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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help councils (a) re-establish Housing Revenue Accounts and (b) become the direct provider of new council homes.

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

If a local authority has over 199 social and affordable homes, it must open a Housing Revenue Account (HRA), and we invite any council that is considering this to engage with the Department.

We know from our engagement with non-HRA holding councils, that many would like to increase their current levels of housing delivery, but that the cost of opening a HRA can make this difficult. That is why I have asked my officials to explore whether the current threshold is set at the right level, or if a different threshold would enable councils to reach a level of housing provision that would better enable them to meet the costs of opening and managing an HRA.

In 2023-24, councils delivered just over 8,950 affordable homes. We want to support all councils – both HRA holding and non-HRA holding – to boost their levels of direct delivery so that we can achieve the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. We have begun this process through a series of measures designed to enhance councils’ capacity, capability, and confidence to build again at scale, as detailed in my answer to Question UIN 31737 on 27 February 2025.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the resilience of the independent hospitality sector to absorb the rising costs of (a) national Insurance, (b) alcohol duty, (c) energy prices and (d) food prices.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The government will protect the smallest businesses and charities by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that in 2025/26, 865,000 employers (43%) will pay no National Insurance Contributions at all.

The alcohol duty cut on qualifying draught products impacts approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall cut in duty bills of over £85million a year.

Since 19 December 2024, Small and Medium Enterprises with fewer than 50 employees have been able to access free support to resolve issues with their energy supplier through the Energy Ombudsman. Consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and other manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates.

We continue to work closely with HM Treasury on the challenges facing high street and other businesses.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of water infrastructure costs on consumers.

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

For too long, investment has not kept pace with the challenges of an ageing infrastructure system, a rapidly growing population and climate change. Bills will therefore now need to rise to invest in our crumbling infrastructure and deliver cleaner waterways.

Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 on 19 December. This will deliver substantial, lasting, improvements for customers and the environment through a £104bn upgrade for the water sector.

These bill rises equate to around £3 additional per month on average. This will pay to fix crumbling infrastructure, which will dramatically reduce sewage spills and lead to cleaner rivers, lakes and seas.

Funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. Ofwat will also ensure that when money for investment is not spent companies refund customers.

All water companies offer affordability support for customers struggling to pay their bills and companies have more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help through social tariffs, from 4% to 9%, between 2025-30. The Government is working with industry to keep current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported.

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