Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 had discussions with the Fire Brigades Union on maternity pay in the fire and rescue services.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Setting fire pay and conditions, including setting a minimum national maternity entitlement, is the responsibility of employers and representative bodies, working through the National Joint Council.
The Government plays no role in setting firefighter pay.
I meet regularly with the Fire Brigades Union to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 adequacy of maternity pay in fire and rescue services.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Setting fire pay and conditions, including setting a minimum national maternity entitlement, is the responsibility of employers and representative bodies, working through the National Joint Council.
The Government plays no role in setting firefighter pay.
I meet regularly with the Fire Brigades Union to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.
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, whether his Department will put forward proposals for increasing local government transparency under the next round of the UK National Action Plan for Open Government.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department keeps this issue under review. A wide range of mechanisms exist to ensure transparency and accountability of local authorities. The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires authorities to publish a range of information about their activities including spending, procurement and assets. Authorities are also required to produce annual accounts which are independently assured by an external auditor. The Ministry is working to improve transparency through reforms to the local audit system which will establish the Local Audit Office to oversee the system. The Local Outcomes Framework will provide outcomes based performance measurement against key national priorities delivered at the local level.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (i) systems and (ii) manpower capacity in local authorities to implement local government reorganisation; and if he will place a copy of those assessments in the Library.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Councils, as independent employers, are responsible for the management of their staff and undertaking workforce planning. As part of the local government reorganisation programme, local authorities were required to set out in their proposals how they would manage implementation, including their approach to systems, staffing and governance. The Government has considered this information as part of its assessment of proposals, including where decisions have already been taken, and continues to do so for proposals under consideration.
After decisions are taken on proposals, councils are required to put in place the necessary plans to implement the agreed proposal, including putting in place governance arrangements to oversee the delivery of implementation work.
We will continue to work actively with councils to support an effective transition, including providing support to ensure a smooth transfer of staff from councils that will be wound up to incoming new councils.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the FBU on funding for fire and rescue services.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I meet regularly with the Fire Brigades Union to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.
The Government recognises that the current fire funding formula was designed over a decade ago. In line with responses to the principles of reform consultation in December 2024, the Government updated the fire and rescue relative needs formula by using the most up-to-date data available. We will work with the fire sector on a comprehensive review of the formula ahead of the next Spending Review and are currently engaging with the sector on this.
The 2026-2027 Funding Settlement marks the first multi-year funding Settlement for local government in 10 years, making available almost £1.9 billion in core spending power (CSP) for fire and rescue authorities. Fire and Rescue Services have had an additional £15 million funding secured since the provisional settlement, which will provide a minimum 3.8% increase in CSP for all standalone services, with some services seeing increases of over 7% in CSP.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much local authorities across England have raised through the pavement licensing scheme in each year since its inception.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Central government sets fee caps for pavement licenses and licenses are directly administered by local authorities. Central government does not collect information on how much revenue local authorities have raised.
Asked by: Sean Woodcock (Labour - Banbury)
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 the report published by TYI on 18 March 2026, titled ‘Small Changes, Big Rewards: Ensuring planning connects with mobile infrastructure ambitions’.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On December 18 2025, my Department, in conjunction with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, launched a joint Call for Evidence on reforming planning rules to accelerate deployment of digital infrastructure. This Call for Evidence closed on 26 February 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
My officials are aware of the report in question, and it will be taken into account as part of the wider body of evidence submitted to the Call for Evidence.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
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 made an assessment of future local planning timetables and how they align with national housing objectives.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold data relating to future unpublished local plan timetables and their correlation with national housing objectives.
The new plan-making system includes a new process for producing plans with clear steps that a local planning authority will need to take. This should support faster preparation of plans and more frequent updates, helping to ensure that plans delivering higher housing figures are in place more quickly.
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 25 February 2026 to Question 78241 on MHCLG: Ministers’ Private Offices, whether there are any (a) direct ministerial appointments or (b) external paid consultants who provide advice to Ministers on housing and planning.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG ministers are advised by civil servants employed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Given the technical nature of this work, the Department does procure some technical planning advice. All Ministerial advice from within the Department, however, is provided by civil servants
There are two Direct Ministerial Appointments as part of the Euston Housing Delivery Group and the Oxford Growth Commission where advice on housing and planning may form elements of advice to Ministers in the specific circumstances of Euston and Oxford. The Chair of the Euston Housing Delivery Group was appointed on 15 October 2024. The Chair of the Oxford Growth Commission was appointed on 12 May 2025.
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 11 March 2026, to Question 107992, on Lichfields, whether their work was awarded by open competition, or via direct award.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The contract in question was awarded directly following failed competitions. This information was published within the contract award notice which can be found on gov.uk here.