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 28 May 2025 to Question 53568 on Land: Greater London, what the planning status is of Metropolitan Open Land designated by the Mayor of London in the London Plan; and whether it has the status of Green Belt for the purposes of the references in the Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 53920 on 6 June 2025.
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 articles 35 and 40 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, whether (a) the Chinese government and (b) its agents have submitted sensitive information on the Chinese Embassy planning application that has been kept separate from the main register.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All Inquiry documents for this case are publicly available on Tower Hamlets website here.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of The Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 on faith groups.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, introduced by the previous Government, made permanent the temporary provisions allowing civil marriage and civil partnership ceremonies to take place outdoors in the grounds of approved premises in England and Wales. These changes did not extend to permitting outdoor religious marriages in the grounds of places of worship, for those religious groups who are currently unable to conduct legal weddings outdoors. The previous Government ran a consultation which considered a range of views and potential impacts.
The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings law highlighted a number of issues within the current legal framework, including inconsistencies affecting faith groups. Given the points raised by the Law Commission, it is right that we take the time to consider these issues. We will set out our position on weddings reform in the coming months.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the official statistics entitled Wider Determinants of Health: statistical commentary on the location of fast food outlets, February 2025, published on 10 February 2025, whether (a) Greggs, (b) Subway and (c) Pret a Manger were considered fast food outlets; and whether they were included under Indicator ID 94124 in his Department's data set on Wider Determinants of Health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fast food is considered to be food that is energy dense and available quickly, usually via a counter service, for consumption on or off the premise. Neither the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities nor its predecessor, Public Health England, have a formally agreed definition of a fast food outlet, and a list of fast food outlets is not held centrally.
Data from the Food Standards Agency’s Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) was used to populate the fast food outlets per 100,000 population indicator, which was published in the Wider Determinants of Health: statistical commentary on the location of fast food outlets, from February 2025. The statistical commentary is available at the following link:
The FHRS’ data categorises food premises into business types only. Therefore, criteria were developed to select food premises from the FHRS data that best fit the definition of fast food. In addition, all premises from the ‘takeaway/sandwich shop’ business type have been included. All outlets which meet these criteria are included in the indicator. The names of individual outlets are not published.
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 assessment she has made of the potential impact of previous local government restructuring on costs from pension strain in the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have made no such assessment. As I stated in my answer to UIN 52862, local government reorganisation will have impacts on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). We expect councils to work with relevant administering authorities on any implications of restructuring on the LGPS. The cost of any restructuring, including pensions, will depend on locally made decisions and the demographics and pension service of any staff leaving post.
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 (a) her Department and (b) local government improvement bodies financed through departmental funding centrally (i) collate and (ii) monitor the practice or frequency of local authorities operating four day weeks on full pay.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces. While it is not government policy to support a four-day working week in local authorities, the government will not be micromanaging them on this and does not collect data on this working practice.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality includes gifts that have been (a) returned and (b) reimbursed to the original donor.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality is a declaration of hospitality received and gifts given and received in a ministerial capacity, in line with ministers’ obligations under the Ministerial Code.
The Cabinet Office publishes guidance setting out the process that departments should follow to complete the publication of the Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality:
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has received recent representations from London boroughs on the provision of additional funding to house asylum seekers following the reduction in hotel accommodation for asylum seekers around Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its legal obligations and deliver upon the commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, and to end the use of hotels over time.
Current accommodation funding arrangements are published on GOV.UK: Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction - GOV.UK
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in hotel accommodation for asylum seekers around Heathrow Airport on neighbouring local authorities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its legal obligations and deliver upon the commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, and to end the use of hotels over time.
Current accommodation funding arrangements are published on GOV.UK: Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction - GOV.UK
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what her Department's policy is on the Rooney Rule when drawing up shortlists for employing staff.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) is aware of what has come to be known as the Rooney Rule, but this is a US initiative and we have not adopted a policy on it.
As both employer and custodian of the policy as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (The Act), OEO is familiar with the positive action provisions in the Act. These provisions enable employers to deploy positive measures in recruitment where certain groups are under-represented in the workforce, whether as a whole or in more senior positions. Candidates from the under-represented group must be equally qualified for the role alongside other candidates before they can be considered for selection. In other words positive discrimination, which disregards merit, is unlawful under the Act..