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 23 January 2026, to Question 106115, on Business Rates: Luton, what is his department's estimate of the amount of retained business rate income that Luton Borough Council will receive in 2026-27, and whether this amount is affected by the uplift in business rates from the 2026 revaluation of Luton Airport, and introduction of the high value surcharge for hereditaments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Luton Borough Council reported their estimate of retained business rates for 2026-27 to the department here in the document ‘National non-domestic rates collected in England 2026 to 2027: local authority data’, in the ‘Part 1' tab and on line 14.
I refer the Rt.hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107993 on 28 January 2026, regarding the interaction of the 2026 Revaluation with local authority income.
It is long-standing government policy intention that as far as is practicable, local authorities’ income should not be affected by changes to the underlying business rates tax, such as the introduction of the three additional multipliers from 1st April 2026. The government intends to neutralise the impact of new multipliers on local government income from retained business rates from introduction of the three new multipliers from 1st April 2026. More information on how it will do so was published in a policy paper in November which can be found here.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 potential impact of the closure of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund on the capacity of the voluntary and community sector to support young people not in employment, education and training in finding work.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
With the UK Shared Prosperity Fund concluding in 2026, the government is moving away from short-term, uncertain funding cycles and towards a clearer, more stable long-term funding approach through the Local Government Finance Settlement, complemented by targeted interventions to support growth and strengthen communities. The new £902 million Local Growth Fund is just one component of this strategy; government support for local growth is broader than any single funding stream.
We acknowledge the pressures facing the voluntary and community sectors. By allocating the Local Growth Fund at the Mayoral Strategic Authority level, we are empowering regional leaders to take a more strategic, joined-up approach to investment – one that reflects the real economic geographies in which people live, work and do business. The fund is designed to equip mayors to boost regional productivity through investing in infrastructure, supporting businesses, and helping people find jobs and acquire new skills. Decisions about funding for specific organisations and interventions are for regional leaders to take in line with their local priorities.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 potential impact of the closure of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund on the capacity of the voluntary and community sector to support people with complex needs in finding work.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
With the UK Shared Prosperity Fund concluding in 2026, the government is moving away from short-term, uncertain funding cycles and towards a clearer, more stable long-term funding approach through the Local Government Finance Settlement, complemented by targeted interventions to support growth and strengthen communities. The new £902 million Local Growth Fund is just one component of this strategy; government support for local growth is broader than any single funding stream.
We acknowledge the pressures facing the voluntary and community sectors. By allocating the Local Growth Fund at the Mayoral Strategic Authority level, we are empowering regional leaders to take a more strategic, joined-up approach to investment – one that reflects the real economic geographies in which people live, work and do business. The fund is designed to equip mayors to boost regional productivity through investing in infrastructure, supporting businesses, and helping people find jobs and acquire new skills. Decisions about funding for specific organisations and interventions are for regional leaders to take in line with their local priorities.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 Cabinet colleagues on bridging funding for voluntary and community organisations following the closure of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
With the UK Shared Prosperity Fund concluding in 2026, the government is moving away from short-term, uncertain funding cycles and towards a clearer, more stable long-term funding approach through the Local Government Finance Settlement, complemented by targeted interventions to support growth and strengthen communities. The new £902 million Local Growth Fund is just one component of this strategy; government support for local growth is broader than any single funding stream.
We acknowledge the pressures facing the voluntary and community sectors. By allocating the Local Growth Fund at the Mayoral Strategic Authority level, we are empowering regional leaders to take a more strategic, joined-up approach to investment – one that reflects the real economic geographies in which people live, work and do business. The fund is designed to equip mayors to boost regional productivity through investing in infrastructure, supporting businesses, and helping people find jobs and acquire new skills. Decisions about funding for specific organisations and interventions are for regional leaders to take in line with their local priorities.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that residents are not left liable for the costs of remediating fire safety defects caused by developer failures and regulatory weaknesses; and whether he plans to take legislative steps to support Resident Management Companies in meeting building safety compliance requirements.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government has introduced caps for most leaseholders to limit their exposure to building safety costs and worked with industry such that fifty-three developers have, as of 31 October 2025, agreed to fix or pay to fix 2,497 buildings in England with life-critical fire safety defects, at an estimated cost of £4.2bn. When a developer cannot be identified or has not yet agreed to pay for its own buildings, funding has been made directly available to pay for life-threatening fire risks associated with cladding on residential buildings over 11m in height.
To support resident management companies, the Building Safety Act introduced remediation contribution orders (RCOs), allowing interested persons (including RMCs) to compel responsible entities to meet remediation costs. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 allowed RMCs to recover the legal costs of raising an RCO from residents where they may otherwise struggle to raise funds.
The Government remains committed to strengthening protections for leaseholders from current and future building safety issues and is exploring options to support RMCs in meeting their building safety compliance requirements.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he take steps though the planned Elections Bill to ensure that individuals convicted of terrorist offences against the United Kingdom at home or abroad are disqualified from standing as candidates in any election.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are several existing disqualification criteria for standing as a candidate in elections in the UK which relate to criminal offences. For example, the Elections Act 2022 introduced a disqualification order for those convicted of intimidation or abuse of candidates, campaigners or elected office holders. The effect of the disqualification order is a five-year ban from standing for, or holding, elective office, in addition to any standard punishment for the underlying criminal offence. The Government has introduced the Representation of the People Bill, which will extend the disqualification order to offences motivated by hostility towards electoral staff.
The Representation of the People Act 1983 also defines corrupt and illegal election practices, for which a convicted person is disqualified for up to five years. Additionally, someone cannot be a Police and Crime Commissioner if they have ever been convicted of an imprisonable offence.
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 publish correspondence from each council requesting election delays in relevant areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349).
It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils.
Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way.
We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure that local authorities under financial constraints prioritise essential services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are investing in local government. The government will provide over £5.6 billion of new grant funding towards local government services over the next three years. By the end of the multi-year Settlement (2028-29), the government will have provided a 15.5% increase in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, worth over £11.4 billion, compared to 2025-26. The government has also announced £4 billion investment over three years for new programmes to deliver improvements in SEND.
The government is introducing a fairer and evidence-based funding system. Our reforms ensure that this funding is allocated fairly, and that the places and services that need it most are supported. We are supporting all authorities to maintain services and manage their updated funding positions with transitional arrangements.
The government recognises that some councils remain in a challenging financial position as they continue to deal with the legacy of the previous system. Any council that has concerns about its financial sustainability should approach the department in the first instance where we will treat all discussions in confidence
The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 (a) accessibility and (b)) ease of access of online consultations held by his Department.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Consultations at MHCLG are published on GOV.UK using the ‘consultations’ content type. This page type has been designed by Government Digital Service (GDS) to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 standards.
Teams are supported to follow GDS guidelines for creating accessible web documents when creating consultations. Wherever possible, MHCLG publish consultation documents in HTML format to maximise accessibility.
Respondents can comment on a consultation via an online survey that is hosted on MHCLG’s consultation platform, Citizen Space. The Citizen Space platform has been developed to meet WCAG 2.2 accessibility standards and is commonly used by central and local government to conduct accessible consultation processes.
Most consultations at MHCLG also give users the opportunity to make enquiries and to respond to the consultation via email and/or by post.
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 20 January 2026 to Question 104771 on MHCLG: Remote Working, if he will publish the recorded workplace attendance data for the last quarter, for each of the individual offices outside London.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG publishes quarterly HQ Occupancy Statistics for its headquarters at 2 Marsham Street, London (not proportional attendance). We do not intend to publish regional information or numeric staff attendances.