Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
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 20 January 2025 to Question 23337 on Local Government: Debts, what will happen to existing Council debt following local government reorganisation where a local authority is carrying debt but is not subject to either an (a) best value notice and (b) exceptional financial support framework.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is the responsibility of councils to manage their budgets, and it is standard for councils to borrow and to hold debt, which they will do in the normal course of business. Local government reorganisation does not change this.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria she plans to use to determine which local authorities are selected for the Devolution Priority Programme.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is seeking to provide a fast track to mayoral devolution by May 2026 for areas ready to come together under sensible geographies which meet the criteria set out in the White Paper.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what will happen to existing Council debt following local government reorganisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is the responsibility of councils to manage their budgets, and it is standard for councils to borrow and to hold debt, which they will do in the normal course of business. Local government reorganisation does not change this. The government has a framework to support councils in financial difficulty. Previous Secretaries of State used statutory powers to intervene in a small number of councils failing their best value duty partly associated with high levels of unsustainable debt. We will continue to work with best value commissioners in these councils to support the councils’ financial recovery.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
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 impact of the Renters' Rights Bill on the ability of Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner to provide accommodation for police officers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will continue to engage with stakeholders, including representatives of police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners, to ensure that the provisions of Renters’ Rights Bill operate effectively.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to give home owners the ability to apply to the Lands Chamber for the modification or discharge of positive covenants affecting their homes.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is reviewing large parts of property law affecting homeowners as part of its leasehold and commonhold reform agenda. As part of this we are working with the Law Commission to understand the implications of their 2011 report on easements, covenants and profits à prendre, “Making Land Work.” The Making Land Work recommendations would provide a route for challenging future positive land obligations created under the new regime.
For owners of freehold properties who pay estate rentcharges, we will also introduce a right to challenge the reasonableness of those charges in the same way that leaseholders can challenge service charges, and remove the statutory right for owners of rentcharges to take possession or grant a lease of the property in the event of non-payment by the homeowner.
Our reform programme has recently moved forward significantly with the introduction of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill on 12 May 2021, which we have said will be the first part of major two-part legislation in this Parliament.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what specific financial support is available to help Town and Parish Councils with (a) lost income and (b) greater costs during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Luke Hall
The way in which Parish and Town councils have responded to the challenges of the pandemic is testament to the unique position they occupy within our local government family.
Whilst the Government does not have the necessary powers to pay Parish and Town councils directly, we are encouraging their principal authorities to discuss the funding support they can provide from within the support we have provided them, which is over £7.2 billion.
Therefore, Parish and Town councils should liaise with the relevant principal authorities on how this money is allocated in their area.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
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 provides to the Planning Inspectorate on meeting hon. Members outside of scheduled evidence hearings regarding concerns on Local Plans affecting their constituencies undergoing examination.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) have their own detailed procedural guidance on the conduct of examinations - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/examining-local-plans-procedural-practice and their own code of conduct https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-conduct. These take account of the report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. My Department has not provided separate guidance to PINS.
More generally, PINS are aware of the legitimate interest that Members of Parliament have in the progress of local plans in their areas, and the important contribution they can make in representing the interests of their constituents. Local plan Inspectors are encouraged to engage positively with local MPs in the examination process whilst adhering to the Franks principles of openness, fairness and impartiality. This includes avoiding dealing privately with one party in the absence of other parties.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to cap Management Companies raising fees on new developments without the explicit consent of residents on the development.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government believes very strongly that fees, such as service charges, should be transparent and communicated effectively, and that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong.
The law is clear that service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, these must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges.
The Government believes Permission fees and administration charges should only be used where necessary and should only cover any reasonable costs incurred.
The Government established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across the property sector, which also considered how fees such as service charges should be presented to consumers and the circumstances under which permission fees and administration charges could be justified, and whether they should be capped or banned. The working group has published its final report to Government and suggested that Government should consider introducing a prescribed list of acceptable fees. We are considering the report’s recommendations carefully and will announce next steps in due course.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to end the relaxation of restrictions on night-time deliveries to supermarkets; and what plans he has to introduce tighter conditions on the time of deliveries where they cause a disturbance to neighbouring residents.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government made a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 March, setting out the need for flexibility around deliveries to supermarkets and other retailers of food, sanitary and other essential items given the disruption to supply chains due to the impact of the Coronavirus. This statement is being kept under review. Conditions are a matter for local authorities, and should be kept to a minimum, and must meet the tests set out in National Planning Policy Framework of being necessary, relevant to planning and the development, enforceable, precise, and reasonable in all other respects. We are also continuing to engage with supermarkets on the extent to which the relaxation is being used.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department plans to provide to local authorities to enable them to support vulnerable people on the covid-19 shielded patient list after the provision of direct Government support to those people has ended.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is injecting an additional £63 million to boost local authority welfare assistance to ensure that no one has to go without food and other basic necessities. This is on top of £3.2 billion in additional funding to help councils manage the immediate impact of coronavirus, including supporting local shielding programmes.
As announced on 22 June, the Government is relaxing advice to those shielding in two stages. From Monday 6 July, those shielding can spend time outdoors in a group of up to six people (including those outside of their household). From Saturday 1 August, advice to those shielding will be further relaxed, meaning people who are clinically extremely vulnerable will be advised they can go to work or to the shops, as long as they are able to maintain social distancing and are robustly practicing good, frequent hand washing. Support for those shielding has been extended to the end of July – this includes the delivery of food and medicines.
The Government will continue to review the risks for the clinically extremely vulnerable as they review social distancing advice for the general population.