Every parliamentary written question tabled by David Simmonds this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 601–620 of 665 · this parliament
Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for the publication of the new cladding remediation plan.
On Monday 2 November we announced a Remediation Acceleration Plan which sets out key measures to remove unsafe cladding from buildings faster, identify remaining buildings still at risk and ensure that residents are supported through the remediation process.
Communities and Local Government, what her (a) housing and (b) planning policy is on encouraging councils to turn (i) empty and (ii) redundant office space into residential accommodation.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including the development of under-utilised land and buildings to meet the need for homes and other uses.As part of our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the Framework, we set out proposals to broaden the existing definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and make clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas.On 22 September we published a ‘brownfield passport’ policy paper inviting views on how we might further prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land.
Communities and Local Government, how many homes (a) in total and (b) by type of tenure have been financed under the Levelling Up Home Building Fund.
Since the Levelling Up Home Building Fund launched in 2022, it has committed funding to support the delivery of 35,695 new homes against its target of 42,000.Tenure breakdown information is only available once construction is started on site, so is not available against the total number of homes financed.
Communities and Local Government, whether special advisers in her Department have had meetings with (a) representatives and (b) clients of Arden Strategies since 5 July 2024.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of external meetings held by Special Advisers are published in line with the requirements set out in guidance here.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2024 to Question 1329 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Marketing, what the final cost of the re-branding was; and whether any transactions relating to the re-branding were published in her Departmental spending data.
Changing the name of the department did not attract a significant cost as we returned to a department name which had been previously used. Most of the work was completed internally. Details of expenditure are published on gov.uk.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written Ministerial Statement of 28 October 2024 on Social and Affordable Housing: Next Steps, HCWS169, whether the funding at Liverpool Central Docks is (a) grant funding, (b) a loan, (c) a financial guarantee and (d) a financial transaction.
This scheme will be supported through a £55.8 million grant from the Brownfield Infrastructure and Land fund to Liverpool City Council.
Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on the rights householders have to plant a tree (a) within the curtilage of and (b) on a green space immediately adjacent to their property without the consent of their local authority.
The department has not issued any such guidance.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5417 on Housing: Construction, if she will list the 60 local authorities affected by nutrient neutrality rules.
At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor announced £45 million for seven local authority areas for Round 2 of the Local Nutrient Mitigation fund. The allocations were awarded to authorities affected by nutrient neutrality on the basis of bids submitted by them for mitigation schemes. A further £2 million was divided between the largest catchments affected by nutrient neutrality to support cross-boundary work on this issue. The authorities affected by nutrient neutrality were listed in the expression of interest for the fund, published on gov.uk on 23 May 2023.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written Ministerial Statement of 28 October 2024 on Social and Affordable Housing: Next Steps, HCWS169, what methodology will be used to allocate the £47 million in relation to nutrient neutrality; and what the eligibility requirement for receiving the funds will be.
At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor announced £45 million for seven local authority areas for Round 2 of the Local Nutrient Mitigation fund. The allocations were awarded to authorities affected by nutrient neutrality on the basis of bids submitted by them for mitigation schemes. A further £2 million was divided between the largest catchments affected by nutrient neutrality to support cross-boundary work on this issue. The authorities affected by nutrient neutrality were listed in the expression of interest for the fund, published on gov.uk on 23 May 2023.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written Ministerial Statement of 28 October 2024 on Social and Affordable Housing: Next Steps, HCWS169, whether the fund with Muse Places Limited and Pension Insurance Corporation is (a) grant funding, (b) a loan, (c) a financial guarantee or (d) a financial transaction.
The government’s investment into a joint venture with Muse Places and Pension Insurance Corporation, publicly branded as Habiko, is an equity stake into an investment vehicle – which can be classified as a financial transaction – owned equally between PIC, Muse & Homes England.Homes England's investment was funded through the Levelling Up Home Building Fund and this partnership plans to deliver 3,000 low-carbon, low-energy affordable homes.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5414 on Local Government: Elections, whether she plans to lay the associated legislation to allow the combined authority mayoral elections to take place in May 2025; and in which other areas combined authority mayoral elections will take place in May 2025 for the first time.
There are two scheduled combined authority mayoral elections in 2025: the Mayor for West of England Combined Authority, which includes the local authority areas of Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire; and the Mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which includes the local authority area of Peterborough City Council and the local authorities in Cambridgeshire.Legislation to establish a new Mayoral Combined Authority covering Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council was laid in Parliament on 26 November and, subject to parliamentary approval of the legislation, their first mayoral election will also take place in 2025. There are no scheduled mayoral elections in combined authority areas in 2026 currently.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled New burdens doctrine: guidance for government departments, updated on 29 July 2022, whether proposed changes to (a) employers National Insurance contributions and (b) the minimum wage are new burdens.
We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services. Together with local income from council tax and locally-retained business rates, this will provide a real-terms increase in total core spending power of around 3.2%, which can be used to address the range of pressures facing local government.The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government.The New Burdens Doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies (for example changes in general taxation, or employment legislation that applies to all organisations), unless these have a disproportionate effect on local government.
Communities and Local Government, whether local authority core funding will include funding for proposed changes to (a) employers National Insurance contributions and (b) the minimum wage.
We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services. Together with local income from council tax and locally-retained business rates, this will provide a real-terms increase in total core spending power of around 3.2%, which can be used to address the range of pressures facing local government.The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government.The New Burdens Doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies (for example changes in general taxation, or employment legislation that applies to all organisations), unless these have a disproportionate effect on local government.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7690 on Local Government: Standards, what her Department's timetable is for consultation with stakeholders.
The Government will be launching the consultation on the local government standards regime, referred to in my previous response, at the earliest opportunity.We are committed to working with local and regional government to establish partnerships built on mutual respect, genuine collaboration, and meaningful engagement. The measures outlined in the upcoming consultation reflect our ambition to create a rigorous standards framework that will actively contribute to ensuring local government throughout the country is fit, legal, and decent.
Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is to consult on changes to Energy Performance Certificate methodology.
Energy Performance Certificates provide homeowners and renters with valuable information about the energy performance of their homes.However, it is now widely recognised that improvements need to be made to the EPC system to improve their accuracy and reliability, whilst ensuring they are giving people a wider range of information. We are developing plans to address this and will shortly launch a consultation with more detail.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October, to Question 5413, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote Working, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of 40% in-person attendance levels on public sector productivity levels.
We remain committed to maximising the benefits of hybrid working through fostering the best of time in offices, work with partners and stakeholders, and working from home. At MHCLG we see that spending more time together in person brings benefits to the work we do and our departmental culture.Those benefits include sharing ideas more easily, collaborating effectively, solving problems and learning from each other, all of which are vital factors in delivering positive outcomes for the communities we serve.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7872 on Local Government: Elections, in which combined authority areas are mayoral elections expected to take place in (a) 2025 and (b) 2026.
There are two scheduled combined authority mayoral elections in 2025: the Mayor for West of England Combined Authority, which includes the local authority areas of Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire; and the Mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which includes the local authority area of Peterborough City Council and the local authorities in Cambridgeshire.Legislation to establish a new Mayoral Combined Authority covering Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council was laid in Parliament on 26 November and, subject to parliamentary approval of the legislation, their first mayoral election will also take place in 2025. There are no scheduled mayoral elections in combined authority areas in 2026 currently.
Communities and Local Government, whether she has targets to reduce the number of people (a) homeless, (b) rough sleeping and (c) on social housing waiting lists.
The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected. We will look at these issues carefully, including issues around hidden homelessness, to make sure we put in place services that meet people’s needs.The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy. We have also established an Expert Group to bring together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector, local and combined authorities and wider experts. We have no plans to appoint an external champion.We recognise England is in an acute housing crisis and there is insufficient social housing to meet demand. This Government will deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, and has already set out a number of steps: Housing targets increased to get Britain building again - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Local authorities have the freedom to manage their own social housing waiting lists, so they can decide who should qualify for social housing in their area and develop solutions that make best use of the social housing stock.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024, to Question 5299, on Devolution: Local Government, whether council (a) leaders and (b) mayors were invited to attend the Council of the Nations and Regions.
The Council of the Nations and Regions on 11 October brought together the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, and the Mayors of Combined Authorities and County Combined Authorities in England.The following Mayors from English regions are invited to attend the Council of Nations and Regions: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the East Midlands, Greater London, Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, the North East, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley, the West Midlands, the West of England, West Yorkshire, and York and North Yorkshire.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5674 on National Security, if she will list the key stakeholders who her Department is working with; and whether this includes (a) the Parliamentary Parties Panel and (b) political parties directly.
As set out in our manifesto, the Government is committed to strengthening our democracy, upholding the integrity of elections and widening participation in the democratic process.The department will work closely with key stakeholders, including local authorities, the Electoral Commission, and where relevant the Parliamentary Parties Panel and political parties, to develop proposals which give effect to these commitments.