Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 7 January 2026, to Question 99205, on Affordable Housing: Asylum, whether any other Government programme is, or will, support the provision of (a) new build, (b) refurbished or (c) converted residential houses or flats for asylum seekers.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to ending the use of asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament. To support this the Home Office are exploring a programme of reforms to the asylum accommodation estate including work to bring back derelict buildings back into use and develop community-led alternatives.
Alongside this the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is also launching a new fund to support local authorities to make available basic alternative accommodation so it can be used on a temporary basis to house asylum seekers waiting for their cases to be processed.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has given to business improvement districts on whether they should adjust their multiplier supplement as a consequence of the increase in Rateable Values from the 2026 business rates revelation.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has not issued any guidance to Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) on adjusting levy arrangements or supplements in response to changes in rateable values from the 2026 business rates revaluation. BID levies are set locally through ballot‑approved proposals and are not automatically affected by national revaluation or multipliers, so any adjustment is a matter for the individual BID under its governing arrangements.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 15 January 2026 to Question 103696, how any proposed non statutory definition of anti Muslim hatred or Islamophobia may be used by public authorities outside the criminal justice system.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Ministers are taking the time to review and consider the independent Working Group’s advice before confirming next steps in due course.
As per the Working Group's Terms of Reference, a definition could provide the government and other relevant bodies with a greater understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 8 January 2026, to Question 103292, on Asylum: Housing, if he will publish the list of local authorities that his Department has engaged with to date on the new model.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is committed to working in close partnership with local authorities to develop and deliver a new, more sustainable model for asylum accommodation.
While we do not plan to publish a list of the individual local authorities we have engaged with, our approach has been designed to ensure we hear from a broad and representative range of local authorities during the development of the new model.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Government business rate (1) transitional relief and (2) Supporting Small Business Relief applies to the (a) Business Improvement District supplements and (b) Crossrail / GLA business rate supplement, in 2026-27 where the increased Rateable Value of a hereditament following the revaluation has (i) made the property liable for the supplement or (ii) increased the existing liability for the supplement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The application and calculation of BID supplements and the Business Rates Supplement in London are matters for the BID body and the GLA respectively. The government does not determine these levies.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to decriminalise sex work throughout the UK.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Criminal justice is devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Home Office is responsible for legislation in England and Wales. Under the current law in England and Wales, the acts of buying and selling sex are not in themselves illegal. There are existing offences related to sexual exploitation in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 including causing or inciting prostitution for gain, controlling prostitution for gain, and paying for the services of a prostitute subjected to force, threats or any other form of coercion or deception.
On 18 December 2025, the Government published Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-from-violence-and-abuse-a-cross-government-strategy. In this strategy, the Government committed to reviewing how the law addresses prostitution (this includes brothel keeping legislation) to ensure it better protects women and girls. Further details will be set out in due course. The Home Office engages regularly with organisations that represent sex workers, sexually exploited adults, people trafficked for sex, the police and other relevant stakeholders.
For example, on 16 July 2025, the Home Office launched a public call for evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, including for victims of sexual exploitation. This call for evidence provided an opportunity to hear views of survivors, first responders, law enforcement and prosecution services, devolved administrations, non-governmental organisations and any groups or people with an interest in the modern slavery victim identification system. The call for evidence closed on 8 October 2025 and a report summarising the key findings and themes will be published early this year.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide additional Ofsted funding to increase the frequency of (a) inspections and (b) unannounced inspections of early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Giving young children the best start in life is the foundation of the government’s opportunity mission.
From April, the department is funding Ofsted to inspect all new early years providers within 18 months of opening and moving towards inspecting all providers at least once every four years, compared to the current six-year window. This means standards will be reviewed more regularly and parents will have more up-to-date information to help them choose the right setting for their child.
While Ofsted typically provides notice before an inspection, they can and do conduct inspections without prior notification, particularly when concerns have been raised about a setting. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were 1,400 unannounced inspections (16%). We recognise the importance of unannounced inspections and they will continue.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 plans to reform the process for public consultations on redrawing local council electoral ward boundaries.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is responsible for delivering fair electoral and boundary arrangements for English councils. The Commission’s main focus is a rolling programme of electoral reviews, and they produce a range of guidance and resources which are available on their website, setting out the detail of how they conduct electoral reviews, including their process of consultation.
As an independent body, responsible to Parliament, the process for public consultation on redrawing local council electoral ward boundaries is a matter for the Commission in line with its statutory duties. The Department has no plans to reform this.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much their Department has spent on X and xAI since July 2024.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have a monthly subscription with xPro and have spent £153.60 since July 2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Government protected the smallest hospitality businesses from recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.
Wider business support is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Executive’s Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution and they receive over 24% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK in all years of the Spending Review 2025 period (2025-26 to 2028-29).