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 issued advice on ensuring (a) community cohesion and (b) integration, in the context of Operation Raise the Colours during summer 2025.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Prime Minister has been clear that he supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Decisions about whether flags should be removed are devolved to local authorities and it is for them to assess the impacts of removing or allowing flags to remain.
My Department engages with local authorities on a regular basis across numerous meetings. Where the subject has been raised we have been clear that everyone can make their own decisions, including local councils, on flying flags and that guidance exists to support them, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.
It is important that the decisions taken by local authorities reflect the character and values of the communities they serve. Where symbols are used in ways that threaten public safety, it is right that action is taken to address this.
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, how much funding will be allocated to the Pride of Place programme in each of the next 10 years.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 25 September the Government announced the Pride in Place Programme, supporting 244 of Great Britain’s most in need neighbourhoods with up to £20m each over the next decade. This will serve as the cornerstone of this Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods programme areas that were announced in March.
The full funding profile for the Phase 1 Pride in Place neighbourhoods is detailed in the Plan for Neighbourhoods prospectus, published on GOV.UK on 16 June 2025. This is set out at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-neighbourhoods-prospectus-and-tools/plan-for-neighbourhoods-prospectus. Further details about the funding profile for Phase 2 Pride in Place Programme neighbourhoods will be published shortly.
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 16 September 2025 to Question 75626 on Business Premises: Rents, what sources of external research were used to produce the impact assessment.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 75626 on 16/9/2025.
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, with reference to paragraphs 24 and 37 of the Pride in Place Strategy, published on 25 September 2025, how much funding he plans to provide for the (a) 76 places and (b) 169 additional places in each of the next 10 years.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 25 September the Government announced the Pride in Place Programme, supporting 244 of Great Britain’s most in need neighbourhoods with up to £20m each over the next decade. This will serve as the cornerstone of this Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods programme areas that were announced in March.
The full funding profile for the initial Phase 1 places is detailed in the prospectus, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-neighbourhoods-prospectus-and-tools/plan-for-neighbourhoods-prospectus. Further details about the funding profile for Phase 2 Pride in Place Programme neighbourhoods will be published shortly.
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 13 October 2025 to Question 77627 on Eden Project: Morecambe, whether he plans to allocate £100 million to the Eden Project North.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has committed £50 million towards the total project cost of £100 million for Eden Project Morecambe. The Memorandum of Understanding for the full £50 million grant, was fully signed on 19 November 2024.
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, how many national significant infrastructure planning decisions have been made (a) within and (b) outside the statutory time frame in this Parliament; how many applications have been made but not yet had a decision; and what estimate his Department has made of the number that would be needed to be approved each year to meet the Government's target.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government made 21 decisions on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in the first year of this Parliament. This compares with the first year of the last Parliament in which only 15 decisions were made and represents the highest number of annual decisions made since the NSIP programme was introduced in 2011.
27 NSIP decisions have been made so far since the start of this Parliament. Of these, 13 were within the statutory timeframes and 14 were not. A number of those 14 decisions made outside of statutory timeframes exceeded the limit during the previous Parliament. This government swiftly made decisions on those projects in July 2024.
To date in this Parliament, 33 projects have submitted an application but have not yet had a decision. Through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, we are seeking to reduce the average time it takes reach a decision on an NSIP project from its peak of 4.2 years under the previous government.
To achieve our Plan for Change milestone of fast-tracking 150 planning decisions, we will need an average of 32 decisions per year from July 2025. While we have not achieved this in our first year, we expect the rate of decisions to continue to accelerate alongside the already seen increase in projects entering the pipeline.
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 discussions his Department has had with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation on the SSSI designation in relation to the redevelopment of Ebbsfleet Central West since July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department is involved in ongoing discussions with Ebbsfleet Development Corporation in relation to the SSSI designation in question and the redevelopment of Ebbsfleet Central West.
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 13 October 2025 to Question 77635 on English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which organisations (a) supported and (b) did not support changing the electoral system to Supplementary Vote.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has engaged with a wide range of local government stakeholders during the development of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We engaged with both Mayors and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on changing the voting system for Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners back to the Supplementary Vote.
As part of the usual parliamentary process, a range of stakeholders set out their views on the Bill to the Public Bill Committee, both via the Oral Evidence session on 16 September and in writing.
The Government firmly believes the Supplementary Vote system works better for electing people to single executive roles and ensures a wider range of support than First Past the Post.
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 13 October 2025 to Question 77535 on Business Premises: Rents, what the names were of those (a) industry experts and (b) representatives of the retail, hospitality, and property sectors.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government conducted considerable research and carried out engagement with numerous experts before deciding to ban upwards only rent reviews. A full Impact Assessment was published upon First Reading of the Bill on 10 July. It provides a summary of the economic analysis and research the government relied upon to reach the decision.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on how many bedrooms should be provided to benefit claimants with children.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is support through the social security system for low-income households renting in the private or social rented sector which is paid to those in receipt of either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.
The number of bedrooms required to calculate housing support is determined using a size criterion. The criterion takes account of the number of people in a household and their ages. These size criterions provide a bedroom for a couple, a single person aged 16 or over, two children of the same sex under the age of 16, two children of the same or opposite sexes under the age of 10 and a sole or remaining child. There are exceptional circumstances where support for an additional room can be awarded.
The latest guidance to local authorities was issued following changes to the size criterion in 2017 Housing Benefit Circular: A3/2017. The criteria has not changed since.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.