Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP 1218), whether the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has assessed the merits of writing off council debt for those local authorities who decide to pursue a unitary model under the local government re-organisation proposals.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December announced that the Government will facilitate local government reorganisation for two-tier areas and for unitary councils where there is evidence of failure, or where their size or boundaries may be hindering their ability to deliver sustainable and high-quality public services.

Previous Secretaries of State used statutory powers to intervene in a small number of councils failing their Best Value Duty partly associated with high levels of unsustainable debt. We will work closely with local leaders to explore what support they might need to develop robust proposals and implement new structures, including where there has been failure. We will continue to work with Best Value Commissioners in these councils to support the councils’ financial recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what voting system will be used to elect mayors to strategic authorities under their proposals in the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024 (CP 1218).

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has no plans at this time to change the voting system for mayoral elections.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024 (CP 1218), whether Bedford Borough Council, the London Borough of Croydon, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, the London Borough of Hackney, Leicester City Council, the London Borough of Lewisham, Mansfield District Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council, the London Borough of Newham, North Tyneside Council, Salford City Council, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and Watford Borough Council will be permitted to retain their directly elected mayoral model.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As set out in the English Devolution White Paper we will consider which governance models available to local authorities across the sector will best support their decision making.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what process local authorities should follow when producing a spatial development strategy as set out in the their English Devolution White Paper published on the 16 December 2024 where the local authority does not sit within a strategic authority.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Legislation regarding the production of spatial development strategies (SDS) will be included in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which has yet to be laid before Parliament.

For areas that are not covered by a strategic authority, the duty to produce an SDS will rest with upper tier county councils and unitary councils. These areas should form groupings in order to produce their SDS. These groupings should be in accordance with our “sensible geography” criteria as set out in the English Devolution White Paper. We propose to take a power in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill for the Secretary of State to direct such groupings where they are not forthcoming.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication on 16 December 2024 of the English Devolution White Paper, whether a degree of flexibility will be applied when considering proposals for new authorities which fall below a population of 500,000.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

On 5 February the Minister for English Devolution and Local Government wrote to all councils in two-tier areas and small neighbouring unitaries to invite them to prepare proposals for reorganisation. This invitation set out guidance from the Secretary of State for proposals including that new unitaries must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. As a guiding principle, new councils should aim for a population of 500,000 or more. There may be certain scenarios in which this 500,000 figure does not make sense for an area, including on devolution, and this rationale should be set out in a proposal.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following recent red weather warnings issued by the Met Office, what plans they have to activate a Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance to local authorities.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government is ready to consider local authority requests for Bellwin Scheme support. This can reimburse immediate eligible response costs for authorities affected by emergencies and disasters in their area including severe weather events after they occur.

Link to the Bellwin guidance: Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance to local authorities: guidance notes for claims - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024 on the ability of waste disposal authorities to generate an income from disposing of recyclable materials.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The DRS (Deposit Return Scheme) aims to reduce littering of in-scope containers. Once the DRS is operational, our Impact Assessment analysis estimates savings to local authority street cleaning costs of around £30 million per year.

Many of the containers not returned through the scheme may continue to travel through local authority waste streams such as kerbside recycling. The introduction of a DRS has a varying impact on local authorities recycling collections; there may be efficiency savings from collecting and processing less material, however we also understand the DRS will remove a material from local authority recycling streams. Details can be found in the Final Impact Assessment.

We anticipate the scheme administrator – the Deposit Management Organisation – working closely with local authorities to ensure as much material is returned as possible and to help meet collection targets and keep material within the closed-loop model of the DRS.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal against local authority decisions relating to special education needs are upheld.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

In the Academic Year 2023-24 (the latest period for which statistics have been published), 16,726 appeals were disposed, of which 11,157 appeals had outcomes decided. Of the 11,157 decided, 11,007 were decided in favour of the appellant (upheld¹). This represents 66% of all outcomes (conceded, decided and withdrawn) and 99% of the total appeals decided in this Academic Year.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (which administers the First-tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)) is working with colleagues from the Department for Education to understand the increase in Education, Health Care Plans (EHCPs); the increasing demand on the Tribunal; and also, how to improve initial decision making by Local Authorities.

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.

¹Appeals are counted as upheld when the majority of the Local Authority’s decision is overturned.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend the Prevent programme to continue to fund Prevent education officers.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office will continue to provide dedicated Prevent funding to 27 local authorities considered to face the highest threat from terrorism to help them to go above and beyond the requirements of the statutory Prevent duty. This funding can be used by local authorities to fund dedicated Prevent posts, including Prevent Education Officers.

Found: Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCA) • Chairman of trustees, The Street Soccer Foundation Baroness Eaton