Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities including (a) Thurrock, (b) Basildon, and (c) Essex councils on bringing wildlife restoration projects into suburban and rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Essex has a wealth of wildlife and holds a wide variety of nature-rich habitats, including some that are unique to this part of England.
As one of 48 Responsible Authorities appointed by the Secretary of State, Essex County Council published its Local Nature Recovery Strategy in July 2025. These strategies propose actions to improve, expand and connect nature, in both rural and urban areas. Natural England has a statutory role, providing bespoke advice and quality assurance to each LNRS, and continues to support Essex County Council as this strategy now moves into a planning and delivery phase.
The proposed actions and priorities for improving and connecting nature and greenspace in urban areas, both for the benefit of wildlife and for communities, are set out in chapters 6 and 9 of the Essex Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
The development of Essex’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy has been supported by 14 Borough and District Councils which have contributed local data and expertise, including local wildlife site data and species records. These Supporting Authorities include Thurrock Council, Basildon Borough Council, Southend-on-Sea, Chelmsford and Colchester.
In the Thurrock area Natural England has been advising and engaging with a number of stakeholders including Thurrock Council, major infrastructure projects and other developers on how to secure long-term thriving nature alongside economic growth opportunities.
Natural England’s Sustainable Development leads are advising 14 local authorities across Essex on nature and green space through the Local Plan process, including both Basildon and Thurrock. Essex County Council has developed a Green Infrastructure Strategy which provides guidance for Planning Authorities within the county. Colchester and Southend-on-Sea are both prioritising Green Infrastructure within their Local Plans. Green Infrastructure is the term for multi-functional green spaces such as parks, gardens, wildlife areas, waterways and drainage systems which can deliver benefits for nature, for people and economic prosperity.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of local government reorganisation on the (a) implementation of transport infrastructure projects and (b) strategic planning.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the lead department for the planning system, and the Department for Transport works with it closely on the impacts of local government reorganisation.
Existing district councils have responsibilities for taxi licencing and spatial planning, but transport infrastructure is generally delivered by county and unitary authorities. New unitary authorities formed by local government reorganisation should have appropriate scale to effectively deliver transport infrastructure projects and, outside of Strategic Authorities, to undertake their local transport authority responsibilities.
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 23 January 2026, to Question 106112, on Local Government: Elections, and with reference to his letter to local authorities of 22 January 2026, on what evidential basis district councils have the capacity to organise (a) county and (b) town and parish elections but not district elections.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Rt.hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349).
All local elections will go ahead in May 2026.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 9 February 2026 to Question 110704, whether the answer provided also applies to (a) Thurrock council and (b) other unitary authority councils.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 110704 on 9 February 2026, which applies to all councils. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 specifies the type of councils which may resolve to move from holding whole council elections to electing by thirds, namely non-metropolitan district that have previously held elections by thirds.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help (a) tackle and (b) prevent organised crime networks involved in fly-tipping in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to tackling waste crime from the fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages to the serious and organised crime groups who are exploiting the waste sector. We are making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals and have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA’s) budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6 million. The Government also works with a wide range of interested parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG) to promote good practice, including advice on preventing fly-tipping on private land.
The EA focuses on tackling large-scale waste crime, often linked to organised criminal activity while fly-tipping is managed by local authorities. The greatest crossover with the EA and councils is where Organised Crime Groups are operating or linked to illegal or permitted waste sites, rather than fly tipping. Local EA Officers have established working relationships with Surrey Council County and district councils, including Surrey Heath. Information is routinely shared and joint site visits undertaken to ensure collective efforts across the organisations is targeted where each can have the most impact.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will have discretion following the implementation of electoral boundary changes to determine whether elections are held by thirds, halves, or all-out elections without further primary or secondary legislation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The legislation governing councils’ power to choose its own scheme of elections is set out in Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The legislation permits non-metropolitan district councils to choose to move to electing by thirds or halves where they have previously held elections by thirds or halves.
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, which scheduled town or parish council elections will take place in May 2026 in localities where scheduled principal council elections will be postponed in May 2026 by district council.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Parish and town council elections will be proceeding as planned, given they are outside of local government reorganisation. Information on town and parish councils elections is held by the relevant district councils.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 103561 on Anti-social Behaviour, what steps her Department is taking to tackle barriers faced by county councils in using (a) closure notices and (b) closure orders under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 in areas where district councils exist.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Referring to the response to question 103561, county councils may already issue a closure notice and apply directly for closure orders in England and Wales providing that there is no district council in the area. Where there is a district council in the area, the county council would be expected to work with the relevant district council to issue the closure notice. Closure orders are made by Magistrates courts, not local councils.
We are taking steps, through the Crime and Policing Bill, to enhance the closure power. We are extending the timeframe that relevant agencies can apply to a magistrates’ court for a closure order from 48 hours after service of a closure notice to 72 hours. This will give agencies more time to progress an application for a closure order, protecting the victim and community in the interim while a closure order is sought.
We are also extending the power to issue closure notices to registered social housing providers. Currently only local authorities and police can issue closure notices. This is despite registered social housing providers often being the first agency to be aware of the ASB in question. Extending this power to social housing providers helps ensure that the right agencies have the right tools to tackle ASB quickly and effectively, saving police and local authorities time as housing providers will be able to make applications directly.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his letter to council leaders whose elections he is seeking to postpone published on 22 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the administrative impact on councils of running town and parish elections while district or county-level authority elections are postponed.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Where a decision has been made to postpone local elections in an area, parish and town council elections will still be proceeding as planned, given they are outside of local government reorganisation.
Councils will deliver the elections they are required to and the costs of town and parish council elections can be passed on to those town and parish councils.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Lancashire County Council and district councils in Fylde and Wyre on the design and delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will deliver turn up and go railway services between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York. The economic rationale for NPR is to enable these areas to function as a single high productivity growth corridor. The Government has worked closely with local leaders in these areas and will continue to do so in taking the design and delivery of NPR forward.
The Government will still consider future rail improvement schemes more widely for areas such as Lancashire, for example through the future rail network enhancement programme, and it will engage with local leaders and Members on their priorities in the normal way.