Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to local planning authorities on maintaining mobile connectivity where redevelopment affects existing telecommunications infrastructure.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 124803 on 20 April 2026.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered extending the permitted period for the temporary relocation of telecommunications apparatus following redevelopment-related site loss.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 124803 on 20 April 2026.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made on the relative speed of deposit returns and alternative dispute resolution rates between insured and custodial tenancy deposit schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department receives data from Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) providers regarding the speed of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in respect of both custodial and insured schemes.
My Department also receives information about how quickly a deposit is returned to a tenant upon conclusion of ADR, and for the custodial scheme it receives data on how quickly a deposit is returned if there is no dispute.
Due to the nature of the insured scheme, where the landlord or agents keeps possession of deposit monies, if no dispute is raised there is no official record of how long it takes for the deposit monies to be returned to tenants. Based on recent Key Performance Indicator (KPI) figures for the custodial schemes, over 95% of disputed or undisputed deposits are returned to tenants within two days of notification of the conclusion of a dispute or agreement of any deductions.
However, a recent report from Citizens Advice states that 55% of tenants surveyed reported waiting longer than two weeks to have all or some of their deposit returned. Given the most recent KPI data shows custodial deposit returns are shorter than this, we have concluded that the insured scheme can create unnecessary delays to the detriment of tenants.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the answer of 20 April 2026, to Question 125733, on Political Parties: Donors, how political parties and regulated donees will be required to verify the revenue statements provided in the cases of donations from small, micro and unlimited companies.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Any revenue statements provided for small, micro and unlimited companies, in the place of publicly available accounts, must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting practise. Any revenue for that financial year that cannot be determined must be disregarded.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many buildings occupied by the public sector currently require Display Energy Certificates, and of these how many have ratings in each of the defined performance categories between A and G.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All buildings occupied by public authorities, with a total useful floor area of 250m2 or greater and frequently visited by the public are required to display a Display Energy Certificate (DEC). It is the building occupier’s responsibility to determine whether a DEC is required. The Government does not hold a definitive list of buildings that must have a DEC. Information on the number of lodged DECs, including the number of certificates in operational rating bands from A to G, is available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has her Department made of the implications for her policies of Sikhs not being recognised as a distinct ethnic group within official ethnicity classifications.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The GSS ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. MHCLG collects data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.
I recognise that, for some Sikhs, ethnicity recognition is an important issue. Whilst the current harmonised standard for ethnicity does not include “Sikh” as a specific ethnic group response option, datasets collected using this standard may still capture Sikh ethnicity through write-in responses within the ethnic group question.
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. MHCLG officials have engaged with the GSS harmonisation team over the course of the review to understand the impact of ethnicity data collection on government policy.
ONS will be providing a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which major Government datasets do not permit the identification of Sikhs as a distinct ethnic group.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The GSS ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. MHCLG collects data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.
I recognise that, for some Sikhs, ethnicity recognition is an important issue. Whilst the current harmonised standard for ethnicity does not include “Sikh” as a specific ethnic group response option, datasets collected using this standard may still capture Sikh ethnicity through write-in responses within the ethnic group question.
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. MHCLG officials have engaged with the GSS harmonisation team over the course of the review to understand the impact of ethnicity data collection on government policy.
ONS will be providing a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative effectiveness of insured and custodial tenancy deposit schemes in ensuring that tenants' deposits are fully protected and landlords remain compliant with statutory requirements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engages regularly with stakeholders to discuss the operation and efficacy of the Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) system.
This engagement includes gathering information about the difference in service quality between the two types of TDP schemes, and issues that service users may have with these schemes and how they can be addressed.
My Department also receives Key Performance Indicator data from all TDP providers across both types of schemes. Where reporting shows that there are performance issues, we actively escalate matters with the relevant scheme and require them to take corrective action if necessary.
Tenant representative groups consistently report low awareness of the difference between custodial and insured schemes. Under the insured model, tenants who dispute a landlord’s deduction can feel pressured to accept a deduction, rather than pursue Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Where ADR is used, feedback from tenant representative groups report that it operates effectively and the impartial service provided by TDP providers is valued.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has undertaken analysis of user experience differences between insured and custodial tenancy deposit schemes, including on (a) awareness of dispute rights and (b) ease of navigating end-of-tenancy processes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engages regularly with stakeholders to discuss the operation and efficacy of the Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) system.
This engagement includes gathering information about the difference in service quality between the two types of TDP schemes, and issues that service users may have with these schemes and how they can be addressed.
My Department also receives Key Performance Indicator data from all TDP providers across both types of schemes. Where reporting shows that there are performance issues, we actively escalate matters with the relevant scheme and require them to take corrective action if necessary.
Tenant representative groups consistently report low awareness of the difference between custodial and insured schemes. Under the insured model, tenants who dispute a landlord’s deduction can feel pressured to accept a deduction, rather than pursue Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Where ADR is used, feedback from tenant representative groups report that it operates effectively and the impartial service provided by TDP providers is valued.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered extending the permitted period for the temporary relocation of telecommunications apparatus following redevelopment-related site loss.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 124803 on 20 April 2026.