Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2025 to Question 87114 on Eden Project: Morecambe, what data his Department holds on any changes made to the scale and size of the proposed Eden Project development since July 2024.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Since July 2024 the Eden Project: Morecambe team have continued design work.
An update on potential options for the development, including their size and scale, was presented to MHCLG in March 2025. These options were subject to ongoing community conversations.
In September 2025, the department launched the Local Regeneration Fund which provided certainty of funding and flexibility to Local Authorities, including Lancaster City Council as sponsors of the Eden Project Morecambe.
The Eden Project: Morecambe team submitted a planning application for their preferred option on the 15th of October 2025. The planning application proposal is currently out for consultation, ending 23rd January.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 87325 on Devolution: Cornwall, if he will make it his policy to rule out the creation of a single strategic authority consisting of Devon and Cornwall county councils.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s strong preference is for partnerships that bring more than one local authority together over a large geography to form a combined or combined county authority. By exception, the government will consider non-mayoral devolution arrangements for single local authorities. Further devolution in the South West will be announced in due course, following local conversations and ministerial decisions.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2025 to Question 83467 on Councillors: Disclosure and Barring Service, whether he intends to consult on checks for other elected representatives.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As stated previously, I am considering options on criminal record checks for local government members.
The government is not currently considering criminal record check policy for other elected representatives.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 87776 on Private Rented Housing: Energy, whether new registration and licensing fees are a material consideration in assessing an open market rent increase.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Section 14 of the Housing Act 1988 sets out the factors that must be considered or disregarded by the Tribunal when determining the open market rent for a tenancy.
As set out in my response to Question UIN 87776 on 17 November 2025, the Tribunal must look at the rent the landlord could expect to receive for the property when making a rent determination, rather than costs borne by the landlord.
While it is for the Tribunal to decide in each case, the government considers that it is unlikely that registration and licensing fees would affect the open market rent, due to their limited impact on the rent that the landlord would expect to receive if they were to let the property on the open market.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 30628, on Local Government: Codes of Practice, and further to the consultation response entitled Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England – consultation results and government response, published on 11 November 2025, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the new mandatory code of conduct has a free speech clause modelled on the Bromley code of conduct.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government response to the local government standards framework consultation published on 11 November 2025 confirmed our intention to legislate to prescribe a mandatory code of conduct. We are continuing to engage with the sector as we develop final detailed policies for implementation.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Authority Housing Fund: Round 4 prospectus and guidance, of 19 November 2025, for what reason the funding can be used for the flipping of forthcoming shared ownership completions into social rented housing; and what the estimated grant per unit is.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities delivering the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF R4) can shape its delivery according to local circumstances.
Converting unsold shared ownership completions into social rented housing is included in a list of possible delivery routes and may be appropriate where there is insufficient demand for shared ownership homes and greater need for social rented housing.
There is not a fixed grant intervention rate for converting use from shared ownership homes. The amount of funding which can be applied depends on how the shared ownership scheme was originally funded.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Local Authority Housing Fund: Round 4 can be used to provide accommodation for asylum seekers and former asylum seekers other than those from Afghanistan.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Authority Housing Fund Round 4 (LAHF R4) funds local authorities to provide better quality temporary accommodation to those owed homelessness duties, as well as providing sustainable settled housing for families on the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP).
Asylum seekers are not eligible for LAHF accommodation, and they are not eligible for social housing.
Former asylum seekers who have been granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR), refugee status or humanitarian protection, or leave to remain with recourse to public funds, may be entitled to homelessness assistance and temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 was allocated to the Affordable Housing Programmes in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25, including funding provided to his Department, Homes England, the Greater London Authority, local councils, housing associations and combined authorities.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 95055 on 5 December 2025.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, What plans he has to (a) publish the election pilots prospectus on gov.uk and (b) make it available to Hon Members.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Officials shared a prospectus detailing proposed flexible voting pilots with relevant local authorities in August 2025 and are currently engaging with local authorities wishing to pilot at the May 2026 elections. The government will share further details in due course.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the estimated level of council tax receipts in England from 2026-27 onwards, including police, combined authority, GLA and parish precepts.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not publish specific data on estimated levels of council tax receipts in England for Police, combined authorities, Greater London Authority and parish councils.
As part of the provisional settlement the Government has made estimates of changes to Core Spending power for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. This includes estimates of the council tax requirements councils will set for those years. These estimates are set out here. These estimates exclude parish precepts, police and crime commissioner precepts, and the High Value Council Tax Surcharge being introduced from 2028.