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, if he will ensure that policies applying to local government members apply to Ministers in his Department.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Ministers are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour and to behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety. The Ministerial Code provides guidance to ministers on how they should act and arrange their affairs in order to uphold these standards. Ministers are responsible for their own behaviour, and are ultimately accountable to the Prime Minister for their conduct under the Ministerial Code
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Treasury Select Committee, Work of HM Revenue and Customs - Oral evidence, HC 416, 13 January 2026, Question 480, if she will publish equivalent figures for the average change in Rateable values for pubs between 2023 and 2026 Rating Lists for pubs under VOA special category code 227.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency published data relating to your request can be found 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, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2026, to Question 103765, on Affordable Housing, what his planned timetable is for the programme to be onboarded on the Government Major Programmes Portfolio; and whether the programme business case will be published on gov.uk.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) is now onboarded on to the Major Programmes Portfolio (GMPP) as a portfolio.
In line with HM Treasury guidance for GMPP programmes, the SAHP intends to publish a summary of its Programme Business Case (PBC) within four months of HM Treasury’s formal approval of the PBC.
Until that point, my Department will continue to iterate the PBC to ensure it remains robust, up-to-date, and strategically aligned, while protecting commercially sensitive material ahead of publication.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has a policy on targeting levels of house price inflation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government does not set a target for house price inflation.
The UK has a 2% inflation target, measured by the 12 month increase in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). CPI is a broad measure of consumer prices based on a representative basket of goods and services. The independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England is responsible for setting monetary policy to meet this target in line with international best practice.
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 Home Office oral statement on 20 January 2026, on the Chinese Embassy, whether the unredacted plans for the Embassy were subject to scrutiny by the planning inspector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety.
Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99.
As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 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, whether the National Protective Security Authority provided advice on the planning process on the Chinese Embassy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety.
Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99.
As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 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 planning guidance has been given to local authorities on land which is contaminated due to former foot and mouth burial pits.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that a development site is suitable for its proposed use, taking account of risks arising from land contamination. This includes risks arising from natural hazards or former activities, and any proposals for mitigation including land remediation.
After remediation, as a minimum, development should not be capable of being determined as contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which provides a risk-based approach to the identification and remediation of land where contamination poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.
Planning Practice Guidance, available on gov.uk here, sets out further information on how planning can deal with land affected by contamination.
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 correspondence entitled Public Letter on Called-in decision: Royal Mint Court, of 20 January 2026, whether the evidence provided to the Intelligence and Security Committee was given to (a) the planning inspector and (b) him.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety.
Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99.
As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 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 the correspondence entitled Public Letter on Called-in decision: Royal Mint Court, of 20 January 2026, whether the mitigation measures are reflected in planning conditions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety.
Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99.
As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 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, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026, to Question 102811, on Planning Permission, whether any other guidance has been given on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the planning system.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Neither the government nor the Planning Inspectorate has issued guidance in respect of the treatment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the planning system.