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: 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 support his Department provides to local authorities responding to maritime incidents that result in environmental contamination or significant shoreline clean-up operations.
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: 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 exists on public communication and safety messaging by local authorities during environmental incidents affecting coastal communities.
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: 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: 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: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential level of overlap of proposals for appointing Public Safety Commissioners in mayoralties with the position of Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where a mayor is responsible for Police and Crime Commissioner functions, they must appoint a Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, who works with them to oversee policing. Where mayors are also responsible for fire and rescue, they can delegate this to the DMPC. This means one individual can lead on policing and fire.
The Public Safety Commissioner (PSC) will be a new optional appointment, whose role would be to lead on the ‘public safety’ area of competence for a mayor, including matters beyond policing and fire. They could be delegated fire functions but not policing.
This gives mayors a choice on how to best deliver public safety in their area. They could delegate all their public safety functions to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime or appoint a separate Public Safety Commissioner to manage non-policing functions, such as fire.
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 17 November 2025 to Question 87319, and to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58975, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote Working, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the number of desks for civil servants working in Darlington on their ability to attend the office for 60 per cent of the working week.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Darlington Economic Campus is an integrated shared facility between several Government Departments. Currently, due to the available capacity, MHCLG staff are expected to attend the office for 40% of their time.
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 has his department given to local authorities on political restrictions on local authority staff running as candidates for election in other local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990 continues to set out the specific restrictions that apply to holders of politically restricted posts in Local Authorities. As independent employers, Local authorities are responsible for complying with legislation.
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: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether HM Land Registry has a duty to report if property in the UK is purchased by other nation states.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry records show that The People’s Republic of China is the registered proprietor of 58 registered titles in England and Wales.
Two further titles are registered in the name of The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China, and four titles are registered in the name of The National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China.
Although HM Land Registry does not have a formal duty to report new acquisitions of UK land registered in the name of foreign states, this information is held by HM Land Registry and can be accessed where required by government and others subject to the general law relating to data protection and freedom of information.