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 oral contribution of the Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness in response to the question from the hon. Member for New Forest East during the Urgent Question on Local Government Reorganisation of 13 July 2026, Official Report, column 618, if she will place in the Library a copy of the response to the Rt hon. Member for New Forest East.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not routinely publish correspondence between Ministers and Members of Parliament. The reasons for the local government reorganisation decision in Essex were set out in the then Secretary of Stateâs decision letter to local council leaders of 25 March 2026, available here.
On 7 September 2026, the Government announced that it had withdrawn this decision and the proposals for Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock will now be considered alongside the wider local government reorganisation programme.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the No10 press release, Whitehall officials to be posted into mayors' offices as PM marks first month of No10 North, of 21 August 2026, what the estimated cost is of the mayoral secondment programme; from which budget it will be allocated and whether additional civil service staff will be hired.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Departments will cover the cost to support the capacity and capability building of MSAs as they go through the process of institution building. It is not expected that additional civil servants will be hired by departments to fill roles for individuals participating in this secondment programme.
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 MHCLG annual report and accounts 2025 to 2026, HC484, 15 July 2026, page 56, what was the nature of the Parliamentary Ombudsman complaint that was upheld in full, and whether compensation has been paid.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The complaint concerned a longstanding individual case involving historic legal costs and a Charging Order. The Department followed the Ombudsmanâs recommendation for a financial remedy.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to her Department's data entitled Public-sector trade union facility time data, for what reason Transport for London facility time expenditure and numbers are not listed in the 2024-25 dataset.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Transport for London did not submit their trade union facility time data for the year 2024-25 via the online reporting system.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 required public-sector organisations to publish their facility time data. Under the previous administration, there was no penalty for organisations who did not submit their data.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any recommendations in relation to local government have been submitted to the Call for Ideas on the 7th National Action Plan for Open Government.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The call for evidence for the Seventh UK National Action Plan for Open Government received 17 ideas that specifically mentioned âlocal governmentâ. These are organised against different sub-themes such as open data, public participation, anti-corruption, and Freedom of Information. Further Information about themes and sub-themes are contained within ANNEX I: Detailed Theme Assessment Tables of the call for evidence outcome document.
We will look at the local aspect of sub-themes as relevant commitments are taken forwards.
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 29 May 2026, to Question 443, on Home Office: Greenpeace, on what date the policy of non-engagement with Greenpeace was discontinued.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has no record of ever having had a policy of non-engagement with Greenpeace.
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, on what dates her department ceased using Palantir software, and what was the previous use of the software.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department ceased using Palantirâs Foundry software on 21 October 2025. Foundry was used to securely share data between MHCLG, the Home Office, Local Authorities and Devolved Administrations to support the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The National Audit Office published a report on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, including use of Palantir technology here.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the policy paper, Equal pay and pay discrimination, of 14 July 2026, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the proposed reforms on the finances of local government paybill..
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) published the consultation on equal pay and pay discrimination on 14 July 2026, following the Call for Evidence on Equality Law in 2025.
The consultation seeks views on how we can comprehensively reform the pay discrimination framework so that it works better for workers, businesses and the justice system. This includes seeking views on the financial viability and impacts of the proposed reforms and their potential implications for the local government sector.
The OEO is prioritising proportionate, targeted measures for consultation where there is the clearest evidence of their ability to increase pay equality. We will publish a full impact assessment on these measures in due course.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what monitoring and assessment is undertaken by water companies of water usage and wastewater volumes to estimate the size of the resident population in the water area.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies use established practises and methodologies to monitor water and wastewater use by their customers. This alongside various factors, such as local authority planning, helps inform the water companiesâ long-term plans to secure water and wastewater services.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Equality Act 2010: Draft Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, 2026, published on 21 May 2026, what steps are being taken to ensure that the revised practices are adopted by local councils.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Equality and Human Rights Commissionâs (EHRCâs) updated statutory guidance - Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations - provides guidance to service providers, associations and those exercising public functions to help them understand and comply with the Equality Act 2010.
The Equality Act 2010 is the law. Duty bearers must comply with the law. The EHRC is the independent equality regulator and ensures compliance with the Equality Act 2010.