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, in what financial year will the new default arrangements for council tax bills being billed in 12 instalments, rather than 10, come into effect.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published a consultation on modernising and improving council tax administration which included a proposal on whether to move to default 12 monthly council tax billing whilst retaining the option to pay over 10 months. The government is currently considering all responses on this proposal and will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
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 Affordable Homes Programme annual report 2024 to 2025, published on 7 January 2026, whether the £2 billion of funding announced in March 2025 is separate to the £39 billion of funding in the 2026 to 2036 programme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As per the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549), the injection of £2 billion of new capital investment to support social and affordable housing delivery was designed to act as a bridge to the long-term grant funding that was to be announced at the Spending Review in June of that year. It is part of the £39 billion budget for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
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 assessment has been made of the potential effect of the planned increases in landfill duty on housebuilding.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government carefully considered the impact of reforms to landfill tax on rates of housebuilding and took account of the feedback received to the consultation carried out last year.
As a result, the government set out a plan to prevent the gap between the two rates of landfill tax expanding over the coming years, ensuring that housebuilders will not face significant new costs.
In addition, we are retaining the tax exemption for backfilling quarries to ensure that housebuilders continue to have access to a low-cost alternative to landfill.
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 guidance has been provided by his Department to planning decision makers on rejecting applications due to (a) undue pressure and (b) unreasonable behaviour by applicants.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has issued no such specific guidance. By law, planning applications should be determined in accordance with the development plan for the area, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
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 publication entitled Affordable housing supply in England: 2024 to 2025, published on 20 November 2025, whether the Greater London Authority’s affordable homes data includes affordable homes counted as started which were then un-designated.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Affordable Housing Supply statistical release published on 20 November 2025 reflected the most recent data published by the Greater London Authority.
There were no revisions of the Greater London Authority’s historical data for the November 2025 release. A summary of other revisions for that release can be found in section 7 of its technical notes, which 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, whether the Co-operative Party has made representations on the Elections Act 2022 provisions on the banning of dual registration of political parties as third parties.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our package of electoral reforms set out in our Strategy for Modern and Secure Elections has been informed by a wide variety of stakeholder recommendations and representations over time, including from political parties.
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 21 November 2025 to Question 84633 on Electoral Commission, when he plans to issue the new Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission to reflect this Government’s priorities for elections and the Commission’s increased roles and responsibilities.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to strengthening democracy and upholding the integrity of our elections. Robust and proportionate enforcement of political finance rules is an essential part of this. That is why, as announced on 17 July in the government’s Strategy for Elections, we committed to strengthening the Electoral Commission’s powers and extending its remit to ensure that it can effectively enforce the political finance framework.
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 amend the the National Planning Policy Framework to define a fast food outlet.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, more rules-based policies for decision-making and plan-making.
Through the consultation, we are seeking feedback on the application of the term ‘fast food outlets’ in planning decisions, and whether any further clarity could be provided on the types of establishments this policy should apply to.
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, whether local planning authorities are required to inform him when making an Article 4 direction in relation to restricting permitted development rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities are required to send a copy of all Article 4 directions made to the Secretary of State, as set out in Schedule 3 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.
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 holds data on (1) the aggregate number of hereditaments which claimed Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26, (2) the average Rateable Value of such hereditaments, (3) the distribution of Special Category Code of such hereditaments and (4) any such data by local authority.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The number of hereditaments receiving the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief as at 31 December 2024 can be found in Table 4 on gov.uk here.
This is based on a snapshot taken by local authorities on or as close to the 31 December 2024.
The snapshot as at 31 December 2025 is currently being collected and will be published by the end of March.
The Department does not collect data on the rateable value or the Special Category code of the hereditaments that received this relief.