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 13 October 2025 to Question 77539 on Flags, whether the removal of national flags placed on lampposts was discussed.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department holds many routine meetings with local authorities and the subject of flags has been raised in some of these as a point of discussion.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the brownfield land release fund will be made available to councils.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Brownfield Land Release Fund Round 2, Year 4, will be made available to local authorities before the end of 2025.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
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 take steps to consider the potential merits of a statutory code of conduct for local government councillors.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78274 on 20 October 2025. The government consulted on reforms to the local government standards regime earlier this year and the response will be issued in due course.
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 her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the access of journalists to council proceedings.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Transparency and openness should be fundamental to everything councils do. Under the Local Government Act 1972, all local authority meetings must be open to the public, including journalists, except in limited, defined circumstances.
The most recent guidance remains the 2014 ‘Open and accountable local government: plain English guide’ that was designed to support members of the public, including journalists, accessing, recording, or reporting on local authority meetings and obtaining meeting documents.
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 the annual cost will be of the draft Local Government Pension Scheme (Fair Deal) Regulations 2026.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Some one-off costs to service providers and authorities are expected, relating to bringing a small number of workers providing local services under outsourced contracts into the Local Government Pension Scheme who are not currently members. These costs are expected to be offset over time by savings for service providers and authorities from improved risk-sharing arrangements, increased competition in the market, and simpler administration and actuarial funding arrangements.
We will consider information on costs provided in response to the consultation launched on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability at parish council level.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, parish councils are required to complete and publish an Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) to support transparency in council spending and enable the local electorate to hold them to account. To strengthen public confidence in parish council finances, the government committed to reviewing the AGAR process in its response to the Local Audit Strategy consultation published in April 2025.
In addition, parish councils with an annual turnover under £25,000 are subject to the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities, which requires the publication of key financial and governance data to promote accountability. Councils with a gross income or expenditure over £200,000 must comply with the Local Government Transparency Code, which includes broader requirements for publishing information on spending, assets, organisational structure, and decision-making. These measures ensure that local residents can easily access information about how public money is used.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 changes to local government funding on the ability of local authorities to provide (a) warm spaces and (b) cool spaces in local areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period.
The government is committed to reforming the way in which local government is funded to return the sector to a sustainable position and target funding to the places who need it most. By fixing these foundations, the sector will be better placed to invest in and drive local growth.
The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in providing (a) warm spaces and (b) cool spaces in local areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in a 2.6% real terms average annual increase in Core Spending Power over the Spending Review period.
The government is committed to reforming the way in which local government is funded to return the sector to a sustainable position and target funding to the places who need it most. By fixing these foundations, the sector will be better placed to invest in and drive local growth.
The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will reform the current council tax system to reduce localised disparities in property valuations.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The valuation of all properties in England is carried out by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), who undertake this role independently of ministers. The Chancellor makes tax policy decisions at fiscal events. The Government remains committed to keeping all taxes and elements of the local government finance system under review. The Government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the system and consider where there is clear evidence that change would deliver better outcomes for residents and councils alike.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - 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 report of the Equality and Social Justice Committee of Senedd Cymru Co-operation over Conflict: Wales must act published in October, and whether they will take steps in response to its finding that there is a "tinderbox of division and discontent".
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is clear that there are feelings of division and frustration in this country, with people feeling the strain of economic insecurity. By recognising and addressing these concerns through some of the interventions included in the Pride in Place Strategy, we seek to improve the lives of people in this country, in the places that they live.
The Strategy announced the Government’s flagship Pride in Place programme, supporting 244 neighbourhoods with up to £20 million each over the next decade. Nine local authorities in Wales will benefit from the new programme. These areas will join five communities where work is already underway, taking the total to fourteen local authorities across Wales sharing £280 million. Local authorities will be invited to propose the communities within their areas to participate in the Pride in Place Programme for UK Government approval with capacity and capital funding to all places from Spring 2026. This funding can be used to support community cohesion interventions.