Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of providing the Home Office with a (a) reduced and (b) flat cash settlement for in-donor refugee costs.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and the Home Secretary has reduced in-donor refugee costs by taking action to reduce the asylum backlog and seeking to end the use of costly asylum hotels. We therefore anticipate further reductions to in-donor refugee costs in the next Spending Review period.

The Home Office’s Spending Review settlement will be subject to agreement with HM Treasury in the usual way.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) bee and (b) swift bricks on urban biodiversity; and what steps her Department is taking to promote the inclusion of bee bricks in new housing developments and infrastructure projects.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Model Design Code and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework set out how development can incorporate a range of nature friendly features including bee bricks and swift bricks.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.

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 (a) councils and (b) local authorities deliver more (i) house-building and (ii) social housing.

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.

On 30 July 2024 we announced a number of changes in planning policy designed to support the delivery of affordable homes. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts, and a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to grow their housing stock.

At the Budget on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes. The Chancellor also confirmed that we will reduce Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels and allow councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.

On 12 February 2025, the government announced a further cash injection of £300 million to the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 2,800 new homes, with more than half being Social Rent homes. The government also announced a £50 million uplift to the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund.

Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to provide the sector with the certainty it needs to invest in new social housing.

We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) trends in the level of local authority borrowing costs and (b) rent-setting policies on the ability of local councils to build and maintain housing stock.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government recognises that access to low-cost borrowing and the certainty provided by a long-term rent settlement are essential to the ability of local authorities to build and maintain housing stock. To this end, the government is helping local authorities borrow more cheaply from the Public Works Loan Board until the end of 2025-26.

Local authorities are responsible for their own capital strategies and have wide freedoms to use borrowing to support local investment. Under the current framework, they must ensure borrowing is prudent, affordable, and sustainable.

The government recently consulted on a long-term rent settlement that would allow social housing rents to increase above inflation (by up to CPI + 1%) each year for five years from 2026. The consultation closed on 23 December and my officials and I are giving careful consideration to all the responses received. The government will issue its response to the consultation in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has conducted an impact assessment of the Right to Buy scheme on council (a) house building (b) housing stock.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has not undertaken a full formal impact assessment of the Right to Buy scheme.

However, the impact of the increased 2012 Right to Buy discounts on council housing stock and housebuilding was considered as part of the review of discounts that was published in October 2024.

More information can be found on gov.uk here.

The Bereavement Journey programme

Found: Since my application was submitted, I have been notified that Mr Luke Taylor, Mr Noah Law, Ms Rupa Huq

Submit Evidence (by 22 Apr 2025)

The International Development Committee is launching a new inquiry into how the UK Government is involving the needs and voices of women in its development efforts.