Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of exempting foster carers from Council Tax in whole or in part.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are responsible for the administration of council tax and have discretionary powers to apply exemptions or council tax discounts. This could include offering discounts to foster carers where they consider this appropriate.
The Government has recently consulted on modernising and improving the administration of council tax. This included seeking views on the current range of council tax disregards provided in the system. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
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, whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact of changes in parish council precepts on council tax.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax levels are decided by local authorities wish to set, but increases above referendum principles set by the Secretary of State must be approved by voters. To date, no referendum principles have been set for town and parish councils. The Secretary of State reviews the referendum principles annually and will set out his proposal for 2026-27 in the provisional local government finance.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for publishing the forthcoming cross-government homelessness strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The cross-government homelessness strategy will be published shortly.
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 steps his Department is taking to support local authorities with repeated vandalism impacting the operation of public facilities in Surrey.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides local authorities and other local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to ASB, including acts of vandalism and criminal damage.
It is for local areas and individual police forces to decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances of each case, however to support local areas in dealing with challenges, this Government has committed to delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel, and following on from the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, the Home Secretary announced a “Winter of Action” in which police forces across England and Wales, including Surrey, will again partner with local authorities, businesses, and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour and other local issues that matter most to their communities.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 (a) prevent and (b) reduce the risk of building fires caused by batteries from (i) ebikes and (ii) escooters.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is working closely with representatives and officials from across Government to build an evidence base, share intelligence and develop mitigations to tackle the fire risks linked to lithium-ion batteries, e-bikes and e-scooters.
A key element of this work is raising public awareness of safe use, storage and charging of e-bikes and e-scooters within residential buildings. MHCLG has developed educational resources in partnership with the National Fire Chiefs Council and local Fire and Rescue Services, as part of its national Fire Kills campaign.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the trends in insourcing in adult social care and children social care in England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government works closely with both the Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Education on the provision of, and funding for, social care services. Local Authorities are responsible for delivering adults and children’s social care services, and it is for them to decide how to deliver them locally and ensure there is adequate provision in their communities. The government is taking specific steps to ensure the delivery of quality care services that secure better outcomes whilst achieving value for money for the taxpayer; for example, investment in children’s residential care that includes creating 200 new placements in high-quality council-run children’s homes and powers through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ensure financial oversight of the children’s care home market.
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, further to Table A.5 of the OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2025, CP1439, 26 November 2025, according to information held by HM Government, if he will list the estimates for council tax receipts in each year from 2024-25 to 2030-31 for England only.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has published data on actual council tax collection rates in England which can be found on gov.uk here.
Estimates of council tax receipts (excluding police authorities, mayoral combined and county combined authorities and parish councils) will be published at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for England, for the years 2026-27, 2027-29 and 2028-29, later this year.
Table A.5 of the OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2025, CP1439 estimates UK-wide council tax receipts for 2029-30 and 2030-31 but these are not disaggregated to England level.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Minister of State for Housing and Planning on 24 November (HC Deb col 20), whether the call in process for sites capable of accommodating 150 or more housing units near railway stations will include railway stations in rural areas.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the Written Ministerial Statement published and attached on 18 November 2025 (HCWS1062)– noting the statement contains several discrete measures.
The Department intends to publish a consultation in due course which provides further detail on the announcement on a new Consultation Direction.
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, with reference to the Budget Statement on 26 November 2025, how many of the Government's planned 1.5 million homes will be built in Poole constituency by the end of the Parliament.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not forecast housing delivery for individual local planning authorities.
Indicative local housing need figures can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of expanding Housing First provision across England in the forthcoming cross-government homelessness strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our homelessness strategy will put prevention at its core, including setting out that interventions should be tailored to the individual needs of people at risk of homelessness.
Councils can use our homelessness funding flexibly to meet those needs, including by commissioning Housing First services which evidence has shown can transform the lives of people with complex needs.