Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the statutory space and room standards in the Housing Act 1985 were last formally reviewed; and whether any review is underway.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no current plans to review or amend the overcrowding provisions as set out in Part X of the Housing Act 1985.
Crowding and space are assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and enforced under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004.
The government has committed to bring forward new regulations to bring the conclusions of the HHSRS review into force. The HHSRS is the cornerstone of housing standards, and the forthcoming regulations will make it more efficient and accessible for experts to use, and easier to understand for landlords and tenants.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 made an assessment of the adequacy of the statutory overcrowding standards set out in the Housing Act 1985.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no current plans to review or amend the overcrowding provisions as set out in Part X of the Housing Act 1985.
Crowding and space are assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and enforced under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004.
The government has committed to bring forward new regulations to bring the conclusions of the HHSRS review into force. The HHSRS is the cornerstone of housing standards, and the forthcoming regulations will make it more efficient and accessible for experts to use, and easier to understand for landlords and tenants.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review the statutory overcrowding provisions in the Housing Act 1985.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no current plans to review or amend the overcrowding provisions as set out in Part X of the Housing Act 1985.
Crowding and space are assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and enforced under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004.
The government has committed to bring forward new regulations to bring the conclusions of the HHSRS review into force. The HHSRS is the cornerstone of housing standards, and the forthcoming regulations will make it more efficient and accessible for experts to use, and easier to understand for landlords and tenants.
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 January 2026 to Question 102774 on Islamophobia, if he will list the dates of meetings with the relevant stakeholders; and whether those meetings were with (a) officials and (b) Ministers.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As is standard practice in government policy making, officials undertook some limited and focused informal engagement with relevant stakeholders.
Asked by: Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to bring forward reforms to the Building Safety Act 2022 to allow the First Tier Tribunal to confer accountable person responsibilities to a section 24 building manager; and whether they plan to introduce those reforms as part of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
When parliamentary time allows, we are looking to introduce a Remediation Bill to ensure all residents have a route to remediation, including in circumstances when a court has appointed a section 24 manager to take on the duties of the landlord.
We propose to amend the Building Safety Act to include section 24 managers within the definition of Accountable Persons to make clear that this manager can also be responsible for building safety duties.
This will ensure that remediation funds can be provided to a court appointed manager, and they are able to progress remediation.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to disqualify individuals from standing for public office in England who have unspent convictions for offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 or the Terrorism Act 2006, regardless of the length of the custodial sentence imposed.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government currently has no plans to change the disqualification criteria for those standing for election for these offences but keeps the counter‑terrorism framework under constant review to ensure it is fit for purpose.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
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 requires each local area to have a local growth plan.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Growth Plans are a key pillar of our regional growth agenda and every Mayoral Strategic Authority in England should develop and publish a Local Growth Plan. We intend to make this a statutory requirement through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
Foundation Strategic Authorities and Local Authorities in non-devolution areas have an important role to play in driving local growth. They may wish to read the guidance on developing a Local Growth Plan when considering next steps for greater devolution and their own economic plans. We encourage all authorities to set out a vision for growth in their area that can help to attract investment and drive growth; however, the government does not require this.
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, whether any staff in his Department work a four day week.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In response to the question of whether any staff in the Department work a four‑day week, we have interpreted this as referring to staff whose contractual hours are worked over four days per week.
On this basis, 241 headcount staff work part‑time hours (less than 1.0 FTE) arranged over four days.
Additionally there are 339 staff who work a five‑day week (1.0 FTE) over four extended days. These are staff on compressed hours arrangements on full pay.
These figures are provided on a headcount basis for active payroll staff at 31/01/2026.
Type of Worker | 31st Jan 2025 | 31st Jan 2026 |
Full time (compressed 4 days) (1FTE) | 214 | 339 |
Part time over 4 days (less than 1FTE) | 285 | 241 |
Total | 499 (12.4%) | 580 (15.8%) |
Flexible working, including part‑time and compressed hours arrangements, is a positive and valuable element of the MHCLG employee offer when managed effectively and in line with business need. The Department supports flexible working where it enables delivery of business objectives while providing benefits to both the organisation and employees. Such arrangements can be particularly beneficial for staff with caring responsibilities, as well as those with health conditions. Supporting flexible working helps the Department to attract and retain a diverse and skilled workforce while enabling staff to achieve a better work‑life balance.
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 11 February 2026 to Question 111141 on Local Government Finance, how much funding the six areas will receive in (a) 2026-27 and (b) 2027-28 prior to the rescheduled elections.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive both the Mayoral Capacity Fund and the Investment Fund, which is based on population, from MHCLG in 2026/27 and 2027/28, subject to the strategic authority being established where this has not already happened. Details of the allocations methodology for Mayoral Capacity Fund can be found in the Local Government Finance Settlement. Combined, these amounts rounded to the first decimal place are as follows:
Devolution Priority Programme area | 26/27 (£m) | 27/28 (£m) |
Cheshire and Warrington | 13.6 | 24.4 |
Cumbria | 8.4 | 13.8 |
Greater Essex | 18.1 | 19.5 |
Hampshire and the Solent | 19.3 | 20.7 |
Norfolk and Suffolk | 16.5 | 17.8 |
Sussex and Brighton | 16.7 | 18.0 |
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the business rate information letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, published on 27 January, whether a restaurant or hotel which makes the majority of its turnover from these activities, but which also has a pub or bar open to the general public and permits drinking without requiring food be consumed, is eligible for the new Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief on the whole Rateable Value of the hereditament.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Local authorities are responsible for the administration of business rates, including decisions on the awarding of and eligibility for various reliefs. Guidance for local authorities on the administration of the pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027 was published on 18 February 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here (attached). It is for local authorities to determine whether individual properties meet the definitions contained within the guidance to be eligible for the Pubs and Live Music Venues relief.
As set out in the local authority guidance, the government will fully reimburse billing authorities and major precepting authorities for their loss of income under the business rates retention scheme as a result of awarding the relief.