Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on what dates his Department had discussions with Norfolk County Council on the cancellation of 2026 elections; and and if he will publish the minutes from those meetings.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I met all leaders of Devolution Priority Programme Areas on 11 December, where many areas raised concerns about their capacity to deliver local government reorganisation alongside local elections. I also met Norfolk County Council on 16 December where the same concerns were raised.
A summary of the decision was provided through the Written Ministerial Statement of 22 January and the letter sent to council leaders, both of which are publicly available.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 publish documents relating to his decision to postpone Norfolk county council elections.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I met all leaders of Devolution Priority Programme Areas on 11 December, where many areas raised concerns about their capacity to deliver local government reorganisation alongside local elections. I also met Norfolk County Council on 16 December where the same concerns were raised.
A summary of the decision was provided through the Written Ministerial Statement of 22 January and the letter sent to council leaders, both of which are publicly available.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 that the continued calling of local council by-elections will not be affected by the postponement of a council's elections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Any legislation brought forward to postpone May 2026 council elections for one year will have no effect on the usual process for by-elections. Where there is an existing vacancy that was to be filled at the May 2026 election, any legislation to postpone those elections will also provide for the filling of such a vacancy, as in previous legislation postponing elections.
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 publish his Department's financial assessment and underlying data of the costs and savings of Local Government Reform.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77631 on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 adequacy of the number of firefighters in the (a) Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service and (b) Poole area to meet operational demand.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Decisions on how fire and rescue services are run, including the number and locations of fire stations or crewing numbers, are for the local fire and rescue authority (FRA) and its Chief Fire Officer. The FRA is responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met. They are responsible for directing their resources where they are needed most and in accordance with their Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs).
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)’s latest published statistics on fire and rescue service (FRS) workforce numbers say that while the full time equivalent (FTE) number of firefighters has reduced by 0.5%, the total number of FRS staff (FTE) has increased by 0.6% on the previous year.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service in advance of their station closure consultation.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Decisions on how fire and rescue services are run, including the number and locations of fire stations or crewing numbers, are for the local fire and rescue authority (FRA) and its Chief Fire Officer. The FRA is responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met. They are responsible for directing their resources where they are needed most and in accordance with their Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs).
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)’s latest published statistics on fire and rescue service (FRS) workforce numbers say that while the full time equivalent (FTE) number of firefighters has reduced by 0.5%, the total number of FRS staff (FTE) has increased by 0.6% on the previous year.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of permitting low-impact rooftop solar installations in conservation areas on levels of energy costs for homeowners.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
To facilitate the take up of renewable energy, nationally set permitted development rights enable the installation of solar equipment on or within the curtilage of buildings, including in conservation areas, without the need to submit a planning application.
There are no plans to undertake such assessments. We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding permitted development rights for rooftop solar installations in conservation areas.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
To facilitate the take up of renewable energy, nationally set permitted development rights enable the installation of solar equipment on or within the curtilage of buildings, including in conservation areas, without the need to submit a planning application.
There are no plans to undertake such assessments. We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to align the definition of brownfield land for the purposes of the Building Safety Levy to the definition in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Works on previously developed sites will be charged at the 50% discount rate for the Building Safety Levy. This has been put in place to account for the higher costs of developing a previously developed/ brownfield site.
As set out in our response to the technical consultation, we have implemented a definition of “Previously Developed Sites” in the Building Safety Levy regulations, which draws on the definition of “Previously Developed Land” set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Appropriate amendments have been made to reflect that the NPPF definition is primarily designed to inform planning policy whereas the Building Safety Levy definition is used in regulations to apply a tax discount.
We are considering whether the approach in regulations could be more closely aligned with the NPPF, while maintaining the level of precision required for a taxation system.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 planning authorities on managing concentrations of houses in multiple occupation within residential areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to plan to meet an area’s identified housing need, including with an appropriate mix of housing types for the local community.
Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission. We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.
Specific guidance is not provided on managing concentrations of houses in multiple occupation.