Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by his Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions (PQs).
The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the government’s consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what meetings (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had to discuss the potential spread of leptospirosis, in the context of the bin strikes in Birmingham.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Government has been supporting Birmingham City Council (BCC) in its efforts to address the backlog of waste that had been building up on the city’s streets. MHCLG has worked with a number of key Government Departments to provide support to BCC including engagement with both DHSC and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). UKHSA has been monitoring any potential health impacts and BCC have undertaken regular public health assessments lead by BCC’s Director of Public Health.
UKHSA undertakes routine surveillance for leptospirosis infections in humans and publishes a quarterly report on the common animal-associated infections - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-animal-associated-infections-2024/common-animal-associated-infections-england-second-quarter-2024#leptospirosis
The Council have reported that all on street waste and fly tipping waste has been cleared, waste estimated to be held at properties is now back to near normal levels. Around 100 to 120 Council waste collection vehicles are out daily collecting around 1,300 tonnes of waste. This is near normal levels of waste collection and normal household collection for all Birmingham residents has resumed.
BCC will continue to assess levels of rubbish and their potential impact on the local area, and the government continues to monitor the situation on a daily basis.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 impact of uncollected rubbish on the risk of fire in Birmingham.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Government has been supporting Birmingham City Council (BCC) in its efforts to address the backlog of waste that had been building up on the city’s streets. MHCLG has worked with a number of key Government Departments to provide support to BCC including engagement with both DHSC and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). UKHSA has been monitoring any potential health impacts and BCC have undertaken regular public health assessments lead by BCC’s Director of Public Health.
UKHSA undertakes routine surveillance for leptospirosis infections in humans and publishes a quarterly report on the common animal-associated infections - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-animal-associated-infections-2024/common-animal-associated-infections-england-second-quarter-2024#leptospirosis
The Council have reported that all on street waste and fly tipping waste has been cleared, waste estimated to be held at properties is now back to near normal levels. Around 100 to 120 Council waste collection vehicles are out daily collecting around 1,300 tonnes of waste. This is near normal levels of waste collection and normal household collection for all Birmingham residents has resumed.
BCC will continue to assess levels of rubbish and their potential impact on the local area, and the government continues to monitor the situation on a daily basis.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of items of correspondence from Parliamentarians received by (a) her Department, (b) her and (c) her Ministers in each month since August 2024 have not yet received a substantive response.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since August 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has received 3493 pieces of correspondence from Parliamentarians. The table below shows the number of items received by month (August 2024 – February 2025) that have not yet received a substantive response, and the proportion this represents of the total number of cases responded to, by month. The majority of cases from January – February are not yet due.
| Aug-24 | Sept-24 | Oct-24 | Nov-24 | Dec-24 | Jan-25 | Feb-25* | Total |
Total | 0 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 117 | 399 | 82 | 637 |
Proportion | 0% | 1% | 1.5% | 3.5% | 22% | 60% | 100% | 18% |
* February data is captured up until 6th February 2025
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of domestic residences in (a) England and (b) the UK.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Estimates of dwelling stock in England, as of 31 March 2022, are published in the Department’s live table 104, which is available at the following link.
Estimates of dwelling stock in the UK, are collated and published by the Office for National Statistics and are available at the following link.