Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 take steps to protect family homes from being converted into houses in multiple occupation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
National permitted development rights allow a C3 dwellinghouse to change use to a C4 House in Multiple Occupation for up to six people sharing facilities without the need for a planning application.
Larger Houses in Multiple Occupation require a planning application which the local authority will determine in-line with the local plan and in consultation with neighbours.
Local authorities can remove the permitted development right for HMOs of up to 6 people to protect local amenity or wellbeing of the area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 build more family homes in London and the South East.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.
Through bold reform of the planning system; significant investment in land, infrastructure, and social and affordable housing; and a range of other measures, we will deliver the homes working families need across the country, including in London and the South-East.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 introducing simple majority voting in the London Assembly.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The London Assembly is a unique institution in the English Devolution landscape, responsible for scrutiny rather than executive decision-making. It has successfully served the people of London for the last 25 years and will continue to act as the body responsible for scrutinising the Mayor of London.
The government will engage with both the Mayor of London and the London Assembly on proposals for improving accountability and scrutiny as set out in the English Devolution White Paper. However, the government has no plans to change voting arrangements in the London Assembly.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 accessibility of the Consultation: provisional local government finance settlement 2025 to 2026, published on 18 December 2024.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Ministry of Housing, Local Government and Communities published the 2025-26 provisional local government finance settlement and launched the consultation on its proposals on GOV.UK on 18 December 2024. The consultation closed on 15 January 2025.
Responses to this consultation were able to be submitted via email, letter, or the online survey conducted on MHCLG’s Citizen Space website which is linked on the 2025-26 provisional local government finance settlement GOV.UK webpage.
MHCLG ensures its consultation information meets the accessibility requirements for these websites. The accessibility statements for GOV.UK is here and for Citizen Space is here. This sets out what steps have been taken to make the website as accessible as possible, including for people who rely on assistive technology.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 accessibility of the consultation on Local audit reform: a strategy for overhauling the local audit system in England, published on 18 December 2024.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Department launched a statement of intent and consultation ‘Local audit reform: a strategy for overhauling the local audit system in England’ on GOV.UK on 18 December 2024.
As per the Government’s Publishing Accessible Documents guidance, the strategy uses accessible language to outline complex proposals and is published in both HTML and PDF formats to make it easier to read and find information. The digital survey for users to respond to the consultation is hosted on an accessible platform.
Officials are also engaging directly with key stakeholders as part of the consultation process.
Any queries on the consultation or any requests for an alternative format can be directed to the team at localaudit@communities.gov.uk.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 accessibility of the Consultation on introducing permitted insurance fees for landlords, freeholders and property managing agents, published on 2 December 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the consultation on introducing permitted insurance fees for landlords, freeholders and property managing agents via gov.uk and is content that it meets the expected accessibility standards to allow all interested parties to contribute their views.
As prescribed in the government’s Publishing Accessible Documents guidance, the consultation is published in HTML format to make it easier to read and to find. The guidance in question provides alternate ways to respond to meet the range of accessibility needs, including an online response option and via direct email address. Anyone having any difficulty responding can get in touch using the contact details available to request assistance or an alternative way to respond. We also provide documents in alternative formats when these are requested by the public, including large print and braille. We have an alternative formats email address published on gov.uk which invites users to request a different format if they cannot use one of our documents (alternativeformats@communities.gov.uk).
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 accessibility of the consultation entitled Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime, published on 4 December 2024.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government published the consultation on reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime via www.gov.uk and is content that it meets the expected accessibility standards to allow all interested parties to contribute their views. As prescribed in the Government’s Publishing Accessible Documents guidance, the consultation is published in HTML format to make it easier to read and to find.
It provides alternative ways to respond to meet the range of accessibility needs; an online response option, a direct email address and a postal address for those unable to respond online. Anyone having any difficulty responding can get in touch using the contact details available to request assistance or an alternative way to respond. We also provide documents in alternative formats when these are requested by the public, including large print and braille. We have an alternative formats email address published on gov.uk which invites users to request a different format if they cannot use one of our documents (alternativeformats@communities.gov.uk).
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 the accessibility of the consultation on ending Pan-Regional Partnership core funding.
Answered by Jim McMahon
At the Autumn Statement, the government announced its intention to end core funding for Pan-Regional Partnerships and consult on the impacts of this decision, if it were taken forward. This public consultation is now live and accessible on Gov.uk and Government will consider all responses received by the deadline of Monday 16th December.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
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 accessibility of the consultation entitled Reforming the Right to Buy, published on 20 November 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government published the ‘Reforming the Right to Buy’ consultation via www.gov.uk on 20 November 2024, and is content that it meets the expected accessibility standards to allow all interested parties to contribute their views. As prescribed in the Government’s Publishing Accessible Documents guidance, the consultation is published in HTML format to make it easier to read and to find.
It provides a variety of ways to respond to meet the range of accessibility needs; an online response option, a direct email address and a postal address for those unable to respond online. Anyone having any difficultly responding can get in touch using the contact details available to request assistance or an alternative way to respond.