Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities are able to prevent new employees from joining the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is unlawful for local authorities to prevent their new employees from joining the Local Government Pension Scheme. Local authorities are scheduled bodies, as defined by part 1 of Schedule 2 of the LGPS Regulations 2013, and scheduled bodies must offer the LGPS to directly employed staff.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 07 April 2025 to Question 43306 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, when the transparency publication referred to in that Answer will next be updated.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Commissioners’ fees and expenses up to and including March 2025 have now been published on Birmingham City Council’s website.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the process is for amending an enterprise zone's boundaries.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Enterprise Zone sites were carefully selected and are designated in law. We currently have no plans to allow for boundaries to be redrawn
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 24 April 2025 to Question 46451 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, what the estimated cost of providing central support to that intervention was in (a) 2023-2024, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 to date.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is established practice for MHCLG to provide a Chief of Staff function to support Commissioners appointed to local authorities in statutory intervention. In line with normal practice, the Department does not comment on the detail of civil service staffing or pay arrangements.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 24 April 2025 to Question 46451 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, whether her Department has made an inexact estimate of the cost of providing central support to that intervention.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is established practice for MHCLG to provide a Chief of Staff function to support Commissioners appointed to local authorities in statutory intervention. In line with normal practice, the Department does not comment on the detail of civil service staffing or pay arrangements.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 7 April 2025 to Question 43306 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, whether Birmingham City Council has reimbursed her Department for any costs associated with that intervention; and if she will publish details of any such costs, broken down by heading.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is established practice for MHCLG to provide a Chief of Staff function to support Commissioners appointed to local authorities in statutory intervention. There are currently two full-time equivalent roles attached to the intervention in Birmingham City Council. These costs are contained within existing departmental budgets, and in line with standard practice. No separate estimate of exact costs has been made.
As is standard practice for Councils under intervention, Birmingham City Council has not reimbursed the department for any costs associated with the Chief of Staff function, but does cover the Commissioners’ fees.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 7 April 2025 to Question 43306, on Birmingham City Council: Finance, how many officials in her Department provide support to that intervention on a (a) headcount and (b) full-time equivalent basis; and if she will make an estimate of the cost of departmental support to the intervention since October 2023.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is established practice for MHCLG to provide a Chief of Staff function to support Commissioners appointed to local authorities in statutory intervention. There are currently two full-time equivalent roles attached to the intervention in Birmingham City Council. These costs are contained within existing departmental budgets, and in line with standard practice. No separate estimate of exact costs has been made.
As is standard practice for Councils under intervention, Birmingham City Council has not reimbursed the department for any costs associated with the Chief of Staff function, but does cover the Commissioners’ fees.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of her Department's intervention at Birmingham City Council since October 2023.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Commissioners’ fees and expenses are published on Birmingham City Council’s website at regular three-month intervals. There are additional costs associated with the admin support team provided by Birmingham City Council. Commissioners’ fees and expenses for one year were just over £1.3m.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what contracts (a) BFS Group Limited and (b) subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited hold with (i) her Department and (ii) agencies of her Department.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Information about contracts awarded by Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government and its agencies is available on Contracts Finder or Find a Tender Service, as required under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder and https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
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 30 October 2024 to Question 11851 on Employers' Contributions: Local Government, whether local authorities will be compensated in full for the additional cost of employers' national insurance contributions; and when she plans to announce details of each local authority's allocation of the support for additional employer NICs costs.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As per our response to Question UIN 11851 on 8 November 2024, the Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government. We will set out further details of how this support will be delivered in due course.