Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on establishing (a) shadow unitary councils and (b) preparing councils when undertaking local government restructuring.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My officials are in regular contact with councils to support them to undertake preparatory work to ensure readiness for any transition to new authorities.
Once a decision is taken on which proposals, if any, to implement, the Structural Changes Order will specify the governance arrangements for the new unitary councils in the transition period. Representations will be sought from the councils on the detailed content of the Structural Changes Order including on whether a shadow unitary council or preparing council is appropriate.
For all areas except Surrey, we anticipate elections to new authorities will take place in 2027, with those authorities going live in 2028.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 Delegation of the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Fair Funding Review on planning fees in local authorities which have lost funding in real terms.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning and Infrastructure Act provides the Secretary of State with the power to delegate the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities.
The Fair Funding Review considers how resources are distributed across local government based on relative need and demand for services. It does not determine planning fee levels, which remain cost-recovery charges rather than general funding streams.
The government is supporting local authorities to manage their updated funding positions by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income through transitional arrangements, including locally retained business rates growth.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 his Department's guidance entitled The implementation of the council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes, published on 1 November 2024, what plans he has to review the guidance given to local authorities in relation to the practices of council tax premiums being introduced by local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
211 local authorities began charging a second home premium from April 2025. The guidance was published in November 2024 to support councils in their decision making on the premium and assist taxpayers in understanding when a premium may apply. As ever, the government continues to keep all guidance under review.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 has had discussions with the Greater London Authority on extending the 2026 (a) pubs and live music relief and (b) revaluation transitional relief to include increases in business rates from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Business rates transitional relief is applied to business rates bills before the effect of other local reliefs or supplements. It therefore has no effect on local business rates supplements, such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.
As set out in section 13 of the Business Rates Supplements Act 2009, where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, any applicable Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes. For the coming financial year, this will include adjustments to relevant Business Rates Supplements such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement, for the effect of the Supporting Small Business Relief Scheme and Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.
The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026. Further information can be found on the Greater London Authority’s website here.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason he has incorporated Planning policy for traveller sites into the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.
The rationale for proposing to incorporate policies relating to traveller sites, currently set out in Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, within relevant chapters of the draft Framework is set out in the consultation.
The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 14 January 2026, to Question 103297, on Local Government Finance, whether areas where mayoral elections have been delayed will have access to any of the £200 million funding before those elections take place other than the initial payment of £1 million a year per combined authority.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The £200 million figure is in reference to the collective Investment Fund amount per year the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive once Mayors are in post in those areas. Before Mayors are elected, and once the institutions are established, government will provide each area with a proportion of their Investment Fund.
Beyond the Investment Fund, the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme will receive other sources of devolution funding, including capacity funding.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to consult the public on formal new names for new unitary councils.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A statutory consultation has already been undertaken, or is currently underway, on the proposals for new unitary councils, many of which included suggested names.
There are no plans to further consult the public on formal new names for new councils.
Where proposals did not include names for the new councils, or where different views have been expressed, then the Secretary of State may seek further representations from the councils and other interested parties before reaching a decision on what the formal new names of the councils should be.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 13 January 2026 to Question 102765, on Planning: Publications, whether he intends to update any of the other Plain English guides published on gov.uk by his Department.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will continue to keep all guidance under review to update as necessary. Any new or updated guidance will be published in the usual way on gov.uk.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of properties for rent in the private rented sector in each of the last three years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department collects data on the number of dwellings in the private rented sector through the English Housing Survey, which is published annually and can be found on gov.uk here.
The latest estimates for the number of private rented sector dwellings in England are as follows: 4,864,000 in 2022, 4,880,000 in 2023, and 4,910,000 in 2024.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the review into foreign interference will consider the practice of foreign governments hiring UK-based lobbyists.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes.
The purpose of the Rycroft review is to provide an in-depth assessment of the current financial rules and safeguards and make recommendations. The terms of reference for the review can be found here: Independent review: countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics: Terms of Reference - GOV.UK.
Given the review’s independence, we cannot pre-empt specifics of the ground it will cover, nor the recommendations it will make. It is right that the review is independent of Government and independent of any political party. However, we will be looking to mitigate the risk of foreign financial interference in UK politics from any actors and individuals who might wish to undermine our democracy.