Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what measures her Department is taking to ensure people admitted to hospital while rough sleeping have somewhere secure to sleep upon discharge from hospital.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have published A National Plan to End Homelessness, our cross-Government Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. This commits to a target that no one eligible for homelessness assistance is discharged to the street after a hospital stay.
To help achieve this we will work with the NHS and councils to implement the guidance published in 2024, 'Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness', to help staff plan safe discharges and prevent homelessness after NHS care.
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 on the role of (a) parish councils and (b) community groups in managing public assets in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has not held specific discussions with local authorities in Surrey and the Surrey Heath constituency regarding the role of parish councils and community groups in managing public assets in future local government structures.
We strongly encourage all local authorities to involve town and parish councils and community groups in their plans for Local Government Reorganisation to ensure that their contribution to local public services is recognised in future arrangements. Town and parish councils can work with other tiers of local government to determine how they can best serve their communities in their area, including by making local agreements regarding the transfer and management of assets.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
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 policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Budget document, published on 28 November 2025, set out the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits for 2025-26 to 2029-30 (the Spending Review period) in table C.2.
2025-26 budgets are fully allocated. For future years of the Spending Review, allocations will be subject to the departmental business planning process in advance of the start of each financial year.
We have announced a number of key programmes for the Spending Review period, including £39bn for a 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme and £5bn grant funding for infrastructure and land from the new National Housing Delivery Fund. This will complement £4.8bn capital investment from 2026-27 to 2029-30, including £2.5bn in low-interest loans to support the building of social and affordable homes.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the number of domestic boilers sold in England against the number of installations reported to local authority building control.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Neither the department nor the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) hold figures on boiler sales.
Figures held by the BSR show 1,089,862 total gas appliance work notifications between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 under the Gas Safe Register scheme. Of this total, 1,039,920 was for central heating natural gas boiler installations. This is more than 95% of the total gas installation work. A much smaller number of other gas boiler installations, such as for water heaters or warm air heating appliances, were also registered.
The Gas Safe Register scheme is run by the Health and Safety Executive but the BSR has access to the scheme’s installation registration numbers.
The BSR regulates other installation schemes, also called competent person schemes, which include installation of non-gas types of boilers but neither the BSR nor the department hold figures specifically on non-gas boiler installations.
Local authorities must make available to the public details of building control notifications in their area including for boiler installations.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with councils in the devolution priority programme areas on securing investment ahead of the delayed mayoral elections.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution White Paper sets out how Local Growth Plans will galvanise action and investment, including through setting out a pipeline of investment opportunities for strategic authorities. Adopting a Local Growth Plan will be a duty conferred on combined authorities as soon as the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill receives Royal Assent, so we encourage all councils in the Devolution Priority Programme to use the guidance we’ve provided to develop their growth plans. In the interim period between the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the new year and inaugural mayoral elections, we will provide the authorities with a portion 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.
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 steps her Department is taking to help support local authorities in (a) monitoring and (b) mitigating carbon monoxide risks in mixed-use residential areas in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government acknowledges the vital contributions made by fire and rescue services to a wide variety of incidents.
All Fire and Rescue Authorities are required to publish Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs) in line with the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England.
Decisions on how their resources are best deployed are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) as the employer, based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances.
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 steps his Department is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support the fire and rescue service to respond effectively to carbon monoxide incidents in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government acknowledges the vital contributions made by fire and rescue services to a wide variety of incidents.
All Fire and Rescue Authorities are required to publish Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs) in line with the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England.
Decisions on how their resources are best deployed are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) as the employer, based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 provide a response to the application submitted by Bedford Borough Council for exceptional funding support to cover costs incurred as a result of the Cleat Hill explosion on 19 October 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The impact of the explosion and fire and the tragic loss of life would have been traumatic and I have great sympathy for all those affected.
The Department continues to engage directly with Bedford on its overall financial position, including communicating a response to the Council's request to activate the Bellwin scheme in relation to the Cleat Hill explosion.
The Local Government Finance Policy Statement published on 20 November confirmed that there will continue to be a framework in place to support councils in the most difficult financial positions. This reflects the ongoing challenges for councils dealing with the legacy of the previous system, while the Government is delivering much needed reforms to the funding framework. Following the Policy Statement the Department issued technical guidance to councils which set out that they should confirm any request for support by 12 December, and that any decisions under this framework are usually taken shortly after the final Local Government Finance Settlement.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government intends to provide exceptional funding support to Bedford Borough Council to cover costs incurred as a result of the Cleat Hill explosion on 19 October 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The impact of the explosion and fire and the tragic loss of life would have been traumatic and I have great sympathy for all those affected.
The Department continues to engage directly with Bedford on its overall financial position, including communicating a response to the Council's request to activate the Bellwin scheme in relation to the Cleat Hill explosion.
The Local Government Finance Policy Statement published on 20 November confirmed that there will continue to be a framework in place to support councils in the most difficult financial positions. This reflects the ongoing challenges for councils dealing with the legacy of the previous system, while the Government is delivering much needed reforms to the funding framework. Following the Policy Statement the Department issued technical guidance to councils which set out that they should confirm any request for support by 12 December, and that any decisions under this framework are usually taken shortly after the final Local Government Finance Settlement.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
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 4 December 2025 to question 94312, what a wholly exceptional reason would be.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Further guidance on how local planning authorities should implement the protections relating to irreplaceable habitats can be found in Planning Practice Guidance on gov.uk here and the footnotes to the National Planning Policy Framework on gov.uk here.