Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how her Department calculated revised housing targets affecting (a) Braintree District Council, (b) Colchester City Council and (c) Maldon District Council.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proposed methodology to calculate local housing need figures for each local authority, including Braintree District Council, Colchester City Council and Maldon District Council is set out in the ‘Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system’ consultation documents. These can be found at gov.uk.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has for the adult social care precept in the next five years.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Decisions on future local authority funding will be a matter for the Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement in which we are engaged. Ahead of any decisions taken on the tax, the Government will carefully consider the impact on councils and taxpayers. The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the level of funding that her Department will provide to local authorities in each of the next five years.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 524 on 26 July 2024.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households receive a single person discount on their council tax liability; and what the total value was of that discount in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The latest available data for October 2023 shows there were approximately 8.6 million households in receipt of a single person discount. This data is available here: Council Taxbase 2023 in England. The Government does not collect data on the revenue foregone to provide the discount.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 29 January 2024 from Witham Industrial Watch Ltd providing notice under regulation 3(2) of the Business Improvement Districts (England) Regulations 2004 that they are proposing to initiate a Business Improvement District renewal ballot.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The department responded to Witham Industrial Watch Ltd to confirm receipt of their letter dated 29 January 2024.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the (a) total and (b) average cost of processing planning appeals per appeal type in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The information requested is published as part of the Planning Inspectorate’s Annual Report and Accounts and can be found at the following links:
20/21 Planning_Inspectorate_ARA_2020-21_FINAL.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
21/22 Planning_Inspectorate_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2021-22.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
22/23 Planning_Inspectorate_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2022-23.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of leaseholders in (a) Witham constituency, (b) Essex and (c) England.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The department publishes an annual estimate of Leasehold dwellings in England. The most recent data (2021-22) shows there were an estimated 4.98 million leasehold dwellings in England. In the South East, there were an estimated 696,000 leasehold dwellings. Due to methodological limitations, the statistics cannot show robust estimates at a sub-regional level. The data are published on gov.uk here: Leasehold dwellings.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance standards of HM Land Registry in providing the service for the registration of land for the first time.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Applications to register land for the first time account for approximately 0.3% of all applications HM Land Registry (HMLR) receives and are one of its most complex application types. HMLR publishes information on GOV.UK about its latest processing times here.
Currently, half of first registration applications are completed in just over 13 months, and almost all are completed in just over 14 months. A small number can take longer, depending on the application details. Any application that is urgent can be expedited free of charge and 95% of these are completed within 10 days.
Improving speed of service is the top priority for HMLR and it is addressing this urgently through a combination of recruitment, training, and automation. It also has specialist teams focussing on the oldest complex cases with a specific goal to reduce the processing times for these applications
Further to the Prime Minister’s written statement of 23 May 2023 (HCWS803) sponsorship of HM Land Registry and its associated bodies has moved to DLUHC. This will aid the delivery of DLUHC’s key policy objectives including improving the home buying and selling process and delivering the land transparency provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what action he is taking to help support leaseholders to contest charges levied by property management companies.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
We are committed to better protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on the things for which their charges pay. We will legislate to ensure service charges are transparent and communicated effectively, removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong. This will help leaseholders more effectively challenge their landlord if they consider their fees are unreasonable. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will undertake a review of (a) paragraph 202 of the National Planning Policy Framework and (b) associated guidance on planning applications for the replacement of existing windows with uPVC windows in dwellings that are heritage assets due to their being (i) listed buildings and (ii) located in a conservation area; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring decision-makers to consider the impact of the replacement of windows on the (A) environment, (B) carbon footprint of the dwelling, (C) health of the dwelling’s occupants and (D) prevention of mould.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
In the Government's British Energy Security Strategy, published earlier this year, we committed to reviewing the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. Work on the review is currently underway and I have asked officials to look at a range of issues, including uPVC, to help inform work on this.