Written questions by O'Brien.

Communities and Local Government, how many staff in his Department (a) did not retain employment following completion of their probationary period and (b) had their probationary period extended in each of the last five years.

MHCLG’s probation policy and guidance advises managers on the steps to take to assess a new employee’s suitability for the post and to provide support to enable them to succeed. It also advises on the steps to take where performance, attendance or conduct are not satisfactory. This can include exiting the employee or extending their probation to provide further evidence for a final decision on their suitability. (a) The number of staff who were not retained for employment following completion of their probationary period was fewer than or equal to five in each of the last five years. (b) Information on staff whose probationary period was extended was not held centrally prior to 2024-25. For the last two years, for which data is available, the number of staff who had their probationary period extended was also fewer than or equal to five in each year.

Communities and Local Government, how many performance reviews were undertaken for staff in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a result of such a rating; and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff this represented.

The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost and time to the department.

Communities and Local Government, how many employment tribunal claims (a) for unfair dismissal and (b) under the Equality Act 2010 have been brought against his Department in each of the last five years.

The Department had less than 5 employment tribunal claims brought in each of the last five years.

Communities and Local Government, how many staff have left his Department in each of the last five years, listed by grade.

Information on the number of civil servants leaving each government department and organisation by responsibility level for the years 2021 to 2025 is published annually through the ‘Civil Service data browser’ as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Information can be accessed through the Civil Service data browser for 2021 through 2025 at the following web address: https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/.

Communities and Local Government, how many staff in his Department are recorded as having a (a) mental health condition and (b) physical disability, listed by grade.

The Department collects information on the disability status of staff for equalities monitoring purposes, and this is provided voluntarily by staff. However, there is no central record of the total number of staff with (a) a mental health condition or (b) a physical disability, as this level of detail is not routinely collected as part of those processes. Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025 Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Communities and Local Government, how many staff in (a) her Department and (b) Homes England have job titles which include the words (i) equality, (ii) diversity, (iii) inclusion, (iv) gender, (v) LGBT and (vi) race.

As of 31 March 2025 the department had 5 or less roles that included the specified words within their job titles.Homes England have no one employed with these words in their job title, nor do they have any colleagues designated solely to work on EDI.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of people (a) renting privately and (b) in the social rented sector were (i) born in the UK and (ii) not born in the UK in each region of England in each year since 1997.

The Department does not hold the required information.

Communities and Local Government, what the evidential basis is for the expectation that reformed local authorities should generally have a population of 500,000 or more.

The overall case for local government reorganisation is set out the English Devolution White Paper. New unitary councils must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. For most areas this will mean creatin...

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill, what definition her Department is using of mainly, in the context of schools that are mainly con

The Bill sets out that where a private school is wholly or mainly concerned with providing education for pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan they will be exempt from the measure and therefore retain eligibility for business rates charitable rel...

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to amend the National Planning Policy Framework to allow almshouse charities that are not registered providers to receive Section 106 funds for the provision of

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 8305 on 18 October 2024.

Communities and Local Government, when her Department plans to publish the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill; and what discussions she has had with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time for that

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 7625, on the 14 October 2024. We will announce further details in due course.