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 7 July 2025 to Question 63624 on Admiralty House: Energy Performance Certificates, if he will place the three EPCs for the Admiralty House flats in the Library.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Where a building has an EPC the information on EPC ratings can be found at https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate/Admiralty-House.
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 the budget is of the Community Cohesion and Resilience Programme in the 2025-26 financial year; what its terms of reference are; and whether local authorities will be required to bid for funding.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Community Cohesion and Resilience Programme made awards to Local Authorities in the 2024-25 financial year. There are no plans to run the Programme again in the 2025-26 financial year.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any special advisers attended the Prime Minister's visit to Doncaster on 10 April 2025.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Special advisers routinely travel with the Prime Minister and did so on 10 April, including so as to provide support in the conduct of any official duties, which can arise at any time.
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 restrictions exist on installing air conditioning under the (a) planning regime and (b) building regulations regime in new build dwellings.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Regulations are set in performance terms, to provide developers with the flexibility to select the most appropriate solutions for their developments. Part O of the regulations ensures that new residential buildings are built to mitigate the risk of overheating. Mechanical cooling can be used to meet regulations, however, given the Government’s net zero commitment, our preferred means of mitigating overheating is through passive means. Developers must demonstrate that all possible passive means of cooling a dwelling have been implemented before adopting mechanical cooling,
As part of the Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation, which closed in March 2024, we sought evidence on whether current overheating standards are appropriate or require amendment. The Government will set out the evidence it received on Part O during this consultation and its response to this in Autumn 2025, when the Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation response will be published.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56832 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Expenditure, if she will make it her policy to reinstate the (a) SME data and (b) voluntary and community sector spending data.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG publishes its monthly spend data in line with Cabinet Office guidance including all mandatory fields specified in that guidance.
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 estimate her Department has made of the cost of the contract with the Belong Network; if she will publish the (a) contract and (b) terms of reference; and whether the contract was subject to a public tender process.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG does not have any contracts with the Belong Network.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53071 on Youth Mobility Scheme: EU Countries, whether he plans to make further bilateral agreements.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have existing bilateral agreements with Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Luxembourg, which were negotiated by the previous government. The UK is open to further, fully reciprocal bilateral voting agreements but these would be subject to the detail of future negotiations.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 64086, on Local Government: Cost Effectiveness, what formal and informal representations have been received on escalating the intervention.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 17 July, I announced my final decision, following consideration of representations received and all relevant information, to exercise powers of direction under section 15(5) and 15(6) of the Local Government Act 1999 and appointed Commissioners to ensure London Borough of Croydon’s compliance with the Best Value Duty. Details of the representations can be found in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Directions, copies of which were deposited in the House library and are also available on gov.uk.
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 assessment she has made of the potential impact of requiring consideration of embodied carbon in new buildings on the viability of new build development.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have recently published research to improve understanding of embodied carbon in new buildings and the data currently available. The aim of publishing is for this research is to help inform discussions about potential impacts, including on the viability of new developments. We continue to assess the evidence and engage with industry as we consider the best way forward for measuring and reducing embodied carbon emissions. The government remains committed to supporting progress in this area in a way that is both practical and sustainable.
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 assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 proposals on levels of (a) council tax and (b) funding of local authorities in (i) London and (ii) other areas.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are responsible for setting council tax levels. The Spending Review set out government’s intention to maintain the 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% principle for the adult social care precept to protect taxpayers from excessive increases. These principles are in line with the previous government’s policy and OBR forecasts. Final referendum principles will be confirmed at the local government finance settlement each year, subject to approval by the House of Commons, in the usual way.
Our proposals are subject to consultation and decisions have yet to be taken that will determine final allocations and the design of transitional arrangements. Subject to consultation, the proposals set out mean that the most relatively deprived places will on balance see larger increases in income than the least deprived places. We will publish further information in the consultation response by early October, followed by the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.