theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78240 on Absent Voting: British Nationals Abroad, whether he plans to take steps to help tackle postal delays for overseas electors. \p Samantha Dixon: The Government is committed to fixing the foundations of our electoral processes.

As set out in the policy paper, Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections (17/07/2025), the Government will introduce a package of measures intended to improve the resilience and capacity of the postal voting system overall. These measures include moving the postal vote application deadline forward by three working days. The deadline for candidate nominations will also be moved forward in order to allow returning officers more time to proof the ballot papers for printers, in turn giving more time for the next part of the process to get underway, and in particular to enable postal ballot papers to be printed and issued to postal voters at an earlier point.

These changes will benefit all administrators and voters, including those living overseas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2025 to Question 78690 on Car Parks: Surveillance, whether his Department plans to amend (a) guidance and (b) regulations on the use of automatic number plate recognition technology in municipal car parks. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 30th October 2025 to question 85357 where I confirmed that the government has no plans to amend the current restrictions regarding Automatic Number Plate Recognition for local authorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has given to mayoral combined authorities that cannot find a constituent member to consent to be nominated as a deputy mayor. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The Department has not issued any guidance to Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) to cover the circumstances where the Mayor cannot find a constituent member to act as their statutory deputy mayor. This situation has not arisen to date and no authority has requested advice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 29 of his Department's publication entitled Pride in Place Strategy, published on 25 September 2025, whether the £5 billion of Pride in place funding includes the £1.5 billion of funding from the Long Term Plan for Towns outlined in the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40200, on Plan for Neighbourhoods. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: On 25 September, the government launched its overarching Pride in Place Strategy, committing up to £5 billion in funding and support to 339 communities.

The flagship Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £20 million in flexible funding and support to 244 places over the next decade. This will serve as the cornerstone of this government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods programme areas that were announced in March.

The Long-Term Plan for Towns programme was launched in September 2023 by the previous administration. This programme was an unfunded commitment for which the previous administration had no plan as to how that promise would be delivered.

All 75 towns across the UK that were originally selected to receive Long-Term Plan for Towns funding will receive the funding under the Plan for Neighbourhoods package, which is now part of the Pride in Place Programme.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 44 of his Department's policy paper entitled Pride in Place Strategy, published on 25 September 2025, what the terms of reference are for the Common Ground Resilience Fund; and over which years that funding will be allocated. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The purpose of the Common Ground Resilience Fund is set out in the Pride in Place Strategy. A key strand of the Fund is the Common Ground Award details of which can be found on gov.uk here.

The funding is for the 2025-26 Financial Year.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed strategic authority for Surrey will only include Surrey; whether that strategic authority will have an elected mayor; whether that strategic authority will set a council tax precept; and whether that strategic authority will absorb the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner functions. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Simplifying local government structures in Surrey will ensure a strong foundation for devolution. We are committed to working with partners across Surrey, including new unitary authorities once established, to establish a strategic authority for the area. This strategic authority would receive the functions at the appropriate level, whether Foundation or Mayoral, as set out in the devolution framework, subject to Royal Assent of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

A strategic authority across Surrey will ensure that relevant functions held at the county level can continue to be delivered on that geographic footprint where possible, such as transport and adult skills. The establishment of a strategic authority will be subject to the relevant statutory tests being met and local consent. We will also ensure fire and rescue functions continue to be governed on the same geography.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review Document O building regulations for windows, in the context of encouraging house building. \p Samantha Dixon: Part O of the Building Regulations ensures new housing is built to mitigate the risk of overheating. This came into effect in June 2022.

Since October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator has a statutory duty under the Building Safety Act 2022 to keep the safety and standard of buildings under review. This includes continuous review of the Building Regulations and the Approved Documents, which provide statutory guidance on how to meet the functional requirements on the Regulations.

In the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation, which ran from December 2023 – March 2024, the Government sought views on whether the current overheating standards are appropriate or require amendment. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the consultation and will publish the Government response in the coming months.

We are also engaging with industry via the Future Homes Hub to gain greater insight into how Part O is being implemented in practice.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of High Street Rental Auctions in reducing retail vacancy rates. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The auction is the final stage of the High Street Rental Auction process which supports councils to reoccupy vacant commercial units. These powers were introduced in December 2024 and early adopter councils confirmed in March 2025. Since then, no council has reached the auction stage, but there are a number of councils that have reported closer engagement with landlords after designating the high street resulting in new lettings and sales of long term vacant units.

Since the powers were recently introduced, no specific assessment has yet been made, but the government is working closely with early adopter councils to support and monitor delivery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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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 February 2025 to Question 32991 on Levelling Up Fund: Culture, which cultural projects that were allocated funding under the Levelling Up Fund have had funding (a) cancelled, (b) postponed and (c) are subject to an ongoing review. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: I refer the Rt. Hon member to the answer given to Question UIN 78670 on 21 October 2025.

Worcester received £2.3m funding for only some of the activity within its original programme. This amendment was determined on the basis of representations received to the consultation. Prioritisation of funding considered a series of factors including: significant progress of work to date, imminent delivery, and/or the wider strategic impact of withdrawing funding on local regeneration efforts, as well as potential to boost economic growth.

Coventry, Worcester and Newport have been approved, and V&A Dundee, Venue Cymru, Conwy and Shore Road Skills Centre, Belfast are being processed.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on solutions for inactive landlords in the North East. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department has had no recent discussions with Northumberland County Council, Hexham Town Council or relevant stakeholders regarding ‘inactive’ landlords in Northumberland or the wider North East.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what reporting his Department has received under Schedule 3 of the Management Information of the Housing Investment Fund Facility Agreement from the (a) City of Manchester Council and (b) Greater Manchester Combined Authority. \p Matthew Pennycook: In line with the terms of the Housing Investment Fund Facility Agreement, my Department is not obliged to monitor, verify, or check how funds provided by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) through the Fund are used. Management information set out in Schedule 3 of the said Agreement is collected by GMCA and provided to MHCLG upon request.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) developers in Greater Manchester adhere to their obligations under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and (b) section 106 funding is used for women’s sports amenities. \p Matthew Pennycook: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that access to high-quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and well-being of communities. The Framework sets out that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision, which plans should then seek to accommodate.

Local planning authorities can use planning obligations, entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), to help mitigate the impact of a specific development to make it acceptable in planning terms. This could include, for example, requiring a developer to contribute towards the provision of public infrastructure such as sports facilities where this is necessary to make an otherwise unacceptable development acceptable. This will depend on the specifics of the development and is a matter for local decision makers.

The government is clear that developers must deliver on their planning obligations. Section 106 planning obligations are legal agreements, and a local planning authority may take enforcement action in respect of any breach of the obligations contained within them. Enforcement is at the discretion of the local planning authority, and therefore it is for the local planning authority to decide whether enforcement action is appropriate in each case.

The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's document entitled Planning applications in England: April to June 2025 - statistical release, published on 18 September 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the declines of (a) 5 per cent for planning permission applications compared to the same quarter last year, (b) 5 per cent in granted decisions compared to the year ending June 2024, and (c) 9 per cent in granted residential applications compared to the year ending June 2024. \p Matthew Pennycook: The individual factors affecting changes in quarterly planning statistics are complex and difficult to disentangle.

My Department’s initial assessment is that a combination of structural, economic, and operational factors best explain the Q2 2025 results. These include a rise in financing costs, which particularly impacts SME developers, and capacity constraints within local planning authorities which affect decision-making timescales.

It should be noted that the planning statistics in question do not separately identify outline planning applications.

It is also the case that other data sources indicate a more positive position. For example, TerraQuest figures on residential planning applications outside of London suggest a 68% increase in the number of new homes included in residential applications in Q3 this calendar year.

The government expect that the changes made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024, alongside other reforms to the planning system enacted since, will feed through into a higher level of planning applications and decisions.

In its March 2025 outlook, the OBR estimated that the revised NPPF alone would increase net additions by 170,000 over the forecast period 2024/25 to 2029/30, or 120,000 in the Parliament – delivering the highest level of UK housebuilding in 40 years.

Once it receives Royal Assent, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will further streamline planning processes, improve certainty for applicants, and unlock and accelerate more housing and infrastructure delivery.

Through our capacity and capability programme, we are giving local planning authorities the resources needed to provide a more efficient and responsive planning service, including in respect of making timelier decisions.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) percentage and (b) area of (i) grey belt land within the green belt and (ii) green belt land that is grey belt. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department does not hold the requested information.

It is for individual local planning authorities to undertake the necessary assessments to identify if land is grey belt, either through plan making or through considering specific applications that come forward.

Similarly, it is for authorities to determine whether and how to evidence, justify, amend, and set out Green Belt boundaries through the preparation or updating of statutory plans.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to require landlords to publish standardised information on (a) rent and (b) service charge costs for high street tenants. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The Government regularly engages with small business representative organisations to garner their views. The ongoing Law Commission work, as set out in my answer to PQ UIN(s): 77535, has already involved a formal consultation with the commercial sector and is likely to include more engagement. There are currently no plans to require commercial landlords to publish standardised information on rent or service charges.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of not facilitating the creation of new directly elected council mayors on mayors for single foundation strategic authorities. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill makes provision to prevent the creation of any new directly elected local authority mayors, whilst allowing for the continuation of 13 existing ‘legacy’ directly elected council mayors. The English Devolution White Paper made clear that single foundation strategic authorities will be non-mayoral. The Government will consider non-mayoral devolution arrangements for a single local authorities by exception. The Government’s preference remains for strategic authorities which bring together more than one local authority over a larger, strategic geography.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77631 on Local Government: Reorganisation, whether his Department has commissioned research on the (a) costs and (b) impact of local government restructuring since 4 July 2024. \p Alison McGovern: I refer the Rt. hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN: 77631 on 13 October 2025.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77636 on local government finance, if he will (a) list each local authority that has had a disposal flexibility request approved since 4 July 2025 and (b) the value of each. \p Alison McGovern: The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts general direction was introduced in 2016 by the previous government and remains substantively unchanged.

As set out in the general direction and guidance, local authorities intending to use the discretionary freedoms must provide the government with details of their planned use of the flexibility. This is to make sure that the government is adequately sighted on the use of the flexibility and can monitor how it is used. Government does not, however, approve the plans or any specific use of the flexibility. Local authorities remain responsible for appropriately complying with the direction and guidance, and ensuring their decisions are in the best interests of local residents.

Since 4 July 2025, MHCLG has received new and updated plans from 16 local authorities.

The government does not publish a list of authorities that have submitted plans or details that authorities have provided on the intended use of the flexibility – in some cases authorities may have chosen not to make this information public for reasons such as commercial sensitivity.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference his Department's policy paper entitled English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether he plans to amend the proposed (a) minimum population and (b) geographic area of new (i) unitary and (ii) combined authorities. \p Alison McGovern: The English Devolution White Paper and the Statutory Invitation set a guiding principle that new unitary councils should have a population size of 500,000 or more. We have been clear on the need for flexibility and there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area. For the areas going through local government reorganisation, decisions will therefore be taken individually and proposals will be carefully considered against the criteria set out in the invitation letter of 5 February, alongside the responses to the consultation, all representations and all other relevant information to assess the proposals.

The White Paper also set out that the default assumption is for Strategic Authorities to have a combined population of 1.5 million or above, but we accept that in some places, smaller authorities may be necessary. Decisions on strategic authorities will also be on a case-by-case basis. Instead of presenting a top-down solution for each area, our starting point is to support and empower local leaders and to respect their knowledge, expertise and insight.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will publish a register of freehold management companies subject to repeated (a) complaints and (b) enforcement action. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is committed to ensuring that those living in the rented and leasehold sectors are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents.

Property agents must already belong to a government-approved redress scheme. This legislative requirement is currently enforced by local authorities and by the National Trading Standards’ Lettings and Estate Agency Team, who have the power to issue warnings and banning orders to rogue estate and letting agents.

The redress schemes publish data on the number of complaints they receive, the amount awarded to consumers, and maintain a public list of agents that have been expelled from their respective schemes.

Many leaseholders face persistent delays and high costs when trying to sell their properties. Currently, freeholders and managing agents are responsible for providing essential sales information, but they often have little incentive to do so efficiently. Homeowners living on private or mixed tenure estates, who contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of communal areas, can face similar challenges when trying to obtain relevant information from their estate manager. The government will take forward measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA) which will speed up the provision of information for leaseholders and homeowners on private or mixed tenure estates who wish to sell their property, and protect sellers from unreasonable fees when requesting this information.

The previous government committed to regulate the property agent sector in 2018 and asked a working group Chaired by Lord Best to advise them how to do it, yet it failed to respond to their findings from 2019. Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of multi-occupancy buildings and freehold estates, and their importance will only increase as we transition toward a commonhold future, and so we are looking again at Lord Best’s 2019 report on regulating the property agent sector, particularly in light of the recommendations in the final Grenfell Inquiry report.

On 4 July 2025, we launched a wide-ranging consultation on proposals to hold landlords and managing agents to account for the services they provide and the charges and fees they levy. This included a number of proposals recommended by Lord Best, including the introduction of mandatory qualifications for managing agents and estate managers on freehold estates. We are clear that this consultation is not the final step in the regulation of managing agents and we will continue to reflect on the various other recommendations made in the 2019 report.

We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to (a) local authorities and (b) planning bodies on supporting leaseholders unable to sell homes due to unresolved disputes with freeholders. \p Matthew Pennycook: Leaseholders involved in disputes may contact the government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) which provides free initial legal advice and information on leasehold, building safety, commonhold and park home issues for consumers.
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Sir John Hayes: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 fires at large photovoltaic solar developments. \p Samantha Dixon: It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure firefighters receive the training they need to safely respond to incidents, and to do so in light of their individual areas’ risk profiles and Community Risk Management Plans.

We will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to protect communities. Standalone fire and rescue authorities will see an increase in core spending power of up to £69.1 million in 2025-26: including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6% in cash terms compared to 2024-25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions and mitigate risks in their local areas are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to require property management companies to need a licence to operate which can be withdrawn in the event of (a) abusive, (b) negligent and (c) financially exploitative behaviour. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77534 on 17 October 2025.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to require short-term holiday lets to (a) provide a fire extinguisher and (b) meet the same minimum fire safety standards as other rental accommodation. \p Samantha Dixon: Article 13 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requiresthose responsible for fire safety in their premises to, where necessary, ensure it is equipped with appropriate fire-fighting equipment.

We published guidance for short term lets in April 2023 titled A Guide to making your small paying-guest-accommodation safe from fire which expands on this requirement and states the following:

In the event of a fire, evacuating the premises is the safest thing to do and guests should not be expected to use firefighting equipment. If you have staff on the premises, or if they regularly visit the premises, firefighting equipment should be provided, and staff should be trained on how to use the equipment. You should make sure that the instructions on how to use any firefighting equipment are clear, that there is a warning that evacuation is preferable, and that staff should not put themselves at risk or tackle anything other than a very small fire. In self-catering accommodation, although guests are not expected to use fire-fighting equipment, you may wish to provide a small fire extinguisher and/or fire blanket in the kitchen area.

We also published an update in 2024, which provides more detail on application of the Fire Safety Order to short term lets and expected fire safety standards in such premises.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Communities to seize control over high streets and restore pride, published on 24 September 2025, what changes his Department plans to make to (a) use classes, (b) planning policy and (c) planning practice guidance to implement the power to block unwanted shops; what types of shop will it apply to; and what his Department's definition is of unwanted. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Through Pride in Place we will rejuvenate high streets and tackle unwanted shops by giving local communities greater control to influence their high streets. We have announced a suite of tools including a Community Right to Buy for communities to take ownership of local buildings they value and streamlining the compulsory purchase process to help local authorities regenerate high streets.

Where units are vacant for a long time, councils can hold a High Street Rental Auction to ensure they are occupied and can choose whether to exclude certain uses to curate more diverse high streets. We will refresh the best practice guidance for councils’ powers under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which will better enable councils to deal with street frontages in disrepair.

And by the end of the year, we will consult on a new set of planning reforms that make the system clearer, more rules-based, and easier to navigate - this includes ways to strengthen the long-term vitality and viability of town centres.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of social housing was occupied by people born overseas in each of the last five years. \p Matthew Pennycook: Housing is a devolved matter, with each of the four nations of the UK developing their own policies and data collections to monitor the impact of them.

The English Housing Survey published by my Department, which can be found on gov.uk here, shows that households living in social housing in England with a non-UK national lead tenant comprised:

It is important to note that such households can contain UK nationals as well as non-UK national lead tenants.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2025, to Question 69302, on Local Government Finance, whether his Department collates local government finance data on unspent infrastructure levy revenues; and whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on publishing that data. \p Matthew Pennycook: Any local planning authority that receives a developer contribution through Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) or section 106 planning obligations is required to publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) at least annually, ensuring a transparent and accountable system.

The IFS must report on the total CIL sums demanded, received, and spent in the reported year, with details of how sums were spent and how sums are intended to be spent going forwards.

The IFS must also report on the CIL receipts retained unspent at the end of the reported year both in respect of sums received in the reported year and sums received in earlier years.

Further to this, my Department collects data on local authority revenue expenditure and financing in England, including income from the CIL. This can be found on gov.uk here.
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Sarah Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to introduce a cascade mechanism for Section 106 affordable housing agreements. \p Matthew Pennycook: Section 106 agreements are, and will remain, an essential mechanism for delivering social and affordable housing.

The government continues to progress work on a holistic policy package that will deal with the legacy problem of existing uncontracted S106 units and also prevent the problem recurring by laying the foundations for a simpler, more transparent, and more resilient S106 system.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of average house prices in the South East on (a) housing affordability and (b) access to home ownership. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department has made no specific assessment of the potential impact of average house prices in the South East on (a) housing affordability and (b) access to home ownership.
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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to allocate funding to the Great South West Partnership after April 2026. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Following a four week public consultation, in March 2025 the government announced its intention to end funding for Pan-Regional Partnerships, with an exceptional, time-limited award of £281,250 for the Great South West Pan-Regional Partnership for the 2025/26 financial year.

Pan-Regional Partnerships, including the Great South West, have made a valuable contribution, supporting collaboration between local authorities and government and taking forward a breadth of work on shared growth opportunities. However, as our English Devolution White Paper sets out, we are now moving to a different model of regional collaboration, where we are keen to support new models driven by local leaders.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Cornwall Council will have a (a) single foundation elected mayor or (b) council elected mayor. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: As set out in the Written Statement of 24 June 2025 (Simplified Local Leadership Structures, HCWS736), the Government is taking steps to prevent the creation of any further directly elected local authority mayors in England. In addition, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill makes provision for the Secretary of State to designate a unitary council or county council, which is not covered by an existing strategic authority, as a single foundation strategic authority without a mayor, subject to the consent of the council involved. The English Devolution White Paper makes clear that non-mayoral devolution arrangements for single local authorities will only be considered by exception, and that the Government’s preference is for councils to combine with one or more neighbouring councils in order to be designated a strategic authority.

The Government remains committed to working in partnership with local government, including Cornwall Council, to explore how devolution can best be delivered in each area
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which Levelling Up culture projects that were announced under the previous Government have since been (a) cancelled and (b) amended. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78670 on 21 October 2025.

Worcester received £2.3 million funding for only some of the activity within its original programme. This amendment was determined on the basis of representations received to the consultation. Prioritisation of funding considered a series of factors including: significant progress of work to date, imminent delivery, and/or the wider strategic impact of withdrawing funding on local regeneration efforts, as well as potential to boost economic growth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s policy is on the alignment of mayoral combined authority boundaries and integrated care board boundaries, in the context of (a) devolution and (b) NHS reorganisation. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The English Devolution White Paper was clear that our long-term ambition is for public service boundaries, including those of health and strategic authorities, to align. We remain committed to this goal, and the 10 Year Health Plan sets out our aim that Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) should be coterminous with one or more strategic authorities wherever feasibly possible.

The Department of Health and Social Care will work closely with NHS England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to decide any further ICB mergers and boundary changes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 75627 on Byelaws, what his planned timetable is for that consultation. \p Alison McGovern: The government is considering its approach and timetable for consultation on byelaws system reform.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage British residents overseas to register to vote in future elections. \p Samantha Dixon: The Government is clear that all legitimate electors should be able and encouraged to participate in democracy. This includes overseas electors, who should be able to exercise their vote without unnecessary barriers. The Electoral Commission is responsible for raising awareness to facilitate democratic participation. The EC also undertakes communication campaigns to engage with citizens and promote awareness of, for example, how to register to vote.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he will introduce a legislative requirement that all fire risk assessors must have certification in order to carry out assessments of high-risk premises. \p Samantha Dixon: The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report recommended that the Government establish a system of mandatory accreditation to certify the competence of fire risk assessors (FRAs) by setting standards for qualification and continuing professional development and such other measures as may be considered necessary or desirable. The Government accepted this recommendation in full, committing to legislate to make it a mandatory requirement for FRAs to have the competence to perform this critical role. To support delivery of the Inquiry recommendation, we intend to consult shortly on proposals relating to the future of the FRA profession.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes will be built in new towns in (a) total and (b) this Parliament. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the government’s initial response to the New Towns Taskforce’s final report which can be found on gov.uk here.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 75621 on Elections: Reform, whether the Code of Conduct will be mandatory for registered political parties. \p Samantha Dixon: As set out in the Restoring Trust in our Democracy strategy, we will work with the Speaker and the Electoral Commission to develop a code which is fit for purpose. The code will not be mandatory; however, we will work closely with political parties and other stakeholders to ensure it is effective, proportionate and reflective of the needs of candidates and campaigners across the political spectrum.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on derelict buildings in rural areas. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department does not hold data on derelict buildings.

The Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues regarding derelict buildings in rural areas
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to help increase the number of co-operative housing units. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises that the community-led housing sector delivers a wide range of benefits including strengthening community participation in local decision-making, engendering community cohesion, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy.

In March, we announced a £20m 10-year social finance investment to provide capital finance for community-led housing, which is expected to directly support the construction of more than 2,500 new homes over the next decade. These housebuilding projects will be led by communities to specifically address local needs in their area.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December strengthened support for community-led housing, including through changes to the size limit on community-led exception sites and a broadening of the definition of organisations able to deliver community-led housing.

The government is also considering opportunities to legislate to establish a legal framework for a co-operative housing tenure, which would help formalise the rights and responsibilities of both co-operatives and their tenants, and make co-operative housing a more attractive option.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Navendu Mishra:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Build to Let developments on housing affordability in areas with high rental demand. \p Matthew Pennycook: My Department has made no such assessment.

The government is committed to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures and to supporting the Build to Rent sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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John Lamont:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has with the Secretary of State for Defence on the Eskdalemuir Seismological Array, in the context of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Ministry of Defence, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) have worked closely together on how best to unlock the development of up to 3 gigawatts of further onshore wind capability in the Eskdalemuir area. This would contribute up to £2 billion of investment in UK based companies.

Options to unlock this capacity – including through regulations pursuant to powers granted by the Planning and Infrastructure Bill – are subject to joint consultation due to be launched by the DESNZ and the Scottish Government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered (a) recognising and (b) establishing a definition of anti-Sikh hate. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Sikhs. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this. We welcome the Sikh Guard initiative, a third-party reporting service specifically for the Sikh Community.

Over the last 5 years, the Government has provided funding to True Vision – the police hate crime programme and online reporting portal – to encourage communities to report hate crime and reinforce relationships between communities and policing. As a part of this, True Vision has been working with the Sikh Guard (established by the National Sikh Police Association) and Rakkha initiatives to encourage reporting from within Sikh communities.