Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 timeline for establishing a Mayoral Strategic Authority in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97367 on 11 December 2025. Decisions on future devolution areas beyond those in the Devolution Priority Programme, including Bedfordshire, have not yet been taken, but the Department will continue to engage with local authorities about possible future devolution agreements. All future funding decisions, including the 30-year investment fund, will form part of conversations with local areas. The government is committed to ensuring that all new Strategic Authorities are built on strong foundations and set up to succeed.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost of elections for new Mayors during this Parliament.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
No assessment has been made. Spend on council elections is a matter for local authorities and spend on mayoral elections for strategic authorities is a matter for those bodies.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the a) creation of and b) ongoing operation of Mayoral authorities during this Parliament.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In my statement to parliament on the 4 December 2025, I confirmed that Investment Funds for the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will amount to close to £200 million collectively per year for 30 years, once Mayors are in post. I also confirmed that each area will receive £3 million over the next three financial years in capacity funding to support the establishment of the new institutions.
The government does not, however, hold full estimates of future operating costs. The costs for operating Mayoral Strategic Authorities can vary depending on their size, the responsibilities they exercise, and local political and financial decisions. Financial information can be found in their published, annual budgets. Details of funding provided to Mayoral Strategic Authorities from central government is also published each year in annual devolution reports and can be accessed on gov.uk.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of his planning policies on nature.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Environment Act 2021 requires Ministers to have 'due regard' to the policy statement on environmental principles when making policy. This is to ensure that environmental considerations are at the heart of policymaking across government.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that to protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, local plans should identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife rich habitats and wider ecological networks such as chalk streams. It is for local planning authorities to apply this policy when planning for new development.
The government is currently consulting on changes to the NPPF, including proposals to simplify and improve the approach to environmental protections and promote a stronger focus on green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 made a recent assessment of the adequacy of service times at HM Land Registry.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Improving speed of service remains a top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR). Plans to achieve this are set out in the Agency’s Strategy 2025+ which was published on 5 November 2025 and can be found on gov.uk here.
As its sponsor department, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government holds HMLR to account for its performance and operational delivery and is in regular communication with HMLR about their processing times.
HMLR has been making improvements in this area through hiring and training more staff and by improving the efficiency of the services its customers use. The introduction of new pre-submission validation checks will speed up processes and reduce staff time spent on dealing with errors or mistakes. The age of outstanding post-completion applications is now under 12 months across all service lines, from a peak of 20 months in February 2023.
HMLR processing times are publicly available on gov.uk here.
Anyone who is concerned that a delay to their application may cause financial, legal, or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, can apply to have their application expedited free of charge. HMLR processes nearly 1,400 expedited applications every day, with more than 95% actioned within 10 working days.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release Families to save hundreds of pounds in major homebuying overhaul, published on 5 October 2025, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of that policy on the number of houses available for sale.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here.
Final policy decisions as well as a refined analysis of the impact of the proposals in question are subject to a review of the information received through the consultation process.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will receive powers to set planning fees locally for the 2026/27 financial year.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning and Infrastructure Act provides the Secretary of State with the power to delegate the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities.
The process for local fee setting will be set out in regulations this year. We will shortly also be consulting on a national default fee, which will be the baseline from which local planning authorities can vary and set their own fees.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities will have lower funding from Government grants in 2028-29 than 2024-25.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are investing in local government. The Spending Review 2025 provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years, which includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29.
Core Spending Power is the government’s measure of the resources available to local authorities to fund service delivery through the Local Government Finance Settlement. By 2028-29, we will have made available a 23.6% increase in Core Spending Power compared to 2024-25, worth over £16 billion. The vast majority of upper-tier councils will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the next three-years.
Detailed local authority allocations were published through the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 and are being consulted on until 14 January 2026.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of updating planning validation checklists to require Soil Impact Assessments for major housing developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including policies designed to encourage a more consistent and proportionate approach to local information requirements (local validation lists).
The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Mayors and councillors to access LGPS under reforms, published on 13 October 2025, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of that policy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the consultation on access to the LGPS for mayors and councillors, the Government Actuary’s Department has estimated the cost at £40-45 million per year.