economic factors, including but not limited to, the supply of new homes. For more information on the factors that influence house prices, I refer the hon. Member to the publication “Analysis of the Determinants of House Price Changes” (2018) which can be found here.

The effects of housing undersupply can be seen in affordability and rent pressures. Boosting the supply of homes of all tenures therefore must be at the heart of any strategy to improve housing affordability.

Through the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024, the government implemented a new standard method for assessing housing needs to increase supply and better direct new homes to the areas where they are currently least affordable and therefore most needed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-09 conversation_836

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on the long-term housing strategy. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government intends to publish a long-term housing strategy later this year.