Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department will respond to the consultation entitled Reforms to the statutory consultee system which closed on 13 January 2026.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle homelessness in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 99477 on 19 December 2025.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 103549 on 14 January 2026.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement on the delivery of non-statutory services in Hampshire.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Local Government Finance Settlement is our most significant move yet to make English local government more sustainable. The provisional Settlement 2026-27 will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025-26. For Hampshire we are making available up to £1,360.0 million in 2027-28 in Core Spending Power, an increase of 18% compared to 2024-25. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that local authorities give due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are bound by the Armed Forces Covenant when they discharge their housing and homelessness duties, and independent Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers support service personnel and their families to register and to vote.
There is statutory guidance for local authorities which takes account of the special circumstances of those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces and their families when discharging homelessness duties which can be found here, and when allocating accommodation, which can be found here.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the National Fire Chiefs Council on the adequacy of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 funding formula for fire and rescue services.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognises that the current fire funding formula was designed over a decade ago.
In line with responses to the principles of reform consultation in December 2024, the Government updated the fire and rescue relative needs formula by using the most up-to-date data available. In the medium term, we will work with the fire sector on a comprehensive review of the formula ahead of the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 regulatory and charitable framework governing housing associations that operate shared ownership schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The majority of Shared Ownership providers are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing. This means that they are required to meet the applicable regulatory standards. These include standards relating to governance and financial viability, alongside relevant consumer standards, including those relating to transparency, influence, and accountability.
Where they are registered charities, not for profit registered providers are also required to adhere to charity law principles, to ensure that their purpose serves the public interest.
As part of the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme, we are placing new expectations on providers to improve the experience of shared owners. These include giving greater consideration to long-term customer affordability, increasing transparency and fairness on costs, and giving customers the ability to opt out of fees for services that are optional.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for complaints submitted to the Housing Ombudsman to be (a) processed and (b) resolved.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Housing Ombudsman is independent of government.
As its Sponsor Department, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government tracks its progress on delivery in line with Cabinet Office Standards for working in partnership.
The Housing Ombudsman’s Corporate Strategy for 2025-30 sets stretching KPIs (agreed by the Secretary of State) aimed at further reducing casework timescales.
Complaints and enquiries received by the Ombudsman have increased from 32,126 in 2022-23 to 40,945 in 2023-24. The organisation has grown from an average full time equivalent staff (FTE) of 187 in 2022-23 to 340 FTE in 2023-24. There was a 107% increase in the number of determinations made by the Ombudsman in 2024-24.
The Corporate Strategy sets out how the Ombudsman will continue to meet this demand by further expanding the workforce and continuing to explore new approaches to case investigations.
Work to reduce the number of complaints needing to reach the Service is also ongoing and includes the Ombudsman sharing best practice to help landlords improve their complaint handling. A transformation programme launched at the start of 2025-26 also aims to drive further efficiencies from processes and systems.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of age-appropriate housing for people over 65.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 74681 on 12 September 2025.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 merits of establishing a national fire and rescue service statutory advisory body to oversee national standards on (a) fire cover, (b) training, (c) equalities and (d) health and safety.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has accepted, in principle, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a national college of fire and rescue. The Inquiry report suggested a range of potential functions for a college to fulfil, including the development of policies and procedures to ensure both the effectiveness of fire and rescue services and the safety of firefighters and the public.
The government response to the Inquiry’s report notes that a necessary first step in the process will be to consult on the functions a college should have, what these functions should look like and how the college could best be structured and delivered. We expect to launch this consultation in the coming months.
Any future college function relating to national standards would build on the work already undertaken by the Fire Standards Board (FSB), which currently develops and maintains a suite of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England. The 19 standards currently published by the FSB cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics.