Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations has he received from (a) local authorities and (b) the LGA on the high value council tax surcharge being described as a council tax.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has not yet formally consulted on the High Value Council Tax Surcharge. A consultation will be published in the coming months, to invite views and representations from the sector and other stakeholders on details relating to the Surcharge.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2025to Question 96897 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Appointments, when and where he will publish this this information; and if it will include all sitting DMAs.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Cabinet Office has created a gov.uk page for departments to publish Direct Ministerial Appointments (DMAs). In line with their guidance, MHCLG now publishes details of all new appointments and extensions, and extant appointments will be published in due course.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff are on full-time pay with compressed hours.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At 31 January 2026 there were 760 active payroll staff, 19% of total headcount, who worked full‑time hours over a compressed period, meaning they received full pay. This figure includes a range of different compressed full‑time working arrangements.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the required hours of working are for staff in his Department on full-pay who work a compressed four-day week.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Staff who work full-time, have the following conditioned hours per week:
If they were appointed to the Civil Service within the department on or after 1 June 2013:
Net hours do not include meal breaks.
Staff working a compressed four-day week have the flexibility to agree their daily working pattern to reach the required conditioned hours per week.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with private parking operators on their duties under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled motorists; and what enforcement mechanisms are available where operators fail to meet those obligations.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is aware that disabled motorists can face challenges when parking and my officials ensure these issues are actively discussed through ongoing engagement with the parking sector, the Department for Transport and other relevant stakeholders. Most recently, officials met with Disabled Motoring UK specifically to understand how disabled motorists can be protected and supported.
Private parking operators are required to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, the form those adjustments take are up to individual operators. We will continue to proactively consider how the Code of Practice will affect disabled people and take steps to remove barriers.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2026, to Question 109808, on England: Anniversaries, if he will hold discussions with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) any other local authority on potential events to celebrate the 1,100th anniversary of the foundation of the Kingdom of England.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 85176 on 24 November 2025, which confirmed that MHCLG currently is not responsible for anniversaries of this type.
If the hon. Member is keen to raise this with the Mayor of London himself, his office can be contacted via Contact us form | London City Hall.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 Local Outcomes Framework of 9 February 2026, what consideration was given to having a metric on the frequency of household bin collections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Outcomes Framework sets out 16 national priority outcomes delivered at the local level and driven by councils as local leaders of place. Metrics in the Local Outcomes Framework were chosen from publicly available data adhering to clear quality standards, and after engaging widely with local government and interested parties.
The Framework’s Environment, Circular Economy and Climate Change outcome includes three waste outcome metrics that cover a key area of statutory responsibility for local authorities and are further supported by the fly tipping metric in the Neighbourhoods outcome.
Local authorities remain responsible for deciding how often to collect residual (non‑recyclable) waste and dry recycling, based on local needs. A metric on this is therefore not included in the Outcomes Framework.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2026 to Question 111135 on Council Tax, what is the estimated average Band D council tax in England if based on his Department's council tax requirement forecasts.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has not made an estimate of the average band D council tax for core spending power calculations. The department’s council tax requirement forecasts in core spending power exclude the precepts of police and crime commissioners and parish and town councils. They also exclude mayoral combined authority precepts other than where these fund fire services.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many social housing tenancies have been let to domestic abuse survivors in each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The number of new social lettings to households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse can be found in the ‘Social Housing Lettings’ statistics tenants tables 3p and 3pi on gov.uk here.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 103895 on Local Government: Working Hours, if he will publish that letter.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I will deposit the letter in the House of Commons Library shortly.