Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what changes have been made to (a) funding for individual projects and (b) the total quantum of funding for cultural projects allocated levelling up funding prior to July 2024; and if he will list the projects for which funding was cancelled.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Levelling Up Fund committed £4.8 billion to mixed use projects under the themes of regeneration, transport and culture. In September this government announced the consolidation of the Levelling Up, Towns and Pathfinder funds into a single, consolidated funding pot, the Local Regeneration Fund. This fund honoured all funding from the constituent programmes; providing local authorities with greater flexibility, more local control and less bureaucracy, freeing them up to get on with delivery impacts in our communities across the UK.
An additional £99.8 million of funding was awarded to Levelling Up cultural projects announced by the previous administration at the Spring Budget 2024. Due to the extremely challenging fiscal legacy and unfunded commitments this government inherited these projects were consulted upon, confirming £67 million of funding to 10 projects across the UK and withdrawing funding for six Local Authorities: Maldon, Redditch, High Peak, Erewash, Somerset and Northamptonshire being withdrawn.
In September this government announced the consolidation of the Levelling Up, Towns and Pathfinder funds into a single, consolidated funding pot, the Local Regeneration Fund. This fund honoured all funding from the constituent programmes; providing local authorities with greater flexibility, more local control and less bureaucracy, freeing them up to get on with delivery impacts in our communities across the UK.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to reintroduce Article 5 certificates, in the context of trends in the number of cases where Tree Protection Orders are removed at the request of insurance companies; and what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (b) Forestry England and (c) the Association of British Insurers on the proposed new protocol to protect trees at risk of felling.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Tree Preservation Order system is the primary method of protecting trees and woodlands in England. Anyone applying to a local authority to cut down, top, lop or uproot trees subject to an Order because of tree-related subsidence damage is required to set out evidence which demonstrates that the tree is a material cause of the problem and that other factors have been eliminated as potential influences so far as possible.
A local authority is only liable to pay compensation for loss or damage incurred as a result of refusing any consent under an order, and not for loss or damage attributable to the claimant's failure to take reasonable steps to avert the loss or damage or mitigate its extent.
I have had no recent discussions with Defra, the Forestry Commission or the Association of British Insurers on this matter and the Government has no immediate plan to amend the current legislation for Tree Preservation Orders.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the new socio-economic duty will apply to local authorities’ waste policies on household rubbish and recycling collections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon. Member to UIN 5411 answered on 7 October 2024.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 August 2025 to Question 69053 on Special Educational Needs: Finance, what recent estimate he has made of the aggregate, accumulated deficits that have been built up under the DSG Statutory Override system in each local authority.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department for Education publishes outturn data on local authority-level Dedicated Schools Grant balances in the annual ‘LA and school expenditure' statistical release. The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government publishes outturn data on levels of Dedicated Schools Grant deficit held in local authority Dedicated Schools Grant adjustment accounts in the annual 'Local authority revenue expenditure and financing' statistical release. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engages regularly with local authorities on the impact of these deficits and the extent to which they are expected to grow.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what research his Department has commissioned on (a) land value capture and (b) land valuation taxation since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In summer 2024, my Department commissioned the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to provide a viability study to support proposals for new ‘Golden Rules’ for Green Belt development. These proposals were set out in the consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system, published in July 2024. The revised NPPF and a response to the public consultation was published in December 2024.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) headcount and (b) FTE staff are employed by the Building Safety Regulator; if he will list the addresses of its offices; and how many assigned desks for staff it has in total.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As of 2nd October 2025, the Building Safety Regulator’s headcount was 404 and FTE was 394.2.
A list of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) offices and their addresses are publicly available on the HSE website - HSE Offices.
HSE operates a hybrid working model in which staff are able to work from home or from their designated office. There are no assigned desks in offices for staff, instead using a hotdesking system.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has provided to local authorities on whether individuals can have three entries on the electoral roll.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the UK, citizens are entitled to be registered at more than one address in certain circumstances. It is the responsibility of the local Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to consider each application (to register to vote) on its own merits and to be satisfied that a person meets the residence criteria for each address.
The Electoral Commission as the independent electoral regulator, holds responsibility for issuing guidance on electoral registration.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 33500 on Eden Project: Morecambe, how much government funding has been spent on supporting the project to date; and on what date were the funds released.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The MHCLG Levelling Up Fund, Town Deals, and Simplification Pathfinder Pilot have been consolidated into the Local Regeneration Fund. This new fund will give local authorities more local control, reducing unnecessary administrative burdens and maximising freedom and flexibility to get on with delivery.
As of March 2025, £6,336,514 has been released to support the Eden project: Morecambe. Department officials contacted Lancaster City Council on 11 September to confirm details for a payment to cover forecasted activity for the remainder of the 2025/26 financial year. A further payment, of £10,814,457, is due to be paid in September 2025.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 69680 on English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, whether the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners supported changing the voting system to supplementary vote.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has engaged with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), on the proposals set out in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
The government firmly believes the Supplementary Vote system works better for electing people to single executive roles and ensures a wider range of support than First Past The Post.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 69456 on British Muslim Trust, if he will publish the application submitted on 18 May 2025.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The prospectus for the Combatting Hate Against Muslims Fund did not indicate that applications would be made public and were not submitted on that basis; publishing these would prejudice the commercial interests of applicants.