Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the council tax surcharge (1) bands, (2) multipliers, and (3) thresholds, from those previously announced in November 2025.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of social homes that will be delivered and occupied through the ÂŁ39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme by July 2029.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We announced initial allocations under the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) in August 2026. We confirmed that ÂŁ9.58 billion is being allocated to 33 Strategic Partners outside of London, including councils, housing associations and other providers to support the delivery of 73,600 new social and affordable homes across England over the next ten years.
Nearly two-thirds of homes delivered through these partnerships are expected to be for Social Rent.
This is the first major wave of funding allocations under the programme. Further funding will be allocated over the lifetime of the programme.
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 the constitutional status of Cornwall within the United Kingdom, other than as a (1) unitary council, and (2) a potential strategic authority area.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognised the Cornish as a national minority under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2014, recognising this unique culture and heritage. This status does not prevent it from accessing devolution and Government would ensure that this status would be preserved in any future devolution arrangement.
The Government’s ambition is that every area in England has, or is in the process of establishing, a Strategic Authority by the end of 2027, with Strategic Authorities in place everywhere by the end of 2028. The Government recently wrote to all areas without a Strategic Authority seeking confirmation of their devolution ambitions, including their preferences regarding mayoral or non-mayoral devolution. Cornwall Council has set out their preference and we will be confirming next steps to areas soon.
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 6 August (HL2668), what public interest reason there is for not publishing the presentations received from councils, elected representatives, and political groups regarding the planned cancellation of the May 2026 local elections.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A summary of the representations received was published here. The Government currently has no plans to publish the individual representations received.
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 13 July (HL1406), whether they intend to publish the technical specification of the data that is requested from local housing authorities on local authority housing waiting lists via continuous recording of lettings by local authorities data; and whether they have reviewed the data collection in this regard given its accredited official statistics status of the social housing lettings in England publication.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data on the number of households on the housing register (waiting lists) is collected as a snapshot at 31 March each year via the Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS). While commentary on the findings is included in the Social Housing Lettings statistical release, no data on housing registers is collected via the Continuous Recordings of Social Housing Lettings.
The latest guidance for the LAHS is published on gov.uk here. The LAHS data is quality assured by my department’s statisticians, as per the publication’s technical notes and in line with Code of Practice for statistics. The latest available are the 2024-25 technical notes which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on that body adopting the Government’s definition of anti-Muslim hostility.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government frequently discusses relevant matters with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The Commission is an independent statutory body, and decisions on adoption of the definition are a matter for the Commission.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether guidance has been issued to valuation officers from the HMRC Valuation Office regarding their behaviour during an internal inspection of a dwelling to gather property attribute data for a council tax valuation, including regarding whether they should take their shoes off if asked to do so by the householder.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC's Valuation Office does not publish guidance on property inspections for Council Tax purposes. However, staff undertaking property inspections are provided with guidance on professional conduct, which states that inspections should be carried out in a tactful, courteous and respectful manner and that occupiers should be treated with consideration and respect.
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 council housing sales have contributed to the construction of new social and affordable housing over each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Net receipts arising from Right to Buy sales received by local housing authorities between 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2017 could contribute up to 30% to the authorities’ expenditure on replacement social housing.
The same type of receipts received between 01 April 2017 and 31 March 2019 could contribute up to 40% to the same type of expenditure.
The same type of receipts from 01 April 2019 onwards can contribute up to 100% to this expenditure.
The number of new build completions funded through Right to Buy receipts can be found in Live Table 693 which can be found on gov.uk here, while the total number of new build completions of affordable housing can be found in Live Table 1009 which can be found on gov.uk here.
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 position on the maximum permissible variance in electorate between wards in the new unitary councils.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament. It reviews electoral and boundary arrangements for councils in England, including councillor numbers and the size and distribution of wards. The Commission can only conduct an electoral review once an authority exists in law. Where new councils are established, interim electoral arrangements will be included in the structural changes order. The Government will have regard to the Commission's published guidance on electoral reviews.
I refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026. The Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused activity in 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what Local Government Boundary Commission for England guidance they will have regard to when considering submissions from individual councils on the proposed new unitary councils' (1) external boundaries, (2) number of councillors, (3) size of wards, and (4) distribution of wards; and whether this issue will be in scope of their review announced on 7 September.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament. It reviews electoral and boundary arrangements for councils in England, including councillor numbers and the size and distribution of wards. The Commission can only conduct an electoral review once an authority exists in law. Where new councils are established, interim electoral arrangements will be included in the structural changes order. The Government will have regard to the Commission's published guidance on electoral reviews.
I refer the Noble Lord to the Secretary of State's oral statement of 7 September 2026. The Government has withdrawn the March 2026 decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and paused activity in 14 areas while a full review of the local government reorganisation programme is conducted. We recognise the need for clarity and will set out next steps as soon as possible.