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 the Department holds on the number of Somali citizens living in social housing as a proportion of the Somali population living in the UK for which the latest data is available.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold data on the type of housing tenure in which Somali nationals living in the UK reside.
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 people with refugee status are resident in (a) council and (b) social housing by local authority.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold information on people claiming council or social housing who were formally granted refugee status and/or settlement.
Our social housing lettings in England statistical series, which can be found on gov.uk here, includes information on new social lettings only, based on the tenant’s self-reported main reason for leaving their last settled home. It shows that 2.0% of all new social housing lettings in 2023/24 were to households who self-reported as refugees (4,100 households).
Care should be taken when considering figures for new social lettings to refugees. The data is based on specific definitions and there may be overlaps and households missing from the statistics presented above.
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 records the (a) nationality and (b) immigration status of tenants who purchase their homes under the Right to Buy scheme; and how many Right to Buy sales have been made by non-British nationals in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not record the nationality or immigration status of tenants who have purchased their homes under the Right to Buy scheme, nor how many Right to Buy sales have been made to non-British nationals.
Eligibility for social housing is already tightly controlled. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Migrants arriving in the UK on student or work visas are not eligible and nor are those who arrive in the country illegally with no leave to remain.
On 2 July, the government announced further reforms to the Right to Buy, including increasing the length of time someone needs to have been a public sector tenant to qualify for Right to Buy from 3 to 10 years. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on that day (HCWS771).
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 take steps to ensure that the local elections in Norfolk take place on 7 May 2026.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The starting point is for all elections to go ahead, unless there is strong justification. We intend for the mayoral election for the new strategic authority to take place in May 2026, alongside the scheduled elections to Norwich City Council and the County Council elections postponed from May 2025.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the levels of English language proficiency of staff working in local authority (a) housing and (b) social services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces and compliance with all relevant employment legislation. They are expected to organise their workforce so that it is best placed to meet the needs of their residents.
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 estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to local authorities of (a) translation and (b) interpretation services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces and compliance with all relevant employment legislation. They are expected to organise their workforce so that it is best placed to meet the needs of their residents.
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 his Department will take steps to require local authorities to ensure staff in customer-facing roles are fluent in English.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces and compliance with all relevant employment legislation. They are expected to organise their workforce so that it is best placed to meet the needs of their residents.
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 employees in her Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Organogram data is released by all central government departments on a quarterly basis. Names and salaries are also listed for Senior Civil Servants. MHCLG organograms are available on gov.uk.
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 her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
In line with wider Government policy, the Department policy allows spouses of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials to work abroad when their spouses have been posted overseas. The Department allows working abroad when officials are overseas on official business, typically to support Ministers.
If there is a clear business need, the Department allows officials to take equipment abroad to keep in touch whilst on leave. The Department also allows working overseas for up to two weeks for exceptional welfare reasons
The numbers of staff with equipment oversees varies during the year. On 9 July, seven officials were working overseas on official business in Italy. 10 officials had equipment overseas allowing them to work if there was a need to keep in touch in, variously, Belgium, Bulgaria, France (three), Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States of America (three).
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 proportion of procurement contracts were awarded to UK companies in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder). Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier. (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).