Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 proposals to introduce unitary government in Gloucestershire on democratic representation in towns with a population of more than 100,000 people.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Gloucestershire councils have not yet submitted their proposal(s) for local government reorganisation. They are due by 28 November. Once proposals are submitted, and following a statutory consultation, Ministers will carefully consider proposals against the criteria set out in the invitation letter sent to Gloucestershire councils on 6 February 2025, before a decision is taken on which proposal, if any, is implemented.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 impact of trends in the pace of the regeneration of empty buildings on high streets.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are no plans to make such an assessment. However, MHCLG has commissioned a formal evaluation of the Future High Streets Fund as part of the wider Towns Fund evaluation. Emerging findings published in July 2025 include case studies on regeneration projects in Northallerton, Loftus and Yeovil, highlighting early process and impact insights on pride in place, well-being and economic growth. Final results are expected in Spring 2026.
The Government is committed to bringing empty buildings back into use, and is championing the use of High Street Rental Auctions by local authorities, a key tool to help reduce vacancy and make high streets more accessible.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 cost to local authorities of developers successfully contesting (a) section 106 agreements and (b) a Community Infrastructure Levy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate publish quarterly data on planning appeals, including data on appeals received, decided, and allowed. This can be found on gov.uk here at table 2.8.
The government has not undertaken a centralised assessment of costs to local planning authorities.
It is right and fair that developers are able to access appropriate appeals processes. A person who considers a Community Infrastructure Levy charge to have been incorrectly calculated can seek a formal review of the calculation by the levy charging authority and may also seek an independent assessment of the calculation through an appeal to the Valuation Office Agency if deemed necessary following review by the authority.
Applicants do not have to agree to a proposed planning obligation (section 106 agreement). However, this may lead to a refusal of planning permission or non-determination of the application. An appeal may be made against the non-determination or refusal of planning permission. In certain circumstances, an appeal may also be made to the Planning Inspectorate against a refusal to change a planning obligation.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether at any stage of the local government reorganisation process she will bar the formation of new (a) town and (b) parish councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The formation of new town and parish councils is devolved to principal local authorities through the Community Governance Review process. The government believes that these should remain local decisions.
Areas considering the establishment of new town and parish councils should think carefully about how these might be funded to avoid putting further pressure on local authority finances and/or new burdens on the taxpayer.
We encourage local authorities to consider local neighbourhood working arrangements in their own structures to empower local residents and frontline councillors to work together for positive change in their area.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to require overseas landlords who own empty retail units to engage with local authorities.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government has introduced High Street Rental Auctions, powers available to local authorities in England to require landlords, regardless of their country of residence, to rent out vacant commercial premises. As a deterrent it is a criminal offence for a landlord not to engage in the auction process and where they do not comply local authorities are empowered to progress with the measures in their absence.
We want to ensure that councils across the country, such as Cheltenham Borough Council, have the support they need to implement the powers. To that end, a fund of £1 million is available to support delivery this financial year and a new burdens payment can be drawn down to meet the administrative costs. Furthermore our local authority early adopters are also available to offer practical support to help facilitate implementation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 support Cheltenham Borough Council to run high street rental auctions.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
This government has introduced High Street Rental Auctions, powers available to local authorities in England to require landlords, regardless of their country of residence, to rent out vacant commercial premises. As a deterrent it is a criminal offence for a landlord not to engage in the auction process and where they do not comply local authorities are empowered to progress with the measures in their absence.
We want to ensure that councils across the country, such as Cheltenham Borough Council, have the support they need to implement the powers. To that end, a fund of £1 million is available to support delivery this financial year and a new burdens payment can be drawn down to meet the administrative costs. Furthermore our local authority early adopters are also available to offer practical support to help facilitate implementation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what postcodes in Cheltenham her Department has identified as falling in the eligible Income Deciles 1-2 of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the most recent iteration of the English Indices of Deprivation in September 2019. All data tables and resources are available on gov.uk here.
Our Open Data Communities platform provides postcode level and decile data for each Local Authority across all Indices domains as at time of release.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 impact of increasing funding to newly formed combined authorities on public services.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Combined authorities have limited involvement in the day-to-day running of most public services but are able to use their convening powers to bring partners together to improve delivery across public services in their area.
The majority of combined authority funds are devolved from central government, transferred from Police and Crime Commissioners or pooled from local authorities in the area, so do not change the amount of funding provided locally. Additional funding for newly formed combined authorities includes Investment Funds and Mayoral Capacity Funding. Full details of the funding allocated to each area can be found in their individual devolution agreements, published on gov.uk.
For these reasons no assessment has been done on the impact of funding combined authorities on public services.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for unitarisation in areas where local elections were not postponed from May 2025.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The government will work with these areas to hold elections for new unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation. The exact timings and detail will depend on the proposals received and the decision taken on which proposal, if any, to implement. We anticipate that, subject to many external factors, there could be elections to ‘shadow’ unitary councils in May 2027, ahead of “go live” of new councils on 1 April 2028.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the potential for deep geothermal energy for new housing developments is being considered in her planning reforms.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should give significant weight to the benefits associated with renewable and low carbon energy and the contribution of the proposal in question to a net zero future.
The Framework also states that plans should identify opportunities for development to draw its energy supply from decentralised, renewable or low carbon energy supply systems and for co-locating potential heat customers and suppliers, to help increase the use and supply of renewable and low carbon energy and heat.