James Cleverly

There is no single budget ring-fenced for direct engagement with (a) civil society groups and (b) young people within the Attorney General's Office as a department. Ministers and officials meet with many civil society groups and young people as you would expect, in line with workstream priorities, and these are declared and publicised in the normal way. For example, the Attorney General was pleased to attend a recent event at Cumberland Lodge to engage with young people learning about human rights and looks forward to undertaking a series of school visits in due course.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Rt. Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 28th November is attached.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer of 15 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 75123.

The National Fraud Initiative (NFI), as part of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), works closely with local authorities to help them identify and prevent fraud.

The NFI is currently collaborating with local authorities to understand the fraud risks related to council tax second home premiums. This insight will inform options to detect and prevent fraud in this area, including the potential for a data matching pilot. This research will also be used to determine the fraud risk and the effectiveness of a data share.

If it is concluded that a data share would effectively target the risks, a planned timetable will be agreed to deliver the data matching pilot.

The Second Homes Premium was introduced by Westminster City Council on the 1st April 2025. This was billed by the council in July 2025 as a one-off payment for the financial year and paid on the same day.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Rt. Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th November is attached.

The Department for Business and Trade aims to respond to correspondence in 15 working days but in some instances it can take longer. The response to this case has now been issued and the department apologises for the length of time this has taken and are reviewing our processes to support better transfers between departments.

Responses are issued directly to the original correspondent in line with the Cabinet Office guidance for correspondence - Guide to Handling Correspondence - September 2024

A letter has been issued directly to the original correspondent.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 provided Companies House with enhanced powers to query, reject and share information proactively with law enforcement partners. These powers support the promotion of statutory objectives to ensure that required information is delivered, is accurate, is complete, is not false or misleading. Companies House aims to prevent companies and others from carrying out or facilitating unlawful activities.

The National Crime Agency’s National Economic Crime Centre supported action in October 2025 visited 2734 business. 376 were barbershops. 251 other businesses visited were designated as ‘beauty related businesses’ which may include barbershop type services.

Cement production is not classified as an eligible sector under the Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) compensation scheme, so there are no cement producers supported through the scheme. The sector, however, benefits from the Supercharger. I regret the drafting error in 78201, this has now been corrected.

My officials are in regular contact with the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and individual cement businesses to discuss issues affecting the sector. The Government will review the eligibility criteria for compensation in 2026 to ensure any support provided is for those sectors deemed most at risk of carbon leakage due to indirect carbon costs.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCCA) Act 2024 requires traders, including pubs, to display prices inclusive of all taxes and unavoidable charges before payment is made. Prices must be accurate and not misleading. Failure to do this may be taken as an unfair trading practice and constitute an offence.  Pubs can offer consumers a tipping facility to use should they wish to support the local pub and staff.

The department has no plans to assess the impact of any voluntary arrangements.

Park homes are eligible for support under the Warm Home: Local Grant (WH:LG). Officials would welcome working closely with local authorities and their supply chains, who deliver the scheme, to unlock any issues and ensure support reaches eligible households. Local authorities in receipt of the Warm Homes: Local Grant are encouraged to contact the department for advice or problem-solving, either through their assigned Delivery Support Manager (DSM) or directly with the department. We remain committed to working collaboratively to ensure park home residents benefit fully from the scheme.

The UK Government’s policy states that nuclear operators’ proposed programmes and plans for the management and disposal of radioactive waste should be developed by including wide stakeholder engagement. This should include local authorities and communities which may be impacted by the plans, including any host community in the vicinity of a waste treatment, storage or disposal facility.

In addition, the UK Government’s policy to deliver a geological disposal facility (GDF) for our most hazardous radioactive waste requires the explicit consent of the potential host community through a Test of Public Support.

The Clean Heat Market Mechanism is focused on developing the market and supply chain for upgrading homes with hydronic heat pumps – a core technology for the UK’s transition to cleaner heating since around 90% of UK homes have water-based central heating systems. The Government will keep the scope of the scheme under regular review.

The Government has published a response to the consultation on proposed Boiler Upgrade Scheme changes, confirming grants of £2,500 for air-to-air heat pumps in domestic properties, starting in 2026. This will increase consumer choice and support the UK’s transition towards low carbon heating systems.

In the recent Onshore Wind Taskforce Strategy, the government committed to publishing a consultation on whether the existing permitted development rights are fit for purpose and if they could support other forms of small-scale onshore wind deployment. The Department is currently conducting stakeholder engagement to prepare for this consultation. As part of this, some stakeholders have expressed interest raising the height limit for a permitted development onshore wind turbine to 30 metres, alongside other suggestions, conditions and limits. The Government will consider all options carefully ahead of consultation.

Following the Licensing taskforce report, the Government published a Call for Evidence on reforming the licensing system on 7 October, which closed on 6 November. The Call for Evidence invited views on the impact of licensing reforms, including in relation to Recommendation 4 of the taskforce on ending the requirement for printed statutory notices in local newspapers for alcohol licences. The reforms collectively aim to create a modern, proportionate, and enabling system that supports economic growth, revitalises high streets and fosters vibrant communities.

More broadly, the Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We also recognise that local press continues to play a central role in informing local communities, and that statutory notices can be important in helping inform the public of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property.

Additionally, the sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, taking advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and providing a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We also welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions to help public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively.

DCMS is monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of public notices. This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future. It will be taken into account in our planned review of statutory notices as part of the Local Media Strategy, which will more broadly consider the merits of making changes to existing requirements to place statutory notices in print local newspapers, including the impact this has on local transparency and the newspaper industry, including in Hertfordshire. The review will also take forward final decisions on the future of alcohol licence notices. More will be announced on the Strategy and the review in due course.

The Government Art Collection is a working collection, used across government buildings in the UK and the global estate, which means that artworks may change their display location from time to time in response to new display steers and requests.

In line with appropriate procedure, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport did not submit a representation to the planning application.

The new national short-term lets registration service entered its user testing pilot at the end of October to ensure it is robust, easy to use and meets the needs of the scheme ahead of launch in 2026. Feedback will be gathered from users who provide short-term lets across England as part of this development phase, in line with the Government Service Standard.

The Know Your Neighbourhood (KYN) Fund was launched in January 2023 as an up to £30 million package of funding designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England. This funding supported people living in disadvantaged areas to connect with others in their community and engage in volunteering, with the aim of improving wellbeing and pride in local areas.

In April 2025, the KYN Fund was extended until March 2026, with an additional up to £4.5 million of government funding. This funding will uplift existing grant awards to organisations in the 27 eligible delivery areas that had previously received KYN funding between 2022 and 2025, to enable them to continue delivery up until March 2026. It will build upon the original KYN objectives with funded projects also aimed at reducing loneliness stigma and building community cohesion.

The objectives of the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund are, by March 2026:

• To increase the proportion of people in targeted high-deprivation local authorities who volunteer at least once a month.

• To reduce the proportion of chronically lonely people in targeted high-deprivation local authorities who lack desired level of social connections.

• To build the evidence to identify scalable and sustainable place-based interventions that work in increasing regular volunteering and reducing chronic loneliness.

• To enable targeted high-deprivation local authorities, and the local voluntary and community sector in these places, to implement sustainable systems and processes that encourage volunteering and tackling loneliness.

Officials routinely engage with a range of different organisations.

The department does not usually publish minutes between officials and stakeholders.

International evidence indicates that the number of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is also increasing in comparable countries. Although definitions and systems vary considerably, the key drivers include improved understanding and diagnosis of need, as well as social and medical factors.

The department is strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings, for example through our recently published evidence reviews, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identifying-and-supporting-the-needs-of-children-with-send-in-mainstream-settings.

The department also funds a What Works in SEND programme, which is delivered by Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence Partnership. This programme produces research and local area case studies that harness best practice from practitioners and partner organisations on local area SEND service delivery.

The department is providing over £12 billion in the current 2025/26 financial year for supporting children and young people with complex SEND. This will help with the financial pressures that local authorities and schools are facing. The Schools White Paper, due to be published in the new year, will set out how we plan to move forward with reforms to improve the SEND system in future years.

There is a legal requirement to minimise the use of pesticides along roads and in areas used by the public. It is for each Local Authority to decide the best way of delivering cost-effective weed control in its operations while protecting people and the environment.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East, Joe Robertson, on 20 December 2024, PQ UIN 19914.

Defra recently published the 74th annual report to Parliament on smallholdings in England. The report indicated that council farms continue to play an important role in the tenanted agricultural sector across England.

Ministers have met with Greenpeace and discussions continue at an official level.

The consultation on statutory littering enforcement guidance was carried out under the previous Government.

In the Pride in Place strategy, we have committed to publishing such guidance and intend do so early next year. Councils will remain responsible for their enforcement activity but will have a duty to have regard to the guidance once it comes into force.