Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with local authorities in Surrey that are due to form the west unitary authority under local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out to the House on 28 October, we considered the two proposals for unitary local government received from Surrey councils on 9 May together with the responses to the consultation, representations and all other relevant information. In our judgement the proposal for East Surrey Council and West Surrey Council better meets the criteria set out in the invitation of 5 February 2025.
In accordance with the guidance provided to two-tier areas, it is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of their whole area. Councils are responsible for working through the implications relating to local government reorganisation, including costs and merits.
The Government will continue to work in partnership with the sector as we work together to deliver this ambitious agenda and has put in place measures to support and advise areas. The Department will continue to meet with councils in Surrey regularly on a range of policy matters.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 make an estimate of the total estimated yield in non-national domestic rates from commercial properties in each district in Essex in 2025-26 and 2026-27, broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We do not collect data on national non-domestic rates by specific types of property.
However, we do collect data on net rates payable by local authorities in England. Forecast data for 2025-26 can be found here National non-domestic rates collected by councils - GOV.UK.
Data relating to 2026-27 will be published in February 2026.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 potential impact of the requirement for new safety documentation where existing reports are not accepted on leaseholders.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Building Assessment Certificate (BACs) process, Accountable Persons (APs) for higher-risk buildings must provide information about their building that demonstrates how they are managing building safety risks related to the spread of fire and structural failure. This is to ensure that accountable persons hold the information and documentation they need in order to be able to manage a building safely.
In many cases, APs will already hold and have access to documentation that shows how they are meeting these requirements. If existing reports demonstrate that the AP is managing safety risks effectively, they will be accepted as part of the BACs process. Only where necessary information is missing will APs have to take reasonable steps to collect it, which may include undertaking surveys and commissioning further reports.
To assist APs in understanding the requirements of the BACs regime, the Building Safety Regulator has produced online resources covering the BAC application and assessment process here.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that the upcoming Homelessness Strategy addresses homelessness among newly recognised refugees arising from the 28 day move-on period.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Through A National Plan to End Homelessness, the Cross-Government Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, the Home Office has committed to strengthen data sharing processes to ensure councils receive information from asylum accommodation providers for 100% of newly granted refugees at risk of homelessness, within two days of an asylum discontinuation of support notification. This supports early intervention by enabling councils to commence homelessness assessments.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the performance and efficiency of the planning appeals process under forthcoming reforms.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate's Strategic Plan commits the Agency to removing all casework backlogs and meeting all Ministerial targets, including those on relating to planning appeals, by 2027. The Inspectorate regularly publishes updates on its performance.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 clear and accessible fire safety regulations for leaseholders and residents in managed buildings.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Article 21A of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 makes clear that the person responsible for fire safety in blocks of flats must communicate the risks identified in the fire risk assessment to residents (including whenever this is updated) as well as the precautions taken to address these risks. They are not required to share the whole assessment as there is an expectation that they summarise the risks given the potentially technical nature of the assessment.
On 4 July 2025, we launched a wide-ranging consultation on proposals to hold landlords and managing agents to account for the services they provide and the charges and fees they levy. This consultation closed on 26 September 2025, and we are analysing responses.
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, what recent assessment he has made of the feasibility of meeting the target of delivering 1.5 million homes in England by 2029.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 27400 on 3 February 2025.
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, how many people that are currently homeless in Poole constituency will be taken out of homelessness following the introduction of the homelessness strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government publishes homelessness statistics on gov.uk here.
Our National Plan to End Homelessness will end the use of B&B accommodation for families except in emergencies, halve long-term rough sleeping and increase the proportion of people whose homelessness is prevented. As set out in the strategy, local authorities will be required to publish by Autumn next year, and regularly update, their action plan. This must include local targets to improve performance against each of the metrics relating to homelessness and rough sleeping in the Outcomes Framework for local government.
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 many new homes his Department estimates will be delivered in each year until 2028-29.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19066 on 20 December 2024.
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 written statement of 4 December 2025, HCWS1128, on Devolution Priority Programme, how much funding in each of the combined authorities in the devolution priority areas that was originally scheduled for (a) 2026-27 and (b) 2027-28 will be delayed as a consequence of the postponement of the 2026 mayoral elections.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We remain committed to the long-term funding offer announced on 4 December, confirming that once mayors are in post, the six mayoral strategic authorities on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive close to £200 million collectively per year for 30 years through their investment funds. Government will provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.
The new mayoral strategic authorities will also be supported to build core capacity to ensure they can deliver for local people. All six areas will receive £3 million each as a minimum flat payment over the next three financial years, in addition to an initial payment of £1 million each when the statutory instruments are laid in Parliament, to help with the costs of establishing the new authorities.