Written questions by Simmonds.

Whether her Department is issued guidance on the political uniform ban in the Public Order Act 1936 and the definition of a uniform.

The Public Order Act 1936 aimed to control and regulate the wearing of uniform in a public place or at a public meeting if that uniform signifies association with a political organisation or promotes a political object.The Home Office has not considered issuing guidance specifically on the political uniform ban under the Public Order Act 1936. Enforcement of this provision remains an operational matter for the police.

Whether the Valuation Office Agency has made an estimate of the number of dwellings in each local authority that could be liable for the council tax surcharge.

The Valuation Office Agency estimates fewer than 1% of properties in England are expected to be liable for the High Value Council Tax surcharge.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 94192, on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of applying the levy to asylum seekers in hotels on costs to the public purse.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide support to destitute asylum seekers and as such these are not discretionary overnight stays.The Government’s position remains that the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers is undesirable and unsustainable. Work is underway to expand the dispersal estate and develop alternative accommodation models to better deliver value for money and reduce impact on communities.To support local authorities, the Home Office provides significant grant funding to manage the pressures associated with asylum accommodation. This includes the Asylum Grant 395 which is designed to offset costs for councils and support local services impacted by the use of hotels and other accommodation. Under this grant local authorities received an initial payment of £1,200 per bedspace occupied on 30 March 2025; with £100 per month for each additional occupied bedspace between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.Additional grant funding is available for the support of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and care leavers. These grants form part of a wider package of measures to ensure that local authorities are not disproportionately burdened by the statutory asylum support system.

What data her Department collects on the religion of migrants, other than through the Census.

UVKI do not request this information as part of the visa application process.Asylum claimants are asked for information about their religion as part of the asylum screening (registration) process, during the substantive asylum interview and when submitting evidence in support of their claim. This information is recorded on any interview record and within the claimant’s electronic file.As part of the asylum process, the asylum decision-maker must determine whether the claimant has a characteristic (or be perceived to have a characteristic) which could cause them to fear persecution for a ‘Convention reason’, one of which is ‘religion’. We do not publish the number of asylum claims that were made on the basis of someone’s religion.

What the gross cost of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief was in 2025-26.

The information requested is available at this link.

What estimate she has made of the potential impact of the higher Rateable Values in the 2026 business rate revaluation on revenue from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement; and whether the multiplier or threshold for the supplement will be amended.

This is a matter for the Mayor of London.

Pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2025, to Question 96551, on Police: accountability, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding district-level licensing authorities in two-tier areas to the new Policing and Crime Boards.

The Government intends to legislate as soon as Parliamentary time allows to create Policing and Crime Boards to replace Police and Crime Commissioners where it is not possible for policing functions to be held by a Strategic Authority Mayor. These changes will take effect in May 2028.Councils in two-tier areas are currently undergoing local government reorganisation, and the Government is on track to deliver unitary local government in all areas by 2028. Therefore, no district-level authorities will exist from that point.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2025 to Question 97277 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, whether the Valuation Office Agency’s online calculator on the gov.uk website is correctly applying 2025-26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief when estimating the base liability and the subsequent value of 2026-27 transitional relief.

The business rates estimator tool was, in accordance with standard practice, taken down on Friday 16 January ahead of local authorities issuing business rates bills in the coming weeks.

With reference to the answer of 9 December 2025, to Question HL12288, on Council tax, what is the increase in police spending power on average across the Phase 2 settlement excluding the revenue raised from increasing council tax.

The provisional police funding settlement (18 December) published that total funding to Territorial Police Forces will be up to £18.3 billion, an increase of up to £746 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.2% cash increase and a 2.0% real terms increase for the policing system. Total grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners will increase by up to £382 million next year, a 3.3% cash increase.Council tax levels are a local decision, and elected Police and Crime Commissioners will rightly want to consider the balance between increasing resources for policing local communities and the overall council tax burden.Police funding is agreed on an annual basis and allocations beyond 2026–27 will be determined as part of future police funding settlements.

Whether the Prime Minister has recused himself on matters relating to the regulation and taxation of landlords.

This Government has strengthened the Ministerial Code. Decisions relating to recusals are made with advice from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. Any relevant ministerial interests are published in the quarterly ‘List of Ministers’ Interests’. All tax decisions are taken by the Chancellor.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 95892 on Business Rates, and with reference to paragraph 4.38 of the OBR's report entitled Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2025, CP1439, published on 26 November 2025, what is the equivalent percentage figure for England only.

The Government does not hold data on the breakdown of business rates revenue. The total change in business rates revenue is set out in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

What weight is given to the level of (a) private rented sector rents and (b) council tax in the statistical determination of child poverty.

The UK's headline child poverty statistics are provided via the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK. Children are defined as being in income-based poverty if the net income of their household is below 60% of median household income. Household incomes are adjusted by a process called equivalisation so that different household sizes and compositions can be compared. Council tax liability is subtracted in full from household income in a similar way to other taxes when calculating income before housing costs (BHC). Private rented sector rents are then subtracted in full from BHC income to calculate income after housing costs (AHC). The headline income-based measure of poverty is relative low income after housing costs (AHC) i.e. a child is in relative poverty AHC if the AHC income of their household is below 60% of the median for the year in question.

Further to the OBR Economic and fiscal outlook report of 26 November 2025, Table 3.9, what is her Department's estimate of the monetary annual value of the behavioural effects from the introduction of the council tax surcharge when implemented, and whether this includes lost revenue from (a) stamp duty transactions, (b) housebuilding and (c) taxation derived from home improvements.

Estimates of the direct behavioural effects are set out on page 78 of the Office for Budget Responsibilities Economic and Fiscal Outlook:https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_November_2025.pdf A breakdown of the policy costing is available on page 51 of the Autumn Budget 2025 policy costing document: Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

For what reason her Department has paused the sharing of regional asylum dispersal pack data with local government led strategic migration partnerships; and if she will change the policy of her Department in sharing this data.

The Home Office regularly publishes official accredited statistics, setting out the numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support, broken down by local authorities These statistics are published on Gov.uk and are freely available to local authority officials. There are frameworks and processes in place, to facilitate the sharing of additional or sensitive information with local authority officials to facilitate their planning and delivery. The Home Office regularly reviews the sharing of such information to ensure it remains necessary, proportionate and complies with legislation. Although rare, we may have to temporarily pause the sharing of such information whilst we undertake a review.

What her Department’s latest forecasts are for the value of annual CPI inflation in (a) September 2026 and (b) September 2027.

HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasting the economy is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 November 2025.In their most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR forecast CPI inflation to be 2.3% in Q3 2026 and 2.0% in Q3 2027.

Whether leasehold properties are valued for council tax based on their actual sale price or a notional assumed lease length.

The VOA values all properties for Council Tax in line with legislation.

Further to the the publication entitled Areas of research interest, updated 27 November 2025, when will (a) her Department, (b) HMRC and (c) the Valuation Office Agency publish their 2025 areas of research interests.

The Areas of Research Interest (ARI) documents you refer to, published in November 2024, set out a range of long-term and enduring research questions across the remit of HMT, HMRC and the Valuation Office Agency. The Government’s objectives, including relentlessly pursuing growth and cutting the cost of living, have not changed so it does not plan to update the documents regularly. The ARIs sit alongside other important analytical publications and documents, including the departments’ evaluation strategy and their research and statistics. This is just one part of the Government’s broader work engaging with external research partners.

Whether Energy Performance Certificate data will be used by the Valuation Office Agency to assist the council tax surcharge valuations.

The Valuation Office Agency is developing its specific approach to the High Value Council Tax Surcharge work and will set out more details in due course, alongside the government's consultation.

Pursuant to the answer of 22 December 2025, to Question 99863, on Business Rates, for what reason do some hereditaments not have an Unique Address Reference Number listed in their entry in the Valuation Office Agency's published VOA rating list downloads dataset.

The current dataset for the 2023 Rating List includes a “proxy record” for each hereditament that has been deleted from the 2023 Rating List. They are included in the data to provide an effective date of deletion from the 2023 Rating List. As these are hereditaments which have been deleted from the 2023 Rating List they would not be present in the subsequent 2026 Draft Rating List.

What estimate she has made of the administrative cost of implementing the council tax surcharge, including the estimated cost of the valuations for the dwellings.

Local authorities will collect this revenue on behalf of central Government. The Government will work closely with local government over the next two years to ensure the administration of the tax is not an excessive burden for local government. The Government will fully fund the administration costs of this tax. The Valuation Office will be conducting a targeted revaluation to identify homes worth over £2 million. This will also be fully funded by the Government. The HVCTS will raise £430m by 2029-30.