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, in what financial year will the new default arrangements for council tax bills being billed in 12 instalments, rather than 10, come into effect.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published a consultation on modernising and improving council tax administration which included a proposal on whether to move to default 12 monthly council tax billing whilst retaining the option to pay over 10 months. The government is currently considering all responses on this proposal and will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a unit would be defined as a "start on site" under the Affordable Homes Programme were it located on part of a site where existing residents are living in buildings that would need to be demolished before development can begin.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The definition of start on site for the Affordable Homes Programme is set out in the Capital Funding Guides (attached) for Homes England and Greater London Authority. Start on site is achieved when:
Start on site can be recorded where demolition works, or other infrastructure work eligible under the published definition, have commenced.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all units in a multi-phase development scheme under the Affordable Homes Programme would be defined as a "start on site" when only part of the scheme has commenced enabling works.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The definition of start on site for the Affordable Homes Programme is set out in the Capital Funding Guides (attached) for Homes England and Greater London Authority. Start on site is achieved when:
Start on site can be recorded where demolition works, or other infrastructure work eligible under the published definition, have commenced.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a unit would be defined as a "start of site" if the building designs had not been updated to comply with fire-safety regulations.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The definition of start on site for the Affordable Homes Programme is set out in the Capital Funding Guides (attached) for Homes England and Greater London Authority. Start on site is achieved when:
Start on site can be recorded where demolition works, or other infrastructure work eligible under the published definition, have commenced.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2006 to Question 107949 on Local Government: Elections, whether Basildon councillors elected for two year terms in 2024, whose elections in 2026 have been postponed, will be up for election in 2027.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In areas where elections are postponed, existing councillors will have their term of office extended for a short period to smooth the transition to new unitary councils. We expect elections then to take place at the earliest opportunity in 2027 to the new councils. A councillor can stand in elections for the new unitary authority at the same time as serving their term in the existing council.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January to Question 107950 on Local Government: Elections, what will be the length of term of Thurrock councillors elected in 2022.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In areas where elections are postponed, existing councillors will have their term of office extended for a short period to smooth the transition to new unitary councils. We expect elections then to take place at the earliest opportunity in 2027 to the new councils. A councillor can stand in elections for the new unitary authority at the same time as serving their term in the existing council.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the current legal grounds for local authorities to postpone local elections planned in May.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The legal basis for postponing local elections is set out in section 87 of the Local Government Act 2000, which gives the Secretary of State, not local authorities, the power to change the year in which ordinary local elections are held by an order which is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
In order to inform his decisions on postponing the May 2026 elections, the Secretary of State wrote to councils on 18 December inviting leaders to set out if a postponement in their area would help release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 potential merits of extending the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to cover housing associations in England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government is committed to increasing transparency and accountability in the social rented sector.
In September 2025, we directed the Regulator of Social Housing to introduce new Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) for private registered providers (PRPs) of social housing, including housing associations, to enable residents to request information about their housing management. From October 2026, PRPs will be required to proactively publish information relating to the management of their social housing. From April 2027, they will also be required to respond to information requests from tenants.
We carefully considered the case for bringing PRPs of social housing within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 but ultimately decided that a bespoke scheme would be the most effective and proportionate way of ensuring that all social tenants can access information about the management of their homes.
The divergences from FOI, such as specifying that only tenants and their representatives can access information and that information requests must relate to issues relevant to the management of social housing, are proportionate for PRPs in their capacity as private businesses.
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, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the assessment of entitlement to a Council Tax reduction for residents who are in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has not issued any recent guidance to local authorities on the assessment of entitlement to a council tax reduction for residents who are in receipt of Universal Credit. The administration of council tax reduction for working-age claimants is the responsibility of local authorities. The government encourages taxpayers who are in hardship to contact their local authority to discuss their options.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to launch the Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme; and whether that programme will include the expansion of Housing First.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We will launch our £15 million Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme shortly. The funding will enable councils to trial and deliver new approaches to support people furthest away from resolving their rough sleeping.
The government will provide £3.5 billion funding for homelessness services from 2026/27 to 2028/29, of which over £3 billion will be allocated to local government through the Local Government Finance Settlement. Councils can use this funding flexibly to meet the needs of people in their areas, including by commissioning Housing First services which evidence has shown can transform the lives of people with complex needs.