Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 Representation of the People Bill, whether an election offence of intimidating council staff can apply after the close of poll, including to election counts.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Provisions in the Representation of the People Bill will empower courts to give tougher sentences to those who abuse candidates, campaigners, elected representatives and electoral staff by introducing a new statutory aggravating factor. The Bill will also extend the disqualification order regime, so that intimidatory offences against electoral staff can now lead to the application of a disqualification order.
As drafted, a relevant offence committed after the close of poll would lead to the application of the aggravating factor and a disqualification order, as long as the offender can be shown to have been motivated by hostility towards electoral staff.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 Representation of the People Bill, at what point political parties and elected representatives will have access to the date of birth of an attainer elector.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the provisions set out in the Representation of the People Bill as they stand, no political parties or elected representatives will have access to the date of birth of attainers (those aged 14 and 15) under any circumstances.
The Government takes the safeguarding of young people and their data seriously, with strict controls set out in legislation on who can access information from the electoral register and for what purpose. The approach set out in the Representation of the People Bill balances the need for proportionate safeguards within our electoral system, without disadvantaging young voters from being able to participate in it.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 considered the potential merits of strengthening penalties for people who vote on behalf of family members without proper authorisation.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is essential that every elector is able to cast their vote in secret and free from any form of coercion. While the vast majority of people vote lawfully, any instance of personation or coercion at the polling station is unacceptable and undermines confidence in our democratic process. Personation, undue influence and offences under the Ballot Secrecy Act are all serious offences which can carry sentences of up to six months’ imprisonment, a fine, or both – reflecting the severity of these crimes.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 obtain Legislative Consent from devolved Administrations in Wales and Scotland for the Representation of the People Bill.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As is usual, the government has written to counterparts in the devolved governments asking for their consent to the Bill where this interacts with devolved competence. The Secretary of State confirmed this at Second Reading of the Bill.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 has considered the potential merits of introducing legislation to prohibit individuals convicted of terrorism offences from standing for elected public office.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 help support fire and rescue services (a) in Nottinghamshire and (b) nationally via financial investment.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 9 February 2026, the Ministry published the 2026/27 Local Government Finance Settlement which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue.
(a) In 2026/27, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority will have a core spending power of £60.48 million, an increase of 4.7% compared to 2025/26.
(b) The Settlement will make available almost £1.95 billion in core spending power for standalone fire and rescue authorities in England (excluding North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester), an average 4.71% increase compared to 2025/26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 12.75% increase in core spending power compared to 2025/26.
In addition to settlement funding, the Government has provided Fire and Rescue Authorities with several grants intended for specific purposes, such as the Fire Pensions Grant and Protection Uplift Grant.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding from the Pride in Place programme will be allocated to Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Pride in Place programme specifically targets funding to communities with the poorest social and economic outcomes, identified using a composite measure of deprivation (Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)) and community need (Community Needs Index (CNI)), which can be found here.
Huntingdon was not one of the areas identified for inclusion in the Pride in Place programme through this methodology.
However, every constituency benefits from our wider Pride in Place strategy which will equip neighbourhoods, like those in your constituency, with the tools to drive transformational change that reflects local priorities.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 paper entitled Improving voter registration, published on 2 March 2026, if he will make it his policy to place markers on the electoral roll where (a) UK nationals and (b) foreign citizens have been automatically added.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no plan to make it its policy to place markers on the electoral register to differentiate between UK nationals and foreign citizens.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 Representation of the People Bill Impact Assessment, February 2026, Table 8, what proportion of the donation value that would now be impermissible was made to (a) Reform Party, (b) Brexit Party and (c) the regulated donors from that party.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in Representation of the People Bill Impact Assessment, Table 8, we estimate that around 26% - 29% of donations from companies made in the year prior to the 2024 General Election would not meet the permissibility criteria.
All businesses, including small businesses, will need to meet strict new criteria in order to make political donations. Requiring donors to demonstrate a genuine UK connection is key in protecting against foreign actors from using shell companies to channel foreign or illlicit money into UK politics.
Impacts have not been assessed at an individual party level. We are not restricting donations to specific parties; the measures apply equally to recipients of political donations. This ensures that donees adhere to the same standards, thereby safeguarding all UK political parties from foreign interference.
The vast majority of businesses do not make political donations and therefore will not be affected by these rule changes.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2026 to Question 111868 on Fire and Rescue Services: Databases, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring fire and rescue services to record whether such fires involve lithium-ion batteries or electric vehicles; and whether his Department plans to make such reporting mandatory under the Fire and Rescue Data Platform Version 2.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the development of Version 2 of the Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP), we will be adding new reference data to allow fire and rescue services to record and report on when an incident involves lithium‑ion batteries or electric vehicles. This will include identifying whether the source of ignition was a battery and, where relevant, whether that battery was on charge at the time of the incident. These additions will ensure such information is collected and reported consistently across services.