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 Election Strategy document, Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, July 2025, para 113, for what reason the Government now intends to repeal and not amend the Electoral Commission’s Strategy and Policy Statement; and what assessment has been made of the potential effect of the repeal of its guidance on family voting.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is taking decisive action to strengthen and protect UK democracy, including strengthening the Electoral Commission’s powers and extending its remit to ensure that it can effectively enforce the political finance framework.
We have listened to stakeholders and recognise how vital it is that the Commission is fearlessly independent, commands trust across the political spectrum and operates free from political influence.
That is why we are bringing forward amendments to repeal the Government’s powers to designate a Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission. This will put beyond doubt the foundational principle of the Commission’s independence and further strengthen its ability to oversee elections into the future without fear or favour.
Family voting is illegal, and the Government takes any allegations extremely seriously. It is a criminal offence under the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 to pressure someone to vote in a certain way in the polling station, and potential offences are a matter for the police. We do not consider that repealing the Strategy and Policy Statement will have any impact on enforcement of this offence.
Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of alternative electoral systems to the single member district system used to elect MPs.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no plans to change the electoral system for UK Parliamentary elections.
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, what guidance his Department has issued to managing agents and freeholders of retirement housing developments on the fire alarm upgrades in buildings under 11 metres; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that leaseholders are not required to fund unnecessary fire safety upgrades through service charges.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Responsible Person for any residential building (regardless of height) is the person or entity responsible for keeping residents safe from the risk of fire. Decisions on how to keep residents safe and what actions are required should be made based on advice from a Competent Person following a Fire Risk Assessment. MHCLG has no direct role in deciding whether interim measures such as a common fire alarm should be implemented. Sector-led Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance published by the National Fire Chiefs Council supports Responsible Persons to meet their existing duties and guides them towards a consistent, standardised approach to a change in evacuation strategy and implementation of interim measures where this is necessary.
By law, variable service charges must be reasonable, and leaseholders have the right to challenge unreasonable charges at the appropriate tribunal. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures to increase transparency over service charges and remove barriers for leaseholders to challenge costs, helping them better understand what they are being asked to pay for. The Building Safety Act’s leaseholder protections also place caps on how much can be charged for remediation of historical life-critical fire safety defects in most 11-metre-plus buildings.
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, whether he has considered updating the electoral offence of making a false statement of fact in relation to the candidate’s personal character or conduct to help tackle the dissemination of deepfake material which is designed to mislead.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the threat that deepfakes and misleading material pose to elections and the importance of ensuring that electoral law is fit for a modern electoral environment. The government continually assesses the effectiveness of electoral law. Where the law is found to be ineffective or outdated, we will take appropriate action.
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, with reference to the command paper, Protecting What Matters, CP 1540, 9 March 2026, page 38, if he will make it his policy to publish the organisations that are subject to a policy of non-engagement.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government does not comment on specific groups. It is up to each department to carry out due diligence when choosing to engage with, or fund, any organisation or individual and, if asked, we will advise and share information to help others inform their decisions. 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.
We will also publish an annual ‘State of Extremism’ report will support public sector staff to tackle extremism. This will include information on what extremism looks like today in the UK – groups, narratives and ideologies, including Islamist and Extreme Right – as well as the action this government is taking to disrupt these extremist threats. The first iteration of this will be published by the end of 2026.
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, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on (a) challenging and (b) tackling antisemitic attacks against retail branches of Gail’s.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Antisemitism is abhorrent and has no place in our society. The government remains committed to tackling all forms of hatred and ensuring that everyone in the UK can live free from fear of discrimination or violence. Work is ongoing across government on tackling antisemitism in all its forms, and as set out in our recent Protecting What Matters publication. To deliver this, we will continue to work with the Antisemitism Working Group and ministers are in regular discussions on antisemitism and antisemitic attacks.
Where incidents involve criminal behaviour, this is an operational matter for the police.
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 OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 3 March 2026, para 2.38, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the OBR forecasts on UK net additions to the housing stock on the housebuilding target for this Parliament.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
OBR forecasts have no bearing on the government’s ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament which remains in place.
My Department supports the OBR’s forecasting by sharing the latest data on planning applications submitted, granted, and new housing construction starts, among other sources of evidence.
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 OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 3 March 2026, para 2.38, what information his Department provided to the OBR to assist them with their forecasts on net additions to the housing stock.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
OBR forecasts have no bearing on the government’s ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament which remains in place.
My Department supports the OBR’s forecasting by sharing the latest data on planning applications submitted, granted, and new housing construction starts, among other sources of evidence.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has assessed the potential merits of introducing mandatory offer disclosure in Modern Method of Auction property sales.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team are investigating practices in the auction market involving the submission of misleading or inauthentic bids.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices by traders in their dealings with consumers, including misleading actions or omissions, which can extend to auction property sales. The Act also requires businesses to act with professional diligence, in line with honest market practice and general principles of good faith.
On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. Transparency during the property sales process is one of the core objectives of these reforms. That is why we proposed requiring sellers to provide comprehensive upfront information to buyers and mandating the provision of critical information in property listings. The consultations can be found on gov.uk here and here.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many apprentices the department recruited in 2025, compared with the figures for i. 2022, ii. 2023 and iii. 2024.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are two different ways of counting apprenticeship recruitment:
Both definitions are included below. The source of this information is MHCLG recruitment data. The number of apprentices the MHCLG has recruited in the requested years are as follows:
| Definition A | Definition B |
2022 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 8 | 21 |
2024 | 13 | 17 |
2025 | 0 | 0 |