Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 her Department’s consultation on Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England, published in December 2024, whether political parties will receive representation on the national body to consider appeals on standards matters.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The consultation to which the Honourable Member refers sought views from across the local government sector on the appropriateness of creating a national body to consider appeals, alongside a range of other proposed measures to strengthen the local government standards framework. The Government Response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 5 June 2025 to Question 55308 on Council Tax: Second Homes, what the reference numbers are for each of the Valuation Tribunal cases relating to (a) council tax liability, (b) the second homes council tax premium and (c) other issues relating to second homes.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Valuation Tribunal Service offer an online search engine which the hon Member may use to search any appeals relating to council tax liability, the second homes premium or second homes more broadly. This is available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how local government restructuring scores on public (a) spending and (b) borrowing.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Any changes to local government spending as a result of local government reorganisation will be reflected in the OBR forecast via estimates of local authority self-financed expenditure, with associated impacts on overall fiscal metrics, including public sector net borrowing (PSNB). Any central government funding for restructuring would be allocated within departmental budgets in the usual way.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 reasons for the trends in the level of long-term rough sleeping in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government inherited devastating record levels of homelessness and rough sleeping from the last Conservative government. There are multiple factors which can contribute to rough sleeping. Increases in living costs and limited suitable and affordable housing is driving overall increases in homelessness and rough sleeping, personal factors such as mental ill health and substance misuse can increase the risk of someone experiencing rough sleeping, including sleeping rough long-term.
This is why the government is taking a joined-up approach working across government, and in partnership with local authorities and Mayors, to address the root causes of homelessness. The Deputy Prime Minister is chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.
The government has also increased funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services by £233 million compared to 2024/25, bringing the total spend to nearly a billion pounds in 2025/26. This includes £185.6 million via the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, providing local authorities with funding for rough sleeping services, including specialist support for those who have been sleeping rough long-term.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 her Department's document entitled Remote attendance and proxy voting in local authorities: consultation results and government response, published on 5 June 2025, whether she has considered the potential merits of proxy voting of quasi-judicial committees (a) and its compatibility with the principles of non-determination on those committees and (b) in general.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We stated in gov.uk here that we plan to require all principal councils in England to introduce proxy voting schemes for full council meetings. We also stated that for all other meetings, proxy voting may be used but will not be required, and that substitute or pairing schemes may be more appropriate. We trust councils to develop clear and sensible policies that will work for their local areas.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 implications for her policies of trends in the number of people not from the UK or EU who are sleeping rough.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The expectation is that migrants coming into the UK should be able to maintain and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds. This reflects the need to maintain the confidence of general public that immigration brings benefits to our country, rather than add costs to the public purse.
When individuals granted refugee status leave Home Office accommodation, they are entitled to help with finding accommodation from their local authority if homeless. If in priority need, they will be provided with temporary accommodation.
The Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant funding can be used to help anyone, as long as areas act within the law in doing so.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 her Department's transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the spending to AtkinsRéalis UK Limited, reference Consultancy was for.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The contract with AtkinsRéalis UK Limited is for the audit of the government approved accreditation schemes who have the responsibility for maintaining the quality of energy performance certificates. This contract provides assurance that the requirements of section 22 of the Energy Performance of the Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 are being met.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities offer Level 7 Apprenticeships.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG does not hold this data. Local authorities are independent employers and are responsible for managing the apprenticeships they offer to their workforce.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the source of revenue to fund social tariffs under Section 13 of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 is; and whether costs will be imposed (a) directly and (b) indirectly on the water bills of residential customers who do not have social tariffs.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is working with industry to ensure that eligible customers across the country get the support to which they are entitled.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average water usage per household is in volume terms by number of (a) bedrooms and (b) occupants.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This information is publicly available here: