Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the number of disability-accessible houses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 40122 on 26 March 2025.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many compulsory purchase powers have been granted as part of nationally significant infrastructure project approvals since 2022.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government does not hold data on the total number of compulsory acquisition powers that have been granted from the 55 Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects decided since the start of 2022.
All compulsory acquisitions approved as part of a Development Consent Order are recorded and can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website here.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect supported housing in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are best placed to decide how their funding is spent locally. This Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in an average overall real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year between 2025-26 and 2028-29.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) training and (b) resources her Department has provided to fire and rescue services to respond to fires related to electric cars.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate resources, equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents which they attend. We will continue to work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to ensure fire and rescue services have access to the training, resources and equipment they need to keep the public safe.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.”
Since 2023, the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government has increased the proportion of its staff on apprenticeships from 2% to 5.1%. We are currently exploring how additional entry level programmes in digital, data and AI, including the TechTrack Level 4 Business Analyst apprenticeship, can be used to build the department’s capability in this vital area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the total cost to the public purse was for the creation of the Greater Lincolnshire combined county authority.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The costs of establishing and running Mayoral Combined (County) Authorities are managed by its constituent councils and the Authority itself once established. Government provides support to help with these costs. For Greater Lincolnshire the government provided £500k Mayoral Capacity Funding in 2024-25.
There are considerable benefits for Greater Lincolnshire from the devolution agreement, which include £24 million a year investment funding for 30 years, and the transport and adult skills budgets that were previously controlled from Whitehall.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025, whether her Department plans to amend its policy on the use of women only spaces in its buildings by transgender women.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are reviewing our policies, including on toilets and single-sex spaces, in line with the Supreme Court ruling.
We will follow external advice from relevant advisory bodies.
We aim to ensure appropriate facilities are available for all staff.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Homes England has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2018.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homes England has made use of apprentices each year in its workforce since 2017.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether HM Land Registry has offered apprenticeships since 2010.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Civil Service is committed to using apprenticeships to break down barriers to opportunity, support skills development and deliver more effective public services.
HM Land Registry has offered 800 apprenticeships across England and Wales since 2014.
Those apprenticeships have ranged from Level 2 to Level 7 to support personal development and increase organisational capability while also supporting apprentices to join Government Professions such as Digital, Data & Technology, Legal, HR and Finance.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of local government reorganisation in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The overall case for local government reorganisation is set out the English Devolution White Paper.
A PWC 2020 report estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over five years, with an annual post-implementation net recurring saving of £700 million, however as it is for local areas to submit proposals for government to consider, the savings could vary area by area and across England in the round. We are also keen to ensure the wider benefits are also promoted, specifically simplified and more efficient structures.
Councils in Lincolnshire were invited on 5 February to develop proposals for reorganisation, which are due to be submitted to government by November 2025. It will be for the new councils to achieve the efficiencies identified in reorganisation proposals and subsequent detailed implementation and transformation plans while delivering high quality and sustainable public services to local residents and businesses.