Written questions by Hollinrake.

With reference to the press release entitled Government calls ‘last orders’ on red tape choking pubs, clubs, and restaurants in major boost to the British night out, published on 4 April 2025, whether she plans to amend her Department's guidance entitled Revised guidance issued under section 182 of Licensing Act 2003, updated on 27 February 2025.

On 4 April the Government established a Taskforce to consider how the licensing regime may be strengthened to help facilitate a business environment that supports the Government’s growth mission whilst continuing to deliver the current licensing objectives relating to public safety, crime and disorder.The Taskforce met for the first time on 9 April and the Government will consider its recommendations

What steps he is taking to help tackle intimidatory practices by trade unions when on strike.

The Government is clear that there is no place for intimidation in any workplace. Our trade union legislation provides for picketing to lawfully take place, but this picketing must be peaceful and those on picket lines must not harass or intimidate workers that choose to attend work. The Code of Practice on Picketing remains in effect and this will continue to be the case.In the event of non-striking workers being intimidated or harassed, there is a wide range of criminal and civil sanctions that are applicable in this area including in common law and in various acts of Parliament.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for the private rented sector on the number of empty homes.

The Government is consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation includes proposals for rented homes to achieve EPC C or equivalent by 2030, unless a valid exemption applies, and is accompanied by the Department’s impact assessment. The assessment makes clear that we are unable to quantify the extent to which this will impact the supply of properties as landlords may take different approaches. We encourage stakeholders to feed in views and evidence on the potential impact of these proposals. Following the consultation process, a government response and full impact assessment will be published.

Communities and Local Government, whether the (a) water and waste, (b) airport and (c) national networks National Policy Statements will be updated by summer 2025.

On 8 July 2024, the Chancellor committed to updating relevant National Policy Statements within 12-months.The government recently launched a consultation on proposed amendments to the Energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) 1, 3 and 5 and intends to consult shortly on other draft amended National Policy Statements.These draft amended NPSs will be laid in Parliament for consideration as prescribed by the Planning Act 2008. Completion of the update processes is subject to the outcome and timings of those consultation and Parliamentary timings.The National Networks NPS is not included in this as it was designated in May 2024. The government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports NPS, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent. Further to this, we are introducing legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to make at least five-yearly reviews of all NPSs a legal requirement. This would include a transitional period in which NPSs that are currently out of date (i.e. more than 5 years old at the time of Royal Assent) will have two years from the bill being enacted to update their NPSs in line with the legislation. All other NPSs will be required to be updated within 5 years of their designation of latest update.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 41460 on MHCLG: Equality, if she will publish the associated training materials for the Inclusion Allies training; who signed off the expenditure on the Inclusion Allies training; and what the cost was of the Inclusion Allies training.

Expenditure of £4,184 was approved by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 29 October 2024 in line with Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance. This training equipped 26 staff within the Department to provide support for marginalised or vulnerable colleagues. The training consisted of webinars, group learning, and hands-on exercises. Materials associated with this training are the intellectual property of the provider, and cannot be published by the Department for contractual reasons.

Whether his Department plans to make changes to the permitted size of a serving of beer or cider.

This Government has no plans to change the permitted size of a serving of beer of cider.Draught beer or cider can be served in a 1/3 pint, 1/2 pint, full pint, or multiples of those sizes as defined in the specified quantities set out in the Weights and Measurers legislation.We have stated our commitment to preserving the pint, and the amendment to the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill put forward by Lord Fox, and supported by the Government, ensures any future government could not use the powers in the Bill to change the uses or size of the pint.

If she will make it her policy to reverse the regulatory changes to (a) pavement licences and (b) takeaway pints from the expiry of the covid easements on 1 April 2025.

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement I made to the House on 27 February.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 42243 on Recreation Spaces, whether SANGS payments will still be required in addition to contributions to (a) the Nature Restoration Fund and (b) Biodiversity Net Gain, in the context of development near Habitats Sites.

Where an Environmental Delivery Plan is in place to address the negative effects of recreation on Habitats Sites, payment of the Nature Restoration Levy would offer an alternative option to applicants to discharge their environmental obligations. Applicants would therefore be able to choose to pay the levy as an alternative to making a SANGs payment. Where no Environmental Delivery Plan is in place, the current environmental assessment system would remain in place, and any required SANGs payments would continue to apply. Biodiversity Net Gain is an additional requirement separate from obligations related to impacts to Habitats Sites and will run concurrently with the Nature Restoration Fund. The requirement to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain would remain regardless of whether an Environmental Delivery Plan is in place.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the responses to the Devolution Priority Programme consultations.

The consultations for the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme closed on 13 April 2025. The Government is now carefully considering all responses received, before taking a decision on whether to proceed. This decision, and a report on the consultation, will be published in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) she and (b) the Planning Inspectorate have full access to redacted sections of (i) documentation and (ii) drawings of the proposed Chinese Embassy.

All Inquiry documents for this case are publicly available on Tower Hamlets website here. The case is not yet before the Secretary of State.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2015 on (a) the likelihood of future industrial action in local authorities relating to the collection of household rubbish and (b) intimidation on municipal picket lines.

The government published an impact assessment on the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 in October 2024. The Act places unnecessary red tape on trade union activity that works against their core role of negotiation and dispute resolution. As such, the government is substantively repealing it.The repeal of the 2016 Act will not impact legislation that provides for picketing to lawfully take place. This picketing must be peaceful and those on picket lines must not intimidate workers who attend work. The Code of Practice on Picketing will also continue to remain in effect.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2025 to Question 41466 on Electronic Cigarettes and Smoking: Byelaws, what her policy is on requests from local authorities to try to ban (a) smoking and (b) vaping in or adjacent to licenced premises through byelaws.

The Department has not issued guidance on whether byelaws may be used to prohibit (a) smoking or (b) vaping in or around licensed premises. It is for local authorities to ensure that any byelaws they propose are appropriate, enforceable, and consistent with relevant legislation and national policy.

Communities and Local Government, what the total cost to her Department was for her visit to Doncaster Airport on 10 April 2025.

The DPM was undertaking official and political business from multiple locations on 10 April and was accompanied by her security detail with costs accrued in the usual way. Costs of the DPM's protection arrangements are not disclosed for security reasons.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department engages with the European Islamic Centre.

The department does not engage with the European Islamic Centre. The responsibility for decisions around who departments engage sits with the respective departments and the appropriate policy areas. We also refer the hon. member to the response provided by the Minister for Security during Oral Parliamentary Questions on 31st March 2025. Debate: Oral Answers to Questions - 31st Mar 2025 - Nick Timothy extracts.

In how many council areas have grooming gangs been reported.

Child sexual abuse and exploitation, including group-based offending or ‘grooming gangs’, remains under-identified and under-reported. Police recorded crime figures are captured by Police Force Area, which equates to local authorities in many instances. Analysis by the police found that there were 115,000 cases of child sexual abuse recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2023, with 4,228 group-based offences identified by the Taskforce, which is likely to be a significant under-estimate. That i’s why all 43 police forces in England and Wales have been tasked with looking again at historic cases of group-based Child Sexual Exploitation which were closed with No Further Action, and to re-open investigations and pursue new lines of inquiry where appropriate.Baroness Louise Casey is also currently conducting a national audit into the nature, scale and profile of grooming gangs offending across the UK, which will report back next month.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40908 on New Towns: Planning Permission, whether she plans to allow housing development on Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that development on land within or outside a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and which is likely to have an adverse effect on it (either individually or in combination with other developments), should not normally be permitted. The only exception is where the benefits of the development in the location proposed clearly outweigh both its likely impact on the features of the site that make it of special scientific interest, and any broader impacts on the national network of Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on trade union facility time since 1 March 2013.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has not issued guidance to local authorities on trade union facility time since 1 March 2013. However, the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 sets out publication requirements on trade union facility time for local authorities. The Cabinet Office published guidance for public bodies on reporting trade union facility time data on 21 May 2019. This guidance was most recently updated on 22 May 2024. The Ministry has also previously written to the sector periodically to remind authorities of their obligations regarding publishing trade union facility time.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question on Public Consultation; Young People, if she will list the DCMS-funded youth programmes through which young people were invited to participate in the long-term strategy for communities.

We invited young people from #iWill and UK Youth Parliament to participate in the roundtables.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Ministerial residence at 1 Carlton Gardens pays council tax as a (a) sole or main residence, (b) single person discount and (c) second home.

The Foreign Secretary pays the necessary council tax on 1 Carlton Gardens.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statutory guidance entitled Guidance on the flexible use of capital receipts, updated on 26 March 2025, whether the sale of a local authority school playing field would qualify as a capital receipt.

Under the general direction on “Flexible Use of Capital Receipts” (FUCR), authorities may use the proceeds from qualifying asset sales (capital receipts) to fund the revenue costs of projects designed to generate ongoing savings or reduce the costs of service delivery. This is to help councils deliver transformation and invest-to-save projects they might not otherwise be able to afford from their budgets. When applying the direction, the Authorities are required to have regard to the Guidance on Flexible Use of Capital Receipts issued by the Secretary of State under section 15(1)(a) of the Act. This sets out best practice in using the flexibility. For the purposes of this direction, authorities may use the proceeds from any qualifying asset disposal made while the direction is in force, provided the use is not otherwise restricted. For example, receipts from the sale of Right to Buy assets are excluded. Disposals must also be genuine: the flexibility does not apply to sales made to companies owned or controlled by the authority or in which it has a financial interest. It is for local authorities to determine how best to use this flexibility, including decisions on which assets to sell. However, the Government expects all decisions to demonstrate value for money and to be in the best interests of local residents.