Written questions by Morton.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 23 October 2025 on Housing Delivery, HCWS991, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the new time-limited planning route on the role of (a) local authorities, (b) ward councillors, and (c) planning committees.

On 23 October 2025, the Secretary of State and the Mayor of London announced a new package of support for housebuilding in London. Details can be found on gov.uk here. A consultation on these London-specific measures will be launched in November 2025, and feedback will be welcomed from local planning authorities and local councillors.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Planning Policy Framework to include guidance on the importance of telecommunications infrastructure in new developments.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that advanced, high quality and reliable communications infrastructure is essential for economic growth and social well-being. It sets out that planning policies and decisions should support the expansion of electronic communications networks, including next generation mobile technology. The government intend to consult this year on a new suite of national policies for decision making and we will consider policies on telecommunications as part of that exercise.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to the Planning Inspectorate on considering potential environmental impacts of decisions to designate land as grey belt.

The Planning Inspectorate has not been issued with specific guidance to support decisions as to whether any given site is considered grey belt when a decision by a local planning authority has been appealed. Nor has it been issued with specific guidance related to consideration of the potential environmental impacts of decisions to designate land as grey belt. In determining whether a site is classified as grey belt at appeal, the relevant Inspector will consider relevant legislation; national planning policy, including the National Planning Policy Framework; Planning Policy Guidance; and any relevant local development plan policies and material considerations.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the judgement in C G Fry & Son Limited v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government UKSC/2024/0108 on housing delivery.

The Supreme Court judgment in question distinguished between the legal protection provided to European Sites under the Habitats Regulations and the policy protection afforded to Ramsar sites. The government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of the judgment on general housing delivery. The case concerned a very limited set of circumstances and no new planning applications that have come forward since the imposition of nutrient neutrality advice in 2020 will be affected by the Supreme Court’s judgement. While this case has been progressing through the courts, the government has provided significant investment to deliver local mitigation schemes – including in Somerset – to enable development to come forward.

Communities and Local Government, how many times he has met with the leader of Birmingham City Council to discuss resolving the ongoing bin strikes.

The ongoing waste dispute is a local issue and rightly being dealt with by Birmingham City Council. Secretary of State-appointed Commissioners continue to support the Council in their recovery and improvement journey and provide regular progress reports to the Secretary of State. My department engages regularly with Councils under intervention.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to the Planning Inspectorate on deciding whether a site is considered grey belt when a decision by a local authority has been appealed.

The Planning Inspectorate has not been issued with specific guidance to support decisions as to whether any given site is considered grey belt when a decision by a local planning authority has been appealed. Nor has it been issued with specific guidance related to consideration of the potential environmental impacts of decisions to designate land as grey belt. In determining whether a site is classified as grey belt at appeal, the relevant Inspector will consider relevant legislation; national planning policy, including the National Planning Policy Framework; Planning Policy Guidance; and any relevant local development plan policies and material considerations.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the potential impact of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) on (i) community cohesion and (ii) levels of anti-social behaviour, (b) the concentration of HMOs in specific areas and (c) whether additional planning powers should be made available to local authorities to manage those impacts.

My Department has not undertaken an assessment of the potential impact of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) on (i) community cohesion and (ii) levels of anti-social behaviour. Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission. We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his Department's policy to (a) guarantee that green belt protections in the West Midlands will be maintained under the devolution of planning powers to the regional mayor and (b) require the consent of affected local councils for development on Green Belt land.

The new planning powers and investment flexibilities in the London Housing Delivery package announced jointly with the Mayor of London on 23 October reflect the importance of the Mayor’s role in housing delivery. Through the Planning and Infrastructure and English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bills, we are giving other Mayors these powers so they can also support housing delivery in their area. Green Belt policy will remain set out nationally in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance to local authorities to ensure mobile network operators are notified for large-scale residential developments.

Local planning authorities already have discretion to consult with mobile network operators where it is relevant to a specific application. In addition to national planning policy and guidance, the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England, published February 2022, sets out the roles and responsibilities for all relevant stakeholders, including applicants and local authorities, when planning for, consulting on and installing telecommunications infrastructure.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of houses of multiple occupation being used to accommodate illegal migrants on (a) the wider private rented housing sector (b) rental prices, (c) the supply of family homes and (d) the (i) availability and (ii) affordability of housing in areas of high demand.

In accordance with the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support while their applications for asylum are being considered. Accommodation is provided on a no-choice basis.Asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected are generally not provided with dispersal accommodation.The Home Office consults with local authorities across the UK before dispersal accommodation, including Houses of Multiple Occupation, is procured, ensuring the impact on communities is understood. When considering how much dispersed accommodation to procure in any given area, a range of factors are considered including the local housing availability as well as social factors such as pressures on GPs.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to extend new planning powers and investment flexibilities being provided to the Mayor of London under the Housing Delivery package announced in Written Statement HCWS991 to (a) the Mayor of the West Midlands and (b) other Mayors; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of such powers on Green Belt protection in (i) Aldridge–Brownhills constituency and (ii) in general.

The new planning powers and investment flexibilities in the London Housing Delivery package announced jointly with the Mayor of London on 23 October reflect the importance of the Mayor’s role in housing delivery. Through the Planning and Infrastructure and English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bills, we are giving other Mayors these powers so they can also support housing delivery in their area. Green Belt policy will remain set out nationally in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 66180 on Housing: Finance, whether he plans to publish a regional breakdown of Affordable Homes Programme allocations (a) outside London via Homes England and (b) by tenure type.

Homes England publish allocations data for the Affordable Homes Programme on gov.uk here. Further updates on allocations, including those with Strategic Partners, will be released in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what additional funding she plans to provide to planning departments in local authorities in 2025-26.

Supporting local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners is crucial to ensuring they provide a proactive, efficient planning service for local communities and that new developments are well designed and facilitate local growth. The government appreciates that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery. At the Budget last year, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into LPAs. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice. On 27 February 2025, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480). On 25 February 2025, the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025 were agreed. These regulations increase planning fees for householder and other applications, with a view to providing much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed LPAs. More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that LPAs have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software. Lastly, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes provisions that will allow LPAs to set planning fees or charges at a level that reflects the individual costs to the LPA to carry out the function for which it is imposed and to ensure that the income from planning fees or charges is applied towards the delivery of the planning function.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that neighbourhood plans effectively safeguard the environment and green belt in local areas.

By designating Local Green Spaces and setting expectations for development in their area, neighbourhood plans can ensure development is environmentally acceptable and preserves access to nature. Local planning authorities, in consultation with their communities and any neighbourhood planning bodies, decide whether land should be designated as green belt in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Framework permits neighbourhood plans to amend green belt boundaries where strategic policies set out in a local development plan or spatial development strategy justify changes.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of funding the National Association of Local Councils.

The government welcomes the work of the National Association of Local Councils to support and represent town and parish councils in England. The government has not assessed the merits of providing general funding to the National Association of Local Councils.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, when the 39,000 new properties will be built.

The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes have been built since July 2024.

Statistics on gross additional affordable housing supply in England between April 2024 and March 2025, including the number of affordable homes built, will be published by December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, how many of the 39,000 new properties will be built (a) in the West Midlands combined authority area and (b) in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes she plans to deliver in this Parliament.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62958 on Affordable Housing: West Midlands, when he will publish a figure for the funding that has been allocated to the West Midlands as part of the 10‑year Affordable Homes Programme.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).