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 June 2025 to Question 54882 on Elections: Fraud, if she will take steps to improve (a) transparency and (b) accountability in local government.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is taking steps to strengthen both.
I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to Question UIN 54882 on 9 June 2025. Statutory guidance on overview and scrutiny was updated in April 2024. We are also working to strengthen standards, governance, financial management, and local audit to fix the foundations of local government to ensure that it is fit, legal and decent.
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 transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, April 2025, published on 30 May 2025, if she will publish the research commissioned from the Greater London Authority.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This funding was to cover legal and administrative costs incurred by the Greater London Authority in setting up the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.
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 she plans to amend planning (a) policy and (b) legislation to help facilitate the construction of new water reservoirs.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 29 May, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced the Fens and Lincolnshire Reservoirs would be given ‘nationally significant’ status and set out the government’s intention to legislate so that similar projects would automatically be ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects’ and considered under the Planning Act 2008.
The National Policy Statement for Water Resources Infrastructure, which includes policy on reservoirs, was designated in September 2023.
The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs intends to undertake a targeted update to the NPS to streamline water resources infrastructure projects.
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 her Department has issued on considering downstream carbon emissions in planning applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change should be considered in preparing and assessing planning applications.
The government provides guidance on how carbon impacts can be taken into account in the planning process through its Planning Practice Guidance on Climate Change, the National Design Guide, and the National Model Design Code.
While these do not deal with downstream emissions specifically, the government keeps guidance under review and intends to update the Climate Change guidance to provide additional advice on taking carbon emissions into account.
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 her Department's publication entitled Plan for Neighbourhoods: Regeneration Plan guidance, published on 9 June 2025, what estimate she has made of the (a) quantity and (b) length of the total paperwork required for participants to receive Plan for Neighbourhoods funding.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 9th June, the government published the Plan for Neighbourhoods Regeneration Plan Guidance which re-iterates our commitment for a light touch assessment process. The Plan for Neighbourhoods represents a break from the competitive bidding process and micromanaging of previous regeneration funds. Instead, this is a model whereby Neighbourhood Boards are provided with a list of pre-approved interventions and given the autonomy such that, if that activity can be evidenced as a clear priority of the community, it can be pursued without the need to provide a lengthy business case. The activities listed range from eye-catching new developments to the bread-and-butter issues raised by people on the doorstep.
The Plan for Neighbourhoods will transform “left behind” areas to deliver meaningful change in the day-to-day lives of local people.
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 document entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what consultancy services were commissioned from UBDS IT Consulting Limited.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG’s March 2025 listing of spending over £25,000 include three entries for UBDS. This spend relates to the provision of specific technical services to deliver a range of improvements to the Department’s data tools and technologies. They are augmenting internal teams.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53973 on Defending Democracy Taskforce, if she will publish the conclusions of the review into harassment and intimidation.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce is reviewing its levers for preventing the harassment and intimidation of elected representatives, identifying gaps and vulnerabilities, and developing recommendations to strengthen our response.
I will update the House on progress in due course.
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 5 June 2025 to Question 55454 on Local Government: Surrey, whether the Local Government Boundary Commission will be formally commissioned to undertake a full boundary review for the new unitaries.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My department is liaising closely with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) so that they are involved at the appropriate time to ensure fair electoral arrangements across the area of any new unitary local authority.
The LGBCE is responsible for electoral reviews for local government, reviewing wards, and setting the council size in terms of number of councillors. When a full electoral review of a newly established authority is carried out, the LGBCE will follow its guidance (which is available on its website). The LGBCE have recently published FAQ on their website to support councils going through Local Government Reorganisation and have set out as part of this that they expect to carry out an electoral review of all newly established local authorities after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.
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, who the members of the Reorganisation Advisory Group in her Department are; and what the terms of reference for that group are.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has convened a Local Government Reorganisation Advisory Group. It is made up of a number of senior sector representatives to provide expert advice relating to the Local Government Reorganisation Programme. It has an advisory role. We will publish further details on the group’s membership and terms of reference shortly.
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 her Department's transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the spending to LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS LLP entitled Consultancy was for.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This spend related to the Local Partnerships’ programme management of the Contract Management Pioneer Programme (CMPP). The CMPP was a capability-building initiative designed to strengthen contract management across local government. It aimed to equip councils with the skills, tools, and confidence needed to manage complex contracts more effectively, improve service outcomes, and deliver better value for money.