Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with councils in the devolution priority programme areas on securing investment ahead of the delayed mayoral elections.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution White Paper sets out how Local Growth Plans will galvanise action and investment, including through setting out a pipeline of investment opportunities for strategic authorities. Adopting a Local Growth Plan will be a duty conferred on combined authorities as soon as the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill receives Royal Assent, so we encourage all councils in the Devolution Priority Programme to use the guidance we’ve provided to develop their growth plans. In the interim period between the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the new year and inaugural mayoral elections, we will provide the authorities with a portion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground ahead of the Mayors taking office.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of electoral law governing crypto digital currency donations to UK political parties.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The rules around political donations must be abided by regardless of the type of donation made, which includes cryptoasset donations. Political donations can only be accepted from permissible sources, and the recipients of the donations must make an honest assessment of the value of the donation at the time they receive it. Those who receive political donations from an impermissible or unidentifiable source must return them.
The Electoral Commission provides guidance on donations, including for non-standard donations such as those made in cryptocurrencies.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what process his Department plans to use to allocate funding following the end of UK Shared Prosperity Fund in regions and counties without an elected mayor.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will conclude in March 2026. Looking ahead, the government is introducing a long-term approach to local growth, providing sustained and predictable support for local authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement and complemented by targeted interventions designed to drive local growth and strengthen communities.
The recent Spending Review provided over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on, including £3.4 billion of new grant funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29.
In addition, a new Local Growth Fund will target 11 mayoral city regions in the North and Midlands with the greatest potential for productivity catchup and agglomeration.
Further, the Pride in Place programme is providing up to £5bn over 10 years to support 244 places across the country, helping build strong, resilient and integrated communities in areas that experience the most entrenched social and economic challenges.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 potential merits of financial caps on political donations for UK political parties, national, devolved and local elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is focused on delivering our manifesto commitment to protect UK democracy from foreign interference, through measures such as Know Your Donor, transparency surrounding connected sources of funding and tightening regulations on company donors and unincorporated associations. The Government does not currently have plans to put a cap on political donations. Political parties play a vital role in our democracy, and it is important that they are able to fundraise effectively and communicate with the electorate.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 implement remote electronic voting for (a) UK and (b) local elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are no plans to introduce remote electronic voting for UK or local elections.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the trends in insourcing in adult social care and children social care in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government works closely with both the Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Education on the provision of, and funding for, social care services. Local Authorities are responsible for delivering adults and children’s social care services, and it is for them to decide how to deliver them locally and ensure there is adequate provision in their communities. The government is taking specific steps to ensure the delivery of quality care services that secure better outcomes whilst achieving value for money for the taxpayer; for example, investment in children’s residential care that includes creating 200 new placements in high-quality council-run children’s homes and powers through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ensure financial oversight of the children’s care home market.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 intends to review planning laws to increase support for farming business diversification in rural areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 95296 on 4 December 2025.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the compliance of private parking companies using contract breach terms to apply a penalty when there is no option for the driver to decline to enter into the contact, for instance where signage setting out contract terms is only placed within an area where charges are automatically applied on entry.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Private parking operators are regulated through their membership of the two main trade associations. These are the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC). The BPA and IPC have launched a single industry Code of Practice which their members must follow. The industry Code of Practice requires private parking operators to provide a consideration period to allow a motorist the time to read the terms and conditions and decide whether to accept or reject them before a parking charge can be issued. The industry consideration periods vary from 1 minute to 10 minutes depending on the size of car park. The trade associations currently monitor compliance with its Code of Practice.
The Government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. My department recently ran a consultation outlining its proposals to raise standards across the private parking sector (available from gov.uk here). The consultation included proposals for a minimum consideration period of 5 minutes to be included in the new Government Code of Practice. All responses are now being analysed and the Government will publish a response, together with the new code, in due course.
Our consultation proposed that compliance with the Government Code of Practice would be monitored by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies, who would report compliance figures to the Government.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
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 tackle (a) misinformation (b) foreign influence in the 2026 elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government takes attempts by any country to intervene in our democratic processes very seriously. It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes.
The Government addresses these challenges through coordinated efforts led by the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Joint Election Security and Preparedness (JESP) Unit which bring together Whitehall departments, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to monitor and mitigate election security risks, including mis – and disinformation and foreign interference. The Joint Election Security and Preparedness unit is currently leading on cross-government efforts in preparation for the 2026 elections, which are taking place across the UK.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement policies to help build community cohesion in areas with segregated communities.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government is leading cross-Government efforts to consider a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with communities and local stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address the deep-seated issues.
This Government wants to ensure that all places are further supported to build cohesion and resilience, and that support is in place rapidly, as and when tensions occur. The Common Ground Resilience Fund will provide £2.87m funding to local communities to insulate them against threats to social cohesion.
We also recently announced the expansion of the Pride in Place Programme – this will provide up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade to 244 places across the UK. It focuses on three overarching objectives: building stronger communities; creating thriving places; and helping communities to take back control of their own lives and areas. As part of this, funding will be made available to improve community cohesion.