Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2025 to Question HL7834 on New Towns: Planning Permission, if she will set out in which designated parts of the Swanscombe Peninsula were jumping spiders discovered; and what were their prevalence.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The distinguished jumping spider (Attulus distinguendus) is found on the northern section of Swanscombe Peninsula, Kent, which is one of only two locations in the UK where it can be found, the other being Thurrock Marshes. Its prevalence is extremely low, and it is a critically endangered species due to habitat loss.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out (a) how and (b) when local authorities are consulted on the housing of asylum seekers in HMOs by the Home Office and its contractors.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The government is committed to reducing reliance on hotels by expanding the overall supply of dispersal and temporary accommodation, including through the private sector.  Local authorities are consulted on all dispersed accommodation before it is procured, including for HMOs. This is a necessary step to meet our legal obligations while being cognisant of local pressures.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the advice provided by her Department to Somani Hotels on the need to seek a temporary application for a change of use of the Bell Hotel, Epping.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Department has not provided such advice to Somani Hotels.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 65276 on Travellers: Caravan Sites, if she will publish the representation made by the National Police Chief’s Council on the High Court judgment and its implications for operational policing.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has engaged with the National Police Chiefs’ Council following the High Court judgment to understand the implications of the judgment for operational policing.

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.