Every parliamentary written question tabled by Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 41–52 of 52 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing permitted development rights.
The government has announced its intention to amend the existing permitted development rights for air source heat pumps and electric vehicle charging points to support homeowners. Further information is available on gov.uk here and here.We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.
Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with property management companies which manage property in Slough with cladding that requires remediation.
Speeding up the remediation of buildings throughout England is essential. More than seven years have passed since the Grenfell tragedy, yet progress remains unacceptably slow. In the Slough area, there are five live applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme - two from social sector organisations and three from private sector applicants. Of the remaining three, one began its application at the end of January and remains in the early stages of the process. Two projects are in the initial tender stage, planning their works, and we are monitoring monthly progress updates to ensure they are on track. We remain committed to driving timely progress for every building with unsafe cladding. As set out in our Remediation Acceleration plan, by intensifying efforts to identify at-risk buildings and accelerate pace of remediation for buildings, including by fully utilising the efficiencies of the Cladding Safety Scheme, we are mitigating the ongoing threat posed by unsafe cladding in the Slough area, and across the country.The Cladding Safety Scheme interacts with all applicants. It is a data-led programme designed with key performance indicators to ensure we can monitor and track progress and escalate applications as required. The system allows RAG ratings for all buildings to ensure that we are able to support and engage buildings experiencing delays or blockers. A key tenant of the programme is ensuring leaseholders and residents receive regular communications from the applicant so that they are aware of progress. In the Slough area, there are five live applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme of which two are experiencing delays. One is still within the design phase, while the other building is more complex having discovered potential additional works required. We are engaging these buildings to receive regular updates on their progress and are closely monitoring their performance. Our key focus is to support these applications to ensure progress at pace resumes to provide leaseholders and residents with the necessary comfort to know that their buildings will be remediated without further delay.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of progress of remediation works by property management companies on properties approved for the Cladding Safety Scheme in Slough.
Speeding up the remediation of buildings throughout England is essential. More than seven years have passed since the Grenfell tragedy, yet progress remains unacceptably slow. In the Slough area, there are five live applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme - two from social sector organisations and three from private sector applicants. Of the remaining three, one began its application at the end of January and remains in the early stages of the process. Two projects are in the initial tender stage, planning their works, and we are monitoring monthly progress updates to ensure they are on track. We remain committed to driving timely progress for every building with unsafe cladding. As set out in our Remediation Acceleration plan, by intensifying efforts to identify at-risk buildings and accelerate pace of remediation for buildings, including by fully utilising the efficiencies of the Cladding Safety Scheme, we are mitigating the ongoing threat posed by unsafe cladding in the Slough area, and across the country.The Cladding Safety Scheme interacts with all applicants. It is a data-led programme designed with key performance indicators to ensure we can monitor and track progress and escalate applications as required. The system allows RAG ratings for all buildings to ensure that we are able to support and engage buildings experiencing delays or blockers. A key tenant of the programme is ensuring leaseholders and residents receive regular communications from the applicant so that they are aware of progress. In the Slough area, there are five live applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme of which two are experiencing delays. One is still within the design phase, while the other building is more complex having discovered potential additional works required. We are engaging these buildings to receive regular updates on their progress and are closely monitoring their performance. Our key focus is to support these applications to ensure progress at pace resumes to provide leaseholders and residents with the necessary comfort to know that their buildings will be remediated without further delay.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the quality of temporary accommodation provided in (a) Slough and (b) the South East.
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is developing a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness.As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26.More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. We are also abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.The Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) is allocated to councils across England based on local homelessness pressures and is used to meet local needs. Slough will receive £2,538,151 for 2025-26 through the HPG.The legislation is clear that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.The £1.2 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to provide up to 7,000 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing for local communities. The Local Authority Housing Fund will ease local homelessness pressures, reduce spending on unsuitable B&B accommodation, and provide safe and sustainable housing for those on Afghan resettlement and Ukrainian sponsorship schemes.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with Slough Borough Council to tackle homelessness.
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is developing a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness.As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26.More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. We are also abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.The Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) is allocated to councils across England based on local homelessness pressures and is used to meet local needs. Slough will receive £2,538,151 for 2025-26 through the HPG.The legislation is clear that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.The £1.2 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to provide up to 7,000 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing for local communities. The Local Authority Housing Fund will ease local homelessness pressures, reduce spending on unsuitable B&B accommodation, and provide safe and sustainable housing for those on Afghan resettlement and Ukrainian sponsorship schemes.
Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding provided by the Government to local councils.
We are providing a significant boost to local authorities in England. Taken together, the additional funding announced by the Chancellor at the Autumn Budget and 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.The provisional Settlement for 2025-26 makes available £69 billion for local government, which is a 3.5% real terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The final Settlement will increase further, to incorporate the £515 million of funding announced for National Insurance Contributions.The Department works closely with local government and other government departments to understand specific demand and cost pressures facing local government on an ongoing basis. This involves looking at a range of cost and demand data, as well as regular engagement with local authorities.
Communities and Local Government, what recent steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to help alleviate child poverty in (a) Slough and (b) the Thames Valley region.
In the Labour manifesto we committed to developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child Poverty. I am part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce which has since been established to drive this forward, aiming to publish a Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025. On 23 October we published our framework ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’ and are exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Local authorities are key partners in tackling child poverty and we will continue to engage with them to ensure the Strategy supports and enables shared solutions.
Communities and Local Government, what recent steps she has taken to reduce homelessness in (a) Slough constituency and (b) Thames Valley region.
Homelessness levels are far too high. This Government recognises the devastating impact this can have on those affected. We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessnes...
Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the influence of foreign funding in democratic processes.
The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections and, as stated in our manifesto, we intend to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy.We are developing proposa...
Communities and Local Government, how their Department defines strategy.
The definition is detailed in the Functional Standards Common Glossary, which is published on the gov.uk website.
Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of buildings have registered for the Cladding Safety Scheme in Slough constituency.
The Cladding Safety Scheme is able to confirm how many buildings based in the Slough constituency have registered with the scheme. To date, there have been six applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme in the Slough constituency. Two buildings were confi...
Communities and Local Government, what steps they are taking to use (a) artificial intelligence and (b) data to help increase their Department's productivity.
MHCLG is committed to improving its productivity, including through artificial intelligence and effective use of data.MHCLG’s Foundational AI Team is currently in the group testing phase of introducing a licensed version of Microsoft’s Copilot to staff. T...