Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to Right to Buy on the number of social housing tenants who are eligible to buy their home.

A review of Right to Buy discounts was published alongside the Budget. In this review, our modelling suggests a reduction in Right to Buy sales under the new maximum cash discounts with a long run average of c. 1,700 sales annually.On 20 November we launched a consultation on wider reforms to the Right to Buy. The consultation seeks views on eligibility criteria and any policy changes brought forward following the consultation will be subject to appropriate assessment. The consultation closed on 15 January and my officials and I are carefully considering all the responses received.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2025 to Question 22042 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Consultants, what firms have had their consultancy (a) work and (b) contracts discontinued since 5 July 2024; and what her Department's monetary target is for reduction in spending on consultancy fees in 2024-25.

Addressing our biggest consultancy spends, since 5 July 2024 we have: a) achieved significant reductions in expenditure ahead of re-procuring our Neighbourhood Planning contract; b) we have also chosen not to re-procure another large spending contract for the Community Ownership Fund. Concerning the future publication of the corresponding MHCLG annual consultancy spend, I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to UIN 22042 on 14 January 2025. C) In line with the Government’s overall ambition, we are targeting a 50% reduction in consulting spend by the end of financial year 2025-26, and we expect to be able to demonstrate material progress towards achieving this at the end of financial year 2024-25.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to answer Questions 23789, 23790 and 23791 on Eden Project: Morecambe, tabled on 14 January 2025.

I responded to the Hon Member on 23 January 2024.

Communities and Local Government, how she plans to respond to representations from Cheshire East Council to set a council tax referendum threshold of 10% in 2025-26.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 24234 on 22 January 2024.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) abolition of the Office for Place and (b) removal of the beauty criteria in the National Planning Policy Framework on public support for new housing.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 6867 on 15 October 2024 and to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 12 November 2024 (HCWS209).

Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to implement the provisions on design codes of Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 6867 on 15 October 2024 and to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 12 November 2024 (HCWS209).

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the correspondence entitled Local government reorganisation: letter to two-tier areas, published on 15 January 2025, if she will publish the correspondence from each council that responded to the letter.

The department has no plans to publish the correspondence from each council that responded to the letter published on the 15 January. A decision on the requests made by councils to postpone local elections will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible. As set out in my letter of 16 December, these requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral answer of 15 January 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Col. 1123, on Political Parties: Funding, what steps her Department is taking to obtain views and evidence from stakeholders.

As set out in our manifesto, the Government intends to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy. The work to give effect to this commitment is ongoing, and we are engaging with key stakeholders, such as the Electoral Commission. We are reviewing all relevant evidence from stakeholders.

Communities and Local Government, when she expects the Planning Inspectorate to publish the written representations received to planning application APP/E5900/V/24/3353754 on its website.

The Planning Inspectorate does not publish written representations received on its website as I explained in the answer to written Question UIN 19351 on 20 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 20226 on Environment Impact Assessment, what her planned timetable is for replacing the system of environmental assessment.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to question UIN 20226 on 24 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the £515 million of new funding to support councils with the costs associated with the increase in employer National Insurance contributions, announced on 18 December 2024, whether she plans to continue this funding in local government finance settlements beyond 2025-26.

Raising the revenue required to fund public services and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions on tax, which is why the government is asking employers to contribute more. All of us rely on good public services.We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services.Taken together, the additional funding announced by the Chancellor at the Autumn Budget at the 2025-26 provisional Local Government Finance Settlement will provide over £5 billion of new funding for local services over and above local council tax. This includes an additional £2 billion of grant through the Settlement in addition to a guarantee that local authorities in England will receive at least £1.1 billion in total in 2025-26 from the new Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme, and a further £233 million of additional funding for homelessness services.Local authority funding decisions beyond 2025/26 are a matter for the multi-year spending review, which is due to conclude in Spring 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Questions 19351 and 19356 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if she will place in the House of Commons Library each written representation that will be considered by the Planning Inspectorate’s inquiry.

Written representations submitted to the Planning Inspectorate’s inquiry will not be placed in the House of Commons Library. However, inquiry documentation, including written representations submitted to the inquiry, is available to view in the inquiry library here.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued guidance on when planning permission is required to rent out a dwelling as a short-term let.

The guidance sought can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of limits on the amount that local authorities can spend on temporary accommodation from the Homelessness Prevention Grant on costs to local authorities.

This Government has inherited record levels of temporary accommodation, and we recognise the pressure this has put on councils. The Homelessness Prevention Grant was never intended to meet all of councils’ temporary accommodation costs. Councils can and do draw from the wider settlement to meet temporary accommodation costs. The government regularly takes a wide range of evidence into account when determining the overall level of funding available for local government services, including expected temporary accommodation pressures in 2025-26.The majority of funding provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced in recognition that local councils are best placed to understand the needs of their communities. The Government has confirmed there will be over £5 billion additional government grant funding available for local government services in 2025-26, over and above increases to council tax. Of this, over £2 billion is being made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, for what reason she has placed a limit on the amount local authorities can spend on temporary accommodation costs from Homelessness Prevention Grant.

This Government has inherited record levels of temporary accommodation, and we recognise the pressure this has put on councils. The Homelessness Prevention Grant was never intended to meet all of councils’ temporary accommodation costs. Councils can and do draw from the wider settlement to meet temporary accommodation costs. The government regularly takes a wide range of evidence into account when determining the overall level of funding available for local government services, including expected temporary accommodation pressures in 2025-26.The majority of funding provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced in recognition that local councils are best placed to understand the needs of their communities. The Government has confirmed there will be over £5 billion additional government grant funding available for local government services in 2025-26, over and above increases to council tax. Of this, over £2 billion is being made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her guidance entitled Explanatory note on the National Insurance Contribution compensation 2025 to 2026, published on 18 December 2024, on what methodological basis the figure of £515 million was reached to help local authorities mitigate the additional impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's polices of representations from the Local Government Association on its estimate of (a) direct and (b) indirect costs for local government.

The additional £515 million made available by the government to compensate local government in England as a whole for the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs), has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff across the public sector. We will confirm final positions on the methodology and approach to allocations following the conclusion of the consultation on the provisional settlement currently underway. Final allocations will be provided at the latest as part of the final local government finance settlement in early 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 16495 on Local Government and Mayors: Elections, what her timetable is for updating the list with combined authority mayoral elections.

In response to the Hon. Member’s question tabled on 27 November (UIN 16495), I arranged for the addition of combined and county combined authority mayoral elections to the list of local elections published by the Government; for ease of reference, that list can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-timetable-in-england/election-timetable-in-england.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 99 of the English Devolution White Paper, CP 1218, published on 16 December 2024, whether councils would be allowed to outsource the enforcement of council byelaw breaches to private companies.

The government will work with councils to determine how byelaws should be made and enforced as set out in the English Devolution White Paper.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question HL3294 on Parish and Town Councils: Employers’ contributions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in the rate of employers' National Insurance contributions on (a) parish councils and (b) parish precepts.

The government recognises the important role town and parish councils have in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of their communities. We recognise that the increase in the rate of employers’ National Insurance Contributions will lead to increased costs for some parish councils, which may require them to increase their precept. We recognise that decisions to increase precepts are not taken lightly by parish councils.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's explanatory note entitled, Employer National Insurance Contributions funding, published on 18 December 2024, for what reason the funding is being based on net current expenditure.

The additional £515 million made available by the government to compensate local government in England as a whole for the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs), has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff across the public sector. We will confirm final positions on the methodology and approach to allocations following the conclusion of the consultation on the provisional settlement currently underway. Final allocations will be provided at the latest as part of the final local government finance settlement in early 2025.