Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government which councils and combined authorities will have elections in May 2027; and which will have their scheduled elections cancelled as a consequence of unitary restructuring.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government remains committed to the indicative timetable for local government reorganisation set out in July 2025, with elections to the new councils scheduled for May 2027. These will replace local elections for any existing councils in those areas.
The two Combined Authorities of Cumbria and Cheshire & Warrington will also hold inaugural mayoral elections in May 2027, to align with the majority of other local elections taking place.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Livermore on 14 May (HLWS9), and further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 23 April (HL16466), what estimate they have made of total business rate receipts in England, including both local and central lists, in (1) 2024–25, (2) 2025–26, (3) 2026–27, (4) 2027–28, and (5) 2028–29.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Local authority estimates of business rates receipts are published by the department annually:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils
Business rates receipts in England are estimated to be £26.4bn in 2024-25, £29.5bn in 2025-26 and £30.6bn in 2026-27. These figures exclude receipts from the central list.
Estimates of Rateable Value for each property on the central list are published by the Valuation Office, which can be used to calculate estimated business rates receipts:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-central-rating-list
Business rates receipts from the central list are estimated to be £2.1bn in both 2024-25 and 2025-26 and £2.4bn in 2026-27.
For 2027-28 and 2028-29, estimates come from the calculations that support the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast. These show that business rates receipts are estimated to be £34.0bn for 2027-28 and £34.8bn for 2028-29 in England, including both local and central lists.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 Taylor of Stevenage on 9 April (HL15984), how they plan to evaluate the effectiveness of new approaches being tested by local authorities to tackle long-term rough sleeping.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Further to the Written Answer given on 9 April (HL15984), the £15 million for local authorities to test new approaches to reducing long-term rough sleeping has been allocated to areas facing the greatest long-term rough sleeping pressures.
Local authorities were selected based on both high absolute numbers and a high proportion of people experiencing long-term rough sleeping over the month. Further information on the local authorities provided with this funding is available here.
Local authorities and their partners are best placed to assess local needs and determine how funding can be used most effectively to reduce long-term rough sleeping in their areas. Areas receiving funding will be required to achieve a reduction in long-term rough sleeping, measured through the Local Outcomes Framework, and to improve the maturity of local systems for managing long-term rough sleeping. Each area receiving this funding will be required to produce a Long-Term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plan, which sets out how, with partner agencies, they will deliver system changes to address long-term rough sleeping.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 Taylor of Stevenage on 9 April (HL15984), how they plan to mitigate the risk of funding from the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund being concentrated among larger organisations with greater bidding capacity.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The risk of funding being concentrated among larger organisations is mitigated through the design of the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, as set out in the prospectus. Eligibility for the Fund is restricted to voluntary, community and faith sector organisations with a maximum annual income of £5 million. This limits access to small and medium sized organisations and excludes larger organisations.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 Taylor of Stevenage on 9 April (HL15984), what frameworks and oversight mechanisms will be used to allocate the £15 million for local authorities to test new approaches to help reduce long-term rough sleeping.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Further to the Written Answer given on 9 April (HL15984), the £15 million for local authorities to test new approaches to reducing long-term rough sleeping has been allocated to areas facing the greatest long-term rough sleeping pressures.
Local authorities were selected based on both high absolute numbers and a high proportion of people experiencing long-term rough sleeping over the month. Further information on the local authorities provided with this funding is available here.
Local authorities and their partners are best placed to assess local needs and determine how funding can be used most effectively to reduce long-term rough sleeping in their areas. Areas receiving funding will be required to achieve a reduction in long-term rough sleeping, measured through the Local Outcomes Framework, and to improve the maturity of local systems for managing long-term rough sleeping. Each area receiving this funding will be required to produce a Long-Term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plan, which sets out how, with partner agencies, they will deliver system changes to address long-term rough sleeping.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the Renters' Rights Act 2025, when they expect court readiness to be achieved; and how court readiness will be assessed.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answers given to the oral question Renters’ Rights Act: Definition of Court Readiness on Tuesday 24th March 2026.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the level of total business rate receipts to be raised in England in (1) 2025-26, (2) 2026-27, and (3) 2027-28; and what is the working estimate of the cost of the new Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief in each year of the 2026 revaluation cycle.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Local authority estimates of business rates receipts are published by the department annually: National non-domestic rates collected by councils.
Business rates receipts for 2025-26 are estimated to be £29.5bn and £30.6bn for 2026-27. These figures exclude receipts from the central list. For 2027-28, estimates come from the calculations that support the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast. These show that local list receipts are estimated to be £31.5bn.
The estimated value of the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief can be found within the OBR’s Policy Measures Database. This is accessible via the following link: Data - Office for Budget Responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 Taylor of Stevenage on 9 April (HL15984), what progress has been made to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are taking action now to meet our target to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament. This includes providing record levels of funding with £3.6 billion for homelessness prevention and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Councils will have more freedom and flexibility than ever before on how they use their funding.
We are also investing £15 million in our Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme to enable councils with the greatest pressures to deliver more personalised and comprehensive support for people with complex needs. We are supporting people into stable housing by investing £124 million in supported housing services and providing £37 million to our key partners working in the voluntary, community and faith sector to support recovery from homelessness.
The latest data shows that 3,175 people estimated to be sleeping rough over the month in December 2025 had been sleeping rough long-term.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - 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 Taylor of Stevenage on 9 April (HL15984), what frameworks and oversight mechanisms will be used to allocate the £37 million intended for voluntary, community and faith organisations to help to reduce long-term rough sleeping.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The £37 million for voluntary, community and faith organisations (VCFS) will be allocated through a national grant programme (the Ending Homelessness and Communities Fund), via a competitive application process, as set out within the prospectus.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the 1.5 million new homes they committed to building by the end of this Parliament have been built to date.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question PQ HL14161 (attached) on 13 February 2026.