Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much of the Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund will be available to the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At the Spending Review the government announced that the new Mayoral Recyclable Growth Fund will be available to Mayors in the North and Midlands with an integrated settlement.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential need for additional financial support to local authorities to offset revenue losses during the equalisation process of Council Tax rates.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax is managed by local authorities, who decide what level of council tax they wish to set. There is an established system for the locally-led harmonisation of council tax levels across the restructured local authority area, no later than the start of the eighth year after reorganisation. The Government will continue to set referendum principles each year and any authority which sets a council tax increase above the principles must have it approved by voters.
The government is committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities. This includes committing to multi-year allocations for each council through the upcoming 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) and moving to a more up-to-date assessment of each council’s needs and resources.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has issued guidance on the length of time over which Council Tax equalisation can take place.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government set out the process for council tax equalisation in The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Finance) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3022). These regulations set out equalisation must be completed no later than the beginning of the eighth financial year after restructuring. Councils are responsible for setting their own level of council tax, including how quickly council tax levels are equalised within this timeframe. While the government does not currently issue guidance on this, we will continue to review the FAQs published on the Local Government Association website regarding devolution and local government reorganisation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 financial impact of Council Tax equalisation following local government reorganisation on low-income households.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax is managed by local authorities, who decide what level of council tax they wish to set. There is an established system for the locally-led harmonisation of council tax levels across the area of a restructured local authority area. The government will continue to set referendum principles each year and any authority which sets a council tax increase above the principles must have it approved by voters.
Councils are required to put in place local council tax support schemes to support low-income households. Pension-age council tax support is centrally prescribed and provides reductions of up to 100% for those on the lowest incomes,. Support for working age households is designed by councils in consultation with their residents, taking into account the needs and circumstances of their local communities.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 impact of Council Tax harmonisation on households following local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax is managed by local authorities, who decide what level of council tax they wish to set. There is an established system for the locally-led harmonisation of council tax levels across the area of a restructured local authority area. The government will continue to set referendum principles each year and any authority which sets a council tax increase above the principles must have it approved by voters.
Councils are required to put in place local council tax support schemes to support low-income households. Pension-age council tax support is centrally prescribed and provides reductions of up to 100% for those on the lowest incomes,. Support for working age households is designed by councils in consultation with their residents, taking into account the needs and circumstances of their local communities.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many planning permissions for nationally significant infrastructure projects have been expedited through the (a) Crown Development and (b) Urgent Crown Development routes in Huntingdon constituency since 1 May 2025.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There have been no applications for planning permission through either the Crown Development or Urgent Crown Development routes for nationally important projects in the Huntingdon constituency.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will set out the transitional arrangements prior to equalisation of differences in Council Tax rates across merging local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax is managed by local authorities, who decide what level of council tax they wish to set. The Government sets referendum principles each year and any authority which sets a council tax increase above the principles must have it approved by voters. There is an established system for the harmonisation of council tax levels across the area of a restructured local authority area, whereby the difference between the Band D level of the highest and lowest charging predecessor areas must narrow each year, until a single uniform Band D is reached across the new authority. There is no minimum or maximum requirement on the extent to which the gap must close each year, provided harmonisation is completed by the start of year 8 at the latest. This is set out in The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Finance) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3022).
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on the Local Land Charges Programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry’s (HMLR’s) new national Local Land Charges search service went live for customers in 2018, the programme is making good progress in digitising this critical information on land and property, transforming how it is stored, searched and delivered. Since the launch of the programme, at the time of writing HMLR has transferred 8 million charges from 137 Local Authorities to the new service, and another 133 Local Authorities’ data is currently in the process of being digitised, ready for it to be transferred. So far, the new service has delivered over 1.9 million searches, which saves the average customer over £10 per search and approximately 12 days in waiting time. As a result, customer sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with 74% of them rating the service as good to excellent.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated from the Brownfield Infrastructure and Land fund to (a) Huntingdonshire District Council and (b) Cambridgeshire since the establishment of that programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No funding has been allocated to Huntingdonshire District Council from the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) programme.
In Cambridgeshire, one BIL project is now in contract, for a £23.35m grant (alongside funding from the Cambridge City Deal) to support the relocation of the Waterbeach Village railway station which is a condition of the planning for the 4,500 home Waterbeach East New Town.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated from the Affordable Homes Programme to (a) Huntingdonshire District Council and (b) Cambridgeshire since the establishment of that programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).