Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps Citizen Space is taking to verify the (a) identity and (b) nationality of respondents.

I refer my hon Friend to my answers on 8 March to Questions UIN 159245 and UIN159246, which made clear that the Government welcomed the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector; the process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there were no limitations on who was able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.

Those responding to the consultation on Citizen Space, the Department's online platform which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, were required to declare whether they were responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas) or whether they were responding on behalf of an organisation and in which case the type of organisation. They were also asked to provide the name of the organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent. No further details about a respondent's personal or family's interests were requested.