Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish an updated Index of Multiple Deprivation for England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
MHCLG announced recently that the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 will be published on Thursday 30th October 2025. This has been confirmed on GOV.UK
Welsh Government lead on publishing the Indices in Wales. They recently confirmed a release date of Thursday 27th November 2025 - Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation: 2025 | GOV.WALES
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 30 June (HC61433), whether the proposed restriction on installing gas boilers for newly constructed dwellings applies to the development of blended green hydrogen and natural gas for heating purposes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Future Homes Standard (FHS), to be introduced through the Building Regulations in autumn this year, will effectively preclude the use of gas boilers in new homes. A consultation setting out detailed technical proposals for the FHS was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. Hybrid and hydrogen-ready boilers would not meet the standards proposed in the consultation. We are carefully considering the feedback we received to the consultation and intend to publish the government response confirming our final position in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will outline the consultation steps taken in advance of the allocation of funding under the neighbourhood trailblazer programme which was announced on 11 June; and specifically the consultation process with (1) the relevant local authority in whose area funding has been allocated and (2) with the member of Parliament, whose constituency incorporates the neighbourhoods concerned.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In advance of the funding allocation under the Neighbourhood Trailblazer Programme announced on 11 June, 25 trailblazer areas were selected through a metric-based methodology which assessed the most in-need communities across the UK. Further details will be published in due course.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth has met with MPs who have a trailblazer neighbourhood in their constituency, and my officials continue to engage relevant local authorities. The Communities Delivery Unit will work in partnership with local people and with local authorities to empower communities through long-term, place-based investment, with a strong emphasis on local leadership, community engagement, and social cohesion.
Full details on programme governance, including consultation processes, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to local authorities about the specific democratic decision-making processes they should adopt; and under which legislation has such guidance been given.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have provided no current guidance to local authorities on their decision-making processes; within the governance models provided for in legislation, the precise nature of each council’s constitutional arrangements is for that council to decide.
As part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill we intend that in future any council operating under the committee system will be required to operate with the leader and cabinet form of governance, and that leader and cabinet will be the only option, for councils currently operating with a directly elected mayor, should they determine to change governance arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 7 January (HL3639 and HL3640), how many local authorities have requested an extension to the deadline on 10 January for expressions of interest about establishing combined authorities following the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December; and whether they have responded to such requests sympathetically.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have had no formal written requests to extend the deadline for expressions of interest.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to extend the consultation period for expressions of interest from top-tier and lower tier local government in England for forming the new combined authorities outlined in the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government will work with places to deliver a Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) to roll out devolution to an ambitious timeline, aiming to deliver new strategic authorities and elected Mayors by May 2026.
This Programme will provide a fast-track to mayoral devolution for areas ready to come together under sensible geographies which meet the criteria set out in the White Paper.
To meet these ambitious timelines, we have asked areas to express an interest by the 10th of January, so we can begin delivery at pace. For areas not on the DPP, we will continue to discuss how to extend and deepen devolution in their area to a slower timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to allowing enough time for the consultation for the proposed new combined authorities outlined in the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December, to be worked through.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government will work with places to deliver a Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) to roll out devolution to an ambitious timeline, aiming to deliver new strategic authorities and elected Mayors by May 2026.
This Programme will provide a fast-track to mayoral devolution for areas ready to come together under sensible geographies which meet the criteria set out in the White Paper.
To meet these ambitious timelines, we have asked areas to express an interest by the 10th of January, so we can begin delivery at pace. For areas not on the DPP, we will continue to discuss how to extend and deepen devolution in their area to a slower timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their total financial contribution to local authorities in England will be in the financial year 2023–24 for (1) revenue spending, (2) capital investment, and (3) one-off grants, specifically excluding any funding towards local authority expenditure raised locally.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 makes available up to £59.7 billion for local government in England. Where locally raised council tax is excluded the figure is £25.7billion.
The only one-off grant introduced into the Settlement was the one-off funding guarantee to ensure that every council sees at least a 3% increase in Core Spending Power next year before any local decisions on Council Tax rates.
However, not all funding to local government is provided through the Settlement. For example, the Government is providing capital funding including through the second round of the Levelling Up Fund which will see £2.1billion of taxpayer subsidy provided to 111 local infrastructure projects across the UK. Alongside this, there is the annual Public Health Grant at a total of over £3.4 billion per annum, amongst many other grants.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their White Paper Levelling up the United Kingdom, published on 2 February, when they plan to formally launch the Task Force investigating housing for older people; and what the remit of that Task Force will be.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The new taskforce, as announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, will look at ways better choice, quality and security of housing for older people can be provided, including how to address regional disparities in supply of appropriate and where necessary specialised housing.
Further details of the taskforce including its remit, will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the commitments made in People at the Heart of Care: adult social care reform white paper, published on 1 December, what steps they will take to ensure the planning system enables the growth of housing-based care options for older people.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
This Government is committed to the provision of homes for older people, including those who require care and support. As set out in our National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities should already assess the types of specialist housing needed for older and disabled people in their areas, and this should be reflected in their planning policies.
We remain committed to working closely with a range of stakeholders to look at how we can further support the growth of a thriving older people’s housing sector. This includes considering the merits of different engagement and delivery models, including proposals from the sector for a cross-Government taskforce.