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, whether the Rt Hon Member for Ashton-under-Lyne has an official car provided.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Rt Hon Member for Ashton-under-Lyne is not provided with an official government car.
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, whether he received representations on delaying local elections from Labour (a) MPs, (b) councillors and (c) council groups that were separate from formal representations from the local authority.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Representations were received from councils with elections scheduled in May, including from councillors and political groups, and from other councils, interested organisations, Member of Parliament, and members of the public.
The Secretary of State ran a locally led process and it was for councils to make representations and assess their capacity to conduct a safe and smooth transition to new authorities at the same time as holding elections.
In reaching his decisions, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made alongside departmental advice on those representations.
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, whether his Department undertook verification of local authorities’ representations which noted insufficient capacity because of the scheduled May 2026 elections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Representations were received from councils with elections scheduled in May, including from councillors and political groups, and from other councils, interested organisations, Member of Parliament, and members of the public.
The Secretary of State ran a locally led process and it was for councils to make representations and assess their capacity to conduct a safe and smooth transition to new authorities at the same time as holding elections.
In reaching his decisions, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made alongside departmental advice on those representations.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his assessment is of the effectiveness of Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The UK fully supports the operation of the international treaties which enable the cross-border enforcement of maintenance decisions. Children have a right to care and support, and parents have a responsibility to provide it. That responsibility endures regardless of family separation and includes situations where the paying parent and the child are living in different countries.
The effectiveness of reciprocal enforcement depends on how national governments operate the procedures required under the different treaties. The administration of the reciprocal enforcement of maintenance procedures in England and Wales is kept under continuous review and officials work to address any issues arising.
Regular discussions take place between UK officials and officials from other countries.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the business rate information letter, 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, whether the new relief is subject to a state aid cap for chain pubs; and whether it will apply to venues subject to the high value multiplier.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
Final costings will be confirmed at a fiscal event in the usual way.
The retail and hospitality sectors will continue to benefit from the £4.3 billion support package announced at Budget. This support package means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with her Polish counterparts on Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There have been no recent discussions on Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders between the Secretary of State for Justice and Polish Ministers. Regular discussions take place between UK and Polish officials.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 8777, on Local Government: Elections, whether local authorities which submitted bids to hold a May 2026 election pilot scheme subsequently submitted a request to the Department to cancel their May 2026 elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In August 2025, local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England.
A number of local authorities expressed interest in participating, and we are currently engaging with those local authorities. A small number of authorities that submitted applications subsequently made requests to postpone their May 2026 elections.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government before the publication of the statement.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport ministers and officials regularly engage with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on a range of issues including in relation to local roads maintenance.
At the Autumn Budget, the government confirmed a record investment of £7.3 billion for local authorities over the next four years to repair and renew their roads and fix potholes. Earlier in January, the Department published a new traffic light rating system. Under this system, every local highway authority in England received a red, amber or green rating based on the condition of their roads, the level of investment into maintaining roads, and whether they do so using best practice.
The ratings are designed to enable the public to gauge how well each council is maintaining its local roads. They also provide an incentive to local highway authorities to continue to adopt best practice and they enable the department to identify where councils need to improve and to support them to ensure road conditions improve nationwide.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Polish counterpart on outstanding cases of children abducted from the UK to Poland.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I recognise the distress of all those affected by international parental child abduction (IPCA). It is an issue this Government takes very seriously. Ministers and officials continue to raise IPCA with the Polish authorities at every appropriate opportunity. Most recently, the Deputy Prime Minister raised IPCA with Polish Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski in January. The Foreign Secretary and I also raised IPCA with our Polish counterparts in October 2025.
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 business rate information letter entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, of 27 January 2026, what the cost is of the new relief in (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
Final costings will be confirmed at a fiscal event in the usual way.
The retail and hospitality sectors will continue to benefit from the £4.3 billion support package announced at Budget. This support package means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.