Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 17560 on Local Government Services: Rural Areas, if she will publish that equality impact assessment.

The provisional settlement, published on 18 December, increases the total additional grant funding which will be made available to local councils in England through the settlement to over £2 billion. This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.The government intends to include a summary of the equalities impacts of its proposals as part of the response to the consultation on the provisional local government finance settlement 2025 to 26. This will be published alongside the final settlement, as usual.The government considered the implications of all decisions made through the provisional Settlement and is of the view that the Rural Services Delivery Grant does not properly account for need. It is important also to note that the Rural Services Delivery Grant was not paid to all local authorities delivering services in rural areas, as such it did not do as it suggested.As set out in the Environmental principles assessment guide, decisions around the spending or allocation of resources within government are exempt from the duty to give due regard to the Policy Statement on Environmental Principles.Annex A of the Rural Services Delivery Grant Determination 2024-25: (No. 31/7256), sets out allocations in 2024-25. The total allocation of Rural Services Delivery Grant 2024-25 to local authorities in England was £104,645,256.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 17553 on Housing: Ownership, whether she has made an estimate of potential changes in the levels of Right to Buy sales arising from changes to Right to Buy (a) discounts and (b) eligibility.

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.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has an affordable housing target for this Parliament.

The government has not set an affordable housing target to date, but we are committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. With regard to grant funded affordable housing, the government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent. In addition, the provision of affordable homes will be supported by our ‘Golden Rules’ for Green Belt development. Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with the revised NPPF, the affordable housing contribution required to satisfy the ‘Golden Rules’ is 15 percentage points above the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%. We estimate that under this model, the median Green Belt local planning authority affordable housing requirement will be 50%.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 14994 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if he will provide a readout of the Prime Minister's discussions with President Xi on the planning application for the Chinese Embassy.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 4 December, Official Report, 14994. The official read-out is a summary of the issues discussed at their meeting.

Whether officials from 10 Downing Street had discussions with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the call-in of the Chinese Embassy planning application prior to the decision being taken.

I refer the Hon Member to my Hon Friends answer of 6 December, Official Report, 17009.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 14994 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if he will publish a summary of any discussions with President Xi on 18 November 2024 on the planning application for the Chinese Embassy not included in the gov.uk readout.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 4 December, Official Report, 14994. The official read-out is a summary of the issues discussed at their meeting.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter to her from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China of 4 December 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of involvement of the United Front Work Department in the planning process for the called-in Chinese Embassy planning application.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question HL3240 on 19 December 2024.

How many hereditaments were classified per individual special category codes within the shops sub-sector special category code grouping by the Valuation Office Agency in each of the last ten years for which figures are held.

As part of its official statistics, the Valuation Office Agency publishes the number of hereditaments by special category code under the shops sub-sector for England and Wales for the past 10 years. This can be found under the stock of non-domestic properties collection here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-collection For each year from 2019 onwards, the table ‘Stock Scat’ shows the data as at 31 March each year. Prior to 2019, the data is shown within the ‘NDR Stock of Properties’ tables.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16139, on Hospitality Industry and Leisure: Business Rates, and to the Answer of 10 December 2024, to Question 17139, on Business Rates, on what basis and using what methods her Department has determined that the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants, will be subject to the higher multiplier which her Department plans to apply to properties which have a Rateable Value above £500,000.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, from 2026-27, the Government intends to protect the high street by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with Rateable Values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL properties benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so the Government intends to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from 2026-27, that is, those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but include the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. The Valuation Office Agency publishes a breakdown of the Non-domestic Rating Stock of Properties by Sector, Sub-Sector and Special Category (SCat). This includes a ‘large distribution warehouses’ category, which is SCat 151.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2024 to Question 17299 on Muslim Council of Britain, whether her Department engages with (a) MEND, (b) CAGE and (c) the Muslim Association of Britain.

The department does not engage with MEND, CAGE or the Muslim Association of Britain.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 16572 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission and with reference to paragraphs 18 and 19 of her Department's Guidance on planning propriety: planning casework decisions, whether the call-in representations are being made available to the interested parties in the called-in planning application.

We do not routinely make requests to call in planning applications available to interested parties.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15209 on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, whether she has received representations from local authorities on providing powers to impose additional (a) surcharges, (b) licensing fees and (c) taxes on (i) hotels and (ii) short-term lets other than through council tax, business rates and business improvement districts.

Whilst both hotels and short-term lets are vital to many local economies, some Mayors have called for the introduction of a tourist levy and some local authorities have called for further powers to manage the impacts of short-term lets where they are affecting the affordability and availability of housing to buy and rent.Areas can introduce a form of voluntary levy on businesses providing overnight accommodation (such as hotels) through setting up an Accommodation Business Improvement District.The government have also committed to introducing a short-term let register and abolishing the furnished holiday lets tax regime. We are considering what further powers we might give to local authorities to help them respond to excessive concentrations of short-term lets.As with all aspects of the tax system, any decisions on future tax changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of wider public finances.

Whether any recent proposals to (a) build and (b) expand prisons have been affected by nutrient neutrality rules.

Within the prison expansion programmes, the Rapid Deployment Cells Programme has been affected by nutrient neutrality rules at four sites. Developments in these catchment areas need to either secure nutrient credits or other nutrient mitigation for planning permission to be granted. To date, mitigation has been secured at three of the four sites.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes a more strategic approach to nature recovery, which we expect would streamline the process for nutrient neutrality mitigation.

Whether he has had recent discussions with participants at the UK Investment Summit 2024 on the status of their planned investments in the context of the Autumn Budget 2024.

The International Investment Summit brought together the world’s most important companies and investors to showcase the UK’s strengths and opportunities. Since it took place, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade has been working closely with the Chancellor and the Minister for Investment to follow up with participants, unlock new investment commitments, and ensure that planned investments are supported, including through the Office for Investment.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 1315 on environmental assessments, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of repealing the environmental assessment regimes originating from the (a) EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and (b) Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Directive.

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 16 December 2024 (HCWS317), the government will, in due course, replace the current systems of environmental assessment with Environmental Outcomes Reports.

Whether the Government ban on the sale of new petrol-fuelled vehicles from 2030 includes sit-on, petrol-fuelled lawnmowers for (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic use.

The Government’s commitment is for the phase out of new cars that rely solely on an internal combustion engine from 2030. Petrol-fuelled lawnmowers are considered non-road mobile machinery and therefore would not be in scope of the commitment for either domestic or non-domestic use. The Government will set out further details on its proposals in due course.

Whether the Valuation Office Agency holds data on the average rateable value of municipal swimming pools.

The Valuation Office Agency publishes this data as part of its official statistics on the stock of non-domestic properties:www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-2024. The mean rateable value for municipal swimming pools in England and Wales are published on rows 229 and 238 under column E in the Stock Scat, 2024 spreadsheet. Please note, figures show the mean rateable value in thousands of pounds.

With reference to his Department’s announcement of 23 September 2024, on minimum energy efficiency standards, what assessment he has made of the average cost of making a listed dwelling meet the EPC 'C' requirements by 2030; and whether listed buildings will be required to meet that statutory target.

The Government will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation includes proposals on required spend from landlords and potential exemptions. It will be accompanied by the Department’s assessment of potential cost to landlords. Following the consultation and legislation changes, we will issue guidance to landlords to comply with the requirement, and publish this on gov.uk. The Energy Performance of Buildings reform consultation, published in December 2024, proposes that valid EPCs should be required for all rented heritage buildings so that owners are well-informed about their building’s energy performance alongside recommendations for improvements.

What her policy is on local highways authorities delivering carbon savings by turning off street lighting at night.

The management of street lighting in England is the responsibility of local highway authorities, and it is for each local highway authority to decide the level of service they wish their street lighting network to deliver, and at what times. In reaching their decisions local authorities will take a number of factors into account, including the safety of all road users.The Department for Transport encourages all local highway authorities to replace their street lighting with LED lighting, which is better for the environment than traditional street lighting.The Department is also funding a £30 million research programme (“Live Labs 2”) to allow local authorities to pilot innovative ways of reducing the carbon impact of their highways operations. One of the projects is piloting new ways of decarbonising and rationalising street lighting, and testing lower carbon alternatives to it.

What information other than address and rateable value the Valuation Office Agency holds on pubs for business rate purposes.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) holds information about pubs to assess them for non-domestic rating purposes, one of the VOA’s statutory duties. The vast majority of the information held is sent by occupiers of pubs following a statutory request for information. The form sets out the information requested and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vo-6010-request-for-rental-information-public-houses. In some cases, the VOA may hold other records relating to the property, including the age, area, and information about heating, car parking and any modernisation carried out.