Every parliamentary written question tabled by James Cleverly this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 361–380 of 1,044 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, what recent representations his Department has received from political parties on access to postal vote expiry data.
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97526 on 15 December 2025
Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) legal action and (b) other expenditure arising from the decision to postpone local elections in England in May 2026.
As per the Secretary of State’s correspondence to the Rt. Hon. Member of 23 February, the Government has agreed to pay the claimant’s reasonable legal costs, with the final amount to be determined. Any further Government legal or administrative costs will be met in the usual way. All local elections scheduled for May 2026 will be going ahead as planned. Spend on administering local elections is a matter for local authorities.
Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to allow prepaid currency cards to be used as a form of voter identification.
I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the Representation of the People Bill 2026, which sets out which bank cards will be accepted at the polling station – this includes credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and cash withdrawal cards.
Communities and Local Government, what the process for proposed know your donor checks will be for (a) hon. Members and (b) political parties; and what role House authorities will have in the process.
Know Your Donor rules will be implemented alongside clear, practical support for all recipients of donations. That is why the regime is underpinned by statutory guidance issued by the Electoral Commission, which will set out how recipients of donations should assess the relevant risk factors, the kinds of circumstances that may signal a heightened level of risk and the steps they can take to reduce that risk.To keep the system responsive to evolving threats and campaigning practices, the legislation also enables this guidance to be updated as needed.We will continue to work closely with the Commission and relevant stakeholders as the guidance is developed.
Communities and Local Government, if he will make reconsider the cancellation of the combined authority mayoral elections originally scheduled for May 2026.
Government intends to hold inaugural mayoral elections for the four Devolution Priority Programme places that are also undertaking local government reorganisation in May 2028, so that areas can complete the reorganisation process before Mayors take office. The inaugural elections will take place following the establishment of the Strategic Authorities by Secondary Legislation, which is subject to the areas consent. Devolution is strongest when it is built on firm foundations, and this extra time will allow these four areas to establish robust institutions ahead of their Mayors taking office in 2028. Cheshire and Warrington and Cumbria have previously requested a delay of their inaugural elections to May 2027, to align with the majority of planned local elections. Both Strategic Authorities have now been established.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 111142 on Housing: Asylum, how many local authorities submitted an expression of interest to the new model for asylum accommodation.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has not invited, nor received, expressions of interest from local authorities in relation to a new model for asylum accommodation.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2026, to Question 111137, on Council tax: Tax Yields, whether there are equivalent estimates for aggregate business rate receipts in each of those years.
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, pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2025, to Question 58058, on Local Government Pension Scheme, and of 12 February 2026, to Question 111138, on Local Government: Redundancy Pay, whether any changes are being made to the Local Government Pension Scheme to reduce the cost of pension strain following unitary local government restructuring; and whether this department has made a wider estimate of the likely cost of unitary restructuring on council exit payments in 2026-27 onwards.
Council staff are expected to transfer to new unitary councils. The cost of any exit payments made by a council offered as part of a voluntary exit scheme or resulting from any compulsory redundancies implemented by a new unitary council, including payments under the Local Government Pension Scheme, will depend on local workforce decisions and the composition of the workforce. The Government cannot predetermine or form a view on the outcome of local decisions on the operational and staffing structure of new unitary councils, including the outcome of any consultation with affected staff and their representatives. Councils should work with relevant administering authorities on any implications for the Local Government Pension Scheme and it is for all councils concerned to determine their own policies on exit payments.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2026, to Question 110398, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Publicity, in what formats does his department hold data on expenditure on publishing content in foreign languages.
MHCLG holds information about suppliers that have undertaken translation activities for the Department. The information will not differentiate between whether the translatory service was undertaken to support published content or for any other reason, nor would it consistently differentiate between translation work undertaken into the Welsh language or other languages.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish correspondence from each council requesting election delays in relevant areas.
I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils. Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way. We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish each council response to the Ministerial letter on local government reorganisation of 18 December 2025.
I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils. Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way. We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the correspondence, Local government reorganisation: further letter to council leaders with elections in May 2026, of 19 January 2026, for what reason those letters were sent to those specific councils; and if he will place copies of replies to those letters in the Library.
I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils. Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way. We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the evidence he planned to file at the High Court on the postponement of local elections in England in May 2026.
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The case the Rt Hon. Member refers to has now been concluded and the Court did not make any judgement against the government.
Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Housing Minister determined that local elections should proceed in May 2026; and what factors he considered.
I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils. Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way. We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.
Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving overseas electors the option to register to vote when they renew their British passport online.
The Government is committed to improving electoral registration and is actively exploring ways to do so. The Representation of the People Bill will lay the foundations for a more automated registration system. Any changes must be tested to ensure they have a positive outcome in an already complex system.
Communities and Local Government, whether (a) hon. Members, (b) councillors and (c) political parties will have access to the full electoral register with attainers aged below 16.
Under the current UK electoral framework, political parties, elected officials and candidates are entitled to request copies of the electoral register and may use them for “electoral purposes” and for the purposes of complying with rules regarding political donations, and office holders for purposes related to their office.With regard to individuals standing for an election having access to the full register, once the provisions set out in the Representation of the People Bill come into effect, no candidates will have access to the data of 14- and 15-year-olds, unless the individual turns 16 by the polling date for that specific election. This is provided for because it is important that 15-year-olds who will turn 16 on or before polling day - and will therefore be eligible to vote - have the same opportunity to be canvassed so they can form an opinion in the same way as any other eligible voter.The Government takes the safeguarding of young people and their data seriously, with strict controls set out in legislation on who can access information from the electoral register and for what purpose. The approach set out in the Representation of the People Bill balances the need for proportionate safeguards within our electoral system, without disadvantaging young voters from being able to participate in it.
Communities and Local Government, what commissioned data was provided to the Office for Budget Responsibility for the calculation of recent business rate receipts forecasts.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for producing the business rates forecast for England only. This is primarily based on estimates of national non-domestic rates, collected and published by the department, alongside CPI inflation assumptions provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The latest forecast uses 2025-26 national non-domestic rates data as its baseline.
Communities and Local Government, whether he has has discussions with West Yorkshire Combined Authority on contract reference 20250627172243-103257, awarded to Lexington Communications; and whether his Department has received communications from Lexington.
Local authorities are responsible for the award of contracts in line with the procurement regulations at the time of the award.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026, to Question 104668, on council tax, if he will publish a table listing the notional Band D level for each local authority in England in 2025-26, based on the methodology outlined in that answers of 66201 and 104668.
The notional council tax level for each authority in England is published on gov.uk here.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026, to Question 102811, on Planning Permission, whether any other guidance has been given on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the planning system.
Neither the government nor the Planning Inspectorate has issued guidance in respect of the treatment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the planning system.