Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) statutory protections and (b) appeal mechanisms are available to people who are subject to charges arising from covenants imposed by freeholders.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Permission fees and administration charges should only be used where necessary and should cover only any reasonable costs incurred.
Any fees and charges should be justifiable, transparent, and communicated effectively and that there should be a clear route to redress if things go wrong.
By law, variable administration or permission charges must be reasonable, and leaseholders can challenge them by applying to the tribunal for a decision if they do not believe they are fair.
Measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 require landlords to publish an administration charge schedule, giving leaseholders more information and providing clarity on potential charges they face.
Leaseholders and freeholders burdened by a restrictive covenant have the option to seek modifications or discharges through the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) under Section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925, which outlines specific conditions that must be met for a successful application. The respective restrictive covenant and the likelihood of getting it removed will be case specific and landowners should seek independent legal advice.
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 12 January 2026 to Question 101474, whether (a) his Department and (b) its arm's length-bodies have adopted any environmental targets.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 101474 answered on 12 January 2026.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North 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 his Department has made of the potential impact of extending the statutory override for local authorities until the end of 2027/28 on the financial security of those local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from Dedicated Schools Grant deficits on their accounts. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engages regularly with local authorities and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy on the impact of the Dedicated Schools Grant deficits, and in June 2025, we announced a two-year extension to the Dedicated Schools Grant Statutory Override to support local authorities to manage these impacts. We recognise that the size of deficits that some councils may accrue while the Dedicated Schools Grant Statutory Override is in place may not be manageable with local resources alone. We will provide further detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later in the Local Government Finance Settlement process.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment was made in the process of developing the Fair Funding Allocation formulae of the adequacy of the evidence supplied by stakeholders and local authorities of the cost impacts of remoteness and rurality.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 and response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November, which set out the government's plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led funding system. The government also published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 on Wednesday 17 December 2025. The government is committed to continuing to work closely with the sector. We have now consulted four times on our proposals for reform and we are grateful for the high-quality and constructive responses received from local authorities and sector groups.
The government is committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Our updates will account for local circumstances, including the variation in cost of delivering services, such as between rural and urban areas. More detail can be found in the consultation response document here.
As part of this, the government is including a remoteness adjustment within the adult social care formula, as the best evidence we have heard indicates that distance from a major market has an impact on the cost of delivering social care services. We are also including a journey times adjustment, which is within the area cost adjustment applied to all our funding formulas, which accounts for the impact on the cost of labour of the difference in travel times to provide services; and increasing the cap within the home to school transport formula from 20 miles to 50 miles, in recognition that the original distance cap would unfairly penalise authorities who have no choice but to place children further from home.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has visited an integrated retirement community.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Officials in MHCLG engage regularly with representatives from the sector.
Ministerial meetings are published quarterly. The latest publication is available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 6 January (HL13173), what assessment have they made of the impact on the retention of playing fields if Sport England's role as a statutory consultee for development is stopped.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
A consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system closed on Tuesday 13 January 2026, and can be found (attached) on gov.uk here.
No decision will be made on Sport England’s role until feedback on the impacts of the consultation proposals has been fully reviewed.
Asked by: Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an overview of the key threats they have identified to the UK's electoral processes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes. Several government publications provide an overview of key threats to the UK’s electoral processes as part of the Government’s Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan to disrupt and deter foreign influence and spying from foreign states.
The Government’s strategy for modern, secure and inclusive elections, published in July, sets out our plan to strengthen oversight of and safeguards against known and emerging threats, including foreign interference through covert political funding. We will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks, protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy. The strategy can be found (attached) here: Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections - GOV.UK
Additionally, on December 16th 2025, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced an independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The terms of reference for the review can be found (attached) here: Independent review: countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics: Terms of Reference - GOV.UK
The findings of the independent review will build on both the Government’s Elections Strategy and Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan and inform the elections and democracy bill that we will bring forward this year.
Furthermore, the national technical authorities have published overviews of key threats. The guidance that the National Protective Security Agency published in October highlights the range of vectors and tactics that foreign actors are using to target individuals working in UK politics. This can be found (attached) here: Defending Democracy | National Security Act | NPSA and the NCSC published guidance for political organisations and individuals to counter the cyber threat to elections: Defending democracy - NCSC.GOV.UK
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration the independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics will give to the adequacy of existing safeguards, including the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme and lobbying rules, in relation to paid political influence activity carried out in the UK on behalf of foreign authorities and organisations whose senior leadership is subject to UK sanctions.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes. The Rycroft review will involve an in-depth assessment of current financial and bribery related rules and safeguards that regulate political parties and political finance. The terms of reference for the review can be found here: Independent review: countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics: Terms of Reference - GOV.UK
The outcome of the review will, where relevant, inform the elections and democracy bill that we have pledged to bring forward during this Parliament. However, given the review’s independence, we cannot pre-empt specifics of the ground it will cover, nor the recommendations it will make. It is right that the review is independent of Government and independent of any political party. We will be looking to mitigate the risk of foreign financial interference in UK politics from any actors and individuals who might wish to undermine our democracy.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 monitor the implementation of (a) the national standards for sustainable drainage systems and (b) updated planning policy, including what data it will collect on (i) compliance and (ii) adoption and maintenance arrangements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to securing the delivery of high-quality sustainable drainage systems to help manage flood risk and adapt to the effects of climate change.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that developments of all sizes are expected to make use of sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts. National Planning Guidance indicates that local planning authorities should be satisfied that all Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) have clear maintenance and adoption arrangements in place for the lifetime of a development.
We are currently consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, more ‘rules-based’ policies for decision-making. The consultation includes a proposed new requirement for SuDS to be designed in accordance with the National Standards for SuDS published last year. It will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
Responsibility for the implementation of national planning policy lies with local planning authorities, as does the monitoring of compliance with planning permissions.
We are also exploring how to improve the adoption of public amenities, including SuDS, on freehold estates. For further details, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 impact of the National Planning Policy Framework's Grey Belt Policy on the development of village infrastructure including (a) schools, (b) GP services, (c) transport and (d) wastewater; and what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of securing infrastructure before developments in village areas begin.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Question UIN 90834 on the 21 November 2025, Question UIN 67812 on the 21 July 2025, and Question UIN 26106 on the 5 February 2025.
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.
The proposed Green Belt policy is set out in Chapter 13 of the consultation which can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.