Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 11 November 2025 to Questions 87306 and 87307, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new planning powers in the (a) Planning and Infrastructure and (b) English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill on the role of (i) local councils and (ii) elected councillors in decision-making on individual planning applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Impact Assessments have been published for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the ongoing bin strike on the finances of Birmingham City Council.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has not met with Birmingham City Council or the Commissioners regarding the refuse workers’ strike. My department engages regularly with Birmingham City Council as is normal for all Councils under intervention. This matter, and the wider waste dispute, is a local issue and is rightly being dealt with by the Council.
Commissioners are experienced local government professionals and are appointed to Birmingham City Council to support its recovery and improvement journey. They have powers relating to governance, finance and recruitment which they can use according to their expert judgement and discretion.
More widely, the government is under no illusions about the scale of the wider financial challenge facing councils following more than a decade of cuts by successive governments. The government is therefore supporting the Leader and his team in Birmingham, directly and through the Commissioners, to move the council on from its historic issues. From 2026-27, the government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, realigning funding with need and deprivation. The government already delivered an increase in Core Spending Power in Birmingham of up to 9.8% in 2025-26 and will further support councils through the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement in a decade.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with (i) Birmingham City Council and (ii) the Commissioners appointed to the authority regarding the refuse workers’ strike; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage that council to re-enter negotiations with Unite the Union to resolve the dispute.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has not met with Birmingham City Council or the Commissioners regarding the refuse workers’ strike. My department engages regularly with Birmingham City Council as is normal for all Councils under intervention. This matter, and the wider waste dispute, is a local issue and is rightly being dealt with by the Council.
Commissioners are experienced local government professionals and are appointed to Birmingham City Council to support its recovery and improvement journey. They have powers relating to governance, finance and recruitment which they can use according to their expert judgement and discretion.
More widely, the government is under no illusions about the scale of the wider financial challenge facing councils following more than a decade of cuts by successive governments. The government is therefore supporting the Leader and his team in Birmingham, directly and through the Commissioners, to move the council on from its historic issues. From 2026-27, the government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, realigning funding with need and deprivation. The government already delivered an increase in Core Spending Power in Birmingham of up to 9.8% in 2025-26 and will further support councils through the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement in a decade.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to strengthen local authority powers to enforce planning conditions and take action against unauthorised developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities already have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.
Where a local planning authority thinks that a condition imposed on a planning permission has not been met, they can serve a breach of condition notice which requires the recipient to remedy the breach within a specified time. There is no appeal against such a notice and failure to comply with it is an offence punishable by an unlimited fine.
An enforcement notice can be served against any breach of planning control – where there is no planning permission for development or the terms of a permission (including a condition) have been breached.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Birmingham City Council’s response to the ongoing waste dispute; whether the Commissioners appointed have powers to (a) intervene and (b) direct the Council to re-enter negotiations; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that senior leadership within that authority is held accountable.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has not met with Birmingham City Council or the Commissioners regarding the refuse workers’ strike. My department engages regularly with Birmingham City Council as is normal for all Councils under intervention. This matter, and the wider waste dispute, is a local issue and is rightly being dealt with by the Council.
Commissioners are experienced local government professionals and are appointed to Birmingham City Council to support its recovery and improvement journey. They have powers relating to governance, finance and recruitment which they can use according to their expert judgement and discretion.
More widely, the government is under no illusions about the scale of the wider financial challenge facing councils following more than a decade of cuts by successive governments. The government is therefore supporting the Leader and his team in Birmingham, directly and through the Commissioners, to move the council on from its historic issues. From 2026-27, the government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, realigning funding with need and deprivation. The government already delivered an increase in Core Spending Power in Birmingham of up to 9.8% in 2025-26 and will further support councils through the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement in a decade.