Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the impact of Sport England’s consultee status on planning applications for playing fields.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
A consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system is underway and can be found on gov.uk here.
The consultation asks for views on the impacts of removing Sport England’s status as a statutory consultee as part of our work to align the statutory consultee system with the development and economic growth objectives set out in our Plan for Change.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect leaseholders from (a) poor-performing managing agents and (b) excessive service charges.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the proposals set out in the consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services published on 4 July 2025 (which can be found on gov.uk here) and the answer given to Question UIN 77534 on 17 October 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure fire safety for new (a) high rise buildings, (b) complex or mixed use developments and (c) sites with known access or water-supply constraints and (d) other new build major residential developments.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has taken steps to strengthen fire safety in all new buildings, including those that are high-rise, complex, or located on constrained sites.
The Building Safety Act 2022 established the Building Safety Regulator, which since October 2023 has acted as the Building Control Authority for Higher Risk Buildings. Fire safety is considered from the earliest design stages through Planning Gateway One and Gateway Two.
Approved Document B (Fire Safety) is subject to continuous review. Updates since 2017 include the ban on combustible materials in external walls over 18 metres, sprinkler requirements for buildings over 11 metres, evacuation alert systems, and provision for second staircases in buildings over 18 metres, which will apply to new buildings where applications are submitted after 30 September 2026.
For complex or mixed-use developments, applications are assessed by multi-disciplinary teams. Where standard guidance is insufficient, expert advice should be sought.
For sites with access or water-supply constraints, developers must demonstrate compliance with fire service access provisions or justify alternative approaches.
All new residential developments, regardless of size, must comply with the Building Regulations, including Part B (Fire Safety). Approved Document B provides statutory guidance on how these requirements may be met in common building situations, but developers may choose alternative approaches provided they can demonstrate compliance with the functional requirements of the Regulations.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it remains her policy for Homes England to acquire Ministry of Defence land through the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to meet the government's housebuilding commitments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homes England works closely with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, the Ministry of Defence and other landowning Departments, providing targeted and expert support to help prepare land for sale, tackling issues that have previously delayed or prevented land release.
Homes England can acquire public sector sites where this offers the best option – and value for money – to accelerate the remediation and release of a site and its build out for housing.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps through the planning system to help increase the number of changing places toilets.
Answered by Jacob Young
Changing Places toilets were created to meet the needs of disabled children and adults with complex care needs who need carer support, appropriate equipment, and more space. A standard Changing Places toilet is at least 12m² and provides specialist equipment including a height adjustable adult sized changing bench, ceiling hoist and peninsular toilet.
In 2020 the Government changed the building regulation to ensure that all new builds with a larger capacity were required to install a Changing Places Toilets. All those buildings that fall outside of paragraph 5.7e of the Approved Document M, Volume 2 of the building rules are within scope for the funding delivered by DLUHC.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to section 5.3 of his Department's pre-tender market engagement document relating to the tender for provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities, reference CPD4124050, published on 1 September 2022, whether the contract has been extended.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The contract referenced provides for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities in support of DLUHC's role as steward of the local government sector and Local Government Accountability Framework. Since the contract award, it has been used to deliver reviews where councils have sought Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government or engaged with the Department where there may be evidence of significant local financial risks. The Government has been transparent about the outcome of reviews and, for example, published previous reviews linked to EFS requests on gov.uk.
The referenced number of reviews, a minimum of six and maximum of 32, as per the referenced document CPD4124050 was an anticipated requirement to enable prospective bidders to submit a bid in the absence of being able to provide an exact figure due to the demand led nature of the work.
The contract award notice is published here. Spend against the contract is published here as part of normal Departmental transparency requirements.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s tender for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities, notice reference 2022/S 000-024515, published on 1 September 2022, which local authorities have been reviewed since this contract was assigned.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The contract referenced provides for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities in support of DLUHC's role as steward of the local government sector and Local Government Accountability Framework. Since the contract award, it has been used to deliver reviews where councils have sought Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government or engaged with the Department where there may be evidence of significant local financial risks. The Government has been transparent about the outcome of reviews and, for example, published previous reviews linked to EFS requests on gov.uk.
The referenced number of reviews, a minimum of six and maximum of 32, as per the referenced document CPD4124050 was an anticipated requirement to enable prospective bidders to submit a bid in the absence of being able to provide an exact figure due to the demand led nature of the work.
The contract award notice is published here. Spend against the contract is published here as part of normal Departmental transparency requirements.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to section 4.5 of his Department's pre-tender market engagement document relating to the tender for provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities, reference CPD4124050, published on 1 September 2022, whether additional unexpected risks have been uncovered in any of the reviews undertaken since this contract was assigned.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The contract referenced provides for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities in support of DLUHC's role as steward of the local government sector and Local Government Accountability Framework. Since the contract award, it has been used to deliver reviews where councils have sought Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government or engaged with the Department where there may be evidence of significant local financial risks. The Government has been transparent about the outcome of reviews and, for example, published previous reviews linked to EFS requests on gov.uk.
The referenced number of reviews, a minimum of six and maximum of 32, as per the referenced document CPD4124050 was an anticipated requirement to enable prospective bidders to submit a bid in the absence of being able to provide an exact figure due to the demand led nature of the work.
The contract award notice is published here. Spend against the contract is published here as part of normal Departmental transparency requirements.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to section 4.2 of his Department's pre-tender market engagement document relating to the tender for provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities, reference CPD4124050, published on 1 September 2022, which local authorities were the minimum six and maximum 32 for which it was forecast that a review might be required.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The contract referenced provides for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities in support of DLUHC's role as steward of the local government sector and Local Government Accountability Framework. Since the contract award, it has been used to deliver reviews where councils have sought Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government or engaged with the Department where there may be evidence of significant local financial risks. The Government has been transparent about the outcome of reviews and, for example, published previous reviews linked to EFS requests on gov.uk.
The referenced number of reviews, a minimum of six and maximum of 32, as per the referenced document CPD4124050 was an anticipated requirement to enable prospective bidders to submit a bid in the absence of being able to provide an exact figure due to the demand led nature of the work.
The contract award notice is published here. Spend against the contract is published here as part of normal Departmental transparency requirements.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to his Department’s tender for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities, notice reference 2022/S 000-024515, published on 1 September 2022, what the cost to the public purse of that contract has been as of 10 November 2023.
Answered by Simon Hoare
The contract referenced provides for the provision of external assurance reviews of local authorities in support of DLUHC's role as steward of the local government sector and Local Government Accountability Framework. Since the contract award, it has been used to deliver reviews where councils have sought Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government or engaged with the Department where there may be evidence of significant local financial risks. The Government has been transparent about the outcome of reviews and, for example, published previous reviews linked to EFS requests on gov.uk.
The referenced number of reviews, a minimum of six and maximum of 32, as per the referenced document CPD4124050 was an anticipated requirement to enable prospective bidders to submit a bid in the absence of being able to provide an exact figure due to the demand led nature of the work.
The contract award notice is published here. Spend against the contract is published here as part of normal Departmental transparency requirements.