Paul Holmes

The safety of the British public is the first priority of this Government. We make no apologies for ensuring citizens are protected.

It is entirely right that for major events in the capital, the Government has a dialogue with the Metropolitan Police and Mayor to discuss planning to ensure events happen safely. Operational decisions on security arrangements are made by the police, independent of politicians.

It is long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on security arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers by my hon. Friend, the Minister without Portfolio, during the Urgent Question, Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality, on 14 October 2024, Official Report, Columns 594-602.

The Government is committed to delivering its two key objectives on tobacco duty; to raise revenue and protect public health. High taxes reduce the affordability of tobacco products and supports the Government’s objective to reduce smoking prevalence.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention in a generation – tackling the harms of smoking and paving the way for a smoke-free UK. Alongside the Bill, DHSC will publish an impact assessment which will include an estimate for the impact on tobacco duty receipts.

The Government has consulted on proposals for a Vaping Products Duty. This would seek to discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping and to raise revenue. The responses to this consultation are being reviewed and we will respond in due course.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps tobacco duty rates under review during its Budget process.

The Government is committed to delivering its two key objectives on tobacco duty; to raise revenue and protect public health. High taxes reduce the affordability of tobacco products and supports the Government’s objective to reduce smoking prevalence.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention in a generation – tackling the harms of smoking and paving the way for a smoke-free UK. Alongside the Bill, DHSC will publish an impact assessment which will include an estimate for the impact on tobacco duty receipts.

The Government has consulted on proposals for a Vaping Products Duty. This would seek to discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping and to raise revenue. The responses to this consultation are being reviewed and we will respond in due course.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps tobacco duty rates under review during its Budget process.

Under the assumptions used in tobacco and alcohol costings certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Budget 2024, increasing tobacco and alcohol duties increases overall duty receipts.

The safety of the British public is the first priority of this Government. We make no apologies for ensuring citizens are protected.

It is entirely right that for major events in the capital, the Government has a dialogue with the Metropolitan Police and Mayor to discuss planning to ensure events happen safely. Operational decisions on security arrangements are made by the police, independent of politicians.

It is long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on security arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.

We will be publishing a policy statement in late November, where we will set out our intentions for the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2025-26, including the £1.3 billion of grant funding for local government announced at the Budget, in addition to future reform of the local government finance system.

In 2025-26 we will take a deprivation-based approach with additional funding targeted to the places that need it most. Broader redistribution of funding will follow through a multi-year settlement from 2026-27.

After years of delaying much needed fair funding reform, we will update and improve the approach to funding allocations within the Local Government Finance Settlement to ensure that it reflects an up-to-date assessment of need and local resources. We want to hear from a range of voices to ensure any conclusions the review reaches are both fair and justified.

The Department uses a wide range of data to calculate the Local Government Finance Settlement. Each year, the government publishes an explanatory note alongside the settlement, which sets out the methodology used to calculate core spending power and what funding is included within it.

For the financial year 2024-25 the note can be found here: Explanatory note on core spending power: final local government finance settlement 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK.

We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services, of which £600 million is for social care.

The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government.

We will set out further details of how this support will be delivered in due course.

A breakdown of Core Spending Power of local authorities in England for the 2024-25 financial year, including for the Greater London Authority, can be found at the following link.

Local authority estimates on the revenue collected on each business rates multiplier in 2024-25 are published here: National non-domestic rates collected by councils in England: forecast 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK. Part 2 of the local authority data tables contains the relevant breakdown.

Local authorities do not publish estimates on the revenue collected on hereditaments with a rateable value of over £500,000. The Valuation Office Agency publish data on the breakdown of rateable values here: Non-domestic rating: stock of properties, 2024 - GOV.UK.

Locally retained business rates are £13.5 billion or 21% of LGFS CSP in 24/25.

Information for 2025-26 will be included in the forthcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.

The decision to call in these applications was made on the basis of the policy set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 26 October 2012. In line with the Written Ministerial Statement of 26 March 2019, we do not give specific reasons for calling in planning applications.

The Residential Property Developer Tax has raised £157 million in 2022-23 and £103 million in 2023-24. Revenue raised from the tax goes into the UK Consolidated Fund, which contributes to the government’s ambitious Building Safety Package aiming to bring an end to unsafe cladding, provide reassurance to homeowners and support confidence in the housing market. Spend on interventions in 22/23 alone was £713 million [22/23 trust statement] with the accelerated pace of remediation being a key government priority.

The Developer Remediation Contract requires developers to take responsibility for fixing or paying to fix buildings which they developed. The Ministry will shortly begin issuing payment demands to developers - who are contractually required to pay back monies spent on their buildings by government funds - after which, we expect developers to begin repayments. The value of debt that we will pursue with developers is reported in our Trust Statement, for our latest reported accounts in 2022/23 this is £417 million.

The Developer Remediation Contract is a contract between eligible developers and government. It does not apply to product manufacturers.

Other industry actors will also be held to account for their role in constructing unsafe buildings. We are reviewing the Grenfell Inquiry report and have written to all organisations (including manufacturers) found by the Inquiry to have been part of the failings, as the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts. The Building Safety Act created avenues for parties to pursue a range of responsible parties for compensation. We will bring forward further reforms to the construction products regime in due course.

The Developer Remediation Contract requires developers to take responsibility for fixing or paying to fix buildings which they developed. The Ministry will shortly begin issuing payment demands to developers - who are contractually required to pay back monies spent on their buildings by government funds - after which, we expect developers to begin repayments. The value of debt that we will pursue with developers is reported in our Trust Statement, for our latest reported accounts in 2022/23 this is £417 million.

The Developer Remediation Contract is a contract between eligible developers and government. It does not apply to product manufacturers.

Other industry actors will also be held to account for their role in constructing unsafe buildings. We are reviewing the Grenfell Inquiry report and have written to all organisations (including manufacturers) found by the Inquiry to have been part of the failings, as the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts. The Building Safety Act created avenues for parties to pursue a range of responsible parties for compensation. We will bring forward further reforms to the construction products regime in due course.

It is estimated that the MADE Partnership will bring forward in excess of 5650 homes by acting as master developer to unlock large, complex residential sites that have stalled due to lack of market capability, coordination capacity, patient capital and resource.

The Levelling Up Home Building Fund, from which the MADE partnership investment was made, operates based on continuous market engagement and therefore its investments are not subject to procurement.

Homes England is always looking to invest with partners whose ambition and activities align. Homes England encourages interested groups to apply for funding and details of its investment offer and contact details can be found on their website.

It is estimated that the MADE Partnership will bring forward in excess of 5650 homes by acting as master developer to unlock large, complex residential sites that have stalled due to lack of market capability, coordination capacity, patient capital and resource.

The Levelling Up Home Building Fund, from which the MADE partnership investment was made, operates based on continuous market engagement and therefore its investments are not subject to procurement.

Homes England is always looking to invest with partners whose ambition and activities align. Homes England encourages interested groups to apply for funding and details of its investment offer and contact details can be found on their website.

It is estimated that the MADE Partnership will bring forward in excess of 5650 homes by acting as master developer to unlock large, complex residential sites that have stalled due to lack of market capability, coordination capacity, patient capital and resource.

The Levelling Up Home Building Fund, from which the MADE partnership investment was made, operates based on continuous market engagement and therefore its investments are not subject to procurement.

Homes England is always looking to invest with partners whose ambition and activities align. Homes England encourages interested groups to apply for funding and details of its investment offer and contact details can be found on their website.