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, how many Section 321 directions have been issued to allow for closed planning hearings in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the last ten years Section 321 directions have been issued in relation to two applications.
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, pursuant to the answer of 28 May 2024, to Question 53574, on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, and with reference to page 26 of the Section 106 agreement, for what reason the agreement references Articles 13 and 141 of the EU Treaty Articles.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here.
The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety. The EU Treaty Articles are addressed at footnote 47 of the decision letter.
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, what the cost to local authorities was of providing social care to asylum seekers in each financial year since 2019-20 by (a) adults, (b) children in families and (c) unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data about local authorities’ spend on all services through the General Fund revenue outturn collection, including spend on social care for asylum seekers in the General Fund Revenue Account Outturn RO3 - Social Care and Public Health Services. The collection for each financial year is published online here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK. The guidance notes which describe what should be captured in each line can be found here: General fund revenue account outturn: specific guidance notes - GOV.UK.
The reported spend is available for both the national and local authority level.
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, what research his Department has undertaken into the reasons for sites with planning permission being (a) stalled and (b) not built out.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In May 2025, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built. It can be found on gov.uk here. The working paper drew on a range of independent research and market studies, including the Letwin Review and the Competition and Markets Authority’s October 2024 market study into housebuilding, exploring stalled sites and build out rates.
Alongside the working paper, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential developments, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. That consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
We are now analysing the responses to both consultations, and we will set out our next steps in due course.
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, what plans he has to introduce planning reforms through primary legislation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning and Infrastructure Act received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill , which contains provisions relating to housing and strategic planning, continues its passage through the other place.
Parliament will continue to be updated in the usual way in respect of the government’s planning reform agenda, including any future measures which may require primary legislation.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 made an assessment of the risk to public safety from the publication of sensitive information relating to the physical security of properties on local authority planning registers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no such assessment.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 106884 on 27 January 2026.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 social housing sector in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283)
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, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104789 on Council Tax: Tax Yields, whether his Department has unpublished working estimates of the revenue from council tax in England in each year from 2026-27 onwards based on the assumptions in the Spending Review.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department routinely considers a range of council tax data as part of policy development and has published its estimates of the revenue from council tax in England in each year from 2026-27 onwards.
As part of the multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government has made estimates of changes to Core Spending Power for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. This includes estimates of the council tax councils will set for those years. These estimates are set out here. These estimates exclude parish precepts, police and crime commissioner precepts.
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, what information his Department holds on the (a) number, (b) total and (c) individual amount of local authority exit payments by authority in 2024-25.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government publishes data on local authority exit payments on an annual basis. It is available on gov.uk here.
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, what information his Department holds on (a) changes in local authority spending on social care for asylum seekers between 2019-20 and 2024-25 and (b) the reasons for those changes.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG collects data about local authorities’ spend on all services through the General Fund revenue outturn collection, including spend on social care for asylum seekers in the General Fund Revenue Account Outturn RO3 - Social Care and Public Health Services. The collection for each financial year is published online here: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK. The guidance notes which describe what should be captured in each line can be found here: General fund revenue account outturn: specific guidance notes - GOV.UK.
The reported spend is available for both the national and local authority level.