Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 publication entitled Explanatory note on the National Insurance Contribution compensation 2025 to 2026, published 18 December 2024, for what reason the allocation was not calculated using published local authority payroll data.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The government has announced an additional £515 million of support for local government, including Mayoral Combined Authorities and Fire and Rescue Authorities, specifically to manage the impact of changes to employer NICs announced at the Autumn Budget.
Additional funding made available to compensate local government as a whole for the impact of changes to employer NICs has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff across the public sector.
We propose to allocate the £515 million between local authorities in England based on their shares of total relevant net current expenditure. We have published a methodology note, explaining the data this funding is based upon, to assist councils with their financial planning.
The government will confirm final positions on methodology and approach to allocations as soon as possible now that the consultation on the provisional settlement has closed. We are continuing to engage with local government on their queries regarding the allocation of this additional funding.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 12 September 2024 to Question 4279 on Housing: Bricks, what steps she plans to take to increase rates of swift brick installation in new build properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published on 12 December 2024 expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.
The National Model Design Code and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework set out how development can incorporate a range of nature friendly features including swift bricks.
We will continue to consider what action may be appropriate to drive up rates of swift brick installation in new build properties.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when her Department will publish a breakdown of planned spending on homelessness (a) support and (b) prevention for 2025-26.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced funding allocations for homelessness and rough sleeping on gov.uk in December 2024.
This includes funding for sector support to strengthen the capacity of the voluntary sector, the Homelessness Prevention Grant, the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme and the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, which consolidated the previous Rough Sleeping Initiative and Accommodation for Ex Offenders grants.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the (a) Rough Sleeping Initiative, (b) Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme and (c) Night Shelter Transformation Fund will continue in 2025-26.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced funding allocations for homelessness and rough sleeping on gov.uk in December 2024.
This includes funding for sector support to strengthen the capacity of the voluntary sector, the Homelessness Prevention Grant, the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme and the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, which consolidated the previous Rough Sleeping Initiative and Accommodation for Ex Offenders grants.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including local online news publications in the definition of local newspapers for the advertisement of planning notices.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 15985 on 3 December 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department have had recent discussions with Hertfordshire County Council on the two-tier system of local government in that county.
Answered by Jim McMahon
There has been no specific discussion on this topic. The department is always open to hearing from councils about government in their local area.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to provide additional funding to local authorities for the cost of increases to employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Jim McMahon
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 11851 on 8 November 2024.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 her letter of 16 July 2024 to local council leaders, whether devolution settlements are available to district councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon
English devolution underpins this Government’s national mission to deliver economic growth for everyone, everywhere, raising living standards across the UK. While the previous government hoarded power in Whitehall, this Government will deliver the most ambitious programme of devolution this country has ever seen, pushing power into the hands of cities, towns, and villages across the country to unlock their true potential. Of course, we value the important role districts will play in this mission, and in due course the Government will publish a new devolution framework, which will set out in more detail the role district councils can play.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals to permit virtual meetings of (a) local authorities, (b) parish councils and (c) other public bodies on a permanent basis.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Government wants to ensure that local government is modern, efficient, flexible and diverse, and we are keen to break down barriers that prevent people from seeking to serve their communities. Allowing hybrid meetings could be a helpful step in doing that and we are keen to work with the sector to have an evidence based discussion about its merits.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, by what date she intends to make it a requirement that all new homes and buildings should have solar panels as default except in defined cases; and by what date she will issue guidance as to those defined cases.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in our manifesto, the Government will take steps to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed and sustainable homes. We will publish our response to the Future Homes and Buildings Standards 2023 consultation in due course.