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, if he will make it his policy to use his Best Value powers to stop local authorities boycotting or divesting in companies based in, or which trade with, Israel.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Note 01/16 remains in force which prohibits procurement boycotts by public authorities against Israeli firms and firms which trade with Israel, unless formal government sanctions are in place Under the Local Government Act 1999, local authorities have a statutory Best Value duty to secure continuous improvement in how they exercise their functions, having regard to economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. The Secretary of State may intervene where there is significant, systemic, and extensive failure to meet this duty, based on a holistic assessment of all relevant information. The government has published guidance for local authorities on meeting the Best Value duty and on intervention.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance is issued to local authorities on recording and recovering costs incurred during environmental clean-up operations following maritime incidents; and whether such guidance allows for costs incurred by organised charity, conservation, or wildlife groups supporting those clean-up efforts to be included within claims made against responsible commercial parties.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG is not responsible for maritime or environmental clean-up operations. The Lead Government Department responsibility for these sits with the Department for Transport and the Environment Agency, which are responsible for guidance to local authorities on these issues. I would also refer the hon Lady to the Answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security gave to the Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild) on 29 April 2025 UIN 46848.
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 18 November 2025 to Question 88720 on Second Homes: Council tax, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of council tax evasion from the second homes council tax premium by residents not telling their local billing authority that the dwelling is occupied as a second home.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not collect data on avoidance or evasion of the second homes premium. As noted in my response to Question 88720, it is for local authorities to manage and address any potential cases of fraud in the council tax system.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
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 has made an assessment of the potential impact of the second homes council tax premium on house prices.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The use of council tax premiums is at local authorities’ discretion. The Government does not make housing market assessments based on premiums.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 drivers of and reasons for the doubling of the wage and salary costs of the Planning Inspectorate since April 2017.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate deals with a range of planning and environmental casework from across government including:
Since 2017 the Planning Inspectorate has increased its employees by approximately 60%, including an increase in full time equivalent Inspectors providing advice, decisions, and recommendations from 261 to 421 (61%).
This reflects the significant increase and complexity in the Planning Inspectorate's casework over that period as well as a significant investment in digital services which has been necessary for the organisation to fulfil its critical role in delivering the agendas of successive governments.
Inflation accounts for about a third of the increase in costs over the period.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 support non-metropolitan area towns.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Economic growth is the number one mission of this government. Across the country growth has stagnated, leading our towns and cities to underperform and living standards to fall. This government will drive growth and unlock investment across the country by giving local leaders the tools they need to maximise their unique strengths and opportunities.
On 25 September 2025, the Government announced its flagship Pride in Place Programme, which will provide up to £20 million in flexible funding and support over the next decade to 244 of the UK’s most in-need neighbourhoods, including a number of non-metropolitan area towns such as Kirkby-in-Ashfield in the Honourable Member’s constituency. This programme will serve as the cornerstone of the Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods areas announced in March 2025, including places in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether local authorities will be expected to pass on high needs deficits to any new unitary councils created following local government reorganisation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In general, as with previous restructures, there is no proposal for council debt to be addressed centrally or written off as part of reorganisation. It is the Government’s expectation that any debt held by a council will be transferred to the new council. Councils remain responsible for managing their budgets, and it is standard for councils to borrow and to hold debt, which they will do in the normal course of business. Local government re-organisation does not change this and it is essential that councils continue to deliver their business-as-usual services and duties during and after local government reorganisation.
In relation to the high needs deficit, the Fair Funding Review 2.0 announced a two-year extension to the Dedicated Schools Grant Statutory Override, now due to end in March 2028. We will set out more detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing SEND deficits later in the Settlement process.
Once the Statutory Override ends in March 2028, funding for SEND deficits will be managed within the overall government DEL envelope and would not be expected to fall to local authority general funds.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of high street closures on town centre vitality and local employment, particularly in areas with limited alternative sources of work.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The high street provides a critical source of employment and skills in our economy, accounting for 4.4m jobs in 2018.
No specific data is held on the impact of closures on employment. However, the national rate of persistently vacant high street retail and leisure properties increased to 5.3% in 2023, up from 3.6% in 2018, reflecting factors including long term shifts in consumer behaviour, rising costs, and retail crime.
The Government is acting to reverse this decline with support for high street businesses, such as banning upwards only rent reviews in commercial leases and reforming licensing rules, strengthening powers to tackle retail crime and anti-social behaviour, and empowering councils to auction the lease of persistently vacant premises on our high streets.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many planning appeals relating to grey belt land have been allowed in the past two years.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Planning Inspectorate does not hold the requested information in a readily searchable way, and planning appeals do not have a marker for Grey Belt. As such, it is not possible to identify planning appeal decisions relating to grey belt in the past two years.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 drivers of and reasons for the doubling of the wage and salary costs of the Land Registry since April 2017.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2016-17 and 2024-25 respectively show that staff costs for permanent HMLR employees have increased from £168 million to £326 million.
The drivers of this increase are a combination of the compound interest of annual pay increases, plus the increase in permanent employees from 4,148 at the end of March 2017, to 6,907 at the end of March 2025.
The principal reason for the staff increase at the Agency has been the need to invest in its people and systems to improve the services it provides following a period of historic underinvestment following the property market crash in 2007-08, prior to which HMLR had over 8,000 permanent employees.