Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on the adequacy of the support they received for holding local elections in May 2025.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government continues to engage with local authorities, following on from the sustained engagement and support provided ahead of last year’s elections. The Government takes care to understand the needs of Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers and ensure they have the necessary support ahead of scheduled polls in May.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether elections to Warwickshire County Council will take place on 1 May 2025.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I will consider any requests I receive to postpone the May 2025 local authority elections in Kent and Warwickshire only where this will help the areas to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe – either through the Devolution Priority Programme or where reorganisation is necessary to unlock devolution or open up new devolution options. As I set out in my letter of 16 December to those councils, I will need a clear commitment to these aims, including a request from the council(s) whose election is to be postponed, on or before Friday 10 January.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of voter ID on specific migrant communities.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As our manifesto made clear, the government will address the inconsistencies in the voter identification policy so that all legitimate electors are able to vote. We are continuing to assess and review the policy and if any further changes are found to be necessary or appropriate, we will bring forward proposals for them in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to help improve processing times for applications made to HM Land Registry.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Improving speed of service remains the top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR). It has been making the improvements needed through hiring and training staff and enhancing the services its customers use. This has been undertaken alongside continuing to deliver the essential services required to enable property transactions to complete. Following these activities and a renewed focus on the oldest applications, HMLR has seen a reduction in the overall age of applications. It is committed to continuing this progress over the coming months.
HMLR acknowledges that some customers will not yet feel the positive impact of these improvements. Anyone who is concerned that a delay with their application may cause financial, legal or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, can apply to have their application expedited free of charge. HMLR processes nearly 1,300 expedited applications every day, with around 95% actioned within 10 working days.
HMLR publishes information each month about its latest processing times on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the system used to elect Members of Parliament.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5974 on 14 October 2024.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make her policy to bring forward legislative proposals for compulsory purchase powers for local authorities so that they are able to compulsory purchase at current use value rather than at hope value.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recently brought into force regulations that provide for the removal of ‘hope value’ from the assessment of compensation, where there is justification in the public interest. Guidance and a fact sheet on the measures was published on 3 October 2024 and can be found here. Further reform of compulsory purchase compensation rules will be included in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Announcements on the timing of that Bill will be made in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to introduce a national minimum requirement for developers to build social rent homes as part of medium and large developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and we recently consulted on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework to support this objective. Specifically, the consultation proposed setting an expectation that local housing needs assessments explicitly consider the needs of those requiring Social Rent, and that local planning authorities specify their expectations on Social Rent delivery as part of broader affordable housing policies.
The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year. We have also committed to strengthening the existing developer contributions system and further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to bring almhouses into the definition of affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework sought views on whether changes are needed to the definition of ‘affordable housing for rent’ to make it easier for organisations that are not Registered Providers, including almshouses, to develop new affordable homes.
The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that new housing is (a) of high quality, (b) highly energy efficient and (c) built to zero carbon standards.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 4956 on 17 September 2024.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure the UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations are protected from future budget cuts.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to delivering economic growth across the country and is considering how to best fund long-term local funding in line with wider fiscal and economic priorities. We will begin setting these plans out Autumn Budget in October and at the Spending Review this spring.
We appreciate that those delivering UKSPF have an understandable desire for certainty about its future. We are giving full consideration to this matter, including the hard work undertaken on projects to date. We will continue to work closely with our key stakeholders and will utilise their feedback as we determine our approach going forward.
Decisions regarding funding beyond March 2025 are a matter for the next fiscal event.