Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what immediate steps his Department is taking to help reduce levels of homelessness and rough sleeping.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has increased funding for homelessness services this year to over £1 billion, including a £50 million top-up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant announced on 11 December 2025. You can find allocations here.
We are also investing £3.5 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, through more flexible multi-year funding arrangements that enable councils to invest more in prevention.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what metrics his Department will use to assess whether the Renters' Rights Act 2025 is achieving its stated objectives and its impact on the housing market more broadly.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 88657 on 21 November 2025.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he is considering a 4% minimum annual increase in Core Spending Power for local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years which includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period. We expect that the vast majority of councils with social care responsibilities will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the multi-year Settlement and by 2028-29 and that the 10% most deprived authorities will see a significant increase in their Core Spending Power per head compared to the least deprived.
The government wants to move decisively to a reformed system, but we have heard clearly that we need to implement funding reform in 2026-27 with transitional arrangements to allow others time to adjust. We will therefore phase in allocations over the multi-year Settlement, and protect the income of authorities which would see losses from funding reform using a range of funding floor levels appropriate to specific groups of authorities’ circumstances. Further details can be found here: Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK.
We will publish provisional local authority allocations at the upcoming provisional multi-year Settlement in December. Proposals and allocations will be subject to consultation and the usual Parliamentary process.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on West Berkshire Council, with regards to their capacity to sustain statutory services and meet local demand.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On Thursday 20 November, we published the government response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0, which sets out the government’s plan to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system.
The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, realigning funding with need and deprivation. We are delivering fairer funding and targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade from 2026-27, and giving local authorities greater flexibility and certainty by streamlining over 33 funding streams worth almost £47 billion.
We expect that the vast majority of councils with social care responsibilities will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the multi-year Settlement. We will publish provisional local authority allocations at the upcoming provisional multi-year Settlement in December. Proposals and allocations will be subject to consultation and the usual Parliamentary process.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a rural community ownership fund.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department commissioned an evaluation of the Community Ownership Fund in May 2023 to measure the social and economic impacts of different kinds of asset ownership, which will conclude in March 2026.
Interim findings will be published in the coming months highlighting the impact of the funding. A final report will be published in Spring 2026.
The evaluation will assess the impact of assets across a range of different types of geography including assets based in rural areas.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed Community Right to Buy on the establishment of community owned businesses.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, we are introducing a new community right to buy to give communities stronger powers to protect a range of assets which are important to them.
This will help to ensure that community owned businesses have the spaces they need to operate effectively, meeting the needs of the community and benefiting the local economy.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that all potential liabilities associated with unadopted assets in the housing sector are (a) identified and (b) accounted for.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential liabilities associated with unadopted assets in the housing sector.
An overview of the government’s plans in respect of private and mixed-tenure housing estates can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of using the Single Transferable Vote system in elections for newly established unitary councils.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Elections for existing unitary councils are held under the First Past the Post system. There are no plans to change the voting system for local council elections in England and elections for newly established unitary councils will also be held under this voting system.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of requiring councils to adopt a cabinet model of governance under proposed legislation.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Requiring all councils in England to operate an executive model of governance will simplify local authority governance arrangements and provide clearer, more easily understood decision-making structures. The vast majority of councils already operate a cabinet model of governance and will not be affected by the requirement.