Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the affordability of service charges for leaseholders; and if he will take steps to limit their rate of increase.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders.
The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building.
By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.
The government has no plans to cap service charges for tenants and leaseholders given this would prevent necessary funds being raised for legitimate purposes when necessary.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report.
The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November (HCWS244).
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the amount (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on housing for (i) refugees and (ii) asylum seekers by each local authority in the 2024-25 financial year; and how much has been budgeted for this purpose for the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department does not hold this information to the level of detail requested. The department releases data on local authority spend through the local authority revenue expenditure and financing statistics, in which RO3 line 49 accounts for social support services or interventions for registered asylum seekers, including:
Additionally, RO3 Line 18 and RO3 Line 26 both refer to children's social care, in relation to asylum seekers.
The most recent data collected by the department regarding budgeted spending on refugees and asylum seekers by local government in England is from 2024-25 and can be found here. The relevant lines within the budget publication are: RA326 Children's social care – Asylum seekers; and RA349 Social support – Asylum seeker support.
The department has not yet published data for the 2025/26 financial year.
The first revenue outturn release for 2024/25 will be released in September 2025.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 19 March 2025 to Question 32217 on Homes England: Consultants, if she will provide a breakdown of that spending by (a) firm, (b) value and (c) topic.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homes England’s spending on consultants since 5th July 2024 can be broken down as £1,877,010 to Deloitte & Touche for external advice and support on the Agency’s organisational change, £18,894 to CSL – KPMG LLP to provide third party assurance at key stages of digital transformation projects to ensure robust decision making and budget allocation, and £344,416 to Deloitte & Touche for external advice on transforming the management and administration of Help to Buy.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the terms of reference of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition for what reasons the recommendations of the Group to the Minister will not be made public.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The appointment period for the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group commenced on 24 March 2025, following the publication of the Working Group Terms of Reference.
It is important that government is transparent in the actions it takes to address all forms of hatred, however any independent work should also have the space to consider sensitive and complex issues in private. This is the approach the Working Group will take when considering the appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim.
The advice the group produces will be private initially, giving the Government the time and space to consider recommendations, including what a proposed definition/s should be and the merits for adopting a definition. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's Working Group on Anti Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition, on what date the six month appointment period commenced.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The appointment period for the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group commenced on 24 March 2025, following the publication of the Working Group Terms of Reference.
It is important that government is transparent in the actions it takes to address all forms of hatred, however any independent work should also have the space to consider sensitive and complex issues in private. This is the approach the Working Group will take when considering the appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim.
The advice the group produces will be private initially, giving the Government the time and space to consider recommendations, including what a proposed definition/s should be and the merits for adopting a definition. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued on whether a flag flown outside at ground level requires planning permission, where it does not have deemed consent.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Relevant government guidance available on gov.uk sets out the planning rules for the display of flags.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the level of council tax levied by (a) The Environment Agency, (b) Garden Committees, (c) Conservators, (d) Port Health Authorities, (e) Crematorium Boards and (f) Pensions Authorities in the most recent financial year for which figures are available.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The total amount of levies and special levies that have been included in the Council Tax Requirement set by local authorities in England in 2025-26 is £1.36 billion. We do not collect data that breaks this down by the levying body.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on levels of resident satisfaction with local councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Association carries out a triannual survey of resident satisfaction with local government across Great Britain. The data is published and available here.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
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 make an estimate of the total amount of multiply funding that has been allocated for Northern Ireland; how that funding has been distributed; and how that funding compares to that previously provided by the European Social Fund.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over the course of 2023-25, approximately £8.75m of Multiply funding has been allocated to projects in Northern Ireland.
£5.9m was allocated to the Department for the Economy, who are leading a partnership of all eleven NI councils, the three universities, and four of the six further education colleges to deliver a suite of linked activities, including vocational mathematics (linked to traineeships and apprenticeships), maths for speakers of other languages, engaging mature learners, and support that helps children and parents learn numeracy together.
The remainder of the funding is being used by community and voluntary organisations to address numeracy barriers that may prevent the economically inactive people they support from returning to employment.
Comparable data for the European Social Fund is not available.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 March 2025 to Question 37218 on Byelaws, whether her Department has provided guidance on the application of byelaws which would ban (a) smoking and (b) vaping (i) in parks, (ii) on a highway, (iii) within the curtilage of a licensed premises’ pavement licence and (iv) in a pub garden.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government provides guidance on the byelaw making process for local authorities. The department has not provided specific guidance on the application of byelaws which would ban (a) smoking and (b) vaping (i) in parks, (ii) on a highway, (iii) within the curtilage of a licensed premises’ pavement licence and (iv) in a pub garden.