Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the definition of sectarianism is in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government command paper Protecting What Matters: Towards a more confident, cohesive, and resilient United Kingdom, published on 9 March.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Protecting What Matters social cohesion action plan does not set out a specific definition of sectarianism. The term is used to describe hostility, discrimination, intimidation or conflict between groups based on religious, ethnic or related communal identities that can undermine community cohesion and public order. The Government remains committed to promoting mutual respect and tackling all forms of hate, extremism and community division.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold information on the number of local authorities that (1) have introduced, and (2) are considering, parking charges based on vehicle (a) dimensions, (b) weight, and (c) emissions.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not hold data on how many local authorities have introduced, or are considering, parking charges based on vehicle dimensions, weight or emissions.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 2 September (HL Deb col 118), what estimate they have made of the total value of the donations under investigation by the Electoral Commission in the years 2023–24, 2024–25 and 2025–26.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Electoral Commission is operationally independent of Government and is responsible for regulating political finance and conducting investigations into potential breaches of the political finance framework.
In line with its Enforcement Policy, it may open an investigation where it has reasonable grounds to suspect an offence or other breach of the rules. Information on recently closed investigations is published by the Commission on its website. This information does not always include the value of the donation under investigation.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans are there to evaluate the success of the homelessness strategy.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Monitoring delivery of the strategy is important in ensuring the strategy has its intended impact. That is why we set national targets to track progress against this parliament. More details can be found in this published action plan: Cross-Government Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy: Action Plan.
Ministers are updated regularly on data and are working across government through inter-departmental governance to assure collaborative delivery of the strategy. We will also publish reports at least every two years that monitor progress on the implementation of measures set out in this strategy.
In addition, we intend to evaluate the implementation of the strategy at a local level, building on current work being undertaken this year as part of the systems-wide evaluation being delivered by the Centre for Homelessness Impact.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendation of the Independent Review into Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK Politics, published on 26 March, that they consider the recommendations made by the Law Commission on political finance laws with a view to improving the effectiveness and consistency of the law.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
While we understand the calls for consolidation of electoral law, major reform would require careful consideration and an extensive amount of time. The Government’s immediate priority is the implementation of its manifesto commitments. A full-scale consolidation and simplification would require an in-depth review and modernisation alongside consolidation; to achieve this would be the job of more than one Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness O'Neill of Bexley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of statutory responsible officers in local government in light of ongoing local government reorganisation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In designing its support offer for local government reorganisation, the Department engaged with a range of local government stakeholders to understand how to best support the capacity of statutory officers. In response to that feedback, this year the Department put in place a broad support offer including dedicated sector advisers and a wider programme of support to build capacity and capability in councils led by the Local Government Association. This support will continue to be available to councils during the local government reorganisation review. Depending on the outcome of the review, the Department will consider how to best target future support to statutory officers.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional administrative capacity required by local government to take on any new tax powers.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government works closely with local government to identify the capacity implications of devolved powers. This includes the Overnight Visitor Levy where Strategic Authorities will be the tax authority responsible for the administration of the levy. Government will work closely with Strategic Authorities interested in using the power and will assess any financial implications in due course.
At the Local Government Finance Settlement, we confirmed a total of £99.6m of funding over the Spending Review period to support existing eligible Strategic Authorities’ staffing and administrative costs, and central corporate functions. Government will also set out further detail on support for MSA capacity and capability later this year building on the Rewiring the State Cabinet statement.
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 answer of 7 July 2026 to Question HL1337 on Anti-Muslim Hostility, how her Department is engaging central and local public authorities on the new definition; and whether the engagement includes police forces.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department is engaging with sectors to consider the best approaches support effective implementation of the definition of anti-Muslim hostility.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what timetable has been set for the implementation of the revised Private Parking Code of Practice and associated compliance framework.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government intends to lay the Private Parking Code of Practice and its associated compliance framework in Parliament in autumn 2026.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendation of the Independent Review into Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK Politics, published on 26 March, that foreign-funded political advertising should be banned and that imprints on printed and digital election material should include who has paid for the material; and what further steps, including legislation, they intend to take.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognises the growing risk posed by foreign interference in British politics, including through online political advertising, and agrees with the intent to eliminate the risk of foreign-funded political advertising.
In our response to the Rycroft Review, we committed to identifying the most effective and proportionate solution to this risk. This work will include consideration of the non-party campaigning rules, alongside wider options, and we will set out proposals in due course.
The Representation of the People Bill already strengthens the digital imprint regime by requiring all third-party campaigners to include imprints on their organic digital campaigning material. We are also considering further reforms to provide greater clarity on who has paid for campaigning material.