Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 13 January 2026 to Question 102770 on Waste Disposal: Birmingham, whether the meeting between the Secretary of State and Unite was minuted.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Minutes were taken and in line with normal practice, the minutes will not be published. But the Secretary of State reiterated that the waste dispute is a local issue for Unite and the Council to resolve.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Suffolk County Council on the (a) social and (b) economic impact of housing (i) refugees and (ii) asylum seekers on the local area.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work closely with local authorities to manage all the pressures arising from the provision of asylum accommodation including the impact on wider local authority obligations and plans.
The Home Office has delivered various grants through which we provide funds to support local authorities housing asylum seekers.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on establishing (a) shadow unitary councils and (b) preparing councils when undertaking local government restructuring.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My officials are in regular contact with councils to support them to undertake preparatory work to ensure readiness for any transition to new authorities.
Once a decision is taken on which proposals, if any, to implement, the Structural Changes Order will specify the governance arrangements for the new unitary councils in the transition period. Representations will be sought from the councils on the detailed content of the Structural Changes Order including on whether a shadow unitary council or preparing council is appropriate.
For all areas except Surrey, we anticipate elections to new authorities will take place in 2027, with those authorities going live in 2028.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 his Department's guidance entitled The implementation of the council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes, published on 1 November 2024, what plans he has to review the guidance given to local authorities in relation to the practices of council tax premiums being introduced by local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
211 local authorities began charging a second home premium from April 2025. The guidance was published in November 2024 to support councils in their decision making on the premium and assist taxpayers in understanding when a premium may apply. As ever, the government continues to keep all guidance under review.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on whether current Police and Crime Commissioners in (a) England and (b) Wales will serve their full term in office before the positions are discontinued, where (i) there is a combined authority mayor for that police force and (ii) where there is no such mayor.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is the Government’s intention that the role of Police and Crime Commissioner will continue until May 2028.
At that point, subject to legislation, it is the Government’s intention to transfer policing functions to Strategic Authority Mayors wherever possible, or to elected council leaders through Policing and Crime Boards where it is not.
The exception is in Cumbria where, subject to their Statutory Instrument being made and the Combined Authority established, it is anticipated that the newly created Mayor will be responsible for the governance of policing when they are elected in May 2027. This is part of the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government before the publication of the statement.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport ministers and officials regularly engage with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on a range of issues including in relation to local roads maintenance.
At the Autumn Budget, the government confirmed a record investment of £7.3 billion for local authorities over the next four years to repair and renew their roads and fix potholes. Earlier in January, the Department published a new traffic light rating system. Under this system, every local highway authority in England received a red, amber or green rating based on the condition of their roads, the level of investment into maintaining roads, and whether they do so using best practice.
The ratings are designed to enable the public to gauge how well each council is maintaining its local roads. They also provide an incentive to local highway authorities to continue to adopt best practice and they enable the department to identify where councils need to improve and to support them to ensure road conditions improve nationwide.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 2026 to Question 106139 on Local Government Finance: City of Westminster and Wandsworth, what assumption his Department made on the percentage increase in the level of Band D council tax in each of the individual three years of the Settlement on which the increase in council tax requirement for (a) Westminster and (b) Wandsworth was estimated.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is for individual councils to decide their level of council tax, taking into consideration a range of local factors, including the impact on taxpayers. As has been standard practise with previous governments, the government’s estimate of core spending power, for these councils, assumes that they will increase by 5% in 2026-27 and by 5% plus an additional £150 in both2027-28 and 2028-29.
Removing referendum principles in these areas will enable the government to allocate over £250 million more funding for public services in places with higher need instead of subsidising very low bills for 500,000 households in these councils.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 2026 to Question 105978 on second homes: council tax, whether he has made any assumption on changes in the adoption of (a) second and (b) empty home council tax premiums when estimating the council tax requirement over the three years of the settlement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the provisional local government finance settlement, the government has made estimates of changes to Core Spending Power between 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. This includes estimates of council tax requirements councils will set for those years which take account of estimated taxbase growth. These estimates, and the underpinning methodology are set out here.
The government has not made assumptions about changes in the adoption of second home or empty home council tax premiums. These decisions remain a matter for local discretion.
The way council tax in Core Spending Power is estimated is unchanged from previous Local Government Finance Settlements. The inclusion of council tax premium income in Core Spending Power does not affect how much local authorities receive through our assessment of relative need and resources, which assumes that authorities make no use of their discretionary discounts and premiums in order to protect the principle of local discretion. The Government will review the approach to calculating Core Spending Power ahead of the 2027-28 Settlement.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the local government finance settlement on councils in London on the sustainability of their existing local council tax support schemes for working age people.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Council tax support for working age households is designed by councils in consultation with their residents, taking into account the resources available to them and the needs and circumstances of their local communities. Each year, councils must consider whether to revise or replace their scheme in consultation with their residents.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 2026 to Question 106139 on Local Government Finance: City of Westminster and Wandsworth, what the change in core spending power is excluding the council tax requirement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 106139 on 20 January 2026. The provisional local government Settlement, published on 17 December 2025, sets out individual funding allocations for local authorities.
The government consulted on the provisional Settlement and the consultation closed on 14 January 2026.
We will publish our response to the consultation in February, alongside the publication of the final Local Government Finance Settlement.