Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether nationality data held by EROs is used in any national-security screening or analysis relating to electoral interference risk.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not hold data on the number of postal or proxy votes issued to foreign nationals eligible to vote in English local elections. The Department also does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in English local elections.
Electoral registers and the approval and issuing of postal and proxy votes are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government monitors the number of postal or proxy votes issued to non-UK nationals eligible to vote in local elections.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not hold data on the number of postal or proxy votes issued to foreign nationals eligible to vote in English local elections. The Department also does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals registered to vote in English local elections.
Electoral registers and the approval and issuing of postal and proxy votes are managed at a local level by Electoral Registration Officers.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether additional support will be given to coastal councils like Great Yarmouth facing above-average costs for waste and public space maintenance.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. This is why, alongside the additional £3.4 billion of grant funding announced at the Spending Review, the government is delivering fair funding reforms to ensure money goes to the places that need it most.
On 17 December, the government published the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. The provisional 2026-27 Settlement will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025-26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 15.1% cash-terms increase, worth over £11 billion, compared to 2025-26.
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural and coastal communities. Our updated assessment of need will more effectively capture variations in demand for services within a local authority. We will continue to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for the different costs faced in delivering services, including in coastal areas.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the absence of nationality-grouped oversight forms part of the Government’s election integrity risk assessments, and if so, what assessment has been made of the risks associated with foreign-national elector cohorts.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to upholding and strengthening UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving political transparency, adding tougher checks for donations and closing loopholes by reinforcing electoral legislation against foreign interference.
MHCLG election reforms will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy. MHCLG published an elections strategy in July 2025 detailing this.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Information on sickness absence, including data by Department and sickness reason (such as Mental Ill-Health), is published in the Civil Service sickness absence reports available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence. The next release is expected soon.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 28 October 2025 to Question 83627 on Refugees: Social Rented Housing, how many lead tenants there are in (a) social and (b) rented housing by the nationality of those tenants.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Housing Survey (EHS) collects information about the characteristics of households, including the nationality of the household reference person (equivalent to lead tenant). Breakdowns by housing tenure can be found in Annex Table 1.1 of the EHS 2023-24: rented sectors on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds information on the amount spent by Harrow Council on (a) No spitting signage and (b) related Public Space Protection Order enforcement campaigns since January 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local councils are responsible for their own spending. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation for services related to social housing in each of the last ten financial years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold data on the cost of translation and interpretation for services related to social housing.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 assess the potential merits of barring non-UK nationals from (a) being the lead tenant for social housing (b) living in social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19776 on 20 December 2024.