Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 draft revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 16 December 2025, what guidance his Department intends to provide to local planning authorities on how to consider (a) retrospective planning applications and (b) planning enforcement appeals by travellers on (i) Green Belt land and (ii) open countryside.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will consider whether any new guidance is required following consideration of responses received to the consultation process. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77563,on Palantir, why the visit to the offices of Palantir Technologies in Washington with Lord Mandelson on 27 February 2025 was out of scope of the Prime Minister's transparency return of the publication Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP meetings, January to March 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 13 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 77563.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question
To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission would request information on the type of cryptocurrency used to make political donations when such donations are reported to the Commission.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
In line with guidance issued by HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority, donations in crypto assets are treated as non-monetary donations. Recipients are required to identify the nature of non-monetary donations. For crypto assets, this means identifying the type and amount of crypto asset. This will be underlined in the forthcoming update to the Commission’s guidance.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question
To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has provided guidance on requirements for candidates for election to report cryptocurrency donations in their Representation of the People Act returns.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Electoral Commission’s guidance states that candidates must report all monetary and non-monetary donations they accept or return as impermissible, including donations in crypto assets. The Commission will shortly publish updated guidance for parties and candidates on the reporting and valuation of donations in crypto assets.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question
To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2025, to Question 97532, on Local Government: Elections, when the Electoral Commission was informed by the Government of the decision to cancel the 2026 mayoral elections.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Commission was first made aware of the UK Government’s proposals on the same day as the publication of the Secretary of State’s written ministerial statement on 4 December 2025.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local planning authorities on enforcing land restoration following the removal of solar developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) on renewable and low carbon energy sets out that solar farms are normally temporary structures and that planning conditions can be used to ensure that installations are removed when no longer in use and the land restored.
Local planning authorities have powers to take enforcement action against any breach of planning requirements. The PPG on renewable and low carbon energy can be viewed here and guidance on planning enforcement can be found on gov.uk here.
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes policy on the decommissioning of renewable and low carbon energy development and site restoration.
The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether land previously used for solar farms is classified as brownfield following decommissioning.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Brownfield land, also known as previously developed land, is defined in the glossary of the National Planning Policy Framework which can be found on gov.uk here.
It is for those making decisions on specific planning proposals to determine whether a site constitutes brownfield land given the particular circumstances of the case, taking into account any requirements for site restoration.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the mean Rateable Value of a public house in (a) 2025-26 under the current Rating List and (b) 2026-27 under the draft Rating List in each billing authority in England.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency published data relating to your request which can be found here.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department requires solar developers to restore land to its original condition following the removal of solar infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The overarching National Policy Statements for Energy (EN-1) and Renewable Energy (EN-3) provide decommissioning guidance for projects deploying under the Nationally Significant Project Regime. EN-3 sets out the expectation that generally solar panel arrays and structures will be decommissioned, and underground cabling removed so prior use of the site can continue.
Infrastructure may remain in place if considered less harmful for the ecology of the site, or if there may be socio-economic benefits in retaining after operational life.
Developers are required to set out in their planning applications, plans for decommissioning the project and restoring the land to a suitable use.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 97528 on Electronic Cigarettes: Public Houses, whether a pub vaping ban would constitute a material change of circumstances for the purposes of the Valuation Office Agency’s valuation of pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A vaping ban in pubs would not constitute a material change of circumstance that would impact the rating assessment of a property.
Section 14 of the Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023 in England, and in Wales, The Valuation for Rating (Prescribed Assumptions) (Wales) Regulations 2023, determined that any subsequent changes to legislation, government advice or policy could not be taken into account when determining the rateable value of a property.