Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to give powers to councils to reject applications for new betting shops, vapes stores and fake barbers.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is taking action to give local authorities and communities the power greater control over the mix of uses on their high streets. Later this year Government will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy, backed by at least £150 million of support, to tackle the challenges care about most.
When parliamentary time allows, we will introduce Cumulative Impact Assessments in gambling licensing, enabling councils to better manage the concentration of gambling premises in vulnerable areas. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will also provide powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products. Alongside this, the 2025 Budget committed £15 million per year to tackle illegal activity on the high street.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
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 whether an external assurance review is taking place in each of the six councils being provided with Exceptional Financial Support for 2026-27.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government is delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. However, delivering reform will take time, and the government recognises the challenging financial context for local authorities as they continue to deal with the legacy of the previous flawed system.
On 23 February government published details of Exceptional Financial Support provided to a number of councils to help them set balanced budgets for 2026-27. Full details of all support agreed under the Exceptional Financial Support process since 2020-21 are available on GOV.UK. As a requirement of support, the government will be seeking additional external assurance on all of these councils to support local improvement as well as provide an assessment on the actions each council is taking locally to manage its position.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help tackle deaths among homeless people caused primarily by drug use.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
People dying whilst homeless is devasting and we must do all we can to prevent avoidable deaths.
The government’s £61.7 million Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment programme funds drug and alcohol treatment services to improve substance misuse and recovery outcomes, reduce the number of people sleeping rough due to substance misuse, and prevent deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning.
We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament and the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding for a generation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of civil servants in her Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Due to the nature of locally managed arrangements, we are unable to confirm the total number of staff currently utilising flexible working options. However, we can confirm that, as of 31 August 2025, 1,158 payroll-active employees have formally arranged flexible working in place. This represents approximately 29% of the workforce. Of these, 690 employees have formal compressed hours arrangements, equating to 17% of the workforce.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of potential impact of the Renter's Rights Bill on the supply of private rented housing for people from each (a) income group and (b) geographic region.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published an Impact Assessment for the Renters' Rights Bill on 22 November 2024. It received a 'Green' rating from the Regulatory Policy Committee, indicating that it is 'fit for purpose'.
While we acknowledge that it will take time for the sector to adjust to a significant change in regulation, we do not believe that our Renters’ Rights Bill will have a harmful impact on future rental supply.
Although landlords have been aware of successive governments’ plans to reform the private rented sector since 2019, the size of the sector as a whole has remained broadly stable since 2013-14.
The Bill will make sure good landlords have the confidence they need to continue to invest and operate in the sector. We will continue to work with good landlords and their representative associations throughout implementation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Renters’ Rights Bill on levels of private rented housing availability.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published an Impact Assessment for the Renters' Rights Bill on 22 November 2024. It received a 'Green' rating from the Regulatory Policy Committee, indicating that it is 'fit for purpose'.
While we acknowledge that it will take time for the sector to adjust to a significant change in regulation, we do not believe that our Renters’ Rights Bill will have a harmful impact on future rental supply.
Although landlords have been aware of successive governments’ plans to reform the private rented sector since 2019, the size of the sector as a whole has remained broadly stable since 2013-14.
The Bill will make sure good landlords have the confidence they need to continue to invest and operate in the sector. We will continue to work with good landlords and their representative associations throughout implementation.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Renter's Rights Bill on the number of court-adjudicated evictions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department is working closely with the Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunal Service to ensure that the county courts are ready for the implementation of the Renters' Rights Bill. This includes an ongoing assessment of any additional burdens on the justice system arising from the Bill.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff in her Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions her Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For the latest period published, May 2025, the occupancy of the Department’s Headquarters (as against available capacity) ranged between 71% to 78%. The Department’s expectation on Office Attendance is consistent with the general approach across the Civil Service i.e. that individuals will attend an office 60% of the time over the long term. If an individual employee does not meet the agreed expectation for Office Attendance it will be dealt with via existing management processes and, ultimately, with disciplinary action should there be a sustained failure to comply.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to simplify the application process for the Disability Facilities Grant.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why government awarded an £86 million in-year uplift to the DFG for 2024-25, bringing the total funding for 2024-25 to £711 million. Government has also confirmed £711 million for the DFG for 2025-26.
In March 2022 government published guidance for local authorities in England on the effective and efficient delivery of the grant, including best practice in setting out the application process. A link to the guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-facilities-grant-dfg-delivery-guidance-for-local-authorities-in-england. It is for each local authority to decide its own application processes in line with the legislative requirements, but the guidance makes clear that local authorities should ensure the needs of applicants are at the heart of the grant application process.
Government continues to keep all aspects of the DFG under consideration. As part of this, the suitability of the current £30,000 upper limit is being reviewed. Government is also reviewing the allocations formula for the DFG to ensure the funding is aligned with local needs and will consult on a new approach during 2025. Any changes in policy that require additional funding would be subject to the Spending Review.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
For all of offices except Darlington, we have a desk booking system which enables staff to reserve a desk prior to attending the office. However, it is a recommendation rather than a requirement for staff to reserve a space in advance. In the Darlington Economic Campus, staff book a space rather than a desk to attend the office and this is done in collaboration with the other Departments we share with.
ALBs operate at arm's length from the department and have the flexibility to determine their own workplace policies, including desk booking arrangements. The department does not collect this information centrally.