Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of EU non-regression agreements on the ability of the Government to implement planning reform for nuclear power infrastructure, including the implications of dynamic alignment with the EU single electricity market and ETS.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Regarding the Nuclear Regulatory Review, we will present a full implementation plan shortly, taking account of our international obligations, national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes.
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 guidance has been provided to local authorities on entitlement to council tax reduction for people who receive Universal Credit.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer provided on 4 February 2026 to UIN 109028.
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 oral statement of 22 January 2026, Official Report, Column 486, on Local Government Reorganisation, whether he will reimburse councils for the administrative costs of preparing for May 2026 elections now being cancelled.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February HCWS1349, updating the House on 2026 local elections.
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 his policy is on (a) further delaying or (b) cancelling under scheduled council elections in 2027 in areas with local government restructuring.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February HCWS1349, updating the House on 2026 local elections.
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 January 2026 to Question 104771 on MHCLG: Remote Working, if he will publish the recorded workplace attendance data for the last quarter, for each of the individual offices outside London.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG publishes quarterly HQ Occupancy Statistics for its headquarters at 2 Marsham Street, London (not proportional attendance). We do not intend to publish regional information or numeric staff attendances.
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 estimate of the time taken for businesses to amend computer billing systems to implement the new pub relief.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As is usual the government has worked closely with local authorities and their software providers to ensure that billing systems can be updated to take into account the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief business rates relief ahead of issuing bills for the 2026/27 financial year.
The government will undertake a new burdens assessment and fund the associated new burdens including the administrative and software costs of implementation.
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, further to the statistics, Local authority Council Taxbase in England 2025 (revised), 21 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the figure of 71% of local authorities charging a second homes council tax premium, in light of the original policy intent of the policy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The second homes council tax premium provides local leaders with additional flexibility to address the impacts of second homes and improve the sustainability of local services. It is for individual councils to decide whether it is appropriate to apply the premium in their area. In doing so, councils will consider a range of factors, including local circumstances and the government’s guidance.
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 19 January 2026 to Question 104671 on Local Government Finance, what information his Department holds on guidance issued by (a) his Department and (b) the Planning Advisory Service on the use of interest accrued on unspent Community Infrastructure Levy funds.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts must be used for the purposes which are set out in section 216 of the Planning Act 2008 and Part 7 of the CIL Regulations.
My Department’s published guidance on the CIL includes detailed advice as to what the levy can be spent on. The guidance in question can be found on gov.uk here.
Resources published by the Planning Advisory Service are available on their website here. These include a guide to publishing an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Infrastructure Funding Statements should provide clarity and transparency for communities and developers on the infrastructure and affordable housing that is expected to be delivered through developer contributions.
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 core spending power figures published in the Local Government Finance assumes (a) that each principal local authority sets the maximum level of council tax that does not trigger a council tax referendum or (b) a different level of council tax.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over the multi-year Settlement, Core Spending Power is calculated by assuming that authorities increase their Band D council tax in line with the maximum allowable level set out by the council tax referendum principles; and each authority’s council tax base increases in line with the average annual growth in their council tax base between 2021-22 and 2025-26. This type of approach has been standard practice under successive governments. Explanations on how council tax and associated referendum principles are calculated as part of core spending power is set out here - Explanatory note on Core Spending Power: final local government finance settlement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK.
Local authorities are responsible for setting their own council tax levels. The way council tax in Core Spending Power is estimated is unchanged from previous Local Government Finance Settlements. In line with usual practice and in recognition of the views raised in response to this consultation, the government will continue to keep its methodology for calculating the Core Spending Power of local government under review in future years.
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 23 January 2026, to Question 106115, on Business Rates: Luton, what is his department's estimate of the amount of retained business rate income that Luton Borough Council will receive in 2026-27, and whether this amount is affected by the uplift in business rates from the 2026 revaluation of Luton Airport, and introduction of the high value surcharge for hereditaments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Luton Borough Council reported their estimate of retained business rates for 2026-27 to the department here in the document ‘National non-domestic rates collected in England 2026 to 2027: local authority data’, in the ‘Part 1' tab and on line 14.
I refer the Rt.hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107993 on 28 January 2026, regarding the interaction of the 2026 Revaluation with local authority income.
It is long-standing government policy intention that as far as is practicable, local authorities’ income should not be affected by changes to the underlying business rates tax, such as the introduction of the three additional multipliers from 1st April 2026. The government intends to neutralise the impact of new multipliers on local government income from retained business rates from introduction of the three new multipliers from 1st April 2026. More information on how it will do so was published in a policy paper in November which can be found here.