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 Letter dated 19/12/2025 from Steve Reed MP to Council Leaders in England regarding the four day week in local government, DEP2026-0220, whether he plans to take best value action against (a) Cambridge City Council and (b) South Cambridgeshire District Council.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Ministers take a range of factors into account when considering whether to exercise statutory powers in relation to a local authority and will only act where necessary to secure compliance with the Best Value duty, underpinned by robust evidence of widespread, systemic, corporate, or service failure. The Secretary of State's letter of 19 December 2025 makes clear that statutory guidance in relation to the 4 day week remains in force.
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 the estimated profile of central government spending is for each year of the Social and Affordable Housing Programme 2026-2036.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 60128 on 4 July 2025.
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 amount and proportion of the new Affordable Housing Programme will be allocated to providing traveller sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Allocations under the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) will be subject to the bids received.
Proposals for Traveller Pitches will be assessed against the SAHP assessment criteria: value for money, deliverability and strategic fit.
The specific funding requirements for Traveller Pitches are set out in documents published by Homes England including the Capital Funding Guide for bids outside of London and documents published by the Greater London Authority including the Capital Funding Guide for bids in London.
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 recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on preventing tenancy swaps.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters’ Rights Act does not alter how tenancy swaps work for assured periodic tenancies.
If all tenants and the landlord agree, then a tenant can be swapped for a new one. In such circumstances, the tenancy would continue on the same terms and conditions, without the need for the remaining tenants to vacate the property temporarily or undertake referencing checks for the remaining tenants again.
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 21 May 2026 to Question 187 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Departmental Responsibilities, whether he was accompanied by a special adviser at those Labour YIMBY events.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
He was, in line with the practice of successive administrations.
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 guidance he has issued on whether the sub-division of open or agricultural land requires planning permission.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no current plans to publish planning practice guidance specifically on the sub-division of agricultural units.
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 his Department has undertaken any assessment of whether rules on fast food outlets in the National Planning Policy Framework are being applied by local planning authorities in respect of applications to open new branches of (a) Pret a Manger, (b) Subway, (c) Greggs, or (d) fish and chip shops.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 122204 on 1 April 2026.
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 21 May 2026 to Question 453 on Council Tax, if he will place the new burdens assessment in the Library.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will publish the outcome of this new burdens assessment on GOV.UK as it has done for previous new burdens assessments.
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 the budget is for local election pilot schemes in the May 2027 local elections; and whether a prospectus will be published on gov.uk.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has not yet confirmed whether local election pilot schemes will take place at the May 2027 local elections. We very much welcome the positive feedback we have had from local authorities and communities on the 2026 pilots, and are also keen to consider the findings of the formal evaluation currently in progress.
Details regarding funding and communications for potential future pilots will be made available in due course.
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 proportion of (a) remediation applications and (b) new build applications are rejected by the Building Safety Regulator.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Regulator publishes Gateway 2 building control data on a monthly basis which can be found here.
At Gateway 2 the Building Safety Regulator rejected 10% of validated new build applications and 21% of validated remediation applications over the 12-week reporting period to 30th May 2026.