Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 Building Safety Levy: Guidance, updated 2 July 2026, what is the last estimate of the profile of the levy over the 10 year period, how much will be raised in each financial year from its commencement, and to what extent levy revenues are linked to the annual level of housebuilding.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Levy came into force on 1 October 2026. The Government expects the levy to raise around £3.4 billion over approximately 10 years to help fund the remediation of unsafe buildings and ensure that the housing sector makes a fair contribution towards addressing historical building safety defects.
The latest Office for Budget Responsibility economic and fiscal outlook estimates levy receipts of £55 million in 2027-28, £235 million in 2028-29, £340 million in 2029-30, £395 million in 2030-31 and £459 million in 2031-32. No revenue is expected in this financial year (2026-27). These forecasts were published in the October 2026 Economic and fiscal outlook, certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The Building Safety Levy is charged on new residential development and revenues are therefore linked to levels of housebuilding. However, revenues are also influenced by a range of factors, including the mix of developments coming forward and the application of exemptions and discounts. The levy has been designed to minimise impacts on housing supply while ensuring the industry makes a fair contribution towards the cost of remediating unsafe buildings.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to safeguard personal information against Russian cyberattacks and strengthen the cybersecurity of local governmental institutions.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Cyber security, within the wider remit of national security, is a reserved matter. Within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, certain devolved public services are the responsibility of the respective governments.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government supports English local government to strengthen their cyber defences and manage their cyber risks more effectively in line with the Government Cyber Action Plan.
Since 2020, my department has provided £29 million of cyber grant funding and technical support to local government and have recently announced further funding available to all English councils and Strategic Authorities. This includes support to deliver the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for local government, which sets a clear cyber security standard for the sector. The CAF applies to all English councils, helping them strengthen cyber resilience - particularly for essential services, the critical IT systems that support them and the sensitive data that they hold.
My department also provides a Cyber Incident Response service to support English councils and Strategic Authorities to respond to severe cyber incidents, helping to limit the impact these have on data and services.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
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 consider introducing capital funding for fire and rescue services.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Fire and rescue authorities have very wide freedoms to borrow and invest. This allows them to set their own capital strategies on the basis they are best placed to understand local needs, without prior government approval. This also ensures they remain accountable to the local electorate.
There are few statutory constraints on borrowing. Most importantly, fire and rescue authorities must not borrow more than they can afford. It is for them to determine what is affordable. In making that decision, they are required by the statute to have regard to the Prudential Code, published by CIPFA, which provides broad guidance on the affordability assessment.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what options are open to communities if local resilience plans are deemed inadequate during public consultations.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There is no general requirement under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 for responders to undertake public consultation on emergency plans before adopting them. Category 1 responders have duties under the Act to assess risk, maintain emergency plans and make information available to the public, but these do not amount to a general requirement to consult the public on the contents of those plans.
Communities can raise concerns about local emergency planning with the relevant responder or Local Resilience Forum so that they can be considered through local review and improvement arrangements. Where there are concerns about LRF performance, MHCLG will engage and work with the LRF to support improvements. In extreme cases the Civil Contingencies Act also provides for government enforcement where responders fail to perform their statutory duties.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in what way differences between local resilience assessments and central government projections are met.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local Resilience Forums assess the risks facing their areas, drawing on the Government’s national risk assessment alongside local evidence and expertise. Differences between national and local assessments are expected, reflecting local circumstances, vulnerabilities and potential impacts.
Government supports a two-way approach, with local evidence informing the national understanding of risk, and national assessments and planning assumptions informing local preparedness. Local and national capability assessments also help identify whether capabilities are sufficient to manage assessed risks and where further action may be required. This helps ensure that differences between local and national assessments are understood and reflected in resilience planning and preparedness.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
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 July 2026 to Question 18049 on Government Departments: Greater Manchester, and to the Answer of 14 July 2026 to Question 14979 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Darlington, what the average percentage attendance rate of assigned Homes England staff was at 3 New Bailey in Salford in the most recent working week for which figures are available, expressed as a percentage of assigned staff attending the workplace and in absolute terms.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For the week commencing 21 September, 52% of staff assigned to the Salford office attended the workplace. This equates to attendance by 53 staff from a total assigned workforce of 102 colleagues based in Salford.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 8 September 2026, to Question 23934, on MHCLG: Social Media, how many individual social media influencers were paid further to the £114,831 of total spend, and which agency hired them.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Eight individual social media influencers were paid and the lead agency was 23red.
23red is the department's contracted agency. In line with standard contractual arrangements, 23red subcontracted influencer management to Pepper, a specialist influencer agency, who directly hired the social media influencers.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
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 9 October 2026, to Question 28842, on No10 North: Civil Servants, if she will place in the Library a copy of the departmental guidance on policies in place regarding the transfer of national pay bands from London pay bands upon a change in office location.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG has a pay on transfer calculation that is applied when individuals transfer pay ranges, wherein individuals are placed on the same relative position on their pay range as they held on their old pay range. The calculation is:
D = (A – B) / C then G = (E x D) + F
A = current salary
B = current pay range minimum
C = current pay range maximum minus current pay range minimum
D = position on current pay range
E = new pay range maximum minus new pay range minimum
F = new pay range minimum
G = new salary.
The Department does not intend to place in the Library a copy of departmental guidance on policies in place regarding the transfer of national pay bands from London pay bands upon a change in office location. Departmental policies are subject to change through negotiation or consultation and only provide a point in time update position.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce the Commonhold and Leasehold Bill.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will introduce the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Fire and Rescue Services will receive joint training with the Royal Air Force regarding aerial firefighting using the Airbus A400M equipped with the roll-on/roll-off firefighting kit.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government announced at the Wildfire Summit on 23 October that it will establish a nationally coordinated aerial firefighting capability. This includes the Ministry of Defence developing an aerial firefighting capability permanently based in the UK, with military support available to civilian fire and rescue services across all four nations through Military Aid to the Civil Authorities arrangements.
The Department has engaged with the Ministry of Defence at official level on wildfire preparedness and response, including through the Wildfire Summit. We are continuing to work with the Ministry of Defence, the National Fire Chiefs Council and other partners on the operational detail.
Arrangements for meeting the costs of deploying A400M aircraft, and any joint training between the Royal Air Force and fire and rescue services, are being considered as part of this work as well as worked out operationally with relevant partners.