Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of local government reorganisation on the (a) services provided by, (b) responsibilities of and (c) parish precepts for council tax in (i) new and (ii) existing town and parish councils.

Town and parish councils are not in scope for local government reorganisation and will continue to operate as they do now.  The power to create and restructure town and parish councils is devolved to principal local authorities, which can review and make changes to local governance arrangements through Community Governance Reviews. In doing so, they are expected to take the views of local people into account. The Government expects town and parish councils – including new councils – to carefully consider the burden placed on taxpayers when setting their precepts. Areas considering the establishment of new town and parish councils should also think carefully about how these might be funded to avoid putting further pressure on local authority finances and/or new burdens on the taxpayer.

Communities and Local Government, what the status is of each locality within the Devolution Priority Programme.

Government will establish Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the Devolution Priority Programme areas as quickly as possible following the consent of the constituent councils. The Combined Authorities for Cumbria and Cheshire & Warrington were established on 24 February. Legislation establishing a Sussex and Brighton strategic authority has been laid before Parliament. We are firmly committed to delivering mayoral devolution as quickly as possible in the other three Devolution Priority Programme areas: Hampshire and the Solent; Norfolk and Suffolk and Greater Essex. We will continue to work closely with all Devolution Priority Programme areas.

Communities and Local Government, what the planning use class is of a data centre; and whether change of use planning permission is required for an office to become a data centre.

What use class any given proposal for a data centre will fall into will depend on the individual circumstances of the case.An application for planning permission will generally be needed in order to change use of an office to a data centre.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to (a) update the Index of Dissimilarity and (b) produce other indicators of residential segregation.

We do not have plans to update the Index the Dissimilarity or, to produce other indicators of residential segregation.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on access to empty homes council tax data held by local billing authorities.

The government expects precepting and billing authorities to work constructively and share data where this is appropriate. The government has not issued guidance to local authorities on accessing this information.

Communities and Local Government, what his Department supports the changes to council tax practiced exemptions proposed through the Property (Registration and Valuation) Bill.

The government will respond to this Private Members Bill in the usual way.

Communities and Local Government, whether any council elections will be (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in May 2027.

The Government remains committed to the indicative timetable for local government reorganisation set out in July, with elections to the new councils scheduled for May 2027.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) the GLA levy and (b) higher Rateable Values from the 2026 revaluation on the business rate bills of pubs in London.

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111143 on 12 February 2026. Pubs in the Greater London Authority area seeing significant changes in their business rates bill as a result of the revaluation will receive support through the £4.3 billion business rates package announced at the Budget. They will also be eligible to receive the 15% Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief in 2026/27 if they meet the eligibility criteria. Further information on this relief can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, if he will commission an assessment of the impact of council tax levels on the cost of living for average households.

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to my answer provided on 11 February to Question UIN 110405. Final council tax referendum principles were published as part of the final settlement and are available here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2026 to Questions 107021 on Housing: Asylum, if he will publish any prospectus and bidding document given to local authorities in relation to the new asylum accommodation programmes and associated pilots.

Details of the MHCLG asylum accommodation programme have not yet been finalised and no prospectus has been provided to local authorities. The MHCLG fund is distinct from Home Office-led reforms to the asylum estate.

Communities and Local Government, whether the council tax referendum policy decision for the six councils with no thresholds was subject to an equality impact assessment.

We have considered the equalities impacts of the proposals and decisions in the multi-year Settlement across the period 2026-27 to 2028-29, including the council tax referendum policy decision for the six councils with no thresholds. Councils are responsible for deciding the level of their council tax and considering the inequalities impacts that may arise, including from additional flexibilities in referendum policy. Council tax increases may enable local authorities to provide better services, but may have a negative impact on any taxpayer struggling to pay their bill. Councils have tools to mitigate the impact, including in relation to equalities, for example, through a council tax support scheme.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of trends in the number of local authorities hiring public affairs consultants for lobbying.

Section 26 of the Recommended Code of Practice for Local Authority Publicity (‘the Publicity Code’) states that Local authorities should not incur any expenditure in retaining the services of lobbyists for the purpose of the publication of any material designed to influence public officials, Members of Parliament, political parties or the Government to take a particular view on any issue.Local authorities are required to have regard to the Publicity Code in coming to any decision on publicity, with is defined as any communication, in whatever form, address to the public or a section of the public.

Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of gross business rate receipts in England in (a) 2024-25, (b) 2025-26, (c) 2026-27, (d) 2027-28 and (e) 2028-29.

The Department collects estimated business rates receipts data annually from local authorities, the most recent data available is for 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 and is available here. Estimates of business rates receipts data for 2027-28 and 2028-29 have not been collected at this time. For the purpose of the Settlement, the government estimates the amount of an individual local authority’s Settlement allocation provided through the local share of business rates income. This is known as a Baseline Funding Level (BFL) which is the amount of funding that the Government determines that a local authority needs from business rates to deliver local services. The BFLs form part of Core Spending Power, core revenue funding available for local authority services through the local government finance settlement. In 2027-28 and 2028-29, BFLs will increase in line with an annual inflation measurement to reflect the annual uprating of business rates multipliers. An assumption of this was made in the multi-year Settlement to reflect this and published here.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of changes in the number of postal votes under the new expiry rules.

Information relating to postal vote applications is held by independent Electoral Registration Officers rather than the UK Government and so it is not possible to provide more information about the number of postal vote applications that were not renewed during any period. The department does not actively track trends in the level of postal vote renewals, or the number and proportion of postal vote applications that were renewed, over any period.The Government will continue to work with the Electoral Commission and with local authorities to support independent Electoral Registration Officers with postal vote application activities.

Communities and Local Government, whether pubs with hotel rooms, VOA SCAT Code 227, are eligible for the new pub rate relief.

Local authorities are responsible for the administration of business rates, including decisions on the awarding of various reliefs. Guidance for local authorities on the administration of the pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027 was published on 18 February 2026 and can be found here. It is for local authorities to determine whether individual properties meet the definitions contained within the guidance to be eligible for the Pubs and Live Music Venues relief.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that fire and rescue authorities are effectively assessing the fire risk of high-rise buildings.

Each fire and rescue authority (FRA) in England is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO), which covers fire safety in non-domestic premises, including those within high-rise buildings. The Fire and Rescue National Framework for England sets an expectation that each FRA has a management strategy and a locally determined risk-based inspection programme for enforcing compliance with the provisions of the FSO. It is for each local FRA to determine how best to allocate its resources based on an evaluation of local risks. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of fire and rescue services. HMICFRS provides a rounded assessment of every fire and rescue service, including an assessment of its protection function, which undertakes this enforcement role. The Government has made available £10 million in protection uplift grant funding for 2025/26. This funding enables fire and rescue services to bolster the operational capability and capacity to fulfil their vital fire protection function to keep the public safe from fire including in high-rise buildings. The Building Safety Act 2022 established the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) which regulates higher-risk buildings (7 storeys or 18m+ with at least two residential units) in England. In 2025/26, the Government provided up to £4.4 million to support Fire and Rescue Services to recruit and train technical fire safety staff to support this work.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 107987 on Planning Permission, whether his Department holds a list of (a) councils with Article 4 directions in force and (b) types of development Article 4 directions apply to.

While Local Planning Authorities are required to send a copy of all Article 4 directions to the Secretary of State when made, my Department does not hold a record of those currently in force. A full list of permitted development rights is set out in Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104964 on Elections, whether there are any other (a) prospectus documents, (b) calls for evidence, (c) bidding documents, (d) consultations and (e) pilot invitations sent to local authorities that have not been published on in the last 6 months.

There are no such documents relating to the flexible voting pilots that have not been published in the last six 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 and the pilots are a part of this wider work. The Electoral Commission is responsible for carrying out an independent, statutory evaluation of the pilot schemes and will publish its findings.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104668 on council tax, what the monetary amount is of that national average Band D rate in 2025-26.

As set out in the response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0, the level of notional council tax is calculated based on the England average rather than the Band D average. The average band D council tax level in England, including parishes in 2025-26 is £2,280. This is available to view here Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2025 to 2026 (revised) - GOV.UK. The notional council tax values are set out in the Fair Funding share calculator.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 105228 on Community Infrastructure Levy, whether he plans to amend (a) planning practice guidance and (b) legislation in response to the High Court decision; and whether local planning authorities still have discretion to waive CIL payments to householders.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 105228 on 21 January 2026. Any announcements will be made to Parliament in the usual way.