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 30 June 2025 to Question 61222 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Expenditure, how many lines of activity in his Department were considered as part of the zero based review.

At Spending Review 2025, the government conducted the first zero-based review (ZBR) of department budgets in 18 years, with every line of spending scrutinised to ensure value for money.

Through the zero-based review, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government carried out a line-by-line review of its current budgets. The review involved differing levels of granularity depending on the type and size of expenditure under review.

To ensure consistency in approach, cross-government guidance set expectations for the level of granularity each review should consider, recommending that departments review all spending within individual programme expenditure – at a minimum reflecting any lines of spending in excess of £1m per annum.

Savings identified through this process will support delivery of the government's commitment for all departments to deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028-29.