Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he will publish the number of second homes, and any other relevant statistical assumptions, that the Department has used for each of the next three financial years (2026/27 to 2028/29) in calculating the council tax base for (a) Westmorland and Furness Council and (b) Cumberland Council as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not identify the number of second homes in forecasts of council tax base, or calculations of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
Council tax base figures are used in the calculation of local authorities’ Fair Funding Allocations within the Local Government Finance Settlement, and the calculation of Core Spending Power.
Fair Funding Allocations use council tax base data from 2024, prior to the introduction of the second homes premium, meaning they are unaffected by local decisions to implement the premium. The tax base for each authority is published on gov.uk here.
The methodology note for calculating Core Spending Power, which is the government’s longstanding presentational measure of the resources available to local authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement, is available on gov.uk here. The published statistical tables are available on GOV.UK: 2021-22 Council Tax Levels Statistics Table 9; Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2025 to 2026 (revised). The government believes it is right to continue to calculate Core Spending Power in line with the approach used at previous Settlements.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether additional funding is being considered for fire and rescue authorities facing heightened wildfire risk.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 9 February 2026, the Ministry published the 2026/27 Local Government Finance Settlement which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue.
(a) In 2026/27, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Authority will have a core spending power of £32.71 million, an increase of 3.8% compared to 2025/26.
(b) The Settlement will make available almost £1.95 billion in core spending power for standalone fire and rescue authorities in England (excluding North Yorkshire and Greater Manchester), an average 4.71% increase compared to 2025/26. By the end of the multi-year period, we will have provided a 12.75% increase in core spending power compared to 2025/26.
Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions, including wildfire risk, are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.
Since 2024 the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment has been made of the capacity of fire and rescue services to respond to increased wildfire risk in the upland areas of Cumbria.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Each fire and rescue authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area (including wildfire), through their Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP), and having regard to the views of other key local responders. This includes a local assessment of response capacity.
Since 2024 the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of pension schemes that have an exposure to freehold properties; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the implementation timetable for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 on the value of those schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
An Impact Assessment (IA) was published in December 2023 for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. It can be found here.
An addendum to that IA was published on 14 April 2025 which can be found here.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which local authorities claimed emergency financial assistance money under the Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance to local authorities in each of the last 15 years; and how much money was received in each case.
Answered by Jim McMahon
The table below sets out the Bellwin payments made to local authorities by financial year in each of the last 15 financial years.
2010-11 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
| South Lakeland District Council | 30,348 |
| Allerdale Borough Council | 302,847 |
| Cumbria County Council | 408,297 |
| Cumbria Police Authority | 148,049 |
Total for year | 4 | 889,541 |
|
|
|
2011-12 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
Total for year | 0 | 0 |
|
|
|
2012-13 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
| City of Lincoln Council | 24,870 |
| Royal Berkshire Fire Authority | 404,640 |
| Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council | 76,668 |
| Gateshead Council | 393,939 |
| Herefordshire Council | 218,499 |
Total for year | 5 | 1,118,616 |
2013-14 | Authority | Grant Paid £ |
| Devon County Council | 3,023,598 |
| Richmondshire District Council | 915 |
| Herefordshire Council | 2,048,963 |
| Teignbridge District Council | 38,234 |
| Newark & Sherwood District Council | 3,407 |
| Uttlesford District Council | 16,643 |
Total for year | 6 | 5,131,760 |
2014-15 | Authority | Grant Paid £ |
| Arun District Council | 44,134 |
| Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council | 563,383 |
| Boston Borough Council | 123,230 |
| Bournemouth Borough Council | 50,736 |
| Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority | 36,964 |
| Christchurch Borough Council | 39,867 |
| Copeland Borough Council | 130,350 |
| Croydon Council | 2,006,683 |
| Dartford Borough Council | 22,054 |
| Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Service | 509,936 |
| Devon County Council | 789,567 |
| Dorset County Council | 413,400 |
| Dorset County Council | 332,315 |
| Dover District Council | 6,602 |
| Elmbridge Borough Council | 66,692 |
| Exeter City Council | 8,339 |
| Fareham Borough Council | 5,888 |
| Great Yarmouth Borough Council | 172,466 |
| Guildford Borough Council | 50,424 |
| Hampshire County Council | 3,612,261 |
| Havant Borough Council | 25,865 |
| Herefordshire Council | 3,090,340 |
| Isle of Wight | 58,167 |
| Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service | 12,492 |
| Kent County Council | 982,732 |
| Lewes District Council | 5,737 |
| Maidstone Borough Council | 130,373 |
| Malvern Hills District Council | 19,249 |
| New Forest District Council | 151,514 |
| Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service | 23,166 |
| Norfolk Police (OPCC) | 3,745 |
| North Devon Council | 24,987 |
| North Norfolk District Council | 47,262 |
| Oxford City Council | 210,142 |
| Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service | 9,017 |
| Royal Berkshire Fire Authority | 2,101,673 |
| Runnymede Borough Council | 216,144 |
| Scarborough Borough Council | 164,189 |
| Sedgemoor District Council | 87,326 |
| Somerset County Council | 778,411 |
| Somerset County Council | 615,006 |
| South Hams District Council | 100,510 |
| South Oxfordshire District Council | 60,029 |
| South Somerset District Council | 39,481 |
| Spelthorne Borough Council | 68,491 |
| Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service | 1,373 |
| Surrey County Council | 2,382,887 |
| Tandridge District Council | 82,294 |
| Taunton Deane Borough Council | 36,176 |
| Teignbridge District Council | 260,896 |
| Test Valley Borough Council | 194,824 |
| Tewkesbury Borough Council | 23,614 |
| Thanet Council | 36,162 |
| Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council | 99,177 |
| Torbay Borough Council | 102,912 |
| Tunbridge Wells Borough Council | 18,407 |
| Waveney District Council | 19,638 |
| Waveney District Council | 31,694 |
| Waverley Borough Council | 43,736 |
| Waverley Borough Council | 55,975 |
| West Berkshire Council | 652,396 |
| West Dorset District Council | 47,240 |
| West Oxfordshire District Council | 7,959 |
| West Somerset District Council | 5,175 |
| West Sussex County Council | 37,510 |
| Weymouth and Portland Borough Council | 23,412 |
| Wiltshire Council | 745,588 |
| Winchester City Council | 75,715 |
| Windsor & Maidenhead Royal Borough | 406,373 |
| Worcester City Council | 51,701 |
| Wycombe District Council | 27,634 |
| Wyre Borough Council | 31,784 |
| Wyre Forest District Council | 62,001 |
Total for year | 73 | 23,575,593 |
2015-16 |
| Grant Paid (£) |
Total for year | 0 | 0 |
| ||
2016-17 | Authority | Grant Paid £ |
| Allerdale Borough Council | 218,274 |
| Bury Council | 111,490 |
| Calderdale Council | 1,029,731 |
| Carlisle City Council | 377,912 |
| Chorley Council | 74,238 |
| City of York Council | 170,700 |
| Cumbria County Council | 2,185,838 |
| Eden District Council | 23,077 |
| Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service | 63,123 |
| North Yorkshire County Council | 176,449 |
| North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority | 302,982 |
| Northumberland County Council | 1,082,555 |
| Ribble Valley Borough Council | 50,903 |
| Rochdale Borough Council | 139,674 |
| Salford City Council | 80,485 |
| Selby District Council | 13,740 |
| South Lakeland District Council | 177,581 |
| Wyre Council | 15,701 |
Total for year | 18 | 6,294,453 |
2017-18 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
| Kensington and Chelsea RB | 7,045,389 |
Total for year | 1 | 7,045,389 |
2018-19 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
| North Norfolk District Council | 8,825 |
| Scarborough Borough Council | 171,471 |
| Waveney District Council | 88,280 |
Total for year | 3 | 268,576 |
2019-20 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
| Leicestershire Combined Fire and Rescue | 243,832 |
| East Lindsey District Council | 149,905 |
| Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service | 418,293 |
| Richmondshire District Council | 180,762 |
| Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service | 376,177 |
| High Peak Borough Council | 30,370 |
| Mansfield District Council | 197,639 |
Total for year | 7 | 1,596,978 |
| ||
2020-21 | Authority | Grant Paid (£) |
| South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority | 497,260 |
| Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council | 535,997 |
| Calderdale Council | 265,762 |
| Rossendale Borough Council | 9,217 |
| Herefordshire Council | 1,112,310 |
| Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service | 33,086 |
| Malvern Hills District Council | 24,827 |
| Newark and Sherwood District Council | 17,718 |
| Shropshire Council | 58,567 |
| Telford & Wrekin Council | 53,324 |
| Worcester City Council | 6,279 |
| Worcestershire County Council | 63,060 |
| Wyre Forest District Council | 10,156 |
Total for year | 13 | 2,687,564 |
2021-22 |
| Grant Paid (£) |
Total for year | 0 | 0 |
2022-23 |
| Grant Paid (£) |
Total for year | 0 | 0 |
2023-24 |
| Grant Paid (£) |
| Canterbury City Council | 133,485 |
Total for year | 1 | 133,485 |
2024-25 |
| Grant Paid (£) |
| Merton Council | 653,124 |
| Northumberland County Council | 166,007 |
Total for year | 2 | 819,131 |
Link to the Bellwin guidance: