Torcuil Crichton (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)
Earlier this month, at the UK’s first wildfires summit, the Prime Minister and I announced that military aircraft will tackle wildfires that ground crews cannot reach. The RAF Chinook helicopters and other aircraft will be available to fight fires and help crews across the UK. My hon. Friend will be aware that fire and rescue services are devolved in Scotland, but Ministers and officials will work across Government, including with the Cabinet Office, and engage with the Scottish Government to strengthen our collective approach.
Torcuil Crichton
I draw the attention of the House to my role as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for volunteer rescue services. These people are out there on call—on land, sea and mountains—to help the public. The Secretary of State’s statement is very welcome. As recent events, like the wildfires, have shown, these volunteers are a key part of our emergency response and resilience. Does she agree that there should be a dedicated point of contact for volunteer rescue organisations in Government, and that Ministers ought to consider bringing forward a volunteers charter, using the template of the veterans charter, to recognise and acknowledge the contribution of volunteers, their families and their employers in our fourth emergency service?
Angela Rayner
Across the UK, volunteer search and rescue teams are an indispensable part of Britain’s emergency response system. I thank my hon. Friend for his campaigning on this issue. His APPG for volunteer rescue services turns frontline experience into practical policy change—most recently, with the exemption of search and rescue vehicles from vehicle excise duty. I will raise the group’s latest suggestions with ministerial colleagues.
Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)
Following the complex rescue of a lady at Aysgarth Falls earlier this year, I want to pay tribute to Swaledale mountain rescue and the North Yorkshire fire and rescue service. In particular, Swaledale mountain rescue relies on dedicated volunteers to respond to emergencies right across the Yorkshire dales. Will the Secretary of State join me in praising its contribution to our rural community and continuing to support close co-ordination between its volunteer efforts and local statutory emergency services?
Angela Rayner
I am very happy to join the right hon. Member in paying tribute to Swaledale mountain rescue and its dedicated volunteers. The rescue that he references demonstrates the vital work that they do, alongside the fire and rescue service, and I thank them for everything that they do to keep us safe.
John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
This Government are determined to achieve high and sustainable rates of house building, which is precisely why we have undertaken the most rapid, holistic and radical overhaul of the housing and planning system in decades. The headwinds are without question severe, but there are encouraging signs of progress, not least the 15% increase in housing starts that we saw over the last 12 months, ending in June this year.
John Cooper
Statistics are like bathing costumes: what they reveal is interesting, and what they conceal is absolutely vital. The statistics we heard in that answer conceal the fact that this Government are on line to build fewer houses than the last Conservative Government did in a parliamentary term blighted by covid, when many building sites were completely shut down. When it comes to housing, this Government are drowning, not waving, aren’t they?
Matthew Pennycook
This Government are building, and that 15% increase in starts is a testament to that. I have lost count of the number of times that I have made it clear in this Chamber that our 1.5 million new homes target is an incredibly stretching one, but we remain committed to it. We will not take lectures from a party that fell short of its own distinctly unambitious target of 1 million homes in the last Parliament.
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) (Lab)
In coastal communities like mine, the issue is not the rate of house building, but the rate of affordable house building. In 2024-25, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council built just 89 affordable homes. What plans do the Government have to take back land that developers are banking and to start building the council houses we need?
Matthew Pennycook
My hon. Friend will not have to wait long for a package of build-out transparency measures, which will include the right for local authorities to refuse permission in instances where particular developers repeatedly get planning consent but do not build out the sites.
Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)
In an answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries and Galloway (John Cooper), the Minister said that there were “encouraging signs of progress”, but the truth is that the housing industry faces a bleaker and bleaker future under this Government: housing completions are at their lowest for more than a decade; planning permissions are down 31%; output is down 6%; London is at a standstill; and the Government are just 29% of the way through their target in nearly half the time allotted for it. Does the Minister agree that this broken record of failure needs urgent repair?
Matthew Pennycook
There is no record of failure: there has been a 15% increase in housing starts over the 12 months up to June. We will remain committed to that target. What is the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues’ answer to this problem? It is worth noting that in its recent assessment, the Office for Budget Responsibility made it clear that the changes we have made to the national planning policy framework will, on their own, “boost housebuilding significantly”, yet the Conservatives opposed them. Are they going to change their position in light of the macroeconomic challenges facing house builders across the country?
Gareth Bacon
The Minister wants to talk about the OBR, so let us do that. Last week, the OBR was damning in its assessment of the viability of house building in England. It highlighted how regulatory and fiscal burdens are crushing viability. The Chancellor promised no new building regulations, but that is not enough. The Minister knows that viability—or, rather, the lack of it—is killing the house building sector. The existing environmental and net zero regulations and taxes are causing the viability crisis, so will the Minister join me in supporting the shadow Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Weald of Kent (Katie Lam), with her plan to cut £50,000 of regulation and taxes from the cost of building new homes to make sites viable again?
Matthew Pennycook
There is no doubt that viability pressures are acute across the country, but I draw the shadow Minister’s attention—I know he agrees with me on this—to the fact that many of the regulations highlighted by the OBR in its recent assessment were introduced by the Conservatives during the last Parliament, and they included measures on building safety and biodiversity net gain. We know that the Conservatives would now scrap the future homes standard, ensuring that customers pay higher bills and that we have to retrofit even more homes in the future. Perhaps the shadow Minister could tell us what other safety, decency or environmental requirements the they now plan to slash.
Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)
The increase in starts is welcome, but the Government’s package of reforms was designed to increase consents. The most recent quarterly figures show that although consent applications are down, the rate of granted consents remains high at 88%—that figure is over 90% when councillors are involved in making the planning decisions. Does that not show that taking away powers to make decisions on major applications—those of over 150 homes—from councillors through the NPPF has made no difference whatsoever to the number of consents? Will the Government give those powers back to councillors, who support over 90% of applications when they come to committee?
Matthew Pennycook
I think the hon. Gentleman is talking about the national scheme of delegation. Those powers were only commenced on Saturday, so he is a bit premature in saying that they have had no impact.
Gideon Amos
The Minister clearly did not hear: I referred to the removal of councillors’ powers to make decisions on applications relating to over 150 homes, which happened at an early stage of the year.
Moving on, the warm homes grant has come in for cuts. We have now discovered that not only is £1 billion being cut from the scheme, but an extra £1.5 billion will be cut from the loan system that goes towards those warm homes. How will people get the renewable energy and efficient homes they need if the scheme is being dismantled in this way?
Matthew Pennycook
I will leave my ministerial colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to answer on the warm homes plan specifically. However, I hope the hon. Gentleman agrees that when it comes to decency, safety and quality, this Government have taken a number of steps, including Awaab’s law, a new decent homes standard, new minimum energy efficiency standards and a new future homes standard. I know he agrees that that future homes standard should be kept in place, not abolished as the Conservative party would have us do.
Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD)
The Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith (Florence Eshalomi)
We are grateful to everyone who has opened their home to Ukrainians. Over £1.8 billion has supported the scheme. Funding changes for Homes for Ukraine are sustainable; thank you payments continue recognition of a host’s generosity, and host retention depends on individual decisions and cannot be reliably estimated. Our councils retain the funding for re-matching and homelessness prevention.
Martin Wrigley
With the dropping of the thank you payment from £350 to £100 on 1 January, many hosts find that their costs are no longer being covered and are considering evicting their guests. Hosts and guests are being encouraged to move to a lodger scheme using the “rent a room” scheme. I am told that the going rate for a room in my constituency is around £600, and universal credit would pay a lot more than the £350 saved from the thank you payment. In addition, Ukrainian guests would lose the help available from the local authority to move on to a first private rental. All in all, this reduction in the thank you payment looks likely to cost the state more than it might save and to reduce the help on offer to our Ukrainian guests. Will the Minister meet me and local Ukrainian hosts, or would she prefer to think again about the reduction?
Florence Eshalomi
The Government remain committed to supporting Ukrainians in the long term. The funding changes are designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the scheme. Councils can retain flexibility for funding and re-matching and for looking at homelessness prevention, including by helping guests to find accommodation and overcome any barriers to private renting. Existing host arrangements can move to lodging or rental agreements, and we will continue to monitor any issues around homelessness and will work with councils to respond as pressures emerge.
Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jim McMahon)
Standards in local government are important. The Localism Act 2011 requires every local authority in England to adopt a code of conduct that conforms to the Nolan principles. The Government are committed to a whole system reform of the local government standards framework to make it stronger and more efficient, including with stronger sanctions, and we will legislate when parliamentary time allows.
Ben Goldsborough
Despite concerns, Reform rushed through the appointment of Norfolk county council’s new CEO, Dennis Bacon. Thanks to Councillor Ben Weston, we now know that Mr Bacon hosted senior Reform councillors at his luxury B&B the day before job applications opened. Norfolk Reform has failed on three Nolan principles: selflessness, integrity and objectivity. Does my hon. Friend agree that a slap-up meal should not get someone a £215,000 job?
Jim McMahon
My hon. Friend raises concerning point. I thank my hon. Friend and Councillor Ben Weston too for highlighting the issue. I obviously cannot get into the specifics of the case—local authorities are independent employers, so individual employment decisions are a matter for them—but I am concerned that there is a pattern of conduct and behaviour in Reform councils that we would not usually find acceptable, and we should not allow it to be normalised.
Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Reform)
Kinver Business Solutions has secured more than £1 million in project management fees from Ashfield district council. It now turns out that one of the project managers is actually the son of the chief executive of Ashfield district council. I thank the Department for arranging an appointment this week, but does the Minister agree that it is time to send the commissioners in to Ashfield district council? There is not a minute to spare.
Jim McMahon
I know that the hon. Gentleman raised the same point at Prime Minister’s questions last week, and it is clearly concerning. There should not be that type of conflict. I have written to him today, and he should have a copy of the letter in his office. We take such matters seriously. I have asked the Department to conduct an urgent best-value assessment of the local authority. Meetings are taking place with officials and the council’s chief executive to find out exactly what is going on.
Michelle Welsh (Sherwood Forest) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for the intervention that his Department has made with the rapid best-value assessment at Ashfield district council, in response to my representations over the past two months. These are extremely serious allegations, and my constituents in Hucknall have been let down badly by the council. Will the Minister confirm that urgent action is being taken? Can he say what more can be done to prevent further inappropriate decisions, especially on planning? Does he agree that the severity of the allegations warrants a referral to the police for an independent investigation?
Jim McMahon
My hon. Friend has raised this matter on a number of occasions, and I hope she received a copy of my letter on Friday after raising it further. The issue is very serious. In addition to the points I have made about the rapid best-value review and the conversations taking place with the council’s chief executive, I can also say that our officials will be contacting the external auditor to understand more details of the case.
Suella Braverman (Fareham and Waterlooville) (Reform)
The Prime Minister has made it clear that Labour councils should end their power-sharing agreements with local Green parties, following the disgracefully antisemitic motion passed by the national Green party that Zionism is racism. However, the Labour leader of Havant borough council has refused to condemn her Green party coalition partners for supporting that motion and has refused to withdraw from the coalition. Does the Minister agree that that is a breach of the Nolan principles, and will he clarify who is right: the Prime Minister, or the Labour leader of Havant borough council?
Jim McMahon
For the avoidance of doubt, I should point out that the Prime Minister is always right.
I will take no lectures from Reform on standards and conduct in local government. We hear repeated complaints about the conduct of Reform-led councils across the country—about the way in which they treat their staff, the way in which they treat each other, and the way in which, quite often, the toxicity that we see online is brought into council chambers.
David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)
The first of the Nolan principles is selflessness—acting solely in the public interest—but, according to feedback from councillors throughout the country, during the botched local government reorganisation process they felt that they were under pressure to put political considerations first: pressure that came from the previous Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed). The new Secretary of State told the House recently that she could not say whether his decision making was even lawful. Can she now tell the House whether the pressure that was put on those councillors to submit to his reorganisation agenda left them at risk of breaching the Nolan principles as well as the law?
Jim McMahon
The only pressure on us is the pressure that we place on ourselves to do the job well. As I said in my statement last week, there are no easy decisions on local reorganisation, and there is no perfect solution for most counties in England. What the Government have to do is balance competing interests and ensure that we assess the evidence base objectively, that we challenge when there may be gaps in the information provided, and, ultimately, that we make the best possible decision, and that is what we are getting on with doing.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
The housing delivery test is an annual measurement of housing delivery in local planning authority areas over a rolling historical three-year period. Chesterfield borough council achieved a housing delivery test result of 168% last year, indicating very strong delivery against the number of homes that the area requires.
Mr Perkins
I thank my hon. Friend for sharing that good news. Chesterfield borough council is keen to assist the Government by achieving those housing targets, but in areas such as Chesterfield where there has been historical industrial blight and coalmining, it is more expensive to complete certain projects than it is in areas without those challenges. Our ability to achieve the housing targets in the east of our town was dependent on the creation of the Staveley bypass, and we were disappointed to hear recently that it would not go ahead at this stage. How is my hon. Friend working with other Departments to ensure that the industrial blight of the past does not make such projects too expensive to proceed with in future?
Matthew Pennycook
I know that my hon. Friend’s council wants to play its full part in our house building ambitions. As he will know, the Government provide financial support for essential infrastructure in areas with the greatest housing demand. While I cannot express an opinion on specific plans or schemes, for reasons that I know he will appreciate, my understanding is that Chesterfield borough council foresaw the site in question coming forward later in the plan period, and in the light of the Department for Transport’s decision in respect of that particular transport upgrade, the authority may need to look again at the allocation when developing its next local plan. However, I would be happy to discuss the matter further with my hon. Friend.
Chris Ward (Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
The Government are committed to improving protections for renters and owners of park homes. On 5 March, my Department published a call for evidence with a view to establishing the rationale for the required payment of a commission of up to 10% of the sale price when a park home is sold. We continue to analyse the feedback received. I hope to be able to publish a detailed summary of the responses in the near future, and, as per the commitments that I have previously given, we will set out the Government’s final position on this matter by the end of the year.
Chris Ward
Tudor Rose Park in Peacehaven is a park home with 107 residents. Many are elderly and vulnerable; all have suffered years of unfair charges, crumbling buildings and poor maintenance. Just this morning at my surgery, two residents told me of the “despair, exploitation and intimidation” that many feel at the hands of park owners. I know that the Minister is looking at this closely, so can he tell me when the Government will act and introduce changes that will end the wild west of park homes and protect my constituents in Tudor Rose Park?
Matthew Pennycook
I am very sorry to hear about the experience of the park home owners and renters at Tudor Rose Park in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We are acting, not least in respect of the commission, and, as I have said, we will confirm the Government’s final position on that by the end of the year. Park home residents who believe that they have been bullied or intimidated should contact the Government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service for free, independent advice on their rights and the most appropriate course of action. I would like to meet my hon. Friend to hear a bit more about why, by the sound of it, some of the powers that local authorities have in this regard are not working in this instance.
Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)
I have over half a dozen park home estates in my constituency, so I welcome the fact that the Minister and the Government are reviewing whether to get rid of the 10% charge that owners have to pay if they sell their park home. No other property owner has to pay such a charge, and my constituents feel very strongly that this is iniquitous. May I make a submission to the review on their behalf? They would be very grateful if the Minister were to abolish the charge.
Matthew Pennycook
I will take that submission. We are outside the consultation period, but I am sure we can gratefully accept it. There are a range of very strongly held views on this issue. The previous Government looked at it; they concluded that they did not have the necessary evidence and that we needed to go out again. We have done that, but as I say, we will make a decision by the end of the year.
Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jim McMahon)
Twenty-two local authorities in Wales, including Monmouthshire, have received £34.5 million through the Pride in Place impact fund, resulting in over 200 projects to support high streets, public spaces and community facilities. The Pride in Place programme will also deliver £280 million to areas in Wales over the next 10 years, with local communities deciding how the money should be spent, helping to restore pride in local places.
Catherine Fookes
I thank the Minister for his answer and for the funding in Monmouthshire. Construction is beginning at Caldicot skate park, and I am delighted that it is just one of the projects that Monmouthshire county council is delivering. It has been made possible by Pride in Place funding from this Labour Government, and we are also going to see new public toilets with Changing Places facilities in Abergavenny and Usk, improvements to Monmouth bus station, and communal gardens at Thornwell in Chepstow. I want to see all Monmouthshire towns thrive, as I am sure the Minister does, and I really hope that this is only the beginning. When will Pride in Place funding be made available to Monmouthshire?
Jim McMahon
My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for her constituency, and she shows the difference a local MP can make when they have a real vision for their constituency and support local communities to realise their potential. The Government are committed to making sure that communities across the UK have the tools needed to get things done in their areas. In addition to the Pride in Place funding programme, we have announced a further £210 million package to support high streets and community assets. Although that relates to England, the Welsh Government also receive corresponding funding through the Barnett formula that they can allocate on their own priorities.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
The Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith (Florence Eshalomi)
Responsibility for supported accommodation in Northern Ireland is devolved, as the hon. Gentleman knows. In England we are implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 to strengthen local oversight, improve quality and ensure that councils assess local needs, and we will continue to work with our devolved Governments.
Jim Shannon
I thank the Minister for her answer; she probably knows what my question is going to be. Veterans across this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland suffering trauma find it very difficult to find accommodation. As mental health is so complex, no two people have the same needs, making a case-by-case assessment essential. What discussions has the Minister had with the relevant Department and the Northern Ireland Assembly to ascertain what help can be given to veterans? I understand that the Barnett consequential has set aside moneys for homelessness, so there might be a methodology for providing help.
Florence Eshalomi
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that people have complex mental health needs and that our veterans face various issues. Each case has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. I come back to my original response: as the hon. Gentleman knows, this is a devolved issue in Northern Ireland. However, I am always open to looking at the learning and at options that we can share across England to ensure that we end rough sleeping and homelessness for good.
Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
The new national planning policy framework, published on 17 August, includes a more flexible and proportionate policy design to provide greater clarity on the circumstances in which article 4 directions may be appropriate, including where there is an overconcentration of small HMOs. We want to ensure that councils can act properly to regulate HMOs where it is necessary to protect the amenity or wellbeing of an area, and we will continue to keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.
Antonia Bance
I thank the Minister for his answer. Residents in Wednesbury and Tipton are absolutely sick of family homes being turned into HMOs and—now that that is getting more difficult—into supported exempt accommodation, too. I have campaigned for more controls on HMOs since the day I was elected, but supported exempt accommodation is essentially unregulated. When will this Government bring in further controls on supported exempt accommodation?
Matthew Pennycook
I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and for all her campaigning to ensure that an article 4 direction is finally being introduced in Sandwell.
On supported exempt accommodation, we published guidance for local authorities earlier this year on developing supported housing strategies. On 15 October, we launched a consultation on draft regulations for a supported housing licensing regime. That consultation closes on 10 December. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister for Homelessness, who is responsible for this policy area, will have heard the calls to expedite the laying of those regulations.
Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)
Earlier this year, Liberal Democrat-run Three Rivers district council put in a notice for an article 4 direction. However, it will not come into effect until June 2027, with the council citing financial concerns, despite repeated calls from me and local Conservative councillors to do it sooner and protect my residents from overcrowded and unwanted HMOs. What advice can the Minister offer my residents, such as those who live in Muirfield Road in South Oxhey, who have already been affected by this issue?
Matthew Pennycook
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. All HMOs are obviously subject to management regulations, and local authorities must license HMOs in certain cases. An article 4 direction is often the way for local planning authorities to get control, but by the sound of it, that should have come a lot earlier in his local area.
Mr Speaker
I welcome the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
Ms Abena Oppong-Asare (Erith and Thamesmead) (Lab)
Many communities, including those in my constituency, are concerned about the concentration of HMOs. There is a perception that local authorities do not have the powers to be able to tackle this. I want to be very clear that I am not against HMOs in principle; this is about how they are abused. I know the Government have carried out a consultation, but do they feel that local authorities are able to strike the right balance between meeting housing needs and maintaining community cohesion?
Matthew Pennycook
I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for that question. We do keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review, and I do want to know from any Member of the House where local authorities do not think those powers are adequate. The key to ensuring that HMOs are properly regulated, particularly where that is necessary to protect the amenity or wellbeing of an area, is having strong policies in an up-to-date local plan. I know that our local authority is putting in place strong policies in our area.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
HMOs are the only way many young people can afford to rent, but their unregulated growth leads to the loss of family homes. However, Bath and North East Somerset council has taken action, and has included in its draft local plan a ban on the conversion of homes that would otherwise mean the loss of three-bedroom homes in Southdown, Twerton and Odd Down. Will the Minister congratulate Bath council?
Matthew Pennycook
I will congratulate the hon. Member’s local authority. As I say, it is through up-to-date local plans and strong policies on HMOs that local authorities can ensure that they are properly regulated. After all, development plans are the basis on which decision makers, irrespective of whether they are officers or committees, will make their decisions. There is good practice out there in the country—including in my own local authority area, as I have said—and I encourage any local planning authority with concerns to familiarise itself with that good practice.
Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)
To residents across the country, a standard family home being converted into an HMO for a large number of adults is a material change. It changes the character of an area, and it places pressure on parking and local services. Too many HMOs are being used to house people who come to this country illegally, and we know for a fact that many of these men are dangerous. However, the current rules do not reflect the negative impact an HMO can have, with landlords not needing to apply for planning permission if it is for less than five occupants, and the article 4 direction does not go far enough. What work is the Minister doing to investigate changing the rules so that all HMOs, regardless of size, require planning permission so that local people’s voices can be heard?
Matthew Pennycook
I feel for the shadow Minister in the sense that that question was clearly drafted before the set of answers I have just given. We have acted to strengthen national planning policy in this area. I have made it clear how important it is to have up-to-date local plans in place and to get strong policies. If he has any particular instances of where the existing powers do not go far enough, I am more than happy to hear from him.
Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)
Alongside the Budget, we announced our new cross-Government high streets strategy to breathe new life into our town centres, backed by £210 million of new funding to reinvent our high streets with new shops, public services and community spaces. My hon. Friend is a tireless campaigner for her high streets and the traders in her constituency. I am pleased that she managed to secure £3 million for Dudley from our derelict buildings fund.
Sonia Kumar
Dudley high street has enormous potential to thrive and prosper once again, yet years of inaction from the Conservative-led council has left too many empty shops and too many businesses struggling. Will my right hon. Friend outline what steps the Labour Government are taking to revitalise the area and reverse the trend of empty shops dominating our high street?
Angela Rayner
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to talk about the years of Conservative failure, where we saw boarded-up shops, closed pubs and places feeling in decline. We are turning the page with a £125 million fund that will be invested to bring derelict buildings, like abandoned cinemas and shopping centres, back into use for the community. We are putting power back into the hands of local communities like Dudley, so that they can have a real say over what their high street looks like.
Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jim McMahon)
We are giving local leaders and communities more control over their high street mix of shops and their high streets through the “Hope on the High Street” strategy, which the Secretary of State just referred to. We are also consulting on requiring planning permission for new vape shops and a new licensing regime for vape shops and tobacco retailers. The Budget confirmed that we will remove business rates relief from vape shops and adult gaming centres to better target that relief on businesses that support thriving high streets. Furthermore, we are investing £30 million per year in funding for agencies such as trading standards to tackle these dodgy shops.
Robbie Moore
This year alone West Yorkshire trading standards has raided 20 premises in Keighley, seizing illegal and counterfeit goods, and yet residents watch those same dodgy shops reopen within days. Our local trading standards has received well over 3,000 intelligence reports about dodgy shops such as minimarts, vape shops, takeaways and barbers, with reports linked to money laundering, drug supplying, modern slavery and illegal working—and that is just within Keighley. Despite the Government’s rhetoric of wanting to take a tough stance on this issue, why was West Yorkshire trading standards not included in the latest round of funding to support local trading standards with law enforcement action against organised criminal activity? Will the Minister look to resolve this issue?
Jim McMahon
The point the hon. Gentleman raises is exactly why the Government are taking action. People look at how our high streets and town centres have been transformed, and they see in plain sight that something just is not right. They see the type of convenience stores he is talking about, and the barber shops and the vape shops, and they know like we know that what is going on inside those premises is not lawful. The connection to human trafficking and other illegal activity is quite clear from the investigations that have taken place. The additional funding we have provided is about targeting it to where the assessed need is, but to be clear every police force and every trading standards department should be prioritising this matter as a matter of course.
Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)
The Minister will be aware of my campaign, which has the support of over 60 MPs, to shut down dodgy shops. I am aware that the Government have taken steps to extend the powers available to local authorities, which have finally seen my local authority take steps to shut down one shop. There are many more that it can come for in the coming days. Interestingly, when the Conservatives were in power, they changed the rules to require trading standards to give 48 hours’ notice before visiting some premises. Are the Government looking at changing that rule, so that more activity can be taken by trading standards when shops have not prepared?
Jim McMahon
My hon. Friend raises a fair point. There is a world of difference between a routine trading standards visit, which is about assessing routine compliance, and not giving organised criminals a heads-up to clear the store out of any evidence, so I will certainly take away her point and confirm the next steps in writing. I put on record my thanks for the work she has been doing on this issue for a long time.
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)
The Government will introduce the commonhold and leasehold reform Bill this year, marking the beginning of the end of the feudal leasehold system. We will continue implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 as quickly as possible, and we will bring forward further legislation for the independent statutory regulation of property agents.
Gregory Stafford
I recently met constituents in Grayshott and Haslemere who face poor communication from managing agents, with little transparency on where the service charges and costs that they are forced to pay go. Meanwhile, Surrey and Hampshire are set to lose out under the Government’s funding review, leaving many of those same residents facing higher council tax bills. Will the Secretary of State finally tell us when the leasehold reform Bill will be published, and give a guarantee that any savings delivered through that reform will not simply be wiped out by the higher council tax bills caused by her Government’s funding decisions?
Angela Rayner
We promised that we would bring that legislation forward soon, possibly in time for it to be a Christmas present—you never know, Mr Speaker. Council tax went up every year under the Conservatives. They left local governments without the funds they needed; we have funded councils on the basis of need. We support the councils; the Opposition did not.
Helen Hayes
Leaseholders living on Barrington Road and St James’s Crescent in my constituency, in buildings owned by Metropolitan Thames Valley housing association and built by the contractor Guildmore, have been trapped in limbo for more than four years. They are unable to sell and worried about fire safety, while MTVH and Guildmore continue to argue between themselves about who is responsible for fire safety defects in the building, who will complete the remediation, and who will pay for it. There is still no plan or timescale, and communication has stalled. The last substantive update that I received was back in May of this year. Can I ask the Secretary of State for her personal support and intervention in unlocking this completely unacceptable dispute, so that my constituents can at last sleep soundly in their homes and make plans for their futures?
Angela Rayner
The building safety crisis must be resolved. Homes must be made safe and residents must be allowed to move on with their lives. We brought forward the remediation acceleration plan, which I discussed on the Floor of the House last week, and I am happy to meet with my hon. Friend. I have met with many organisations as part of that plan: some are doing well, but most are not good enough.
Andrew Cooper (Mid Cheshire) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
The Government remain determined to revive the dream of home ownership. In the Budget, the Chancellor confirmed £4.7 billion for the Your First Home scheme, providing equity loans to help those who cannot rely on the bank of mum and dad to buy their first home. The Chancellor also announced a new first-time buyer ISA and reduced the lifetime ISA withdrawal charge to 20%.
Andrew Cooper
House prices in Mid Cheshire are nearly £20,000 higher than the regional average and have continued to rise over the last year. The Your First Home scheme will be a big help for my constituents, but it is also important that we increase the number of affordable homes being built. The National Housing Federation estimated that we could have delivered an additional 41,000 homes outside of London in the latest round of the social and affordable homes programme. What steps is the Minister taking to increase the funding available in the early years of the social and affordable homes programme?
Matthew Pennycook
As my hon. Friend will be aware, the Chancellor committed an additional £1.5 billion for the social and affordable homes programme at the Budget, taking its total allocation to over £40 billion. In August, we announced initial funding allocations for the programme, with £9.58 billion being awarded to 33 strategic partners outside of London. Over £16 billion remains available outside of London across the lifetime of the programme. Homes England will confirm scheme-by-scheme allocations via the continuous market engagement route in the usual way.
Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)
I welcome the Government’s focus on first-time buyers, because so many young people cannot get their first step on the ladder. My concern with the properties that are being built—not on the green belt but within town-centre boundaries—is that first-time buyer properties are being manipulated out of the system, in the same way that affordable homes have been on the green belt. I know the Government have done some stuff around the green belt golden rules, but what are they doing to ensure that we have first-time buyer homes on every development?
Matthew Pennycook
I am not sure that I quite understand what the hon. Lady means by homes being manipulated out of the system, but I am happy to sit down with her and have a conversation about it.
Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
Our transformative Renters’ Rights Act 2026 is changing the experience of private renting for millions of tenants across England, not least by empowering them to challenge unfair or above-market rent increases.
Paula Barker
In Liverpool Wavertree, research by Crisis and Zoopla shows just 3% of homes for private rent are affordable for people who claim local housing allowance. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that the increase in tax on property income announced in the Budget could feed through into rents, making an increase in LHA more necessary than ever. What discussions has the Minister had with colleagues in other Departments on that issue, as well as on rent regulation linked to inflation and wages, to relieve the pressure on private renters and reduce the cost of increasing LHA?
Matthew Pennycook
At the Budget last year, the OBR assessed that there would be only a small impact on rental prices of 0.2% as a result of the 2 percentage point increase to property rates from April 2027, and we expect the further increase of 2 percentage points announced in the Budget last week to have a comparably small effect. Households who need additional support can apply to their local authority for help via the crisis and resilience fund. As my hon. Friend knows, the Government do not support the introduction of rent controls.
Sam Carling
Too often, constituents contact me about horrific behaviour from private landlords and lettings agencies. One lady told me recently that she had been left with broken heating for six months, and that, as a result, her daughter had developed pneumonia. Adding insult to injury, the lettings agency has continually refused to provide my constituent with her landlord’s contact details, in violation of the law. Will the Secretary of State set out what this Labour Government are doing to crack down on rogue landlords and lettings agencies that are totally failing in their responsibilities?
Matthew Pennycook
I am really sorry to learn that my hon. Friend’s constituents have been so badly treated by their landlord. Through our Renters’ Right Act 2025, we have strengthened the enforcement powers of local authorities in respect of relevant breaches and offences, and we are extending Awaab’s law and the decent homes standard to that sector. As the Secretary of State has just mentioned, we also intend to legislate to regulate property agents, including by requiring agents to obtain a licence to do the job and appropriate qualifications to operate.
Steve Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s “Economic and fiscal outlook”, published alongside the Budget, says on page 77 that the consequence of the 4% hike in property income tax will be fewer rental properties and higher rents as landlords pass on those costs. Does the Minister think the OBR is wrong? If not, does he accept that rents will go up as a result of those measures?
Matthew Pennycook
I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my opening remarks. At the Budget last year, the OBR assessed that there would be a small impact of 0.2% on rental prices as a result of that increase, and we expect a similarly small impact from this increase. The obvious answer to affordability challenges in the private rented sector, as well as everywhere else, is to build more housing supply. That is why it is so disappointing that Opposition Members, despite what those on their Front Bench say, consistently complain about new housing developments coming forward in their constituencies.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
The question is about reducing the cost of renting. What is the contribution of the 4% increase to a reduction in the cost of renting? Mr Speaker, my interest is recorded in the register.
Matthew Pennycook
As I said to the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), affordability is dependent on a number of factors. Ultimately, the only way we can bring greater affordability is by increasing the supply of new homes. I look forward to the full-throated support of the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) for new housing developments in his constituency.
Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jim McMahon)
Under this Labour Government, rural authorities in England will see a total increase in core spending power of £958 million from 2024-25 to 2028-29—an increase of 21.1%. As a result of the fair funding reforms, nine in 10 councils will receive funding that more broadly matches their assessed relative need by the end of the multi-year settlement, up from around a third before the reforms took place.
Helen Morgan
Shropshire council is in receipt of exceptional financial support following 16 years of disastrous Conservative mismanagement and a settlement from the Government that reduces its central allocation over the next three years. The issue for the council is that any council tax rises it opts for in future will cover only the repayment terms of that exceptional financial support, and will not allow for any financial restructuring. We are clearly in an unsustainable situation, so will the Minister meet me to discuss the terms of the exceptional financial support?
Jim McMahon
As I said, the average rural council will see an increase in core spending power of 21.1%; Shropshire itself will see an increase of 13.8%. I do understand that councils that find themselves in need of exceptional financial support are at the point at which they need the Government to stand behind them in one way or another. I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady to talk in further detail about what more we can do.
Markus Campbell-Savours (Penrith and Solway) (Lab)
In rural Cumbria, those without a car struggle to access education and jobs, which is why families on the lowest incomes prioritise car ownership. However, our councils lost out on significant financial support because funding formulas used car ownership as a determinant of income. Will the Secretary of State carry out a review of this approach, and perhaps ask whether civil servants who are privileged enough to travel to work on one of the world’s finest public transport systems are giving us duff advice?
Jim McMahon
The fair funding review deliberately took into account the different types of local authorities that were funded through the settlement, from London authorities and urban authorities to authorities for coastal or rural communities. For the first time we made sure that deprivation was picked up in the funding formula, and the level at which we did that was in the hundreds of households, not the thousands or tens of thousands of households. The idea behind that is to enable us to really home in on where deprivation exists across the country.
Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)
There was nothing duff in the Budget last week. It delivers a major boost to council housing with an additional £1.5 billion for the social and affordable homes programme. This investment will take the total funding for the programme to more than £40 billion over 10 years.
Claire Young
The Housing Minister promised me in January that we would see protection from fleecehold exploitation in this Parliament. The Government are running out of time. When can my constituents in freeholds expect unfair service charges to be properly regulated?
Angela Rayner
I am hoping for an early Christmas present for the hon. Lady when we set out our leasehold Bill, and hopefully by the end of this Parliament we will be able, using secondary legislation, to get things through.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
In the Budget, the Chancellor extended the preferential Public Works Loan Board rates for a further year until 2027-28. We will continue to keep under review what more we can do to help councils once again build at scale.
Katie Lam (Weald of Kent) (Con)
Last month, it was reported that money from the Department’s community recovery fund had been funnelled to explicitly partisan groups, and had been used to train activists in how to influence the public to make them pro-migration and against the Conservative party, which was named in training materials. Can the Secretary of State please explain how on earth taxpayer money was spent on this kind of partisan political activity?
Angela Rayner
I am not aware of the Government spending money on that type of partisan material, but I am happy for the hon. Lady to send it to me. I think she might have written to me about this recently, and I will be happy to respond.
Katie Lam
In a statement issued by the Department last month, we were told that this money, which has been spent on partisan political campaigning, can be recovered if it has been used improperly—but that is not the same as doing it. Will the Secretary of State confirm that she will investigate and recoup every penny of taxpayer money funnelled to those partisan groups, either directly or by instructing councils?
Lloyd Hatton (South Dorset) (Lab)
Matthew Pennycook
Local authorities have powers to take action where a designated heritage asset has deteriorated to the extent that its preservation may be at risk. These powers include carrying out urgent works to preserve a listed building, requiring an owner to carry out work and, if appropriate, compulsory purchase. I will be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss those powers further.
John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jim McMahon)
The fact is that there is not a community, high street or town centre in any part of the country that is not blighted by a building that stubbornly will not be brought back into use. It is right that if owners are not willing to take action, the Government will do.
Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)
The Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith (Florence Eshalomi)
I agree with my hon. Friend that our firefighters worked tirelessly to protect lives, homes and critical infrastructure during the wildfires this summer, and they should have the equipment to respond to that risk. That is why at the wildfire summit last month the Government announced £45 million of investment for wildfire-specific personal protective equipment for firefighters in England and UK-wide aerial capability. We will continue to engage with the Treasury post-Budget and ahead of the spending review to ensure that we are working towards meeting the needs of fire and rescue services.
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
Jim McMahon
The hon. Member has raised that issue a number of times, and the answer is the same as before. The fair funding review, for the first time, took into account the assessed need in each area, the resource available to each council to meet that need, and where the Government had to act as an equaliser in the system. That is what we have done. If there are examples of where it is not quite working and its application is not as it should be, I am happy to receive representations, and I would be happy to meet him.
Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)
My constituent, Mr Welch, and his sister have been left completely trapped by the death of their mother last year. Despite slashing the price of her assisted living flat from £200,000 to £60,000, the flat remains unsellable because the market has collapsed, and the £1,300 a month service charge risks wiping out the estate. Will the Minister urgently review the guidance and support available to bereaved executors in this position, and meet me to discuss the recourse available to such families?
Matthew Pennycook
I am really sorry to hear about the situation that Mr Welch and his sister find themselves in following the death of their mother last year. Our reforms to the leasehold system will make service charges more transparent and easier to challenge. I assure my hon. Friend that work is under way in the Department to better understand the market around poor resale values. I would be happy to meet her to discuss that.
Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)
Jim McMahon
The Department will support local councils going through local government reorganisation to ensure that those partnerships are maintained. The Local Government Association has a good toolkit available for councils to help them ensure that the transition is managed in the way that he describes.
Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)
For decades, Liverpool has lived with the consequences of Thatcher’s sell-off of council housing and the large-scale stock transfer of properties leaving too many families without secure and genuinely affordable homes. Mayor Steve Rotheram’s North Docks mayoral development corporation set out a bold vision, with strong public backing. Will the Minister back the work of the MDC to support large-scale council house building in order to reverse the legacy of the past and tackle the housing crisis?
Matthew Pennycook
I know that the mayor is consulting on that mayoral development corporation, so I will not prejudice that consultation by giving my view on it. In general, however, the Government absolutely support the use of mayoral development corporations and locally led development corporations as a means to masterplan, assemble land and regenerate areas.
Dr Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
Matthew Pennycook
The hon. Gentleman has been campaigning on this issue for a long time. I recognise his concerns and am more than happy to meet him. He should have had that confirmation already, but I give it to him now on the Floor of the House.
Naushabah Khan (Gillingham and Rainham) (Lab)
Hundreds of people are being placed in my constituency by London councils. They are being moved away from their support networks through out-of-borough placements and without proper notification. Often these are vulnerable families with high needs, which then have to be met by overstretched services at Medway council. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can improve this system and support the authorities that are dealing with the bulk of out-of-borough placements?
Florence Eshalomi
Many hon. Members have raised the issue of local authorities using their temporary accommodation discharge narrative, and I am happy to meet my hon. Friend and other Members to discuss this further.
Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)
Since I last asked the Minister about the Liberal Democrats’ £620 million-worth of debt at Eastleigh borough council, it has got bigger, the external auditors have said that there have been financial misstatements and a lack of management financially, and the Government have now given it £150 million for social housing. What will it take for this Minister to come down on Eastleigh borough council and get that debt down?
Jim McMahon
We have an established best value regime that assesses all councils objectively, based on evidence, and of course we take the audit position very seriously. I will confirm in writing exactly where we are up to with that local authority, but to be clear, just because the status of the local authority is as the hon. Gentleman describes, that does not mean that the community it serves should be denied funding.
Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
For over a year, I have argued for changes to Sheffield’s local plan, with a fairer distribution of green-belt sites across the authority, greater use of brownfield sites, high streets and retail spaces, densification on transport routes, a better application of the Government’s golden rules, and strengthened powers to utilise long-term empty properties to ease the pressure on Grenoside, Chapeltown and Ecclesfield. Consequently, I am calling for a pause in the local plan process, especially in the light of new evidence demonstrating that all the green-belt parcels in my constituency are now assessed as containing our best agricultural land, including Town End farm. Will the Minister meet me and Sheffield colleagues to discuss the local plan, and to ensure that Sheffield builds more homes, especially the social and affordable homes that we need?
Matthew Pennycook
Due to my quasi-judicial role in the planning system, I cannot comment on the detail of the emerging plan, and I am afraid I cannot meet my hon. Friend to discuss it. The plan, the sites included in it and the proposed main modifications have been subject to several rounds of consultations throughout the examination process. It is for the independent inspectors to consider the responses to the consultations and set out next steps.
Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)
Following this summer’s wildfires, we saw that the devolution of fire policy was no barrier to mutual aid co-operation between the UK Government and the Welsh Government. Can the Minister tell me how any additional air firefighting capability will be allocated fairly across the nations of the United Kingdom?
Angela Rayner
I commend the fire services across Wales, England and Scotland, given the challenges they faced. I know that aerial support was needed in Wales, and we looked at that as part of the wildfire summit that we held. We will continue to work with them and that aerial support will be available across the UK so that people can use it when they need it.
James Asser (West Ham and Beckton) (Lab)
A week ago, three blocks of flats in Canning Town underwent emergency evacuation after serious structural flaws were found. A further two blocks have subsequently been evacuated. With over 300 flats now evacuated, and no timeline or indication of when this will be resolved or when residents can return, this is causing a huge amount of distress and serious financial worry. Will my hon. Friends take whatever action they can to help resolve this appalling situation, with a particular eye on support for the families and businesses who have been displaced?
Florence Eshalomi
I recognise how distressing this situation will be for the many residents who have had to leave their homes, with the evacuation and the fear that the buildings might collapse. The buildings have been evacuated following defects identified in transverse slabs. My officials are supporting the London borough of Newham and the right-to-manage companies, and we are engaging with the developer, Galliard, and the warranty providers to ensure that they respond to this situation as swiftly as possible.
Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
How does the abolition of a rural district council such as New Forest, and its absorption into a unitary authority dominated by an urban centre such as Southampton, increase devolution and local democracy?
Jim McMahon
Obviously, we take decisions on local reorganisation on a county-by-county basis. When we are in a position to issue a “minded to” notice, we explain at length how we will balance the competing interests to get the right balance, but I accept the right hon. Gentleman’s point. The identity of place matters, and places that are urban have quite a different character and economy from those that are rural. By and large, I think we try to strike that balance well in the decisions that are taken.
Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)
Earlier this year, a young puppy was found in South Derbyshire, and its suspected mother was discovered in squalid conditions on a farm in Derbyshire Dales, alongside numerous other dogs, some of which were dead. The conditions were so horrific that one environmental officer was physically sick. This incident has stayed with and haunted me and my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (John Whitby), particularly given that the environmental team officers, after putting animal welfare first, were subsequently suspended and dismissed. Will the Minister meet us to discuss how we can empower local authorities to prioritise animal welfare without fear of jurisdictional disputes, conflicting local policies or the risk of prosecution failure?
Jim McMahon
My hon. Friend makes an important point about the widely varied roles of local government and how connected local government is to communities. Many local authorities take pride in reaching the gold standard from animal welfare charities. I am happy to take up her point and perhaps respond in writing.
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)
As the Housing and Planning Minister knows, a planning inspector has made some outrageous decisions regarding the national landscape in my constituency over the past few months. Will he therefore please confirm from the Dispatch Box, for the benefit of all the planning inspectors out there, that his intention is to strengthen protections for our national landscapes in the latest edition of the national planning policy framework?
Matthew Pennycook
What I will do for the right hon. Gentleman is go away and review whether further guidance for the Planning Inspectorate in this particular area would be helpful.
Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)
Hyndburn has incredibly high levels of houses in multiple occupation. That is driving up rents, taking family homes off the market and increasing the number of vulnerable people moving to our community. How are the Government acting to enable councils such as Hyndburn borough council to reduce HMOs in their areas?
Matthew Pennycook
My hon. Friend may have heard my answer to a previous question in which I set out how we have strengthened the national planning policy framework in this area. I am more than happy to discuss with her particular policy areas where her council may think more powers are required.
Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)
Suffolk county council is proposing significant cuts to its healthy child services. That is deeply worrying to new parents such as Chloe, who became a mother at 18 and, without the help of family, relied on the young parent pathway to develop the skills and knowledge to raise her baby boy. What assessment has the Department made of the positive impact of healthy child services, and will the Minister intervene to protect these vital services?
Jim McMahon
The Government do not intervene in local authorities’ individual budget-setting decisions. We also recognise that local authorities are doing their best to try to wrestle competing interests in areas in which there is huge demand, such as adult and children’s social care, special educational needs and disabilities, and temporary accommodation. However, the hon. Gentleman rightly points out the success of that programme, and I hope that all councils look to ensure that the community impact of budget decisions is being adequately managed.
Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)
Does the Minister share my disappointment that, because of political game playing by the leader of Central Bedfordshire council, Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire will have to wait to enjoy the benefits of devolution? Will she set out how this Government will work to ensure that constituencies such as mine will not miss out on the investment and opportunities that it promises?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Sally Jameson)
The Government are determined to ensure that we have strategic authorities everywhere by the end of 2028, and I and other Ministers in the Department will work with my hon. Friend and council leaders from across the region to ensure that they also get a strategic authority in that time.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
West Surrey unitary authority wrote to the Secretary of State asking her to change the name of that authority to West Surrey and South Middlesex—a move that I thoroughly support. The local government Minister wrote back to them and said, “It’s nothing to do with me; just change your name yourself.” Will the Minister confirm what his spokesman said to the BBC, which was that,
“West Surrey Council has the power to change its own name to include Middlesex if it chooses to do so, and we’ve set this out in a letter to them”?
Jim McMahon
As explained in the letter, it is not for the Secretary of State to determine the names of local authorities; local authorities have the legal right and ability to change them themselves. My advice is to crack on with it.
Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Ind)
Meur ras, Mr Speaker. The Budget brought welcome news for Cornwall last week by recognising our national minority status through a Cornwall-only single foundation strategic status without a mayor. I understand the principle of a mayoral combined authority with a single figurehead sitting above several authorities, but does the Minister agree that it would be a pointless waste of taxpayers’ money to establish a mayor in parallel with one single strategic authority?
Sally Jameson
We had an excellent meeting with Cornwall leaders and MPs in No. 10 North not long before that decision was taken. I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution to that, and I understand the distinct status that Cornwall has. We will continue to work with him to ensure that Cornwall can make the most of its foundation strategic authority in the future.
Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)
Birmingham city council is now officially out of bankruptcy, so will the Government remove the Government-appointed commissioners, who are costing taxpayers millions of pounds—money that could be better used elsewhere?
Jim McMahon
The involvement of commissioners in any local authority, or envoys for that matter, is a last resort after all else has failed, so no Government take such an intervention lightly. We also want to ensure that there is an exit for intervention. We have proven, in Liverpool and other places, that where the council shows sustained improvement, we are happy to review that. Although Birmingham has taken significant steps at improvement, there are still steps yet to take.
Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)
I welcome the news last week that local government reorganisation will finally take place in Oxfordshire and that the Thames valley will have devolution. Can the Minister confirm that it is the Government’s intention that these new authorities will all be in place by the end of this Parliament?
Jim McMahon
It is our intention that all the local government reorganisation areas will have an election in 2028 and a vesting day in April 2029.
Marie Goldman (Chelmsford) (LD)
The issue of restrictive covenants, raised so ably by the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Dr Mullan), is also affecting my constituents, some of whom have been extorted out of tens of thousands of pounds. Will the Government give any comfort to the residents who are campaigning so hard on this that the commonhold and leasehold reform Bill will contain provisions to stop this awful practice?
Matthew Pennycook
As the hon. Member may be aware, we are looking through that legislation to introduce caps on administration and permission fees. That may help some of her affected residents, but I would be grateful if she could write to me and set out in more detail how this issue is affecting her constituents.
Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)
For the purposes of the new planning powers and the rates relief exemptions announced in the Budget last week, what does my hon. Friend’s Department define as a vape shop?
Jim McMahon
Well, I would hope that the clue is in the name—a shop that primarily sells vapes.
Danny Kruger (East Wiltshire) (Reform)
Swindon and Wiltshire councils are building a lot of new housing, which is excellent, but the Government have now abolished an essential safeguard for communities against inappropriate planning, which is the power of councillors to call in applications. What steps are the Government taking to review that particular measure, and will they reconsider if it turns out that it is not working?
Matthew Pennycook
That particular reform was commenced only on Saturday. We have already committed to review it after a two-year period, and that is what we will do.
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is bringing out a short-term let registration scheme in March. Unfortunately, due to data protection rules, it cannot be more of a licensing scheme, so owners of properties will not be obliged to file liability insurance or fire safety documents. DCMS tells me that MHCLG is the Department that could set up such a licensing scheme. Is that something the Minister will consider?
Jim McMahon
We are bringing forward legislation for the overnight visitor levy, and an essential part of that is to ensure that all short-term lets are on the register and that we know who should pay that taxation in areas where the mayoral or foundation authority agrees to it. We are in conversation with DCMS about what implementation of the register needs to look like.
Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)
Now that the Government have withdrawn plans for local government reorganisation in Devon, the law still requires councils such as North Devon to change from a committee system to a cabinet system by June 2027. Six months have been lost and the Secretary of State can grant only a year’s extension. Can the Minister tell us whether councils such as North Devon will be given extra time or extra funding to help make that change?
Jim McMahon
We have agreed, as part of the transitional arrangements, that the committee system will be allowed to continue for an extra year in the way that my hon. Friend describes.
Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome the announcement by the Chancellor last week on supporting our high streets, which is welcome. What conversations has the Minister had with Cabinet colleagues about the future of Poundland? We have two shops and one depot in Harlow, so this is hugely important for my constituency.
Jim McMahon
All of us are concerned about the announcement for Poundland and its 30,000 staff members. These are people in every one of our communities. I do not think there is a high street in the country that does not feature a Poundland. As confirmed this morning, the Government are in conversation with Poundland to ensure that it is supported where it can be, but I absolutely understand the community impact that my hon. Friend describes.
Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) (LD)
The Government have now baked the £20 million-a-year second homes council tax premium into their core funding; but business rates loopholes, which were increased in the recent Budget, make those payments easily avoidable, so that revenue cannot be relied on consistently. Will the Minister meet the six Cornish MPs to ensure that Cornwall benefits from the second home council tax premium?
Jim McMahon
There is definitely a pattern, particularly among short-term lets, of transferring to business rates to avoid paying council tax; that is why we need the short-term lets register that Members have spoken about today. I would be happy to meet Cornish MPs as a group to talk this through further.
Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Reform)
Summer was a difficult time for Nottinghamshire fire service; it battled with wildfires and a lot of heat-related incidents. The firemen and women had to wear protective equipment and clothing in which it was simply unbearable to work in that type of heat. I know that the Secretary of State has made some funding available for this, but will she work to ensure that by next summer, if we have the same hot weather and wildfires, brave firemen and women will have the clothing and protective equipment that they need to work in those conditions?
Angela Rayner
I commend all those who fought wildfires over the summer, and the right hon. Gentleman is right to recognise that the personal protective equipment that firefighters need is different in those circumstances. That is why we have put in £45 million extra for equipment, on top of the £97 million. We are working to ensure that our firefighters have the equipment that they need, and of course we announced aerial support, too.
Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)
Councils spend far more on enforcing against a breach of planning controls than the offender is ever fined—and even then, that money goes to the Treasury. When it is cheaper to break rules than follow them, we lose any sense of deterrence, and there is a perception that breaches have few consequences. Will the Minister look again at the amount of fines, and at whether councils could receive the proceeds of fines, so that they can recover their costs?
Matthew Pennycook
Would the hon. Lady write to me with some further details, to illustrate the precise problem she is trying to get at?
Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD)
Two brave Eastbourne families are fighting for improved regulation of supported accommodation, after their respective relatives were found dead in the accommodation that was meant to be supporting them. Will the Minister meet them, and me, to discuss how we can better protect vulnerable people in supported accommodation?
Angela Rayner
I am devastated to hear the hon. Gentleman’s description of what happened to his constituents, and I will ensure that he gets a meeting with a Minister.