Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they provide to local authorities on taking out insurance for potential cyber attacks.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government Cyber Security Strategy sets a clear target for all public bodies to be resilient to known vulnerabilities and common attack methods by 2030. Cyber insurance should be considered as part of wider cyber security resilience measures taken by organisations. The NCSC (The National Cyber Security Centre) has provided helpful guidance for organisations thinking about taking out cyber insurance.
In 2024 MHCLG introduced the Cyber Assessment Framework for local government to help councils assess and improve their cyber security. The framework also aims to promote good cyber security practices and cultures within councils to minimise the impact of cyber-attacks.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to respond to those local authorities that have submitted interim reorganisation proposals.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 3 June the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon OBE MP) has updated the House to confirm that the Department had provided individual written feedback to each area on the interim plans for local government reorganisation that they submitted by 21 March 2025. Areas have been encouraged to share that feedback with MPs and the Department also published a summary of the feedback to support all areas in progressing their proposals and in the interests of transparency.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of planning permissions that were granted for properties that ended up not being built in each of the past five years, broken down by local authority.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department does not hold the requested information.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish all formal correspondence with local authorities about local government reorganisation, and whether they will place copies of that correspondence in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Useful documents, including letters to councils, announcements and news items on the local government reorganisation programme will appear on gov.uk at Local government reorganisation: Policy and programme updates - GOV.UK. We anticipate that during this programme of local government reorganisation there will be a significant volume of correspondence with local authorities. We do not anticipate publishing all of that correspondence, nor do we consider it appropriate to place copies in the Library of the House. We will ensure that the House is updated at key moments, as we have done since the publication the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024. I am of course happy to meet Noble Lords at any point.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allocate the £7.6 million of capacity funding for local government reorganisation, and when that funding will be made available.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 24 March the government announced it has made £7.6 million available as ‘proposal development contributions’ to support the 21 areas undergoing local government reorganisation.
This is the first time that capacity funding has been made available for reorganisation proposals, recognising the priority that this government attaches to this. Further information will be provided on how this will be allocated soon, and we intend to make payments as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will require planning officers who determine planning applications through their national scheme of delegation to declare any interests; and whether the bill will require local authorities to create a register of interests for planning officers along the lines of those for local councillors.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Our live tables on planning statistics show that in 2024 for district planning decisions 96% of applications were delegated to officers, and for county planning decisions 81% of applications were delegated to officers.
Proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in relation to planning committees and a national scheme of delegation do not include changes to requirements to declare interests for either officers or councillors.
Clause 46 of the Bill gives the Secretary of State the power to, through regulations, require planning decisions to be made by committees or officers. We will consult on the details of this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of planning applications that were considered by local authorities in 2024 were determined by (1) planning applications committees, and (2) planning officers.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Our live tables on planning statistics show that in 2024 for district planning decisions 96% of applications were delegated to officers, and for county planning decisions 81% of applications were delegated to officers.
Proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in relation to planning committees and a national scheme of delegation do not include changes to requirements to declare interests for either officers or councillors.
Clause 46 of the Bill gives the Secretary of State the power to, through regulations, require planning decisions to be made by committees or officers. We will consult on the details of this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP1218), what steps they are taking to ensure that the boundaries of fire and rescue authorities are coterminous with the boundaries of newly created strategic authorities.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, where mayoral geographies align with police force and fire and rescue geographies, Mayors will be, by default, responsible for exercising Police and Crime Commissioner and Fire and Rescue Authority functions. This is the case in three of the six places being considered under the Devolution Priority Programme.
We will explore, in time for the English Devolution Bill, the possibility of a single Mayor taking on Police and Crime Commissioner and Fire and Rescue Authority responsibilities across two or more Police Force and Fire and Rescue Authorities, where boundaries align.
Where Strategic Authorities do not currently align with these boundaries, or where alignment is not appropriate for new devolution areas, we will take steps to achieve alignment over the longer term. Future new Strategic Authorities will be considered with existing Police and Crime Commissioner and Fire and Rescue Authority boundaries in mind.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication on 7 March of the Plan for Neighbourhoods, what definition they use for workplace representative, and whether neighbourhood boards will be required to give seats to workplace representatives.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Plan for Neighbourhoods’ prospectus was published on 4 March. As outlined in the Plan for Neighbourhoods’ governance and boundary guidance, published on 12 March, Neighbourhood Boards should comprise representatives from a cross-section of the local community to promote community leadership.
Boards may want to consider but are not obligated to include workplace representatives, such as a trades union representative.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the publication on 16 December 2024 of the English Devolution White Paper, whether they intend to retain ceremonial counties for the purposes of appointing Lord Lieutenants and High Sheriffs.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is no intention that the priorities set out in the English Devolution White Paper will impact on the ceremonial counties or the important roles that Lord Lieutenants and High Sheriffs play as the Monarch’s representatives in those counties, and ceremonial counties will be retained. The government recognises and values the work they do in relation to civic, business, social and community life in the ceremonial counties, and will ensure that the ceremonial rights and privileges of an area will be maintained after any reorganisation of local government.