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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on embedding circular design principles in the construction of 1.5million homes.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has written to the Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretaries of State for Business and Trade, Energy Security and Net Zero and Transport and invited them to join a Small Ministerial Group on Circular Economy (CE-SMG).

This group will govern, join up and drive CE work across government departments to support work relating to the Government’s Growth and Clean Energy Missions and feed into the Industrial Strategy.

The National Model Design Code and National Design Guide, which support the National Planning Policy Framework, already encourages the implementation of sustainable construction that focuses on reducing embodied energy, embedding circular economy principles to reduce waste, designing for disassembly and exploring the remodel and reuse of buildings where possible, rather than rebuilding.

Our continued commitment to well-designed homes and places is further supported through proposed updates to the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code in Spring 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Pension megafunds could unlock £80 billion of investment as Chancellor takes radical action to drive economic growth, published on 13 November 2024, whether she plans to appoint a body that will be legally accountable for (a) investment decisions, (b) paying pensions and (c) acquiring contributions from councils for proposed amalgamated local authority pension funds.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is consulting on proposals relating to asset pooling in the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales, following extensive engagement with sector stakeholders including the LGA.

The proposals in the consultation do not include mandatory merging of funds, and so a) assets and liabilities b) paying pensions and c) acquiring contributions from councils would remain the responsibility of the administering authority. Administering authorities would remain responsible for setting an investment strategy, with its implementation delegated to the pools.

All pools would be FCA-regulated investment management companies, with partner administering authorities as sole shareholders. Boards of all pool companies would be required to have the skills and experience appropriate to the leadership of an investment management company, meeting the requirements for FCA authorisation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Pension megafunds could unlock £80 billion of investment as Chancellor takes radical action to drive economic growth, published on 13 November 2024, whether the assets and liabilities of amalgamated local authority pension funds will remain with councils or become part of the Government's accounts.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is consulting on proposals relating to asset pooling in the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales, following extensive engagement with sector stakeholders including the LGA.

The proposals in the consultation do not include mandatory merging of funds, and so a) assets and liabilities b) paying pensions and c) acquiring contributions from councils would remain the responsibility of the administering authority. Administering authorities would remain responsible for setting an investment strategy, with its implementation delegated to the pools.

All pools would be FCA-regulated investment management companies, with partner administering authorities as sole shareholders. Boards of all pool companies would be required to have the skills and experience appropriate to the leadership of an investment management company, meeting the requirements for FCA authorisation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Pension megafunds could unlock £80 billion of investment as Chancellor takes radical action to drive economic growth, published on 13 November 2024, who will be responsible for appointing trustees for new amalgamated pension funds.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is consulting on proposals relating to asset pooling in the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales, following extensive engagement with sector stakeholders including the LGA.

The proposals in the consultation do not include mandatory merging of funds, and so a) assets and liabilities b) paying pensions and c) acquiring contributions from councils would remain the responsibility of the administering authority. Administering authorities would remain responsible for setting an investment strategy, with its implementation delegated to the pools.

All pools would be FCA-regulated investment management companies, with partner administering authorities as sole shareholders. Boards of all pool companies would be required to have the skills and experience appropriate to the leadership of an investment management company, meeting the requirements for FCA authorisation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the amalgamation of local government pension funds will be compulsory; whether pension funds will be able to choose which new fund to join; and whether she has had recent discussions with (a) the Local Government Association and (b) pension funds on her proposed changes.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is consulting on proposals relating to asset pooling in the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales, following extensive engagement with sector stakeholders including the LGA.

The proposals in the consultation do not include mandatory merging of funds, and so a) assets and liabilities b) paying pensions and c) acquiring contributions from councils would remain the responsibility of the administering authority. Administering authorities would remain responsible for setting an investment strategy, with its implementation delegated to the pools.

All pools would be FCA-regulated investment management companies, with partner administering authorities as sole shareholders. Boards of all pool companies would be required to have the skills and experience appropriate to the leadership of an investment management company, meeting the requirements for FCA authorisation.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how the funding for the warm homes policy will be targeted; and what steps he plans to take to ensure the funding is distributed to those most in need.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As the first step towards the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency, with £1bn of this allocated to next year. Additional funding will be considered in Phase 2 of the Spending Review, as the Warm Homes Plan is further developed.

The £3.4 billion includes £1.8 billion to support fuel poverty schemes, helping over 225,000 households reduce their energy bills by over £200. In addition, the Government recently announced Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund in England, which will replace the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to support social housing providers and tenants, with delivery expected in 2025. We have also announced a new Warm Homes: Local Grant to help low-income homeowners and private tenants in England with energy performance upgrades and cleaner heating.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, what extra funding he plans to provide for public health.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We will confirm 2025/26 local authority public health funding at the earliest opportunity, and will confirm future years’ funding following the upcoming Spending Review next spring.

The Autumn Budget sets out the Government’s commitment to strengthen the United Kingdom’s pandemic preparedness and health protection with £460 million of investment.

Certificate of Common Sponsorship

Found: Watch th e meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Anna Dixon;

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Nesil Caliskan

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair); Nesil Caliskan; Peter Fortune; Lloyd

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Mr Luke Charters

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Peter Fortune

Found: Anecdotally and personally, Clive Betts, the former Chair of the HCLG Committee, once told me that

Found: Anecdotally and personally, Clive Betts, the former Chair of the HCLG Committee, once told me that

Found: Anecdotally and personally, Clive Betts, the former Chair of the HCLG Committee, once told me that

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Nesil Caliskan

On 14 October 2024 the House of Commons agreed a motion to establish a committee, to be known as the Speaker’s Conference. That motion ordered that the Conference consider: