Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 85948 on Immigration: English Language, whether the English language requirements would apply to asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The English language requirements will not apply to asylum seekers. As a signatory to the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), we are legally obliged to consider all asylum claims admitted to the UK asylum system and to consider people’s human rights in all circumstances where a person would be removed from the UK. This is irrespective of a person’s ability to speak English, and it ensures that we do not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they would face persecution or serious harm.
Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system is carefully considered on its individual merits. Protection is normally granted where a claimant has a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention, or a claimant faces a real risk of serious harm. Those found not to need protection are refused. Once appeal rights are exhausted, they are expected to leave the UK. Otherwise, they will be liable for enforcement action and removal.
English language proficiency is a requirement across a range of other immigration routes. Full details, including the list of routes and acceptable evidence, is available in the official guidance on Assessing the English Language requirement (accessible version) - GOV.UK.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78227 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Standards, if he will provide the data for each of those metrics from July 2024.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The metrics currently used in the dashboard are mainly derived from datasets available on the Office for National Statistics and GOV.UK websites, supported by both additional internal analysis and data sources provided under licence by third party organisations with restrictions on publication. This is used to support live policy development.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85784 on Local Government Finance, which local authorities have submitted disposal flexibility requests and had them approved since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts general direction was introduced in 2016 by the previous government and remains substantively unchanged.
As set out in the general direction and guidance, local authorities intending to use the discretionary freedoms must provide the government with details of their planned use of the flexibility. This is to make sure that the government is adequately sighted on the use of the flexibility and can monitor how it is used. Government does not, however, approve the plans or any specific use of the flexibility. Local authorities remain responsible for appropriately complying with the direction and guidance, and ensuring their decisions are in the best interests of local residents.
Government does not publish details of the plans submitted by local authorities, but authorities should, in accordance with the guidance that accompanies the direction, make their strategies publicly available, and use of the flexibility should be reported in the annual statement of accounts.
The table below illustrates the total number of local authorities who submitted their strategies under the direction for the last three financial years:
2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
73 | 89 | 60 |
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 his Department's website entitled Make things right, published in October 2025, what was the cost to the public purse of the translation into six languages; and on what basis were those languages chosen.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The cost of translations for the Make Things Right campaign website was £1,081.20. Translations were made of the languages social housing tenants who have English as a second language are most likely to speak.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 the Answer of 17 September 2025 to Question HL10289 on England: Anniversaries, if he will make it his policy to support the recognition of the 1100th anniversary of England's establishment as a unified state.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Further to the response to HL10289 on 17 September 2025, MHCLG currently has no plans as we are not responsible for anniversaries of this type. All policy announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85794 on Shops: Planning Permission, whether powers to block unwanted shops would apply to shops that are not otherwise long-term empty.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is introducing a number of powers to block unwanted shops that are not otherwise long-term empty.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will provide powers for ministers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vaping, and nicotine products to support legitimate businesses. The scheme will be subject to consultation by the Department of Health and Social Care before regulations are introduced.
Furthermore, we will introduce Cumulative Impact Assessments in gambling licensing, when parliamentary time allows. This will give councils greater control over the number of gambling outlets in their areas, helping to ensure a healthy mix of premises on their high streets.
Wider powers, such as streamlined compulsory purchase orders and community right to buy, will support local control and curation of high streets.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85795 on MHCLG: Glenigan, what planning metrics are provided to his Department by Glenigan.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Glenigan provide data on residential development sites and planning applications. Data fields include site dimensions, date application submitted, date application decided, decision outcome, number of proposed units, application type, site location, and planning authority, among other details.
My Department also receive a calculated metric on the number of homes granted planning permission at detailed and reserved matters stage each quarter. This is published in My Department’s quarterly planning applications statistics release.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of unauthorised traveller sites undertaking development on (a) weekends and (b) bank holidays to avoid Temporary Stop Notices; and if he will allow those notices to be (i) issued and (ii) enforced after that development.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is for local planning authorities to determine whether to enforce against unauthorised development and to keep records of their enforcement activities.
The government does not collect granular data on unauthorised development by type.
We have published guidance on various planning enforcement matters, including Temporary Stop Notices, and this is available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the trends in the number of unauthorised developments on land (a) owned by travellers and (b) not owned by travellers since July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is for local planning authorities to determine whether to enforce against unauthorised development and to keep records of their enforcement activities.
The government does not collect granular data on unauthorised development by type.
We have published guidance on various planning enforcement matters, including Temporary Stop Notices, and this is available on gov.uk here.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has commissioned research into the (a) underlying causes of trends in the number of children with special educational needs and (b) adequacy of funding to local authorities for supporting such children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
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.