Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the command paper, Protecting What Matters, CP 1540, 9 March 2026, page 25, which of the recommendations of the Colin Bloom’s Independent Faith Engagement Review have been (a) adopted and (b) not adopted by his department.

The Bloom Review on Faith Engagement is one of the many evidence bases that inform the work of my department, including in relation to supporting community cohesion. This includes our commitment set out in Protecting What Matters to boost Faith and Belief literacy (informed by Colin Bloom’s recommendation to do so), in addition to our ongoing commitment to regular and consistent engagement with Faith and Belief groups. The insights of Faith and Belief groups continue to play an important role in shaping policies that promote inclusivity, understanding, and respect across our society.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance has been given by (a) his Department and (b) LEASE relating to leasehold enfranchisement for (i) residential dwellings, (ii) non-residential hereditaments and (iii) hybrid properties, and what plans there are to update the guidance in light of legislative changes.

My Department publishes guidance on gov.uk for residential and commercial leaseholders, including a ‘How to Lease’ guide for residential leaseholders.The government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) provides extensive guidance and free initial legal advice for leaseholders on residential leasehold enfranchisement, including through its website here.The government is committed to implementing measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to make enfranchisement cheaper and easier.The Act sets the method for calculating the price of a statutory lease extension or freehold acquisition, known as the valuation process. It removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value, and allows government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium.Valuation rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation. We will consult on valuation rates and commence the relevant provisions as soon as possible.As per my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), primary legislation will be required to rectify a small number of specific flaws in the 2024 Act before the Act’s enfranchisement provisions are commenced.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2026, to Question 119517, on North Hertfordshire District Council: Elections, why the council was selected as a flexible voting pilot when it is not holding principal council elections in May 2026.

The government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. These pilots are part of the government’s commitment to encourage greater participation in our democracy and to modernise the voting process, this commitment extends to town and parish council elections, such as those being held in North Hertfordshire in May.The government did not receive any requests or expressions of interest that were rejected. Several local authorities expressed interest but did not make a formal application.There have been no prospectus documents, calls for evidence, bidding documents, consultations or pilot invitations published in the last twelve months on matters other than the flexible voting pilots.The flexible voting pilots are being funded by the Department.Regarding the government’s engagement with stakeholders for the flexible voting pilots, I refer the Rt Hon. Member to Question UIN 87029 on 12 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what will happen to the borough status of the district councils in Surrey following the establishment of the two unitary councils.

Where local government reorganisation takes place, arrangements are made to preserve civic identity and city or borough status when a council is abolished. We are working with local councils in Surrey on these issues.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Rycroft Review: Letter to parliamentary party representatives, of 25 March 2026, why political parties were not consulted on the two policies before they were announced.

Following the publication of the independent Rycroft Review on 25 March 2026, the Government announced its intention to act upon two key recommendations from that Review, to introduce a cap on donations from overseas electors and a moratorium on donations via cryptoassets. The review and its recommendations were informed by engagement with a range of stakeholders, including political parties. The Government will be introducing these measures by amendment to the Representation of the People Bill where there will be sufficient opportunity to scrutinise and debate the proposals.

Communities and Local Government, what the provisional budget is for flexible voting pilots in (a) 2026 and (b) 2027.

The government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. These pilots are part of the government’s commitment to encourage greater participation in our democracy and to modernise the voting process, this commitment extends to town and parish council elections, such as those being held in North Hertfordshire in May.The government did not receive any requests or expressions of interest that were rejected. Several local authorities expressed interest but did not make a formal application.There have been no prospectus documents, calls for evidence, bidding documents, consultations or pilot invitations published in the last twelve months on matters other than the flexible voting pilots.The flexible voting pilots are being funded by the Department.Regarding the government’s engagement with stakeholders for the flexible voting pilots, I refer the Rt Hon. Member to Question UIN 87029 on 12 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, further to the policy paper, Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales: Access for Elected Members - government response, of 24 February 2026, whether local authorities will be given any central government funding to pay for the cost of councillor pensions.

Local authorities will not be given specific funding to pay for extending access to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) to councillors. The change should be seen in the context of the LGPS 2025 valuation and the strong funding position of the scheme.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2026, to Question 120066, on Electoral Register: EU Nationals, whether he has an estimate of the number of qualifying EU citizens in (a) England and (b) Northern Irelan who are eligible to register to vote, following the implementation of the Elections Act 2022, who are not otherwise entitled to be on the franchise by virtue of being Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizens.

The Government does not hold data on the number of qualifying EU citizens who are eligible to register to vote in England or Northern Ireland following the implementation of the Elections Act 2022. As set out in the answer to Question UIN 120066 on 18 March 2026, the Office for National Statistics has not produced updated estimates of EU citizens eligible to vote following the changes to voting rights implemented through the Elections Act 2022.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2026, to Question 117734, on Local Government: Elections, where there are any other (a) prospectus documents, (b) calls for evidence, (c) bidding documents, (d) consultations or (e) pilot invitations send to local authorities, on matters other than flexible voting pilots, that have not been published on gov.uk, in the last 12 months.

The government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. These pilots are part of the government’s commitment to encourage greater participation in our democracy and to modernise the voting process, this commitment extends to town and parish council elections, such as those being held in North Hertfordshire in May.The government did not receive any requests or expressions of interest that were rejected. Several local authorities expressed interest but did not make a formal application.There have been no prospectus documents, calls for evidence, bidding documents, consultations or pilot invitations published in the last twelve months on matters other than the flexible voting pilots.The flexible voting pilots are being funded by the Department.Regarding the government’s engagement with stakeholders for the flexible voting pilots, I refer the Rt Hon. Member to Question UIN 87029 on 12 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2026, to Question 113641, on Parish and Town Councils: Council tax reduction schemes, what assessment has been made of (a) whether principal local authorities have reduced their financial support for parish councils, in relation to the application of local council tax support on parish precepts, in (a) 2025-26, and (b) 2026-27 budgets and (b) the associated effects on parish council precepts.

Local council tax support schemes are designed by local authorities in consultation with council taxpayers. It is the responsibility of principal authorities to work with parish and town councils on council tax matters, including support schemes and to agree appropriate funding arrangements to avoid large increases in parish precepts.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance has been given to local authorities on (a) the criteria for an overview and scrutiny committee call-in and (b) the number of councillor questions permitted at meetings of Full Council.

Sections 9F(2)(a) and 9F(4) of the Local Government Act 2000 set out how local authorities should make sure their respective scrutiny committees have the power to review and scrutinise decisions made by the executive, commonly referred to as ‘call-in’ procedures. Guidance on ‘call-in’ procedures was published in 2000 alongside the Act. More recent guidance funded by central government was published in 2023 by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny.The number of councillor questions permitted at Full Council is not prescribed by statute or central government guidance and is instead determined locally through each authority’s constitutional procedure rules.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2026, to Question 113730, on MHCLG: Administration of Justice, how many judicial review cases relating to his department have been determined since 4 July 2024, excluding planning cases.

The Department deals with a large variety of legal cases including judicial reviews, Information Tribunal cases and private law litigation. As explained in answer to Question UIN 113730 on 4 March 2026, the number and outcome of legal challenges and judicial reviews since July 2024 is not held centrally in the format requested.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Rycroft Review: Letter to parliamentary party representatives, of 25 March 2026, for what reason the legislation will be introduced on a retrospective basis.

Following the publication of the independent Rycroft Review on 25 March 2026, the government announced its intention to act upon two key recommendations from that Review, to introduce a cap on donations from overseas electors and a moratorium on donations via cryptoassets.We are applying these rule changes retrospectively, to ensure malign actors aren’t able to funnel illegitimate money into UK politics in advance of the change in law.The government will be introducing these measures by amendment to the Representation of the People Bill where there will be sufficient opportunity to scrutinise and debate the proposals.

Communities and Local Government, further to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) action plan: 2025 to 2028, published on 24 March 2026, whether his Department will be publishing an SME Action Plan.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published its Small and Medium sized Enterprises Action Plan 2025 to 2028 on 24 March 2026, the same day as the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury published their cross government Small and Medium sized Enterprises Action Plan.The Action Plan is publicly available on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of deprivation weighting in the Index of Deprivation is linked to measures of welfare or benefit take-up.

Within the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) measure, three domains from seven incorporate measures of welfare or benefit take-up. The Income Deprivation Domain carries a weight of 22.5% and the Employment Deprivation Domain carries a weight of 22.5%. The Comparative Illness and Disability Ratio, which is drawn from similar sources, has a weighting of 0.294 in the overall Health Deprivation and Disability Domain, which contributes 13.5% to the IMD.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his correspondence entitled Rycroft Review: Letter to parliamentary party representatives, dated 25 March 2026, whether an impact assessment has been made on the two measures, including assymetric effects on political parties.

Following the publication of the independent Rycroft Review on 25 March 2026, the Government wrote to political party representatives to set out the immediate steps being taken to strengthen the UK’s political finance framework to address the risk of foreign financial interference. The Government announced its intention to introduce a cap on donations from overseas electors and a moratorium on donations via cryptoassets. Further policy detail will be set out as we bring forward these policies as amendments to the Representation of the People Bill.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Weekend voting and shopping centre polling stations to be trialled, updated 9 March 2026, for what reason are election pilots being piloted in North Hertfordshire in May 2026 in the absence of county or district elections that month.

The government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. These pilots are part of the government’s commitment to encourage greater participation in our democracy and to modernise the voting process, this commitment extends to town and parish council elections, such as those being held in North Hertfordshire in May.The government did not receive any requests or expressions of interest that were rejected. Several local authorities expressed interest but did not make a formal application.There have been no prospectus documents, calls for evidence, bidding documents, consultations or pilot invitations published in the last twelve months on matters other than the flexible voting pilots.The flexible voting pilots are being funded by the Department.Regarding the government’s engagement with stakeholders for the flexible voting pilots, I refer the Rt Hon. Member to Question UIN 87029 on 12 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 20 February 2026, to Question 111680, on Small Businesses: Business Rates, if he will make it his policy to publish a Plain English guide to claiming and calculating business rate relief, modelled on the document entitled Paying the right level of Council Tax: a plain English guide to Council Tax, originally published in May 2019.

Information on the range, type and value of reliefs available to ratepayers in England is already published on gov.uk and can be found here. The gov.uk pages are prepared to be accessible to all ratepayers and businesses.

Communities and Local Government, further to the Written Statement of 17 March 2026, HCWS1410, on Local Government Best Value, what assessment has been made of whether Tower Hamlets council is complying with the Local Government Publicity Code.

Local authorities are required to have regard to the Recommended Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity when making decisions about publicity. Responsibility for compliance with the Code rests with individual authorities. Where the Secretary of State considers that an authority is not complying with the Code, he has powers under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986 to issue a direction requiring the authority to comply.Any concerns regarding compliance should in the first instance be directed to the authority concerned. If the Rt Hon Member has specific concerns about Tower Hamlets Council, he may wish to write to the Department setting out the relevant evidence.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Outcomes Framework of 9 February 2026, what consideration was given to having metrics on the level of local government (a) taxation and (b) fees and charges.

Metrics on local taxation, fees and charges were not included in the Local outcomes Framework, as these do not relate to outcomes - which are the focus of the Framework. The Local Outcomes Framework enables outcomes-based performance measurement against key national priorities delivered locally and driven by councils as leaders of place. Metrics within the Framework were selected from publicly available data that meets clear quality standards, following engagement with local government and other interested parties.