Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

As per their Terms of Reference, the members of the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group were required to disclose any conflicts of interests before they were appointed, and these were considered by the Department as part of the appointments process. Members were required to abide by the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies and follow the Seven Principles of Public Life. The principles include that holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

As is standard practice in government policy making, officials undertook limited and focused informal engagement with selected stakeholders as the government considered the advice submitted by the Working Group.

Delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is delegated to lead local authorities who are responsible for managing the funding allocation for their area, including assessing and approving project applications, processing payments and day-to-day monitoring. As a result, MHCLG does not hold detailed project level data.

The Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund's place selection methodology is available online: Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund: policy statement - GOV.UK. This sets out that places were selected based on:

1. their growth potential using Gross Domestic Product per head to measure distance from UK average productivity; and
2. strategic, financial and risk management capability, evidenced by agreed shared Local Growth Plan priorities and readiness for an Integrated Settlement by 2026/27.

Based on those criteria, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority did not qualify for the fund.

I have had no engagement. My officials have as part of regular monitoring as per the answer given to Question UIN 120470 on 19 March 2026.

The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group members were not remunerated. Secretariat support was provided by officials in the department.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to Question UIN 121724 answered on 25 March 2026. There was an administrative error that resulted in a delay in placing the summary in the House Library alongside the commitment to deposit made on 27 February 2026. The summary was sent to the Library on 19 March 2026 and is now in the House Library.

The Office for National Statistics publishes annual estimates of private rented sector dwellings in each local authority. These estimates can be found on gov.uk here.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 122270 on 25 March 2026.

Business Improvement District (BID) levies are established under separate legislation from the business rates system and are payable in addition to non-domestic rates.

Business rates reliefs granted under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief, apply only to a ratepayer’s liability for non-domestic rates and do not apply to BID levies. These reliefs therefore reduce a ratepayer’s liability to non-domestic rates only. Individual BIDs may allow for a reduction in a levy in line with their own schemes but this is a matter for individual BIDs to determine.

Where a billing authority grants discretionary business rates reliefs (including reliefs under section 47 of the 1988 Act), the authority is compensated for the resulting loss of non-domestic rates income via grant paid under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. This compensation relates solely to reductions in non-domestic rates liability and does not extend to BID levies. Accordingly, there is no provision for central reimbursement in respect of BID levy amounts.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from residents, including disabled residents, about maladministration by local authorities and adult social care providers.

The Ombudsman published an updated Complaint Handling Code last year. The Code sets out standards on how to implement fair, effective and transparent complaint handling processes, to ensure that residents’ concerns are properly heard and responded to, and to support councillors in properly scrutinising how their organisation learns from its mistakes to improve service delivery.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are assessing how local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including considering complaints procedures as part of its wider evaluation of leadership. The assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed. If the CQC identifies a local authority has failed or is failing to discharge its duties under the Care Act to an acceptable standard, the Secretary of State has powers to intervene.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints from residents, including disabled residents, about maladministration by local authorities and adult social care providers.

The Ombudsman published an updated Complaint Handling Code last year. The Code sets out standards on how to implement fair, effective and transparent complaint handling processes, to ensure that residents’ concerns are properly heard and responded to, and to support councillors in properly scrutinising how their organisation learns from its mistakes to improve service delivery.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are assessing how local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including considering complaints procedures as part of its wider evaluation of leadership. The assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed. If the CQC identifies a local authority has failed or is failing to discharge its duties under the Care Act to an acceptable standard, the Secretary of State has powers to intervene.

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations lay out the treatment of the pensions of LGPS members when subject to voluntary and compulsory redundancy over the age of 55. On redundancy, an active LGPS member with at least two years membership over the age of 55 will be eligible for receipt of an unreduced pension.

On 12 February, the government wrote to all local authorities – including in Surrey – that do not currently have a devolution agreement inviting them to come forward with proposals for a non-mayoral, Foundation Strategic Authority across a sensible geography. Delivering this over the Surrey footprint to an April 2027 timetable would ensure that functions such as transport and adult skills continue to be delivered on a Surrey footprint.

We are now reviewing responses. We see Foundation Strategic Authorities as a crucial way to build local capacity and partnerships, as a stepping stone towards mayoral devolution in the future.

The Government has provided councils with longer-term certainty through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. As part of this, we have set out our intention to maintain 3% + 2% referendum principles for the vast majority of councils in each year of the multi-year Settlement. The OBR has based its forecasts to 2030-31 on this and noted that policy changes announced since November are forecast to add £0.4 billion to council tax receipts by 2030-31.

The Government has not taken any decisions on referendum principles beyond the period of the multi-year settlement. Council tax levels are ultimately a matter for local authorities.

The government believes it is right to continue to calculate Core Spending Power in line with the approach used at previous Settlements. We are therefore assuming each authority’s council tax base increases in line with the average annual growth in their council tax base between 2021-22 and 2025-26.

We are rewarding local authorities for housebuilding by not making a council tax base projection in Fair Funding Allocations awarded through the Local Government Finance Settlement. Any increase in council tax income from new homes will therefore be additional across the multi-year Settlement.

A full council tax bill assumes that there are at least two adults living in a dwelling. Where there is only one liable adult resident in a property, the bill is reduced by 25%. This is effectively a 50% reduction in the personal element of the bill. The Government has no plans to change the single person discount.

The impacts of introducing a visitor levy will depend on decisions made at the local level. Mayors and local leaders will have to decide whether a levy should be implemented, following a period of local consultation on specific proposals.

The precise design and scope of the visitor levy power is still under development. The government's response to the consultation, which closed on 18 February, will be published in due course.

Local authorities are independent bodies responsible for managing their own estates. MHCLG does not hold this information centrally and is unable to make an estimate.

The government collects data on the number of people in temporary accommodation as a quarterly snapshot. To compare the number of the number of people in temporary accommodation in South Holland and Deepings and Lincolnshire year-on-year, you can compare the latest data from 30 September 2025 here with the same day in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 113761 on 23 February 2026.

The government is committed to improving the quality of supported housing across England. We are implementing measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which will strengthen local oversight, improve quality of support and require councils to produce Local Supported Housing Strategies to understand local supply, demand and unmet need.

We recognise the significant challenges faced by the supported housing and homelessness sector. As announced at Autumn Budget 2025, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is leading work across government to improve the value for money of homelessness services, including delivery models to increase the supply of good‑quality, good‑value supported housing.

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 110405 on 11 February 2026.

The government collects data on the number of people in temporary accommodation as a quarterly snapshot. To compare the number of people in temporary accommodation in Salford and Wigan year-on-year, you can compare the latest data from 30 September 2025 here with the same day in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

The government publishes annual data on the number of households owed a prevention and relief duty by local authority. You can find the data on gov.uk for 2024/25, 2023/24, 2022/23, 2021/22 and 2020/21. If homelessness is not successfully prevented or relieved and an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance and has priority need, the main duty is owed and the applicant will be placed in temporary accommodation. To compare the number of people owed a main duty in Salford and Wigan year-on-year, you can use the links to the published temporary accommodation data given above.

The government collects data on the number of people in temporary accommodation as a quarterly snapshot. To compare the number of people in temporary accommodation in Salford and Wigan year-on-year, you can compare the latest data from 30 September 2025 here with the same day in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

The government publishes annual data on the number of households owed a prevention and relief duty by local authority. You can find the data on gov.uk for 2024/25, 2023/24, 2022/23, 2021/22 and 2020/21. If homelessness is not successfully prevented or relieved and an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance and has priority need, the main duty is owed and the applicant will be placed in temporary accommodation. To compare the number of people owed a main duty in Salford and Wigan year-on-year, you can use the links to the published temporary accommodation data given above.

The Government is grateful to the Money Advice Trust and the important work carried out by the National Debt line to support people facing financial difficulties.

We acknowledge the concerns and issues raised in the report regarding council tax collection and enforcement practices. The Government’s recent consultation on improving and modernising council tax administration was intended to make the system fairer for taxpayers by improving how council tax is collected and enforced. This included seeking views on the time before the full became liable and suggestions on other ways for councils to support vulnerable people in council tax debt before moving to formal enforcement.

The Government’s response to the consultation will set out details on any policy recommendations and will be published in due course.

The Government is grateful to the Money Advice Trust and the important work carried out by the National Debt line to support people facing financial difficulties.

We acknowledge the concerns and issues raised in the report regarding council tax collection and enforcement practices. The Government’s recent consultation on improving and modernising council tax administration was intended to make the system fairer for taxpayers by improving how council tax is collected and enforced. This included seeking views on the time before the full became liable and suggestions on other ways for councils to support vulnerable people in council tax debt before moving to formal enforcement.

The Government’s response to the consultation will set out details on any policy recommendations and will be published in due course.

On Monday 23 March, the government launched a public consultation on its proposed New Towns Programme and its environmental implications. That consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

Through the Programme, we are proposing to take forward seven locations, including a site at Thamesmead.

The consultation builds on the findings of the New Towns Taskforce’s final report. It invites views on how the new towns programme will operate, how new towns will be delivered and planned, and the proposed approach to design, placemaking and planning policy.

Final locations will be confirmed later this year after the consultation, the Strategic Environmental Assessment and any further required environmental assessment have concluded.

The government is committed to the efficient handling of planning appeals, and the Planning Inspectorate has been working to improve processing and handling times in respect of them. As part of those efforts, it is trialling a pilot service of enforcement appeals through digital services.

The Planning Inspectorate's Strategic Plan commits to removing all casework backlogs by 2027. The Inspectorate continues to make considerable progress towards meeting that ambition across all casework areas.

To help improve service delivery and user experience, the Inspectorate is expanding the ‘Manage your appeals’ service to include enforcement.

In 2025/26, funding increased for PINS’s Resource Delivery budget (to £97.9 million) and their Capital Budget (to £15 million).

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance public rights of way and access, including taking opportunities to provide better facilities for users, for example by adding links to existing rights of way networks including National Trails.

The NPPF is also clear that applications for development should address the needs of people with disabilities and reduced mobility in relation to all modes of transport.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to promoting sustainable transport.

We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 115901 on 9 March 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 115901 on 9 March 2026.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

My Department has not itself assessed the adequacy of the RSH’s performance in meeting its KPIs.

The RSH publishes its performance framework and reports annually on key performance indicators through its Corporate Plan and Annual Report and Accounts.

My Department monitors the RSH’s performance through regular Accounting Officer meetings.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill provides powers for Ministers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to establish a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products in their respective nations. Instead of retail licensing, Scotland has an established register of tobacco and vape retailers which has been in place for over 15 years.

Retail licensing will strengthen enforcement of tobacco and vape legislation, supporting retailers who operate responsibly while deterring those who break the law. The Government sought evidence on the implementation of retail licensing through a call for evidence which closed in December last year. We will hold a subsequent consultation on our proposals before introducing regulations.

In terms of fire safety, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a range of legal duties on Responsible Persons (the person in control of a premises which can include building owners, landlords and employers), chief among which is the need to undertake a fire risk assessment. The assessment must identify any general fire safety precautions that need to be taken to ensure that the premises, and people within it, are safe from fire. Additionally, the Responsible Person must put those precautions in place and ensure they are subject to a suitable system of maintenance.

In order to help Responsible Persons discharge their duties MHCLG publish a range of guides including a guide for persons with duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) and are in the process of updating the Offices and Shops guide where we will take any learning from this fire and see how this can be captured in guidance.

An Equalities Impact Assessment for adopting a definition of anti-Muslim hostility was carried out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to fulfil the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The Child Poverty Strategy was developed in collaboration with the National Plan to End Homelessness because the government is focussing on delivering long-term solutions across both agendas. The National Plan to End Homelessness includes our action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including a generational increase in new social and affordable homes. We are delivering a new 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme backed by a £39 billion investment, which aims to build 300,000 social and affordable homes over the programme’s lifetime.

We have been clear that the government is not a party to the ongoing waste dispute, and this is a local matter that the relevant parties must resolve. Like all authorities, Birmingham City Council has legal duties with which its statutory officers must ensure compliance, including in relation to equal pay and the ongoing waste dispute. Throughout the all-out strike, Commissioners have consistently outlined that any resolution to the dispute must be lawful, must represent value for money and must not exacerbate unfairness relating to equal pay. Commissioners have also set out that any possible agreement with Unite must be approved through the Council's formal processes.

The summary has now been placed in the Library of the House.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) on 27 January 2026 officially moved to become an arm’s length body of MHCLG. BSR increased their regulatory capacity throughout 2025 and now have a headcount across all functions approaching 500, an increase of over 40% since June 2025. BSR will continue to recruit throughout 2026 and has plans in place to drive greater efficiencies whilst ensuring resources are matched to the demand for its regulatory services.

Building Safety Regulator officials have provided the below data:

1. 66.4% of Live Gateway 2 applications have an extension in place (867 of 1,305)
2. 41.7% of closed Gateway 2 applications had an extension (1,374 of 3,286)
3. 48.7% of all Gateway 2 applications have/had an extension (2,238 of 4,591)

As announced in the Protecting What Matters publication last week, we are currently updating and embedding the 2024 engagement principles which will assist public bodies to not confer legitimacy, funding or influence on extremist groups.

In August 2025, local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England, with a deadline of 22 September 2025.

In December 2025, council leaders in local government reorganisation areas were invited to make representations on the potential postponement of local elections and whether this would release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation, with a deadline of 15 January 2026.

Three local authorities that had submitted applications to pilot flexible voting methods for the May 2026 elections subsequently requested that their May 2026 polls be postponed. These authorities were Tamworth Borough Council, Stevenage Borough Council, and Redditch Borough Council. These three authorities are not taking part in the pilot scheme in May 2026.

In August 2025, local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England, with a deadline of 22 September 2025.

In December 2025, council leaders in local government reorganisation areas were invited to make representations on the potential postponement of local elections and whether this would release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation, with a deadline of 15 January 2026.

Three local authorities that had submitted applications to pilot flexible voting methods for the May 2026 elections subsequently requested that their May 2026 polls be postponed. These authorities were Tamworth Borough Council, Stevenage Borough Council, and Redditch Borough Council. These three authorities are not taking part in the pilot scheme in May 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 84647 on 29 October 2025, UIN 118656 on 16 March 2026, and UIN 116760 on 25 March 2026.

The government have worked closely with the Electoral Commission in the design of the pilots, and will continue to work with them on their evaluation.