Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The Government works with EA and water companies ensuring they take actions required to secure water supplies, including fixing more leaks quickly, optimising and moving water around their networks and holding them accountable if they delay drought plan actions. National Drought Group meets weekly ensuring coordinated action across affected sectors.

For buildings constructed in recent years, developers generally have a contractual responsibility for structural faults through warranty agreements. Most new build properties are sold with 10-year warranties, which are funded through developer premiums and usually require developers to directly fix any issues identified within 2 years of occupancy. Local authorities and the Building Safety Regulator can also take enforcement action against those who have contravened the building regulations.

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new regime for occupied higher-risk buildings, overseen by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Accountable Persons are required to assess, manage and report building safety risks, including those relating to structural failure.

The BSR, keeps the safety of buildings under review in accordance with its statutory duty set out in Section 5 of the Building Safety Act 2022. As part of this work, BSR assesses emerging evidence relating to potential structural safety risks. The BSR works with the sector to understand the extent and implications of these risks.

There is no comprehensive data set to inform assessment of severity of structural safety risks in buildings. The BSR is undertaking research to better understand how to strengthen the collection and use of structural safety data in the future. BSR is alert to the risk of deterioration in structural condition posed by our ageing building stock. The BSR and MHCLG are working together to determine if more needs to be done to ensure building structures are appropriately reviewed, maintained and managed throughout their lifecycle.

Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, including the Minister for Women and Equalities, are committed to working together on matters relating to women experiencing rough sleeping.

Data about the number of women sleeping rough in England can be found on gov.uk here. Since June 2025 we have included a question on the number of women sleeping rough in our monthly rough sleeping survey. The annual rough sleeping snapshot also includes data on the number of women estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in England. In addition to our official rough sleeping statistics, we continue to gather information from a variety of sources to understand women’s rough sleeping, including the Women’s Census.

In Protecting What Matters, we committed to develop a Social Cohesion Measurement Framework, providing clearer and more consistent metrics to measure local cohesion. Work on the framework is underway and we will publish fuller details in due course. The Framework will enable local areas to assess cohesion in a robust and comparable way. The Framework will be available to local government, civil society and impact investors across England, supporting early identification of emerging tensions and ensuring that public and philanthropic investment meets local needs. We will also engage devolved governments as part of this work.

Since the introduction of the Sector Single Code in 2024, the Government has continued to receive evidence of poor practice. The consistency of concerns raised by motorists, representative groups and regulators suggests these issues are not limited to isolated cases. This underlines the need for statutory standards, stronger oversight and improved data collection which the Government is taking action to address through a new Code of Practice.

Alongside the Code, the Government is introducing a Certification Scheme approved by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service. Once implemented, the Certification Scheme will provide independent assurance of individual operator compliance. Operators that fail to meet the Code’s requirements may ultimately lose access to DVLA vehicle keeper data and, in turn, their ability to pursue parking charges.

The Government laid the Code before Parliament on 20 October 2026 and in parallel published its response to its private parking consultation last year. The Government Response contains more details on the plans for enforcement and appeals.

Through the Government's Pride in Place Programme, up to £5.8 billion is being invested over ten years in 284 neighbourhoods experiencing the highest levels of need.

Neighbourhoods across England, Scotland and Wales were selected using methodologies which combine measures of deprivation and community need. In England, this includes the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and the Community Needs Index (CNI), which together provide a broader picture of local need. Our allocation methodology targets need everywhere, regardless of type of community, and includes a number of rural communities. By targeting census geographies (MSOAs) and capping the number of areas targeted per parliamentary constituency, this methodology has also ensured that funding is geographically spread to a variety of different communities.

The IMD is the Government's established measure of relative deprivation and captures a range of factors including income, employment, education, health, crime, housing and the living environment. The methodology underpinning the IMD has been developed to identify concentrations of deprivation wherever they occur, including in rural, urban and mixed communities.

The CNI provides a complementary measure of community need by assessing factors such as civic and community assets, connectivity and levels of community engagement. It therefore captures aspects of need which are not reflected in deprivation measures alone. These factors can affect communities in rural, urban and mixed areas, and therefore provide a complementary perspective to deprivation measures such as the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The Government's methodology combines multiple measures of need rather than relying on a single indicator.

The full list of areas and place selection methodology is set out here.

The Local Government Finance Settlement is subject to collective agreement. We will consult on referendum principles for 2027-28 in the usual way as part of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.

It is a longstanding principle that the government does not publish or comment on legal advice. Any costs resulting from the judicial review proceedings will be determined in the usual way.

No specific assessment has been made. Vacancy is shaped by a range of factors, including local demand, wider economic conditions and changing consumer behaviour.

The Government is taking action to address commercial property costs for high street businesses in England. We have introduced legislation to ban upwards-only rent reviews in new and renewed commercial leases, created new, reduced business rates multipliers for high street sectors, and rolled out High Street Rental Auction powers to enable long term vacant units to be offered at reduced rents to local businesses. We have also tasked the Law Commission with projects to address issues in commercial leasehold.

Devolution and local government reorganisation are two distinct processes. The recent announcement of a pause pending review on the Local Government Reorganisation Programme does not impact our overall ambition to achieve full devolution coverage by the end of 2028. Unitary local government can help with the smooth functioning of strategic authorities, but it is not generally a prerequisite for their establishment. We will be confirming next steps on the creation of new strategic authorities soon.

As part of the strengthened intervention package set out in the Directions on 17 March 2026, the Ministerial Envoys are undertaking thematic deep dive projects to provide assurance in relation to long-standing concerns. This includes the allocation of resources for community assets and community grants.

The Elections Modernisation Pilot research was commissioned with Verian to evaluate forms of voting being piloted at the May 2026 elections, intended to make voting in person more efficient, convenient and accessible. The evaluation covers voter experience, accessibility, operational delivery, electoral integrity and value for money, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Findings from the research will be published in due course in line with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.

From 2026/27 to 2028/29, over £4 billion in funding will be provided for homelessness and rough sleeping services to help local areas deliver tailored services to tackle all forms of homelessness. In addition, the Government has committed £30 million for a three-year Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme to support local authorities with the highest pressures to bring down B&B use, particularly unlawful placements in B&B beyond 6 weeks, with eight London Boroughs receiving funding in 2026/27. The Government is also 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 in England to increase the supply of good quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.

Electoral Registration Officers are already required to notify affected electors directly when their arrangement is due to expire and provide information about how to make a fresh application. The Government has no plans to create an additional statutory entitlement to this information.

Local authorities are responsible for determining how best to deliver support in their area and for ensuring that any accommodation offered through the programme is suitable for the individual's needs and circumstances.

We expect accommodation supported through the Rough Sleeping Programme to be safe, appropriate and part of a clear pathway towards sustainable housing outcomes. Local authorities should work with local partners to identify suitable provision and ensure support is delivered in a way that reflects residents' safety, dignity and support needs.

Alongside this, the Government is taking action to raise standards across the supported housing sector. We are currently consulting on regulations to implement the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which will introduce national supported housing standards and strengthen local oversight of supported housing providers.

Under existing electoral legislation, it is an offence to knowingly provide false information to a registration officer for any purpose connected with the registration of electors, for example in an application for registration. Therefore if a person applies to be registered at a UK address when they were not resident at that address on that date, they could be liable to be fined (unlimited in England and Wales, Level 5 in Scotland or Northern Ireland) or imprisoned for up to six months.

Under reforms brought forward by the Representation of the People Bill, recipients of political donations will be required to undertake statutory permissibility checks and, for higher-value donations, proportionate Know Your Donor due diligence to understand who is behind a donation and identify the risk of an illegitimate source of funds.

Where information gives a recipient reason to doubt a donor’s declaration or the true source of funds, they must return the donation.

The Electoral Commission, alongside other enforcement agencies, will be responsible for ensuring that the law is abided by.

To support local highway authorities with the maintenance of their highway network, the Department for Transport has confirmed a record investment of £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance between 2026-27 to 2029-30.

We are committed to improving services for people living across the country, and as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, rural authorities in England will see a total increase in their Core Spending Power of £958 million, an increase of 21.1% from 2024/25 to 2028/29.

We are targeting funding where it is needed most, with the most deprived rural areas receiving more on average compared to the least deprived and making sure the difference in cost of delivering services between rural and urban areas is taken into account.

The government has not identified any direct representations from the Mayor of London regarding the High Value Council Tax Surcharge. The government received a range of responses to its consultation on the surcharge, including from the Greater London Authority.

Mayors and local leaders will be required to undertake impact assessments and carry out local consultations before implementing a levy. This could include consultation with relevant National Park Authorities. Following consultation, we expect Mayors to publish a summary of the consultation results and their response, including a final prospectus.

Mayors and local leaders will also have the option to exempt certain types of accommodation in their areas, such as tent pitches, touring caravan pitches and hostels, subject to local consultation. This approach gives leaders the tools to respond to local circumstances.

Mayors and local leaders will be required to undertake impact assessments and carry out local consultations before implementing a levy. This could include consultation with relevant National Park Authorities. Following consultation, we expect Mayors to publish a summary of the consultation results and their response, including a final prospectus.

Mayors and local leaders will also have the option to exempt certain types of accommodation in their areas, such as tent pitches, touring caravan pitches and hostels, subject to local consultation. This approach gives leaders the tools to respond to local circumstances.

Further details, including allocations and selection methodology, will be published in due course.

The Government recognises the risks posed by donations funded using converted crypto assets. We are considering what further protections could be put in place to guard against converted crypto assets being used to funnel impermissible funds into the political finance system. As part of this work, we are continuing to engage with the Electoral Commission and other relevant stakeholders, inducing political parties, as appropriate.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is subject to independent external audit as part of the established local audit framework. This audit is independent of government and is not commissioned by the Secretary of State.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is responsible for maintaining appropriate governance and financial management arrangements.

Ministers take a range of factors into account when considering whether to exercise statutory powers in relation to a local or strategic authority and will only act where necessary to secure compliance with the Best Value Duty and on an objective, evidence lead basis.

We have announced £65m for communities across the country to rescue and take over the running of important local community assets, saving pubs, clubs and sports fields from closure.

Further details of the fund and how to apply will be set out in due course.

The Department has engaged extensively with Mayors and Mayoral Strategic Authorities on proposals to strengthen local accountability. These discussions have informed the development of proposals for Local Scrutiny Committees, including their powers, functions and membership arrangements

Legislation will set out that Local Scrutiny Committee membership must reflect the political balance of the constituent councils, with at least 60% of members being elected councillors from constituent local authorities.

The appointment of committee members will be determined locally through the Mayoral Strategic Authority’s governance and constitutional arrangements.

The Chair of a Local Scrutiny Committee must either be an independent person appointed through a fair and open process, or a councillor from a different political party to the mayor. This is intended to ensure that Local Scrutiny Committees are able to provide independent and effective challenge.

Improving speed of service remains the top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR) and I’m pleased to report that good progress is being made.

Since the previous response on 8 April 2026, HMLR has continued to improve processing times by investing in its people and technology, increasing automation of simple application types and improving the information received from customers through further pre-submission validation checks. HMLR is also developing the use of artificial intelligence to undertake administrative tasks, allowing the expertise and experience of their skilled civil servants to be focused on applications that are more complex or require legal judgement.

The age of outstanding post-completion applications is now less than 9 months across all service lines. In the first six months of 2026/27, HMLR completed over 338,000 more applications than in the same period last year. Building on this progress, HMLR is finalising plans to tailor its services to better reflect the different needs of its customers.

HMLR processing times are publicly available on gov.uk here: HM Land Registry: processing times - GOV.UK.

Anyone who is concerned that a delay to their application may cause financial, legal, or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, can apply to have their application expedited free of charge. So far this financial year, HMLR has processed around 1,700 expedited applications every day, and processed more than 95% of them as far as possible within 10 working days. This means that HMLR either ensured the property was fully registered, or requested information needed from other parties including on related previously received applications, before they could fully register the expedited application.

HMLR also prioritise time-critical pre-completion information services that are needed before a property transaction can take place. HMLR receive over 22 million of these each year with almost all completed within three working days, and over 90% delivered instantly.

The Private Parking Code of Practice was laid before Parliament on 20 October 2026.

The Government recognises the importance of political parties having access to timely and authoritative information on the threat landscape, including risks relating to foreign financial interference. The Electoral Commission has an important convening role to play in supporting this work. We will continue to work closely with the Electoral Commission, working collaboratively to develop a forum through which parties which will receive annual security briefings.

The Government will build on these arrangements by continuing development on mechanisms for routine engagement with political parties and improving the clarity of guidance and threat briefings. We will also continue to explore whether further enhancements are needed to ensure that information flows are coherent.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60128 on 4 July 2025.

The Department does not hold specific data on trends in the number of complaints related to private sector building control bodies. Since April 2024, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has overseen the performance of building control professionals and bodies, including private Registered Building Control Approvers, under a framework of Operational Standards Rules. The BSR monitors and analyses performance to improve standards across the sector.

In response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report, the Government established the Building Control Independent Panel to consider the future of building control, including the role of commercial interests. The Government has accepted the principles of the Panel’s proposals for reform and agrees that change must be proportionate, carefully sequenced, and built on work already in place. The Government will respond more fully to the Panel’s recommendations in due course.

The Government will set out further details about the remit of the National Commission on Electoral Reform and about how it will carry out its work, including how people can participate, in due course. It would not be appropriate to pre-empt the outcome of the Commission's work.

The Government has made no such assessment.

Levels of homelessness and rough sleeping are far too high. That is why we have published a National Plan to End Homelessness, made homelessness prevention a core pillar of that plan, and increased funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services to a record £4 billion over the next three years.

Levels of homelessness and rough sleeping are far too high. That is why we have published a National Plan to End Homelessness, made homelessness prevention a core pillar of that plan, and increased funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services to a record £4 billion over the next three years.

The Government has not made an estimate of the costs leaseholders face for defects that fall outside the scope of the Developer Remediation Contract.

However, leaseholders can benefit from protections under the Building Safety Act 2022, which limit or prevent many historical building safety remediation costs from being passed on to qualifying leaseholders. Where costs are not covered by the Contract, it may also be possible to pursue developers, landlords or associated companies through Remediation Contribution Orders or other redress measures established by the Act.

Further to the answer to Question UIN HL7178 on 15 May 2025, the Government's position remains that individuals who are legally resident and registered to vote in devolved and local elections in Scotland and Wales are permissible donors under the existing political finance framework

The franchise for local and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales is a matter for the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru respectively.

No specific assessments have been made of the effectiveness of building control inspection arrangements in securing compliance with Part H of the Building Regulations 2010 in respect of foul and surface water drainage connections. The Building Control Independent Panel (BCIP) made several recommendations to the Government on how to improve the building control process, including regarding mandatory inspection points, and the Government intends to a provide a full response to the list of recommendations made in the BCIP final report in due course. We have already made £55 million available to support the building of capacity in the building control workforce. My officials are taking steps to assess the effectiveness of the pre-application process, the approved plans process, and the effectiveness of building control inspections for ensuring compliance with Part H, as well as investigating the effectiveness of s.59 of the Building Act 1984. It is important to note that responsibility for compliance with the building regulations remains with the person carrying out building work, even where a completion or final certificate has been provided.

Existing electoral law provides protections against undue influence, intimidation and interference with the secrecy of the ballot, including measures strengthened by the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 to address so-called ‘family voting’. Returning Officers regularly work with the police to assess known risks at individual polling stations and make appropriate arrangements. Decisions on the deployment of police officers are operational matters for individual police forces.

The Government values the views of stakeholders and will continue to engage with political parties as we develop and implement reforms to electoral law and political finance. We have maintained ongoing engagement with political parties through the Electoral Commission’s Parliamentary Parties Panel.

The Department has engaged with local authorities and youth homelessness sector organisations in the development of the new youth chapter in the Homelessness Code of Guidance and the youth homelessness prevention toolkit. The new youth chapter was published on 30 September 2026 and is available here.

We intend to publish the youth homelessness prevention toolkit in due course. In developing the toolkit, the Department has also engaged with young people with lived experience of homelessness to ensure the toolkit is informed by their experiences and insights.

The Department has engaged with local authorities and youth homelessness sector organisations in the development of the new youth chapter in the Homelessness Code of Guidance and the youth homelessness prevention toolkit. The new youth chapter was published on 30 September 2026 and is available here.

We intend to publish the youth homelessness prevention toolkit in due course. In developing the toolkit, the Department has also engaged with young people with lived experience of homelessness to ensure the toolkit is informed by their experiences and insights.

The Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund was established to support voluntary, community and faith sector organisations delivering homelessness and rough sleeping services, with an annual income below £5 million.

This eligibility criterion was set out in the published prospectus and applied consistently to all applicants.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of this requirement on charities whose income includes Housing Benefit received in connection with supported accommodation. Eligibility was assessed against an organisation's overall annual income as reported in its financial accounts.