Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Valuation Office uses Acorn consumer classification (CACI) data.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The VO does not use ACORN classification data.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure, updated on 30 March 2026, for what policy reason (a) banking hubs and (b) cash machines on high streets are excluded from the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multiplier.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Banking hubs and cash machines are excluded because their primary function is the provision of financial services rather than retail, hospitality or leisure activity. Their location on a high street does not, in itself, bring them within the scope of the RHL multipliers.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when Schedule a) 137 and b) 138 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will commence.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Section 137 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which creates a new criminal offence that applies in England and Wales, of retaining a child abroad without consent, will be commenced by regulations as soon as reasonably practicable. We must ensure sufficient time to consider and manage impacts on the criminal justice system and for law enforcement to update guidance and provide appropriate training.
Section 138 of the Act, which creates a similar offence in Northern Ireland, will come into force on a day specified by order by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.
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 is the budget for automatic voter registration over the Spending Review period, and what costs have been monetised to date.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Improving Voter Registration policy has been appraised in the Impact Assessment for the Representation of the People Bill, and all monetised costs of the policy are set out in that assessment.
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 representations have been received to her department from the National Fire Chiefs Council on the nationwide UK Emergency Alert issued on 14 August 2026.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All Emergency Alerts are sent in conjunction with agencies or public bodies that are responding to emergencies. The decision to issue this alert was not taken lightly. It was made in direct cooperation with the National Fire Chiefs Council.
The alert was issued during a period where there were 43 active fires and 11 major incidents nationwide. It was sent to around 55 million mobile phones across England and Wales, providing advice on steps people could take to help prevent wildfires. It formed part of the Government's work with fire and rescue services and other partners to raise awareness of the heightened risk of wildfires.
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 Am I Registered service in Northern Ireland, whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of an electoral registration status check.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are exploring a range of options to ensure that individuals are accurately registered, including different options to reduce administrative burden for Electoral Registration Officers and simplify processes for individual electors. We will provide more information as this work develops. Currently, it is possible to check registration status by contacting your local Electoral Registration Officer.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2026, to Question 6853, on Asylum: Hillingdon, for what reason her Department only publishes details of asylum grant per council in historic Cabinet Office grant data for previous years, and does not publish current year funding in the year of its allocation.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum grant funding information is published in line with the Cabinet Office's Government Grants Data and Statistics publication process. Funding data is published annually once the financial year has ended and having been validated, reconciled and quality-assured. This, rather than publishing live grant allocations, ensures accuracy and consistency.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2026, to Question 7805, on Asylum: Housing, whether any local authorities are currently contracted with the Home Office to provide asylum accommodation services.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
No local authorities are currently contracted to provide asylum accommodation services. The Home Office holds eight contracts for the provision of these services and details of them are publicly available:
CRH - Wales
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
CRH - South
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder
Serco - NW
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder
Serco - MEE
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder
Mears - NEYH
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder
Mears - Scotland
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Scotland - Contracts Finder
Mears - NI
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
CTM
Contract for the Provision of Asylum Accommodation and Travel Services - Contracts Finder
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2026, to Question 6860, on Asylum: Hotels, if she will publish a precise figure for the number of asylum hotels in operation in each month since July 2024, and the number of asylum seekers housed in asylum hotels in each of those months.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of hotels in use has reduced from over 400 asylum hotels in summer 2023, there are now fewer than 190 currently in use and we are on track to close all by the end of this Parliament.
The Home Office publishes statistics on a quarterly basis detailing the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated including numbers accommodated in hotels. These statistics can be found in at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support detailed datasets, year ending March 2026. These tables also have historical data on the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2027, to Question 7200, on Strategic Migration Partnerships: Finance, why the publication of the aggregate spending across all partnerships is deemed to be sensitive.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office funding is allocated individually to each Strategic Migration Partnership and varies according to local operational pressures, delivery requirements, and regional arrangements. As these agreements are bespoke and subject to individual arrangements between the Home Office and the recipient organisation, details of specific funding allocations are not routinely shared beyond the individual recipient organisations.