Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the cancellation of some local election on (a) communities and (b) local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In reaching his decisions on 2026 elections, as set out to the House on 22 January 2026, the Secretary of State adopted a locally led approach and carefully considered all the representations made. He heard from councils across the country about the capacity challenges they face as they seek to deliver local government reorganisation and how postponement would release essential capacity.
Postponement will enable those councils to focus work on reorganisation, and setting up new councils ready to deliver public services from day one.
Where councils have asked for their elections to go ahead, those elections are going ahead. The vast majority of local elections will go ahead across England in May.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has assessed the potential impact of preparing for scheduled elections that have been cancelled on costs and council officer time.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Spend on elections is a matter for local authorities. Where councils have asked for their elections to go ahead, those elections are going ahead. The Government has listened to councils, as we said we would.
Postponement also avoids the cost of holding elections to councils that are proposed to be abolished.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department has allocated to preventing Islamophobia.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
In 2025/26, up to £650,000 of funding is available to the British Muslim Trust to monitor hate targeting Muslims and facilitate support for victims. The government will provide the police with funding of £80,000 for True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 ensure social housing providers have the resources to keep residents (a) safe and (b) comfortable during extreme heat events.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when recommendations are expected to be published by the Independent Commission for Community and Inclusion.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion is not affiliated with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. As such, the department has not allocated any funding to the commission and does not hold information on its timelines.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated to the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion since it was established.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion is not affiliated with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. As such, the department has not allocated any funding to the commission and does not hold information on its timelines.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many meetings the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion have had since it was established.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion is not affiliated with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. As such, the department has not allocated any funding to the commission and does not hold information on its timelines.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review selective licensing rules for private landlords.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 26845 on 5 February 2025, which sets out changes we made to selective licensing in December. We have no plans to make further changes at this time.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure Hong Kong culture is celebrated in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme supports integration into the UK for BN(O) status holders and their families to help them successfully settle into their new communities. Hong Kong culture is celebrated through events such as Lunar New Year celebrations, which can be hosted or funded by our delivery partners, particularly the Strategic Migration Partnerships, which host the Welcome Hubs.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help protect Ahmadiyya Muslims from hate crimes.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All forms of hatred and intolerance are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Ahmadiyya Muslims. We are committed to protecting the rights of individuals to freely practice their religion and we will not tolerate Islamophobia in any form.
The Government has established a working group to provide a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, advising government and other bodies on how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, members will engage widely to ensure the definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of Muslim communities across the United Kingdom.
This announcement builds on existing work with police and community partners to ensure effective monitoring of Islamophobia. The Government has worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We have also made up to £1 million of funding available this year to monitor Islamophobia and provide support to victims.