Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
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 support local authorities to (a) remove and (b) protect the safety of staff who are removing (i) graffiti and (ii) flags that have been placed without authorisation.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Guidance exists, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential risks of the unauthorised placing of flags on lampposts; and whether she has issued guidance to local authorities on (a) their removal and (b) how to de-escalate community tensions.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Guidance exists, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to publish a community safety strategy.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government’s Safer Streets Mission led by the Home and Plan for Change commitments set out a whole-system approach to reduce serious harm and restore public confidence in policing and the criminal justice system. Central to this is our ambitions to strengthen neighbourhood policing; tackling anti-social behaviour and making town centres safer and more secure; and halving violence against women and girls and knife crime within a decade.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation document Fair Funding Review 2.0 updated on 23 June 2025, what the funding formula used for the review is.
Answered by Jim McMahon
I refer the hon. Member to chapter 4 of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation which sets out the approach to assessing local authority demand through seven formulae. Government have also published detailed technical annexes for each formula.
We will publish our response to the consultation in the autumn, which will be followed by the publication of the provisional multi-year Settlement.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of people in the private rented sector due to a lack of social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
According to the most recent data from the English Housing Survey from 2022/23, 6% (280,000) of Household Reference Persons in the private rented sector reported that someone in their home is on the waiting list for social housing.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
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 had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing rent controls; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on Local Housing Allowance expenditure on private rent.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has been clear it does not support rent controls and has not discussed their introduction at a local authority level.
We believe that rent controls could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
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 had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on introducing rent controls at a local authority level.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has been clear it does not support rent controls and has not discussed their introduction at a local authority level.
We believe that rent controls could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that annual increases in fees paid by leaseholders to management are capped in line with inflation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease, and the age and condition of a building. As a result, the cost of repairs, maintenance of common areas, and management fees vary considerably. Placing a cap on service charge increases would not only be complex but could prove detrimental to the interests of leaseholders, including those who have collectively enfranchised, by preventing sufficient funds being raised to manage and maintain their buildings effectively. As such, the Government have no plans to implement one.
By law variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.
The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including those designed to increase service charge transparency and to rebalance the legal costs regime and remove barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlord.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
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 tackle the (a) health and wellbeing and (b) housing needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The DPM is responsible for cross-governmental coordination of policy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping and will update in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Independent - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a youth homeless strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people. We will look at these issues carefully and will consider youth homelessness as we develop our long-term, cross-government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.