Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Question 10626, whether his Department has conducted its own modelling of potential cost-savings arising from the creation of unitary authorities in Surrey.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in UIN 99016, councils are responsible for working through the implications of local government reorganisation, including the assessment of cost and merits.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Written Question 106268, if his Department will publish its economic modelling of the potential cost-savings arising from the creation of unitary authorities in Surrey.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in UIN 99016, councils are responsible for working through the implications of local government reorganisation, including the assessment of cost and merits.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance is issued to local planning authorities on managing concentrations of houses in multiple occupation within residential areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to plan to meet an area’s identified housing need, including with an appropriate mix of housing types for the local community.
Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission. We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.
Specific guidance is not provided on managing concentrations of houses in multiple occupation.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost-savings from creating unitary authorities in Surrey.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It was for local areas to submit proposals for government to consider on how local councils should be reorganised. Surrey’s proposals were considered according to the criteria set out in the government’s invitation letter, which includes evidence to support estimated costs/benefits of each proposal.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 effectiveness of fire and rescue services to respond to incidents involving lithium-ion batteries on strategic road networks.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is working closely with Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) and officials from other Government Departments to build an evidence base, share intelligence and develop mitigations to tackle the fire risks linked to lithium-ion batteries and personal light electric vehicles (PLEVs).
The department collects data on incidents attended by FRSs with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available here. This does not yet include data on whether fire incidents attended were caused by or involved lithium-ion batteries.
Our new Fire and Rescue Data Analysis Platform (FaRDAP) has been rolled out, and work is ongoing to update the data it will collect covering both the questions and answer categories to capture lithium-ion batteries, and their uses in vehicles like e-scooters and PLEVs.
National Operational Guidance has been developed for fires involving alternative fuel vehicles to support fire and rescue services when attending such incidents. It contains specific hazard guidance, including control measures on how to identify and immobilise the vehicle and how to isolate high-voltage systems.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative estimate his Department has made of the (a) proposed population size of the West Surrey Unitary Authority and (b) largest and (c) smallest unitary authorities in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proposal from Surrey County Council, Elmbridge Borough Council and Mole Valley District Council set out that, based on the 2021 census population data, East Surrey Council would have a population of 545,798, and West Surrey Council 657,309. The Secretary of State decided to implement the two unitary proposal for Surrey, subject to Parliamentary approval, having assessed the proposals against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance and having regard to all representations received through the consultation and to all other relevant information.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative estimate his Department has made of the (a) proposed population size of the West Surrey Unitary Authority and (b) average population size of unitary authorities in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proposal from Surrey County Council, Elmbridge Borough Council and Mole Valley District Council set out that, based on the 2021 census population data, East Surrey Council would have a population of 545,798, and West Surrey Council 657,309. The Secretary of State decided to implement the two unitary proposal for Surrey, subject to Parliamentary approval, having assessed the proposals against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance and having regard to all representations received through the consultation and to all other relevant information.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative estimate his Department has made of (a) the proposed population size of the West Surrey Unitary Authority and (b) other unitary authorities in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proposal from Surrey County Council, Elmbridge Borough Council and Mole Valley District Council set out that, based on the 2021 census population data, East Surrey Council would have a population of 545,798, and West Surrey Council 657,309. The Secretary of State decided to implement the two unitary proposal for Surrey, subject to Parliamentary approval, having assessed the proposals against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance and having regard to all representations received through the consultation and to all other relevant information.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of PAS 9980 on building safety in residential buildings.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has sponsored the British Standards Institution (BSI), who developed and are responsible for the PAS 9980 guidance, to review it to ensure it captures best practice, meets the needs of the market and identify whether any revisions are required. BSI has established a steering group with wide stakeholder representation and conducted a public consultation as part of the review. They expect to publish updated guidance in Summer 2026.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consultation he has undertaken with relevant stakeholders on developing PAS 9980.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has sponsored the British Standards Institution (BSI), who developed and are responsible for the PAS 9980 guidance, to review it to ensure it captures best practice, meets the needs of the market and identify whether any revisions are required. BSI has established a steering group with wide stakeholder representation and conducted a public consultation as part of the review. They expect to publish updated guidance in Summer 2026.