Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure local planning authorities enforce Construction Environmental Management Plans.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Construction environmental management plans are usually required by conditions imposed on the grant of planning permission.
Local planning authorities already have a wide range of powers to deal with breaches of planning condition. It is for authorities themselves to decide when and how they use those powers.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 4 December 2025 to Question 97317 on Local Government: Reorganisation, whether he expects the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners and the re-organisation of local government structures to have any impact on Department spending.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to cutting the cost of politics by reducing unnecessary layers of governance and bureaucracy.
Both the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners, alongside local government reorganisation is intended to deliver savings for the taxpayer over time, with efficiencies reinvested in frontline services.
Exact savings from local government reorganisation will vary depending on the area and the final decisions on which proposals, if any, are implemented.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 21 November 2024 to Question 90424 on New Towns, in which sections of the New Towns Taskforce: Report to government and the Initial government response - September 2025 are references made to consultations with neighbouring local authorities before new towns are built.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The independent New Towns Taskforce final report and the government’s initial response to it stress the importance of community engagement and working with local partners in delivering the New Towns programme.
The government will publish draft proposals and a final Strategic Environmental Assessment for consultation early next year, before confirming the locations that will be progressed as new towns later in the Spring.
At that point, we will publish a full response to the New Towns Taskforce’s report including details of what relevant consultations will take place in respect of each new town location.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on local authorities who do not wish to engage in local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 5 February 2025, the Government invited two-tier authorities and their neighbouring small unitary councils to develop proposals for unitary local government. All areas have engaged with their invitation although not all councils have submitted proposals. I am grateful for the vast amount of work undertaken by councils to develop proposals, which have now been received from every area invited, and expect local leaders to continue working collaboratively and proactively with each other as we go through the next stages of this process.
It was for councils to decide whether to submit a proposal in response to the invitation by the deadline that was specified. Whether they submitted a proposal or not, they will be a named consultee in the Government’s statutory consultations.
This Government is determined to streamline local government by replacing the current two-tier council system with new single-tier unitary councils. Empowered local government, based on unitary councils and strategic authorities, is the foundation for growth across the country – the government’s number one mission.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to make it easier for local planning authorities to decline repeat applications for development that has already been refused.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under Sections 70A and 70B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local planning authorities already have powers to decline to determine applications if they have previously refused permission for two or more substantially similar applications on the same site, or if a substantially similar application has been rejected by the Secretary of State on appeal or following call-in, within the past two years.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is his Department's policy that neighbouring local authorities will be consulted before new towns are built.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of newly built homes purchased by non-UK nationals in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold data on new built homes purchased by non-UK nationals.
Overseas entities who want to buy, sell, or transfer property or land in the UK, must register with Companies House and declare who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are.
Data on property ownership by overseas companies in England and Wales is published by HM Land Registry and is publicly available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of offering publicly funded (a) services and (b) activities to asylum seekers on local community cohesion.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Home Office are responsible for asylum policy and the support provided to asylum seekers while they await the outcome of their asylum claim. The department has not carried out an assessment of the impact of providing publicly funded services and activities to asylum seekers.
On community cohesion more broadly, we are committed to bridging divisions between communities and challenging hatred, and we continue to work closely with community groups, charities, and public sector partners to achieve this. That is why MHCLG has launched a landmark £5 billion Pride in Place programme — backing the true patriots who build their communities up and choose unity over division.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether councillors and mayors will be able to sit on her Department's new social cohesion taskforce.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in my response to UIN 78208, the Social Cohesion Taskforce is an internal Civil Service team comprised of civil servants. As part of our work, we have been engaging with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, including those with experience of delivering cohesion programmes within local government.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions the Government had with the US Government on the definition of Islamophobia.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government does not have an official definition of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia and so it has not engaged with any foreign government on this. However, we have established a working group to advise government on a definition of anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, including on how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, the working group have engaged widely to ensure the definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of communities across the United Kingdom.