Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, what the status and timetable is of his Department's review of the legal framework of protections for public recreational space announced by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage during the passage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Open and green spaces are an essential part of local social infrastructure and must be protected for future generations. The review of existing protections will examine the fragmented and outdated nature of current legislative protections for public recreational green spaces; assess how these protections complement those in the planning system; and consider the lack of central records on protected land. Further details and a timetable will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104671 on Local Government Finance, what information his Department holds on guidance issued by (a) his Department and (b) the Planning Advisory Service on the use of interest accrued on unspent Community Infrastructure Levy funds.

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts must be used for the purposes which are set out in section 216 of the Planning Act 2008 and Part 7 of the CIL Regulations.My Department’s published guidance on the CIL includes detailed advice as to what the levy can be spent on. The guidance in question can be found on gov.uk here.Resources published by the Planning Advisory Service are available on their website here. These include a guide to publishing an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Infrastructure Funding Statements should provide clarity and transparency for communities and developers on the infrastructure and affordable housing that is expected to be delivered through developer contributions.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with the Greater London Authority on extending the 2026 (a) pubs and live music relief and (b) revaluation transitional relief to include increases in business rates from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.

Business rates transitional relief is applied to business rates bills before the effect of other local reliefs or supplements. It therefore has no effect on local business rates supplements, such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.As set out in section 13 of the Business Rates Supplements Act 2009, where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, any applicable Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes. For the coming financial year, this will include adjustments to relevant Business Rates Supplements such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement, for the effect of the Supporting Small Business Relief Scheme and Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026. Further information can be found on the Greater London Authority’s website here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2026, to Question 103297, on Local Government Finance, whether areas where mayoral elections have been delayed will have access to any of the £200 million funding before those elections take place other than the initial payment of £1 million a year per combined authority.

The £200 million figure is in reference to the collective Investment Fund amount per year the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive once Mayors are in post in those areas. Before Mayors are elected, and once the institutions are established, government will provide each area with a proportion of their Investment Fund.Beyond the Investment Fund, the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive other sources of devolution funding, including capacity funding.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2026, to Question 107026, on Asylum: Housing, what criteria was used to select the range of local authorities to engage with on the new model for asylum accommodation.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has worked in close partnership with local authorities to develop a new, more sustainable model for asylum accommodation.A cross-section of local authorities were selected across different geographies and political colours so that a range of perspectives could be considered throughout the development of the new model.

Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses to decide whether to translate documents and communications into foreign languages.

The department provides published content in additional languages where appropriate and on a case-by-case basis.

Communities and Local Government, how many Section 321 directions have been issued to allow for closed planning hearings in each of the last ten years.

In the last ten years Section 321 directions have been issued in relation to two applications.

Communities and Local Government, whether there is a tracker document for the (a) pipeline and (b) applications in relation to the 150 national infrastructure application target.

My Department tracks the progress of the commitment to decide 150 planning decisions on major infrastructure projects by the end of this Parliament.The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) are responsible for the Infrastructure Pipeline.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104668 on council tax, how county councils which are fire authorities and do not have separate fire precepts are treated for the purposes of that methodology.

The updated distribution for the Local Government Finance Settlement includes a resource adjustment, which takes account of a local authority's ability to raise income locally.To reflect their differing responsibilities, within the resource adjustment we apply a different tier split to Shire Counties with fire authority responsibilities than we do to Shire Counties without fire authority responsibilities.More information can be found in the Technical Annex on the Resources Adjustment (measure of tax base).

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Greater London Authority supplementary business rate arising from increases in Rateable Values from the 2026 business rates revaluation on the business rates of medium-size pubs in London in 2026-27.

The Greater London Authority currently levies a Business Rates Supplement (BRS) to fund the costs of the Crossrail project (renamed Elizabeth line in 2016). The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026 in line with average percentage increase in rateable values. In line with the requirements of the Crossrail BRS final prospectus published when the supplement was introduced in 2010-11, the Mayor is required to increase the threshold in line with the average change in rateable values in London at each revaluation. The intent of this threshold increase is to ensure that the total number of ratepayers liable to pay the BRS remains broadly unchanged each year.On 27 January the government announced that for 2026/27 it was providing a further 15% business rates relief to pubs and live music venues on top of the support already announced at the Budget. Where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme, Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes in line with the requirements of section 13(7) of the Business Rates Supplement Act 2009. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Land Registry holds information on the numbers of sales of primary homes by local authority area in 2025.

HM Land Registry does not collect or hold information that confirms whether a registered property purchase is a primary residence.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104789 on Council Tax: Tax Yields, whether his Department has unpublished working estimates of the revenue from council tax in England in each year from 2026-27 onwards based on the assumptions in the Spending Review.

The Department routinely considers a range of council tax data as part of policy development and has published its estimates of the revenue from council tax in England in each year from 2026-27 onwards.As part of the multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government has made estimates of changes to Core Spending Power for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. This includes estimates of the council tax councils will set for those years. These estimates are set out here. These estimates exclude parish precepts, police and crime commissioner precepts.

Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the (a) number, (b) total and (c) individual amount of local authority exit payments by authority in 2024-25.

The Government publishes data on local authority exit payments on an annual basis. It is available on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2026 to Question 103284 on Council Tax: Warwick, whether a local authority must undertake an impact assessment before introducing a second homes council tax premium.

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 99200 on 22 December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statistics entitled Local authority Council Taxbase in England 2025 (revised), 21 January 2026, for what reason there are some exceptions where the premium is not applied to second homes even though the premium is in use by the authority.

The Government recognised that there were circumstances where it may not be appropriate for a premium to apply and introduced a number of mandatory exceptions to premiums. These exceptions include circumstances where the property is marketed for sale or let, has recently concluded probate or where it is undergoing major repairs for example. The regulations underpinning the exceptions can be found here. The government’s guidance also sets out these exceptions.

Communities and Local Government, whether core spending power figures published in the Local Government Finance assumes (a) that each principal local authority sets the maximum level of council tax that does not trigger a council tax referendum or (b) a different level of council tax.

Over the multi-year Settlement, Core Spending Power is calculated by assuming that authorities increase their Band D council tax in line with the maximum allowable level set out by the council tax referendum principles; and each authority’s council tax base increases in line with the average annual growth in their council tax base between 2021-22 and 2025-26. This type of approach has been standard practice under successive governments. Explanations on how council tax and associated referendum principles are calculated as part of core spending power is set out here - Explanatory note on Core Spending Power: final local government finance settlement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK. Local authorities are responsible for setting their own council tax levels. The way council tax in Core Spending Power is estimated is unchanged from previous Local Government Finance Settlements. In line with usual practice and in recognition of the views raised in response to this consultation, the government will continue to keep its methodology for calculating the Core Spending Power of local government under review in future years.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2026 to Question 107021 on Affordable Housing: Asylum, what types of accommodation, including (a) change of use, (b) HMOs, (c) hotels or communal accommodation and (d) new build will the new fund for local authorities support.

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107021 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his oral statement of 22 January 2026, Official Report, Column 486, on Local Government Reorganisation, whether he will reimburse councils for the administrative costs of preparing for May 2026 elections now being cancelled.

I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February HCWS1349, updating the House on 2026 local elections.

Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on (a) further delaying or (b) cancelling under scheduled council elections in 2027 in areas with local government restructuring.

I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February HCWS1349, updating the House on 2026 local elections.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the British High Commission Islamabad news story of 17 April 2025, which individuals and external organisations Lord Khan met during his visit to the (a) Overseas Pakistanis Convention, (b) Faisal Mosque and (c) St Joseph’s Cathedral whilst on his official Ministerial visit to Pakistan.

A summary of the former Minister’s schedule will be placed in the Library of the House.