Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 4 September 2025 to Question 71834 on Construction: Foreign Investment in UK, how many building control applications managed by the Fast Track innovation unit were (a) approved within the statutory time frame, (b) approved after the statutory time frame, (c) approved within the 65 working day target, (d) approved outside that target, (e) not yet approved and the statutory time frame has expired, (f) not yet approved and the 65 working day target has expired and (g) have been rejected.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The June reforms mark a pivotal step in positioning the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) for the future, reflecting the Government's commitment to enhancing safety and supporting residents.
On 4th August, the BSR launched the innovation unit to accelerate new-build applications. The new model is working effectively, with the majority of cases progressing in line with expectations, and some already concluded. It will take time for the benefits to be felt across the system, however we would expect the model to start to deliver tangible improvements around December.
To support transparency and accountability, the BSR published performance data on 16 October and will continue to do so monthly to track progress against this commitment. We are expecting the next release of data towards the end of November.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on streamlining Gateway 2 approvals under the Building Safety Regulator.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) recognises that the delays in assessing Building Control Applications have been unacceptable and that they impact upon all parts of the construction supply chain. This is why we announced reforms to the BSR on 30 June, including plans to establish the BSR as a separate body.
The BSR has listened to feedback from the industry and the reform package announced on 30 June 2025 is already having a positive impact on operations, with twice as many decisions being made by the BSR between June-September 2025 in comparison to January-March 2025.
The BSR has committed to improving BSR operations by December, with faster processing of new build applications and decisions on most of the existing new-build caseload. The BSR published performance data on 16 October and will continue to do so monthly to track progress against this commitment.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 has taken to help reduce the proportion of highly deprived neighbourhoods.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Pride in Place Strategy sets out how we will deliver up to £5 billion in funding and support to 339 places experiencing the highest levels of deprivation, with two key funding streams.
Our Pride in Place Programme will support 244 neighbourhoods with up to £20 million of flexible funding and support over 10 years to unlock the potential of the place they call home. We have used metrics that identify ‘double-disadvantaged’ neighbourhoods – those suffering from a combination of material deprivation and low social capital. The full place selection methodology is set out here.
The Pride in Place Impact Fund provides around £150 million to a further 95 places to make immediate improvements to high streets, community venues and public spaces across the next two years. This funding has been targeted at the places most in-need using deprivation and community pride measures. The full place selection methodology is set out here.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of construction supply chain bottlenecks associated with Gateway 2 on the construction plant-hire sector.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) recognises that the delays in assessing Building Control Applications have been unacceptable and that they impact upon all parts of the construction supply chain. This is why we announced reforms to the BSR on 30 June, including plans to establish the BSR as a separate body.
The BSR has listened to feedback from the industry and the reform package announced on 30 June 2025 is already having a positive impact on operations, with twice as many decisions being made by the BSR between June-September 2025 in comparison to January-March 2025.
The BSR has committed to improving BSR operations by December, with faster processing of new build applications and decisions on most of the existing new-build caseload. The BSR published performance data on 16 October and will continue to do so monthly to track progress against this commitment.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an estimate of the proportion of local government employees that are (a) on long-term sick leave and (b) work from home in (i) England and (ii) the London Borough of Havering.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces including decisions about terms and conditions, working practices and how best to deploy staff to achieve value for money. The Government will not micromanage their day-to-day running.
Local authorities will each hold data about their own individual workforces but the Department does not collect this centrally. Sector-wide data is collected by the Office for National Statistics Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (ONS Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey | Local Government Association).
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of people have been employed in local government in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency in every year since 2010.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces including decisions about terms and conditions, working practices and how best to deploy staff to achieve value for money. The Government will not micromanage their day-to-day running.
Local authorities will each hold data about their own individual workforces but the Department does not collect this centrally. Sector-wide data is collected by the Office for National Statistics Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (ONS Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey | Local Government Association).