Asked by: Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the annual cost to the economy of battery-related fires, and (2) how those costs are distributed between (a) local authorities, (b) emergency services, and (c) the waste and recycling sector.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services, with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available here: Fire statistics - GOV.UK. This does not yet include data on the cost of battery-related fire incidents.
We will keep the contents of these publications under review, as part of the development of our recently rolled out Fire and Rescue Analysis Platform (FaRDaP).
Research into the economic and social cost of fire has previously been conducted, calculating the total annual economic and social cost of fires in England, which is available here: Economic and social cost of fire - GOV.UK. This analysis breaks down said costs by anticipation, consequence, and response, but does not specifically refer to the cost of battery-related fires.
Asked by: Pam Cox (Labour - Colchester)
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 update the Homelessness Code of Guidance to ensure that domestic abuse survivors who have joint mortgages with abusers are not refused the main housing duty because they are homeowners.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Homelessness Code of Guidance sets out that where there would be a probability of abuse if an applicant continued to occupy their present accommodation, the housing authority must treat the applicant as homeless and should not expect them to remain in, or return to, the accommodation. This includes survivors who are homeowners.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 3 February 2026 to Question 108300, how many fires involving road vehicles of all types were recorded by Fire and Rescue Services in England in each of the last 15 years.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England through the Fire & Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP), and previously through the Incident Recording System (IRS). This includes information on primary fires, fire-related fatalities, and non-fatal casualties in road vehicles. Data covering the year ending March 2025 is published here: Fire statistics data tables - GOV.UK, see FIRE 0302 ‘Primary fires, fatalities and non-fatal casualties in road vehicles by motive and vehicle type, England’. These tables present the number of primary fires for each recorded type of road vehicle per year.
Data is also available on the number of accidents involving fire and rescue authority vehicles, by fire and rescue authority, in the FIRE1402 data table.
Incident level data for road vehicle fires can be found here: Fire statistics incident level datasets - GOV.UK, see ‘Road vehicle fires dataset’ for the raw data, and ‘Road vehicles fire dataset guidance’ for guidance on the dataset.
Asked by: Llinos Medi (Plaid Cymru - Ynys Môn)
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 February 2025 to Question 30336 on Parking: Regulation, what steps he is taking to (a) consult and (b) assess the potential impact of the measures contained in the proposed Government code on standards of parking operator (i) practice and (ii) behaviour.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government consulted on its proposals to raise standards across the private parking industry between 11 July 2025 and 26 September 2025. All responses are now being analysed. The government’s response to the consultation, together with the impact assessment of the measures contained in the new Code on the industry, will be published in due course.
The consultation document can be accessed on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 trends in the number of people over 65 owed a statutory homelessness prevention and relief duty by local authorities in England since July 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness is far too high, including amongst people over the age of 65. The government publishes homelessness data, including the age of the main applicant owed a prevention and relief duty on gov.uk here.
Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets out that councils should design accessible, inclusive and culturally-sensitive services, supported by targeted interventions, which meet the needs and experiences of all people who need their help, including older people.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 help ensure local authorities design local homelessness support services that meet the needs of older people when they experience homelessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness is far too high, including amongst people over the age of 65. The government publishes homelessness data, including the age of the main applicant owed a prevention and relief duty on gov.uk here.
Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets out that councils should design accessible, inclusive and culturally-sensitive services, supported by targeted interventions, which meet the needs and experiences of all people who need their help, including older people.
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 there is a plain English guide and formula for business owners to calculate if their premises is eligible for Supporting Small Business Relief.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are responsible for the administration of business rates, including decisions on the awarding of and eligibility for various reliefs. Guidance for local authorities on the administration of Supporting Small Business relief was published on 15 December on gov.uk here.
The government provides business-facing information on a range of business rates reliefs on gov.uk. Information on Supporting Small Business relief can be found here.
Ratepayers should contact their local authority if they have any questions about their business rates bill including reliefs they may be eligible for.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he had had with Birmingham City Council on their best value duty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department regularly engages with Birmingham City Council as is normal for all Councils under intervention.
The Secretary of State receives regular reports from Commissioners outlining the progress made by the Council in complying with the Best Value Duty. The most recent report was the third to be published and it was added to gov.uk on 1 December 2025 alongside a Written Ministerial Statement.
Commissioners were appointed on 5 October 2023 following serious financial and governance failings and they are working with Birmingham City Council on its wider improvement journey to ensure the Council complies with the Best Value Duty.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that an appeal against a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman decision not to investigate a case is not reviewed by the same person who made the original decision.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman operates independently of central Government. Decisions about how complaints are investigated and reviewed fall solely within the Ombudsman’s statutory powers. This independence rightly keeps ministers at arm’s length from the complaints service the Ombudsman provides; a service that is an important element of the overarching accountability system for local government.
The Government has no plans to take any steps to dictate how the Ombudsman investigates or reviews individual cases.
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 12 January 2026 to Question 101747 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, what estimate he has made of the number of hereditaments that claimed Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26; and whether that estimates includes data on herediatments (i) above and (ii) below the £110,000 cash cap.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 106116 on 23 January 2026.