Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency annual report and accounts, 2025-26, HC401, 9 July 2026, page 81, if he will break down the increase in staff by business unit; and what the FTE target is for 2026-27.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Valuation Office’s headcount increase was for 9 corporate roles and 484 operational roles. The operational roles were split between the Chief Valuer Group (152) and the Valuation Operation Group (332) to support delivery across a range of areas including customer services, council tax and apprentice surveyors.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency annual report and accounts, 2025-26, HC401, 9 July 2026, pages 53 and 56, what the nature of the risk is in relation to (a) the introduction of the council tax surcharge and (b) 2029 business rates revaluation.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
As outlined in our annual report and accounts, the risks relating to Revaluation 2029 and High Value Council Tax Surcharge relate to VO delivery and ensuring we mitigate them effectively.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what was the business case for the Avant Homes payment plan agreement for its Developer Remediation Contract of January 2026; and how many other housing developers have been given payment plans agreements.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Developer Remediation Contract, developers committed to fix or pay to fix over 2,600 buildings at a cost to themselves of around £4.2bn. This includes repaying taxpayers for money spent to fix any of those buildings through government schemes.
The terms of the Contract, which are publicly available, provide for any developer who signed it to request a payment plan to allow it to spread those repayments over an agreed period, with interest.
Developer eligibility is informed by due diligence undertaken by government.
To date, government has agreed a payment plan with one developer (Avant Homes).
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC official statistics, Non-domestic rating: challenges and changes statistical commentary, 6 August 2026, whether there is a forecast for the total number of (a) Checks, (b) Challenges and (c) appeals in England against the 2026 rating list over the full rating cycle.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Valuation Office does not publish forecasts for the number of Checks, Challenges or Appeals that may be made against the 2026 rating list in England over the course of the rating cycle.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the answer of 26 February 2026 to Question 113649 on Council Tax: Valuation, whether there is HMRC Valuation Office guidance on physical inspections of dwellings for council tax valuations.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN19141 tabled on 15 July 2026.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 HM Treasury webpage entitled Business case publications: collection, last updated 13 August 2026, whether her Department holds Government Major Projects Portfolio business cases produced since June 2025 which have not been uploaded to the website.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department currently has three Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) programmes: the Building Safety Remediation Programme, the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP), and the National Housing Delivery Fund (NHDF). Business cases for these programmes have not yet been finalised or are currently being updated. They will be published once finalised, in line with HM Treasury guidance on the publication of GMPP business cases.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 HM Treasury collection, Business case publications: collection, last updated on 13 August 2026, whether her Department holds Government Major Projects Portfolio business cases produced since June 2025 which have not been uploaded to the HMT website.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department currently has three Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) programmes: the Building Safety Remediation Programme, the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP), and the National Housing Delivery Fund (NHDF). Business cases for these programmes have not yet been finalised or are currently being updated. They will be published once finalised, in line with HM Treasury guidance on the publication of GMPP business cases.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether single adult households will be able to claim the 25% single person discount on the council tax surcharge.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government has set out plans to introduce the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, which will increase fairness within the system.
The Government has consulted on the design of the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, including on a deferral scheme to support those who may struggle to pay, treatment of freehold and leasehold properties (including those with short leases), and a proposed list of discounts and exemptions. This consultation closed on 14 July. The Government is considering responses received and a response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 Impact Assessment for the Representation of the People Bill, published on 14 May 2026, whether the non-monetised costs to local authorities will be compensated under the New Burdens doctrine; and whether her Department will calculate the cost of burdens which are currently non-monetised.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities will be fully funded in line with the New Burdens doctrine, which compensates local authorities for additional net expenditure resulting from central government policy. We will keep our assessment of local authority impacts under review, and any necessary updates to the Bill's accompanying Impact Assessment will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on how many local authorities have byelaws against barbeques in public parks in operation.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This data is not held centrally. Local authorities are responsible for making and administering byelaws in their areas, and the Department does not maintain a central record of all specific byelaws currently in force.