Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. It also supports the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure.

The NPPF is also clear that new development, including commercial development, should be planned for in ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Local development plans should identify opportunities for development to draw its energy supply from decentralised, renewable, or low carbon energy supply systems.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on a new NPPF which includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making and that would give substantial weight is given to the economic benefits of planning applications for commercial development.

The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, set out how planning policies and decisions can make a positive contribution to mitigating and adapting to climate change and emphasised the importance of improving renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure.

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

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. It also supports the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure.

The NPPF is also clear that new development, including commercial development, should be planned for in ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Local development plans should identify opportunities for development to draw its energy supply from decentralised, renewable, or low carbon energy supply systems.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on a new NPPF which includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making and that would give substantial weight is given to the economic benefits of planning applications for commercial development.

The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, set out how planning policies and decisions can make a positive contribution to mitigating and adapting to climate change and emphasised the importance of improving renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure.

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

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. It also supports the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure.

The NPPF is also clear that new development, including commercial development, should be planned for in ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Local development plans should identify opportunities for development to draw its energy supply from decentralised, renewable, or low carbon energy supply systems.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted on a new NPPF which includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making and that would give substantial weight is given to the economic benefits of planning applications for commercial development.

The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, set out how planning policies and decisions can make a positive contribution to mitigating and adapting to climate change and emphasised the importance of improving renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure.

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 105500 on 20 January 2026.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 115497 on 4 March 2026 and to the Written Ministerial Statement on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283).

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 33286 on 3 March 2025.

My Department has made no such assessment.

As stated in the Answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92034 on Absent Voting, the Government has no plans to make changes to the information which is shared as part of the electoral register or absent voters lists.

Information relating to postal vote applications is held by independent Electoral Registration Officers rather than the UK Government and so it is not possible to provide more information about the number of postal vote applications that were not renewed during any period. The department does not actively track trends in the level of postal vote renewals, or the number and proportion of postal vote applications that were renewed, over any period.

The Government wants to see more empty homes brought back into use.

The 1.5 million homes target will be measured in net additional dwellings. Empty homes are not currently included within net additional dwellings figures.

Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are entitled to register as Parliamentary and as local government electors provided that on the relevant date, they also fulfil the age and residence requirements for such registration and are not subject to any other legal incapacity. A ‘qualifying Commonwealth citizen’ is defined as one who has leave to remain in the UK or does not require it. To register in a particular area, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen must meet the same residency requirements as any other person seeking to register. There is no additional qualifying period in electoral law; if a Commonwealth citizen has been granted leave to remain, or does not require it, they are entitled to register to vote subject to the conditions above.

The table below shows the number of new affordable housing completions (including acquisitions) and starts on site in Tower Hamlets in 2023-24 and 2024-25 by provider.

The data is published in the affordable housing supply statistics open data, published on gov.uk here (attached).

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771) and 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283).

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 116475 answered on 9 March 2026.

The selection of polling station locations is a matter for the independent Returning Officer. The independent Electoral Commission is responsible for providing guidance to Returning Officers, including on polling station selection. The Electoral Commission is also responsible for setting standards and monitoring the performance of Returning Officers.

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with local authorities regarding representations by the Muslim Council of Britain on the placement of polling stations.

Data on allegations and outcomes of electoral fraud is collected by police forces across the UK and provided to the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission then publishes this information annually on its website. The Government continues to work closely with the Electoral Commission, the police and other partners to safeguard the integrity of elections and maintain public confidence in the democratic process.

Postal voting is now a major part of our elections, with over a quarter of votes at the 2024 General Election cast by post. As part of the Electoral Commission’s review of that election, 89% of postal voters stated they were satisfied with the process of voting.

While there are no official statistics specifically on qualifying Commonwealth citizens currently living in the UK who are registered to vote, Electoral Commission figures estimate that 66% of this group may be registered to vote (as at 2023). Further information on the Electoral Commission can be found on the Electoral Commission’s website.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working on the design of direct registration pilots, including timetable and approach, which will be set out in secondary legislation subject to the affirmative procedure. This will give the opportunity for Parliament to scrutinise the plans.

Our plan is to test automated registration in a range of different locations and settings, with different characteristics and challenges, to ensure anything we implement permanently works for everyone. We will be guided throughout by principles of fairness and open engagement. We are consulting a range of stakeholders to develop this programme, including the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, local authorities and civil society organisations. We will also continue to offer engagement with political parties.

The government does not hold data on the number of qualifying EU citizens on the local government electoral register in England.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) previously published estimates of the number of EU citizens eligible to vote in Local Government elections in England but has not produced equivalent estimates following changes to EU citizens’ voting rights implemented through the Elections Act 2022.

Local authorities have powers provided by section 78 of the Building Act 1984 to take emergency measures when dealing with dangerous structures. If a structure, or part of it, appears dangerous and requires immediate action to remove the danger, the local authority may take steps as necessary for that purpose.

While the Ministry does not issue guidance in relation to ownerless land and highways, the Law Commission in its 14th Programme of Law Reform will look to address the problems that may arise when land ceases to have an owner and transfers to the Crown. The project will carry out a review of bona vacantia and escheat with the aim of clarifying the law.

The government was elected on a manifesto commitment to extend the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds in all UK elections. To deliver this commitment, the Representation of the People Bill was introduced Parliament on 12 February 2026 and received its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 2 March 2026.

Extending the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds represents a significant change to the electoral franchise and requires careful planning to implement effectively. Subject to Parliamentary passage of the Bill, the government intends for the franchise change to be in place in good time ahead of the next UK Parliamentary General Election.

The Welsh Government’s automatic voter registration pilots are discussed when Ministers from across the UK attend the regular meetings of the Interministerial Group (IMG) for Elections and Registration. The meetings are led by the ministers with election policy in their portfolios and meeting reports are then published by the government. Updates on the work relating to the Welsh pilots are a regular agenda item, with the most recent discussion taking place in February.

UK Government and Welsh Government officials are also in regular contact on a range of electoral conduct and registration topics, including the Welsh Government’s pilots on automatic electoral registration.

The 2026/27 Local Government Finance Settlement will make available almost £1.95 billion in core spending power (CSP) for standalone fire and rescue authorities (excluding York & North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester). This was the first multi-year funding Settlement in 10 years, giving services the certainty to plan and invest for the long term.

In 2026/27, all standalone services will see an above inflation increase in CSP, with services seeing CSP increases between 3.8% and 7.7% compared to 2025/26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 12.75% increase in CSP compared to 2025/26.

Decisions on how resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.

The Ministry will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure that fire and rescue services have the resources they need to protect communities.

The current Best Value arrangements for Woking and Spelthorne Borough Councils will lapse on West Surrey’s vesting day, due in April 2027, as these councils will be abolished. Commissioners are developing robust handover plans to facilitate a smooth transition into West Surrey. We are working with Commissioners and local stakeholders to consider how the new Council can effectively manage legacy issues moving forward, and what support it will need to deliver for its residents.

We are clear that Woking Borough Council’s debt cannot be managed in full locally. Further to our unprecedented commitment to repay in-principle an initial £500m of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026-27, we are committed to providing interim financial support to the new council until a final decision is made. It is crucial that any debt support must consider value for money for local and national taxpayers.

The Government will be raising standards in the private parking industry by introducing a new Code of Practice as soon as possible, in accordance with the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019.

The scale and expertise of the asset pools have delivered a step change in the expertise, capacity and resilience of the Local Government Pension Scheme. Since the inception of asset pooling, the total costs reported by LGPS asset pools is £792 million, but they have delivered net savings of £1.17 billion.

The reforms currently being implemented will bring all LGPS assets under pool management, delivering scale and consolidation, and facilitating greater access to a wider range of asset classes including private markets. In the new pooling landscape, asset pools will have the ability to bring investment capacity in-house and make investments directly rather than via an intermediary, and the opportunity to negotiate lower management and performance fees.

The government recognises that there are transition costs associated with implementing the reforms. These transition costs will, however, be one-off upfront costs that will shape the scheme for the coming decades and set it up for even greater success for the future. We expect that they will be recouped in the long-term through savings and improved investment performance.

Local government elections are the responsibility of local authorities, which appoint and fund Returning Officers and meet the costs of administering local polls.

Returning Officers are personally legally liable for the conduct of local elections and make their own arrangements to insure against risks arising from the discharge of their statutory duties at local and UK Parliamentary elections. This cover usually forms part of the local authority’s own insurance arrangements.

Indemnities are only provided in limited and exceptional circumstances, and no such exceptional circumstances apply in relation to the May 2026 local government elections.

The government annually makes assumptions of council tax levels for the next financial year as a part of its estimates of Core Spending Power. In line with previous years, council tax estimates in Core Spending Power will not be adjusted to reflect higher referendum principles for authorities that have requested additional council tax flexibility above core referendum principles before the next settlement. The government will continue to keep its methodology for calculating the Core Spending Power of local government under review in future years.

The total Disabled Facilities Grant allocation to Local Housing Authorities in Lincolnshire for the last three years is shown below.

This information is publicly available on the website of Foundations, the National Body for Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Improvement Agencies here: Disabled Facilities Grant Annual Allocations.

It is for local authorities to decide how to spend their allocation and deliver adaptations to eligible disabled and older people. Government does not hold data on how many households have received Disabled Facilities Grant funding.

This Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why we boosted Disabled Facilities Grant funding to £711 million for each of 2024-25 and 2025-26, with a further £50 million in year top up this year, bringing total funding for 2025-26 to £761 million.

Council tax levels are decided by local authorities. For the vast majority of councils, the government intends to maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept for each year of the multi-year settlement. Councils are required to put in place council tax support schemes to support those on low incomes.

Referendum principles must be determined by the Secretary of State annually and approved by the House of Commons. This will be done each year as part of the annual local government finance settlement in the usual way.

Councils have the power to apply a council tax premium on dwellings which are no one’s sole or main residence and substantially furnished (second homes) and dwellings which have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for 1 or more years (long-term empty homes).

The government has published guidance on the implementation of council tax premiums. This is available on gov.uk here. Where a dwelling requires or is undergoing major repairs it may be excepted from the long-term empty homes premium for up to 12 months.

Councils have the power to provide their own local exceptions or provide discretionary discounts where they consider this appropriate. The government encourages councils to make use of their local expertise to consider where a premium should not be charged.

MHCLG holds information about suppliers that have undertaken translation activities for the Department. The information will not differentiate between whether the translatory service was undertaken to support published content or for any other reason, nor would it consistently differentiate between translation work undertaken into the Welsh language or other languages.

The Electoral Commission is responsible for providing Returning Officers with guidance on the administration of elections; they provide extensive advice, including how polling staff should respond if they suspect offences are being committed, such as family voting. The Commission’s performance standards for Returning Officers also specifically include ensuring polling stations are set up and staff are trained to support voters to vote independently and in secret.

While the vast majority of people vote lawfully, any instance of coercion into revealing the nature of somebody’s ballot is illegal, unacceptable and undermines confidence in our democratic process. We will continue to work with electoral administrators and the Electoral Commission to ensure that that our polls are run smoothly, fairly, and securely.

The choice of polling station is a matter for the independent Returning Officer. The Electoral Commission is responsible for providing guidance to Returning Officers and do so on the selection of appropriate polling stations. The Electoral Commission is also responsible for setting standards and monitoring the performance of Returning Officers.

Mobile polling stations are not being piloted during the May 2026 local elections. Future pilots could include mobile polling stations and if taken forward the details in the questions would be considered.

The choice of polling station is a matter for the independent Returning Officer. The Electoral Commission is responsible for providing guidance to Returning Officers and do so on the selection of appropriate polling stations. The Electoral Commission is also responsible for setting standards and monitoring the performance of Returning Officers.

Mobile polling stations are not being piloted during the May 2026 local elections. Future pilots could include mobile polling stations and if taken forward the details in the questions would be considered.

The choice of polling station is a matter for the independent Returning Officer. The Electoral Commission is responsible for providing guidance to Returning Officers and do so on the selection of appropriate polling stations. The Electoral Commission is also responsible for setting standards and monitoring the performance of Returning Officers.

Mobile polling stations are not being piloted during the May 2026 local elections. Future pilots could include mobile polling stations and if taken forward the details in the questions would be considered.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out clear safeguards for land which is designated for its environmental or amenity value.

While a poor score on the Housing Delivery Test (HDT) is a strong indicator of housing need in an area not being met sufficiently, HDT failure does not mean that planning permission for housing will be automatically granted.

In 2025, the Planning Inspectorate approved approximately 3,000 homes on Green Belt land, of which 88% had been originally refused by the relevant Local Planning Authority.

My Department does not hold information in relation to opposition to specific applications by individual ward councillors.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 114250 on 2 March 2026.

Local authorities are responsible for the administration of council tax and have discretionary powers to apply exemptions or council tax discounts. This could include offering discounts to foster carers where they consider this appropriate.

The government has recently consulted on modernising and improving the administration of council tax. This included seeking views on the current range of council tax disregards provided in the system. The government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.

The East Surrey and West Surrey Joint Committees, established by the Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026, are required to prepare an Implementation Plan. Following the election of members in May the shadow East Surrey and West Surrey Councils must then keep under review that Implementation Plan.

The Implementation Plan will include the budgeted transition costs and how these are to be met. We have also announced up to £63 million additional funding to support councils through reorganisation.

Partnership models, in which housebuilders work with Registered Providers and Build to Rent operators to deliver a range of housing tenures, are an essential part of our housing market. They help to create diverse communities and meet a variety of local needs, while also building out between 30%-60% faster on average than mono-tenure schemes.

A number of housebuilders are already adopting a partnership approach, creating greater diversity in the housing market and making an important contribution to housing supply.

The government has no single preferred model for housing delivery but given the benefits it provides we do support increased uptake of the partnership approach. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) now makes clear that Local Planning Authorities should set a tenure mix on sites of over 150 units and we are providing direct support for partnerships through Home Building Fund equity investment and our new National Housing Bank.

Under the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-23, Homes England allocated Vistry over £24m to deliver 670 homes, with the last payment in 2023/24.

Under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26, Vistry have been allocated over £252m to deliver 3,578 homes.

Homes England has made two loans to entities of which Vistry are part: The Sherford Consortium, which Vistory own 66.67% of, has a loan from Homes England of £32,000m. Stanton Cross Developments LLP, in which Vistry has a 50% share, has a loan from Homes England of £35,000m.

In terms of equity investments, Homes England and Countryside Properties (part of Vistry Group) contracted the £150m Joint Venture PlacePoint LLP in September 2025. Homes England’s investment in that venture totalled £60m.

The government has no plans to replace the New Homes Bonus.

Further details on how the funding previously allocated to the New Homes Bonus was returned to the core Settlement are set out in the Final Local Government Finance Settlement published on 9 February 2026 which can be found on gov.uk here.

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