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.
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, whether his Department holds information on the level of homelessness in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government publishes homelessness statistics by local authority in England on gov.uk 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 assessment she has made of trends in the level of conditional selling by estate agents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Figures relating to conditional selling by estate agents are not held by the department.
It is unacceptable for estate agents to withhold offers from sellers because the potential buyer declines to use their additional services. Where there is evidence of such practices, agents can face sanctions including a ban.
The government is committed to protecting people from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents and to improving estate agent standards more generally.
The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) is the lead estate agent enforcement authority. Alongside local authority Trading Standards teams, they are responsible for ensuring estate agents comply with the Estate Agents Act 1979 and other relevant legislation. NTSEAT have powers to issue warnings and banning orders against rogue agents. In cases of conditional selling, it is essential that any misconduct or manipulation in the offer process is reported to help build a clearer picture of the problem and support potential investigations.
My Department engages regularly with NTSEAT to discuss how best to address specific issues, including conditional selling, and continue to look at options to improve standards across the estate agent sector.
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 adequacy of the funding model for fire and rescue services.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 3 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities.
These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Overall, fire and rescue authorities received around £2.87 billion in 2024/25.
In addition to settlement funding, the Government has provided Fire and Rescue Authorities with several grants intended for specific purposes, such as the Fire Pensions Grant and Protection Uplift Grant.
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 she has made of the adequacy of funding for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service in the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 3 February, the Ministry published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue.
Standalone fire and rescue authorities will see an increase in core spending power of up to £69.1 million in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6% in cash terms compared to 2024/25. The Settlement also sets out a threshold for council tax increases in 2025/26 of £5.
This financial year, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority will have a core spending power of £99.8 million, an increase of 3.7 % compared to 2024/25.
The Ministry will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to protect communities.
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 support her Department provides to local authorities to (a) build and (b) maintain sports facilities.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 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.
DCMS and its ALB provide direct funding to sports facilities. The government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Additional funding for grassroots sport facilities is also delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is providing £98 million across the UK in 2025/26 to support new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities.
In June the Culture Secretary announced another £400 million to transform community sport facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review. We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
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 her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the decision to remove The Gardens Trust as a statuatory consultee on planning applications that may affect a site nationally designated on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement 10th March (HCWS510), the government intends to consult on the impacts of removing statutory consultee status from a limited number of bodies, including The Gardens Trust.
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, if she will make it her policy to allow heritage-appropriate alternative materials to be used for listed properties in instances where traditional materials are (a) unavailable and (b) prohibitively expensive.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is for local planning authorities to determine applications for proposed works to listed buildings, including what materials should be used. Each case will be different and needs to be considered on its own merits. As such, the government does not intend to make changes to national policy in this area.
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, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of thatching materials.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has no plans to make an assessment of the availability of thatching materials at this time.
Following discussion with the National Society of Master Thatchers, Historic England has updated its roof guidance to clarify the decision-making process for both applicants and local authorities on applications for listed building consent.
Historic England’s update roof guidance is available on that organisation’s website 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 assessment she has made of the potential merits of including enhanced protection of chalk streams in planning reforms.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside meeting development needs. We are considering how best to reform environmental assessment processes with that objective in mind, including whether to utilise powers in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act to introduce Environmental Outcomes Reports. Those powers make specific reference to chalk streams in the context of the environmental outcomes to be taken into account.