Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on consulting (a) HM Opposition and (b) minority opposition parties, in relation to departmental spending pledges that go beyond the Spending Review.

Funding certainty is vital to drive progress and sustainable change in places. MHCLG has a series of major funding programmes which extend beyond the current Spending Review period – giving communities the certainty to plan, invest, and grow over the long term. These are programmes that all tiers of government, and therefore all political parties, will have a role in delivering across the country.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of unauthorised traveller development taking place on (a) weekends and (b) bank holiday weekends, when local authority planning departments are closed.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether special advisers have met or corresponded with (a) Criterion Capital or (b) Asif Aziz since July 2024.

Special Advisers at MHCLG have not met or corresponded with Criterion Capital or Asif Aziz since July 2024.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to reply to the correspondence from the Rt hon. Member for Braintree of 18 February 2026.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to Question 107991, tabled on 23 January 2026.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to Question 117300, tabled on 3 March 2026.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, which organisations responded to the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/ Islamophobia Definition call for evidence.

The Working Group launched a Call for Evidence which closed on Sunday 20 July. It was open to the public and any individual or organisation was able to submit evidence. The government does not routinely publish the details of individual respondents to calls for evidence.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2026, to Question 118190, on Local Government Finance, what proportion of the £740 million of funding was comprised of unallocated MHCLG budgets for the Spending Review period; and what is the allocation over each year of SR2025.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2026, to Question 108220, on Affordable Housing: Greater London, whether any other assessment has been made of affordable housing starts in London which have then not been built, despite being registered as started.

The Affordable Housing Supply statistical release that my Department publishes is produced using a number of different sources. These include data from local authorities, Homes England and the Greater London Authority (GLA).The GLA and Homes England provide information in respect of individual developments, but this is only at the point they start or complete. As such, the data my Department publishes does not distinguish between developments where construction has started and is ongoing and developments where construction has started but has stalled or been abandoned.The GLA expect all schemes will continue to proceed. In instances where that does not prove possible, they will ensure that all grant is recouped and reinvested in social and affordable housing.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2026, to Question 107992, on Lichfields, whether their work was awarded by open competition, or via direct award.

The contract in question was awarded directly following failed competitions. This information was published within the contract award notice which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 122202 on Public Houses: Business Rates, whether a reimbursement applies to the Greater London Authority Crossrail business rate supplement, should a billing authority consider whether to apply the 15% pub relief to the business rate supplement.

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. The Greater London Authority is not reimbursed for the lost revenue arising from government funded discretionary reliefs awarded under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the 15% pub relief, when this relief is applied to a Business Rates Supplement (BRS). While these reliefs are applied on a parallel basis to reliefs on Non-Domestic Rates, the Greater London Authority bears the entire cost in respect of the resulting reduction in BRS revenues.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 115420 on Affordable Housing: Housing Starts, what assessment his Department has made of the number of (a) affordable and (b) non-affordable homes starts that have been de-applied as starts in revisions since July 2024.

In June 2025, Homes England revised their figures for starts and completions from 2022-23 and 2023-24. Minor corrections have also been made to starts data published in November 2024 due to processing errors affecting First Homes units for 2023-24 provided via LAHS. Details of the revisions made each year to the publication are available in the technical note corresponding to that year’s publication. Revisions made in 2024/25 are available on gov.uk here and revisions made in 2023/24 are available on gov.uk here. Housing Supply: Indicators of new supply statistical releases always reflect the latest available data provided to my Department. All revisions are made in accordance with the policy for scheduled revisions as set out in Section 5 of its technical notes, which are available on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2026, to Question 103288, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Pakistan, and further to Deposited Paper DEP2026-0218, committed on 27 February 2026, what was discussed in the six meetings with the Government of Pakistan; and how this related to departmental responsibilities.

The Rt Hon Member, as a former Foreign Secretary, will know that it is the long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on private diplomatic meetings. Paragraph 16 of the Guidance on Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance), sets out the types of external engagement that would not automatically be classed as meetings, including events such as conventions and conferences. The former Minister has, however, requested that his transparency return has been updated to include the meeting with UNHCR.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral statement of 23 February 2026, Official Report, Column 78, on Local Government Reorganisation, how much of the £63 million in funding for councils is to be allocated to Retuning Officers to assist them with the cancelled, but then re-affirmed, local elections.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question HL15625 on Islamophobia, if he will place a copy of the Equalities Impact Assessment on the definition of anti-Muslim hostility in the Library.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will put forward proposals for increasing local government transparency under the next round of the UK National Action Plan for Open Government.

The Department keeps this issue under review. A wide range of mechanisms exist to ensure transparency and accountability of local authorities. The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires authorities to publish a range of information about their activities including spending, procurement and assets. Authorities are also required to produce annual accounts which are independently assured by an external auditor. The Ministry is working to improve transparency through reforms to the local audit system which will establish the Local Audit Office to oversee the system. The Local Outcomes Framework will provide outcomes based performance measurement against key national priorities delivered at the local level.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2026, to Question 104169, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Darlington, why the Darlington office has a 40% office attendance rate requirement rather than the Civil Service expectation of 60%.

The office attendance expectation for the Darlington office is set at 40% due to building capacity constraints. This has been determined by assessing the number of staff based at the site against the desks available, while ensuring compliance with health and safety requirements.

Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities considering the Government’s letter on putting evidence to cancel local elections were (a) offering additional funding or (b) advised they may lose funding, by his Department, if the local authority (i) did or (ii) did not, make a request respectively.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter sent by the Secretary of State to HM Opposition of 21 March 2026, on MHCLG spending commitments, if he will provide a breakdown of the £62 billion of spending commitments, and the profile across each year and each programme.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2026, to Question 103288, and further to Deposited Paper DEP2026-0218, committed on 27 February 2026, for what reason the (a) Overseas Pakistanis Convention and (b) external meeting with UNHCR was not listed in the quarterly transparency return of the Minister of meetings with external organisations.

The Rt Hon Member, as a former Foreign Secretary, will know that it is the long-standing practice of successive governments not to comment on private diplomatic meetings. Paragraph 16 of the Guidance on Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance), sets out the types of external engagement that would not automatically be classed as meetings, including events such as conventions and conferences. The former Minister has, however, requested that his transparency return has been updated to include the meeting with UNHCR.