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, what representations has he received from (a) local authorities and (b) the LGA on the high value council tax surcharge being described as a council tax.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has not yet formally consulted on the High Value Council Tax Surcharge. A consultation will be published in the coming months, to invite views and representations from the sector and other stakeholders on details relating to the Surcharge.
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 18 December 2025to Question 96897 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Appointments, when and where he will publish this this information; and if it will include all sitting DMAs.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Cabinet Office has created a gov.uk page for departments to publish Direct Ministerial Appointments (DMAs). In line with their guidance, MHCLG now publishes details of all new appointments and extensions, and extant appointments will be published in due course.
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, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff are on full-time pay with compressed hours.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At 31 January 2026 there were 760 active payroll staff, 19% of total headcount, who worked full‑time hours over a compressed period, meaning they received full pay. This figure includes a range of different compressed full‑time working arrangements.
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, what the required hours of working are for staff in his Department on full-pay who work a compressed four-day week.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Staff who work full-time, have the following conditioned hours per week:
If they were appointed to the Civil Service within the department on or after 1 June 2013:
Net hours do not include meal breaks.
Staff working a compressed four-day week have the flexibility to agree their daily working pattern to reach the required conditioned hours per week.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 publish the findings of the urgent review into foreign financial interference in politics in their entirety.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In December, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced an independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The review findings will be delivered to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Security Minister by the end of March 2026.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will ensure that Mr Rycroft’s report is made available to Parliament at the earliest opportunity after it is received.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
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 (a) adequacy of the independence and (b) effectiveness of private parking appeals services.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware of concerns amongst some motorists that second stage appeals services are not independent of parking operators because these are facilitated by the trade associations who represent their members. Last summer, my department consulted on this issue to better understand concerns around the current model and consider if change is needed. The Department is considering the findings of the consultation very carefully and will set out further details as soon as possible.
The 2025 consultation document can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the level of disputes over charges regarding private parking operators belonging to accredited trade associations since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department holds baseline information on private parking appeals, provided through stakeholder engagement.
The government also has a new strategy to enable the regular collection of data regarding the private parking industry, as outlined in the 2025 Code of Practice Consultation, once the revised Code has been published.
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 23 February 2026, to Question 109808, on England: Anniversaries, if he will hold discussions with (a) the Mayor of London and (b) any other local authority on potential events to celebrate the 1,100th anniversary of the foundation of the Kingdom of England.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 85176 on 24 November 2025, which confirmed that MHCLG currently is not responsible for anniversaries of this type.
If the hon. Member is keen to raise this with the Mayor of London himself, his office can be contacted via Contact us form | London City Hall.
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 assessment he has made of the consistency of Planning Inspectorate decisions where local plans are absent, emerging or under review; how often inspectors have cited housing land supply shortfalls to justify approving development on protected land; and whether he will review the weighting given to local democratic decisions versus national housing targets in such cases.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no such assessment.
The Planning Inspectorate does not compile data on the number of instances Inspectors have cited Housing Land Supply shortfalls to allow an appeal on designated land, such as a protected site.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many social housing tenancies have been let to domestic abuse survivors in each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The number of new social lettings to households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse can be found in the ‘Social Housing Lettings’ statistics tenants tables 3p and 3pi on gov.uk here.