Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is the average time taken from council approval to development commencement for mixed-use brownfield sites in (a) the West Midlands and (b) England as a whole.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding has been allocated to brownfield regeneration projects in Birmingham in each of the last five years, and what is planned for the next three years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over the last 5 years, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) was allocated approximately £140million through the Brownfield Housing Fund. The Combined Authority separately contracted £68.5million in brownfield regeneration projects within Birmingham through the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund.
We have now launched the National Housing Delivery Fund (NHDF) to drive housing delivery, including with support for brownfield regeneration projects. We have allocated £175million to the WMCA through the Integrated Settlement and they will make decisions on how to use that funding to support projects in the region.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new housing starts in the West Midlands in the last year were on brownfield sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the requested information.
The government previously published statistics on the percentage of new residential addresses created on previously developed (brownfield) land. The most recent figures, for 2021-22, can be found on gov.uk here.
My Department is updating the land use statistics, which includes the new residential addresses release, to take advantage of new, more granular data from Ordnance Survey. Publication is expected to resume this year.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications for brownfield regeneration funding in the West Midlands have been (a) received, (b) approved and (c) rejected in each of the last three years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over the past three years, the West Midlands Combined Authority has been allocated approximately £42 million through the Brownfield Housing Fund.
The Combined Authority separately contracted £54.5million in brownfield regeneration projects within West Midlands through the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund.
Homes England allocates funding for these brownfield programmes via continuous market engagement rather than applications during bidding windows.
The Combined Authority collects and holds information on the specific number of received, approved, and rejected schemes.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will publish the full text of each of the UK’s critical minerals memoranda of understanding, dialogues, and other bilateral agreements, including wider initiatives such as supply chain resilience partnerships that cover critical minerals.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A full list of the UK’s agreements, dialogues and memoranda of understanding on critical minerals is available on the webpage for the Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls (published 23 June 2026). Where appropriate and in line with our discussions with partner countries, the full text of these agreements is also published on gov.uk.