Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recommendations of the National Audit Office's report entitled Local Government Financial Sustainability, published on 28 February 2025.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises many of the themes identified by the National Audit Office in their recently published report entitled Local Government Financial Sustainability.
I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by my rt. hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne on 3 February 2025 (HCWS413), which sets out the action the government is taking through the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement to bring long-term stability and certainty to the local government sector.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to implement the recommendations of the report by the Electoral Commission entitled Voter ID at the 2024 UK general election, published on 10 September 2024, prior to the May 2025 local elections.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has recently published our response to the Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 General Election, and this is available here: Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 elections: government response - GOV.UK.
As set out in that response, we will not be making any further changes to the voter identification policy ahead of the May 2025 local elections.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when local elections will be held for (a) areas submitting reorganisation proposals by May 2025, (b) Devolution Priority Programme areas (DPP) submitting proposals by September 2025, (c) postponed shadow unitary elections and (d) postponed mayoral elections.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For both (a) and (b) the postponed May 2025 elections will take place in May 2026 alongside the scheduled district councils in the area.
In addition, (a) For areas submitting reorganisation proposals by May 2025, the most ambitious timeline is likely to lead to shadow elections in 2026; (b) for Devolution Priority Programme areas (DPP) submitting proposals by September 2025, we anticipate mayoral elections in 2026.
(c) no shadow unitary elections have yet been scheduled;
(d) no mayoral elections have been postponed.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the availability of Great British Insulation scheme grants for loft insulation to properties in Council Tax Band E.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is not a government-funded grant scheme but an obligation on larger energy suppliers to support eligible households in the least energy-efficient homes by installing insulation measures. Support is offered to households in Council Tax bands A-D in England and A-E in Scotland and Wales, based on property values from 1991 in England and Scotland, and 2003 in Wales. These Council Tax bands capture a similar proportion of homes in each nation and serve as a proxy for income, ensuring the scheme proportionately captures low- to mid-income households. GBIS will be reviewed as part of the Warm Homes Plan and lessons from GBIS will inform future schemes, with decisions communicated to industry and the public.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
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 the oral answer of 20 January 2025 from the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution on Local Government Reorganisation: Devon, Official Report columns 720-721, whether (a) the reorganisation of district councils and (b) other local government reorganisation is optional.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The question in the House was taken in relation to the current applications to join the Devolution Priority Programme. As stated in the House this allows for areas to put forward locally led proposals on both devolution and local government reorganisation. We are very pleased with the level of interest and can confirm again that no area was required to submit proposals by government.
Beyond the Devolution Priority Programme the English Devolution White Paper sets out our priorities in reorganisation where we believe there are clear efficiencies which can redirect resources to frontline services, and this will need to align to the reforms to local government funding. We will expect all two tier areas and smaller or failing unitaries to develop proposals for reorganisation.
We will take a phased approach to delivery, taking into account where reorganisation can unlock devolution, where areas are keen to proceed at pace or where it can help address wider failings. However, we are clear that reorganisation should not slow down devolution, and plans for both should be complementary. We will deliver this process as quickly as possible including through legislation where it becomes necessary to ensure progress.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many requests she has granted from local authorities to postpone elections set for May 2025.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A number of councils have responded to my letter of 16 December, making requests involving postponement of their May 2025 elections. A list of those councils can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas.
In my letter I set out that requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe. A decision will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the total cost of the Government's plans for local authority re-organisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution White Paper sets out the overall case for local government reorganisation, including referencing the 2020 PwC report, “Evaluating the importance of scale in proposals for local government reorganisation”, for the County Councils Network, which estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary structure would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over 5 years, with an annual post-implementation net recurring saving of £700 million.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on what date the Government will inform councils on its decision on postponing local elections.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A decision on the requests made by councils to postpone local elections will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible. As set out in my letter of 16 December, these requests will only be considered where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to ensure that local authorities remain democratically accountable for the provision of social care, in the context of her Department's plans for devolution.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no intention of changing local authorities’ democratic accountability for provision of social care. As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, we will reset the relationship with local government, to give the sector more autonomy and put councils on the road to recovery.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to ensure that local authorities in rural areas receive higher levels of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26, in the context of her Department's plans to repurpose funding allocated for the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.
The Rural Services Delivery Grant does not properly account for need and a large number of predominantly rural councils receive nothing from it – that’s clearly not right and a sign we need to allocate funding more effectively. The government is keen to hear from councils about how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer term consultations on local authority funding reform.