Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Khan of Burnley on 1 April (HL Deb col 134) that clause 3 of the Non-Domestic Ratings (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill provides powers to "exclude classes of hereditament from the higher multiplier", whether they will exclude those hereditaments that are publicly funded, including (1) hospitals, (2) police stations, and (3) educational buildings.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to apply a higher rate from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants, so that they can help support the viability of high streets.
The Spring Statement confirmed the spending envelope for phase 2 of the spending review, which will deliver new mission-led, technology-enabled and reform-driven budgets for departments. We will consider the full range of priorities and pressures facing departments in the round, including any impact of the higher multiplier, when setting these budgets.
The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
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 answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 24 March (HL Deb cols 1447–9), whether they have met insurance companies about the rising insurance costs of leaseholders due to the lower remediation required by PAS 9980.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Officials in my department engage regularly with the insurance industry and Minister Norris met representatives earlier in the year. PAS9980:2022 sets out steps that can be taken to identify and assess risk factors as well as mitigation steps that might improve the risk rating of a building via a holistic and fact-based assessment of a building’s construction.
Once buildings comply with Building Regulations or align with industry-accepted PAS 9980 standards, insurers should offer affordable premiums and should not be prescribing additional remedial works.
BSI has commenced the review, which will include a six-week public consultation, and BSI anticipates publishing the updated guidance in early 2026. The consultation will provide the opportunity for industry and the public to participate in the review of PAS 9980.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will amend the PAS 9980 Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls and Cladding of Flats code of practice to require compliance with building regulations and statutory guidance in force at the time of construction.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The British Standards Institution (BSI) developed and published PAS 9980 and Government has sponsored BSI to review it to make sure it captures best practices, meets market needs, and identifies any necessary revisions. BSI has commenced the review, which will include a six-week public consultation, and BSI anticipates publishing the updated guidance in early 2026. The consultation will provide the opportunity for industry and the public to participate in the review of PAS 9980.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether additional funding and support is available to local authorities in drawing up draft boundaries in response to the Government’s proposals for local government reorganisation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
£7.6 million will be made available in the form of local government reorganisation proposal development contributions, to be split across the 21 two-tier local government areas which the government has invited proposals from. This is the first time that capacity funding has been made available for reorganisation proposals, recognising the priority that this government attaches to this. Further information will be provided on how this will be allocated and we intend to make payments as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to amending building regulations to require the use of non-fossil-fuel heat sources for all new properties.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Future standards next year will set our new homes on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and towards more clean, secure energy. These homes will be future proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency. No further energy efficiency retrofit work will be necessary to enable them to become zero-carbon over time as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.
The Future Homes Standard consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. It set out detailed technical proposals for what future standards could entail. All the options that were proposed would preclude the use of fossil-fuel heating in new homes. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the consultation and will publish the Government response in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adherence of local authorities to the requirement of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 that profits from off-street car parking may not be transferred to their general fund.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Financial provisions relating to the income and expenditure of local authorities in connection with parking are stipulated in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Subsection 4 of section 55 specifies the purposes for the application of any surplus income from parking. This includes making good any deficit charged to the general fund in the preceding four financial years.
In line with the Local Authority Transparency Code, local authorities should each year publish their costs and profits relating to their parking management, allowing the public to hold councils to account. Parking is the responsibility of local authorities, and it is for them to determine what is best for their own area.
Off-street parking and all matters relating to it are the responsibility of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government following the passage of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, whether local authorities are able to determine the number of housing units that their district needs without having to follow any direction from the Government on numbers required.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The definition of deliverable sites is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework also sets out that authorities should use the standard method to calculate housing need.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in calculating a five-year supply of allocated housing sites, they will include (1) those sites with existing planning consent but not yet developed, and (2) units not yet built in partly developed sites.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The definition of deliverable sites is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework also sets out that authorities should use the standard method to calculate housing need.
Asked by: Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the transport infrastructure plan known as Network North includes the intent to electrify the whole of the Trans-Pennine line (1) from Liverpool to Hull, (2) and from Liverpool to Newcastle.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Yes, this is the case.
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 Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Government (Levelling Up), during her visit to Hull on 28 February that she would like to see a devolution deal for Hull and the East Riding “sooner rather than later”, when they will provide further details of any plans.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Hull and East Yorkshire were announced in the Levelling Up White Paper as an early County Deal area. The Minister for Levelling Up visited Hull on 28 February where she took part in conversations with the Leaders of Hull and East Yorkshire about their plans for devolution in the region. Devolution discussions will continue following the May elections.