Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) financial and (b) any other support (i) is and (ii) will be available to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, in the context of improvement notice and auditor evaluations.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department continues to work closely with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council to ensure strong oversight of progress against the requirements of the best value notice issued in July 2025. The council is leading its own improvement journey and has secured independent challenge and support through its Improvement and Assurance Board, the Local Government Association and other sector bodies.
Through the multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement, Dudley will see an increase in Core Spending Power of 12% by 2028-29 compared to 2025-26, worth £44 million. We will also be maintaining their £5 million Recovery Grant allocation across the multi-year Settlement and they will benefit from the Recovery Grant Guarantee next year.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how he plans to support Councils with low council tax bases and entrenched deprivation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. We will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers.
These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax, and the variation in the cost of delivering services, including between rural and urban areas. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up-to-date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.
We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. After years of funding cuts to local government, in which the most deprived places suffered the most, the recovery is not over. Following a large number of representations on the importance of Recovery Grant funding, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement, to enable these places to continue their recovery.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
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 implications for her Department’s policies of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Sikhs entitled Anti-Sikh Hate Crime Report, published in October 2020.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We welcome the Sikh Guard initiative, a third-party reporting service specifically for the Sikh Community. The Government has worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. As a part of this, True Vision has been working with the Sikh Guard (established by the National Sikh Police Association) and Rakkha initiatives to encourage reporting from within Sikh communities.
The Government also funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
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 (a) the adequacy of funding for local trading standards and (b) the potential impact of this on their ability to respond promptly to complex and resource-intensive cases.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Authorities are responsible for determining resourcing priorities in accordance with the needs of their local communities, and the members of those communities will differ according to the areas where they live.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities on ensuring that local trading standards services are adequately resourced.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Authorities are responsible for determining resourcing priorities in accordance with the needs of their local communities, and the members of those communities will differ according to the areas where they live.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
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 15 January 2025 to Question 22080 on Housing: Bricks, what steps her Department is taking to increase the rate of swift brick installation in new build properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with local government to tackle abuse faced by women working in local government.
Answered by Jim McMahon
This government is clear there is no place in local government for bullying, intimidation or harassment, including abuse faced by women. Such behaviour causes great personal distress to those affected, particularly as the current local government standards and conduct framework lacks effective sanctions to hold perpetrators to account.
In December we launched a consultation seeking views on proposals that will apply to all types and tiers of local authorities in England to strengthen the standards and conduct framework, including proposals to introduce the sanction of suspension. We are now in the process of analysing the responses to the consultation, and the Government Response will be issued in due course.
We also continue to fund the Local Government Association’s sector support offer, including its Civility in Public Life programme, which offers training for councillors related to personal safety, handling abuse, and intimidation online.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that open spaces and the green belt are protected during house building.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s policies for safeguarding the Green Belt from inappropriate development.
The Framework also allows local areas to identify local green space which is protected in a similar manner to the Green Belt.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take to increase regulations on property developers to help ensure high standards of development.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Building Regulations are intended to protect people’s safety, health and welfare; they set minimum acceptable standards for new building work including when a building is being designed, constructed, or subject to major re-design and which are enforced through the Building Control process.
Since the Grenfell tragedy, the Building Control process has been strengthened, bringing greater oversight of Building Regulations compliance before, during and on completion of Higher Risk Building work. This will make sure that safety and performance of buildings is considered at the start of the design process and is fit for the building’s lifecycle.
At Planning Gateway 1, fire safety is considered as part of the development planning process; a local planning authority is required to consult the Health and Safety Executive on planning applications for Higher Risk Buildings.
The Building Safety Act 2022 established the Building Safety Regulator, which became the Building Control Authority for all Higher Risk Buildings in England in October 2023 and convenes multi-disciplinary specialist teams to assess building control applications at Gateway 2. Building work on new Higher Risk Buildings can only start after the developer has received Building Control approval from the Regulator.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help local authorities scruitnise the work of property developers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Building control assure compliance with the building regulations and have powers to intervene where it is found that buildings are in breach of the Building Regulations. It is an important function for local authorities, protecting the health and safety of residents and enabling economic activity.
We have invested £16.5 million to support capacity building in local authority building control teams and continue to encourage authorities to invest in this service.
The Building Safety Regulator is implementing Operational Standards Rules, which define minimum performance standards that building control bodies must meet and will improve outcomes across the sector.
The Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report recommended the appointment of a panel to consider delivery models and commercial interest in building control. We are considering the recommendations and will respond shortly.