Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Blake Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephanie Peacock]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who I know is a huge champion for his constituency, and indeed on this subject. We are committed to increasing visitor numbers—he will have heard my answer to the previous question on the overnight levy, and there is a strong case for any money raised to be reinvested in tourism. As I said, I was in Blackpool last week speaking to tourism industry leaders and businesses, and far from the doom and gloom that the hon. Member alludes to, I witnessed a great deal of hope, hard work and dynamism.

[Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)]

We have had a good debate about the overnight stay levy and short lets, but on Warwick Way in my constituency I have seen real harm to communities because of unregulated short lets. Does the Minister agree that for the tourism industry to be a real success, hotels cannot be undermined by short lets, and that getting the registration scheme in place and the Treasury to investigate where there might be breaches of HMRC rules are important steps forward in ensuring that?

[Stephanie Peacock]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has been a strong champion on this issue. It was a delight to visit her constituency earlier this year to talk and to see at first hand the problem that it creates. As the Secretary of State has outlined, this Government are committed to that register, and we know the difference it will make to communities such as my hon. Friend’s and those up and down the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Blake Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2026 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What steps she is taking to introduce a registration scheme for short-term lets.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)]

The new national short-term lets registration scheme entered user testing at the end of October to ensure that it is robust and easy to use and meets the needs of the scheme ahead of its planned launch later in 2026. Secondary legislation will be required to enact the scheme and we intend to bring that forward when parliamentary time allows.

[Rachel Blake]

I appreciate the focus and attention that the Minister has brought to this issue, which is so essential in my constituency where about 6,000 homes are lost to short-letting. Will she share with us how she will capture the number of nights that properties are let out, as that is an essential part in ensuring that short-let properties do not go over the 90-day rule or breach any planning permission? Will she tell us how she will approach that matter?

[Stephanie Peacock]

The registration scheme will collect essential data to help authorities, but, as my hon. Friend knows and indeed secured a ten-minute rule Bill on the issue, the legislation does not address the issue around data sharing for the number of nights. I look forward to working with her to see whether we can rectify this issue to ensure that data is shared between platforms, and that hosts understand their responsibilities and give local authorities and Government the required data. I know from a number of meetings with her how important this issue is to her constituency, and she is a really big campaigner on it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Blake Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Marsha De Cordova]

Independent scrutiny of the Church’s safeguarding work is extremely important. The Church commissioned a series of audits on dioceses and cathedrals by independent safeguarding experts, and several have been completed and published. The independently chaired national safeguarding panel, which includes victims and survivors among its members, currently scrutinises safeguarding, but as I have already pointed out, proposals to strengthen scrutiny in the Church will be voted on at the Synod next month, and the Church will then have to create a plan for implementation once the right model has been approved at that General Synod in February.

[Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)]

3. What steps the Church is taking to improve the maintenance of the Hyde Park Estate.

[Marsha De Cordova]

The Hyde Park estate has been managed by the Church Commissioners for over 150 years, and they are committed to its long-term stewardship. As responsible landlords, the commissioners are committed to adopting best practice and have continuous investment programmes for the management of buildings on the estate to ensure that they remain fit for purpose both now and in the future.

[Rachel Blake]

I have been working for months with residents of the Quadrangle, the Water Gardens and Connaught Village on the scale of their service charges. They have managed to reduce their service charges by 10%. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating them on their hard work and agree that they should not have had to work that hard? Will she join me in a meeting with the Church Commissioners to improve the transparency and monitoring of service charge levels?

[Marsha De Cordova]

Of course I congratulate the residents on their hard work. I know from my constituency about the challenges around increases in service charges; it is so important that they are transparent to everybody. I would be happy to join my hon. Friend in a meeting with her residents on this issue, and I would recommend including those from the Church Commissioners’ property services team. I hope that will be okay.