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, which local authorities have notional council tax below £2,000 on Band D in 2025-26; and what the value of the notional Band D figure is in each case including the assumptions made on the uniform split in two-tier areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Fair Funding Review 2.0’s reforms, the government will better enable all local authorities to provide the same level of service to their residents by equalising for local authorities’ differing abilities to raise income from council tax.
This includes accounting for the tax base in a local area, not the level of council tax set by each council – this is the same approach proposed by the previous government. The strength of the tax base comes from the number of homes in an area and the 1991 value of those homes. It is not generally a function of local government decision making.
As confirmed in the response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0, within the resources adjustment the government will set the notional council tax level at the national average.
The response also confirmed the government will split or allocate the resource adjustment in multi-tier areas by uniformly applying the average tier split. More detail can be found in the Technical Annex on the Resources Adjustment (measure of tax base).
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 13 November 2025 to Question 85168 on Council tax, whether he holds estimates for the change in precepts not in scope of his Department’s core spending power figures.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The level of Core Spending Power attributable to council tax for each local authority is available here. Explanations on how council tax and associated referendum principles are calculated as part of core spending power is set out here.
At the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement the government set out the planned approach on council tax principles for authorities, including the approach for authorities not subject to referendum principles. This is available here.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether additional support will be given to coastal councils like Great Yarmouth facing above-average costs for waste and public space maintenance.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. This is why, alongside the additional £3.4 billion of grant funding announced at the Spending Review, the government is delivering fair funding reforms to ensure money goes to the places that need it most.
On 17 December, the government published the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. The provisional 2026-27 Settlement will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025-26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 15.1% cash-terms increase, worth over £11 billion, compared to 2025-26.
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural and coastal communities. Our updated assessment of need will more effectively capture variations in demand for services within a local authority. We will continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for the different costs faced in delivering services, including in coastal areas.
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, further to the Local Authority Housing Fund: Round 4 prospectus and guidance, of 19 November 2025, what is the profile of the spending in each year; and what is the profile of competition of the units.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The £950 million fourth round of Local Authority Housing Fund will primarily support local authorities in England to increase the supply of better-quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of Bed and Breakfasts for families with children.
It will also provide safe and suitable housing for those on the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP), to fulfil the UK’s humanitarian duties to assist those who assisted British efforts in Afghanistan and are at risk of homelessness.
The fund will run for four years (2026/27 - 2029/30) and it will support delivery of up to 5,000 homes.
We have written to councils to inform them of their initial allocation offers. We will agree allocations and delivery profiles ahead of delivery commencing in April 2026.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
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 plans to implement the recommendations set out in the Social Impact Investment Advisory Group’s final report; and what steps he is taking to establish the proposed Temporary Accommodation Impact Investment Facility.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is carefully considering the full set of recommendations in the report, including moving swiftly with the launch of the new Office for the Impact Economy.
We are committed to considering the best way to sustainably fund good-quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of poor-quality temporary accommodation.
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 discussions he had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer prior to the publication of the consultation on reforms to landfill tax.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of scrutiny involved in decisions by the Regulator of Social Housing to close investigations into regulatory or compliance issues; and what mechanisms exist to review such decisions.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Regulator of Social Housing operates independently of Government.
If the Regulator identifies serious failings in delivering the outcomes required by its standards, it engages intensively until the landlord provides evidence which gives assurance that the relevant weaknesses or failings have been addressed. Once the Regulator is satisfied that sufficient progress has been made, it may reflect this through removing or updating previous regulatory judgments. However, engagement may continue to ensure improvements continue.
Decisions of this nature are a matter for the Regulator. Ministers and the department do not intervene in the regulator’s operational decisions, including its engagement with providers or its approach to resolving non-compliance.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The information is not held centrally in the format requested and could only be provided at a disproportionate time and cost.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department operates a rating-less system for Performance & Development and as such the information requested is not available.
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 his Department has made of the adequacy of funding for new unitary authorities in Surrey, including in (a) statutory services and (b) wider local infrastructure and housing provision.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 99016 on 19 December 2025.