Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support local authorities in receipt of exceptional financial support to resolve funding issues in the long term.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The Government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in an average overall real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year over the next multi-year settlement (2026-27 to 2028-29).
The government is committed to fixing the foundations of local government through ambitious reform. The Fair Funding Review 2.0 is open from 20 June to 15 August and seeks views on the approach to local authority funding reform through the Local Government Finance Settlement from 2026-27.
In line with our commitment to support councils’ receiving Exceptional Financial Support to improve, as a condition of the support agreed councils will be subject to additional external assurance to give them independent and expert help to drive local improvement and manage their financial position.
Finally, we also followed through on our commitment to not make borrowing more expensive for those councils in the most financial difficulty, by removing the condition requiring a 1% premium on borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help local authorities with the costs for the provision of temporary accommodation.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The Government has invested £1 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping services in 2025/26, a £233 million increase on the previous year. The 2025 Spending Review has protected this record level of investment.
Where families do end up in temporary accommodation, it should be high quality and affordable for local authorities. The Government is providing £950 million of investment for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund – the largest investment in the fund to date - to support local authorities to increase the supply of good quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of inappropriate and costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
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 potential impact of the planned transition period for moving from the fire door safety testing standard BS 476-22 to standard EN 1634-1 on timber fire door manufacturers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government recognised the potential economic impact that could result from the withdrawal of testing standard BS 476-22 and the transition to the European Standard (BS EN 13501), including on timber fire door manufacturers, through the consultation response impact analysis.
In response, an extended five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard.
While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standard of building under review in England.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with the Electoral Commission on potential provisions for the planned elections bill.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The Government has engaged with, and continues to engage with, various stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission, ahead of the publication of the Government's Strategy for Elections. As the independent regulator, the Electoral Commission offers valuable insight, and its contributions are helping to inform policy development in a number of areas.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has plans to extend Section 5 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to apply to housing associations undertaking public sector contracts; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of this on the (a) (i) accountability and (ii) transparency of these contracts and (ii) accessibility of information relating to social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to increasing accountability and transparency in the social rented sector.
We will direct the Regulator of Social Housing (‘the regulator’) to introduce new Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) for private providers of social housing, including housing associations, to enable residents to request information about their housing management.
All registered providers of social housing are already required to deliver the outcomes of the regulator’s Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard, which requires registered providers to ensure that communication with and information for tenants is clear, accessible, relevant, timely and appropriate to the diverse needs of tenants.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with the Electoral Commission on automatic voter registration since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Government officials are in regular contact with the Electoral Commission on a range of electoral matters including registration topics.
The government is committed to improving electoral registration. We are exploring a wide range of options to deliver on this manifesto commitment, including making greater use of public sector data and digital services. Any changes will be based on robust evidence and user research.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the evidential basis is for removing the national BS 476-22 classification for fire door resistance from Approved Document B.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The withdrawal of National Classes fire testing standards (BS 476) from Approved Document B in favour of the European Standard (BS EN 13501) aimed to enhance fire protection by simplifying compliance routes within the guidance. This change makes it easier and clearer to ensure products meet required standards and enables simpler performance comparison.
The suitability of BS 476 and the transition to the EN standard was scrutinised during the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The EN suite of standards, unlike the BS 476 series, is constantly reviewed, periodically updated, and does not rely on withdrawn standards. The EN suite of standards is therefore seen as more suitable in the long term. The consultation response published alongside the Written Statement on 2 September 2024 shows a majority of respondents were in support of moving to the European Standard.
We recognised the potential economic impact of this transition, particularly for sectors such as bespoke timber fire doors, cavity barriers, and smoke vents, through the consultation response impact analysis. In response, a five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard.
While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standards of building under review in England.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
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 potential merits of pausing the proposed move from the British fire door safety testing standard to the European Standard until the review of that standard has been completed.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The withdrawal of National Classes fire testing standards (BS 476) from Approved Document B in favour of the European Standard (BS EN 13501) aimed to enhance fire protection by simplifying compliance routes within the guidance. This change makes it easier and clearer to ensure products meet required standards and enables simpler performance comparison.
The suitability of BS 476 and the transition to the EN standard was scrutinised during the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The EN suite of standards, unlike the BS 476 series, is constantly reviewed, periodically updated, and does not rely on withdrawn standards. The EN suite of standards is therefore seen as more suitable in the long term. The consultation response published alongside the Written Statement on 2 September 2024 shows a majority of respondents were in support of moving to the European Standard.
We recognised the potential economic impact of this transition, particularly for sectors such as bespoke timber fire doors, cavity barriers, and smoke vents, through the consultation response impact analysis. In response, a five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard.
While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standards of building under review in England.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department holds up-to-date data on the number of fires linked to (a) disposable and (b) single-use barbecues.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available on gov.uk here.
Data collected through the Incident Recording System (IRS) does include data on whether primary fire incidents attended were caused by barbecues. However, it does not include data on the type of barbecue, for example if it was disposable or single-use.
In the latest statistics published on cause of fire, for year ending March 2024, of 46,135 accidental primary fires, 242 were started by barbecues.
We are reviewing the IRS, and the data it collects, and considering what categories to record in the future.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of methodological changes to the classification of certain types of accommodation between the 2011 and 2021 censuses by the Office for National Statistics on local authorities' Housing Delivery Test results.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The established methodology for official statistics on housing supply utilises the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) census to improve the quality and reliability of these statistics. The census dwelling count is subject to intensive validation processes and address matching and provides the baseline for the net additional dwellings statistics.
A comparison of total dwelling stock counts between the 2021 and 2011 censuses led to adjustments to some of the net additional dwellings figures, which are used as the basis for the Housing Delivery Test (HDT).
This only affected the 2020/21 delivery year in the latest HDT 2023 statistics.
Following discussions with the ONS and with some relevant local authorities, we believe that in limited and specific cases these census adjusted figures are not appropriate to use for the purposes of the HDT. We are therefore in contact with relevant local authorities and have issued recalculations where needed.