Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 7 July 2025 to Question 63619 on Permitted Development Rights, which local authorities have issued Article 4 directions to remove the Class E change of use rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
46 local authorities have issued Article 4 directions for part of their area to remove the permitted development right which enables buildings in the Class E Commercial, Business and Service use class to change to residential use. These are:
City of London
Westminster
Kensington and Chelsea
Lambeth
Wandsworth
Camden
Tower Hamlets
Hackney
Islington
Windsor and Maidenhead
Bromley
Hillingdon
Kingston upon Thames
Richmond
Redbridge
Old Oak Common
Waltham Forest
Greenwich
Lewisham
Hammersmith and Fulham
Hounslow
Bexley
Broxbourne
Crawley
Manchester
Norwich
Milton Keynes
Harlow
Reading
Luton
Brighton and Hove
Rushmoor
Hertsmere
Stevenage
Three Rivers
Sefton
Dacorum
Welwyn and Hatfield
Waverley
North Hertfordshire
Watford
Colchester
Southwark
Brent
Tunbridge Wells
Basingstoke and Deane
Asked by: Alison Hume (Labour - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support (a) Danes Dyke surgery in Scarborough and (b) other GP practices with (a) population growth and (b) capacity constraints.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has a statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient general practice (GP) provision in each local area, taking into account of population growth and demographic changes.
At a national level, the Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that all new and existing developments have an adequate level of healthcare infrastructure for the community.
The Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) advise that in North Scarborough, a total of £339,766 of Section 106 funding has been secured from housing developments to support Scarborough Medical Group and Hackness Road Surgery. Of this funding, £138,298 is currently available, and formal plans for its use are still in development. The remaining funding will become available within the next two to four years.
A Project Initiation Document, to better understand a new build proposal and the associated financial implications, has been shared by the proposed landlord with Danes Dyke Surgery. The ICB expects to receive a copy in due course. In the meantime, the GP partners, as the legal owners of Dane’s Dyke Surgery’s current premises, have undertaken some remedial works to help extend the building’s usability in the short term. Responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the existing premises lies with the GP partners, in accordance with their legal obligations.
Danes Dyke Surgery is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date business continuity plan and for minimising any disruption to patient care. The ICB will support the practice with their communication of this plan. The Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is continuing to work closely with all stakeholders and is doing everything within its remit to support progress and explore viable options for the future.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 adequacy of the provision of (a) affordable and (b) social housing for key workers in North Cornwall constituency.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the need for social and affordable housing for key workers in North Cornwall and other areas.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that local planning authorities should assess the size, type, and tenure of homes needed, including for those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in their planning policies. When identifying affordable housing need in their areas, the Framework makes clear that local planning authorities should incorporate the minimum proportion of Social Rent homes required.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding will be made available to small and medium size businesses when transitional arrangements for the Rural England Prosperity Fund end.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
After March 2026, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will end. Beyond this, the government is providing targeted, long-term local growth funding to support growth across the UK, completing the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This includes:
For local government as a whole, the government's funding reforms will move funding to the places that need it, ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities.
DBT will lead on the broader SME strategy setting out the government's vision for SMEs and we will work across government to ensure effective support.
Funding related to the Rural England Prosperity Fund is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding will be made available to small and medium size businesses when transitional arrangements for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund end.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
After March 2026, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will end. Beyond this, the government is providing targeted, long-term local growth funding to support growth across the UK, completing the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This includes:
For local government as a whole, the government's funding reforms will move funding to the places that need it, ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities.
DBT will lead on the broader SME strategy setting out the government's vision for SMEs and we will work across government to ensure effective support.
Funding related to the Rural England Prosperity Fund is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help tackle child poverty in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. It is unacceptable that there are almost 2500 children in relative poverty (before housing costs) in North East Somerset and Hanham. Children in low-income families' local area statistics (CiLIF) are published on Stat-Xplore. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. Our data shows that 3,500 children in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency will be eligible for FSM from September 2026. This data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-expansion-impact-on-poverty-levels. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
Our commitments at the 2025 Spending Review come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 59362 on Asylum: Housing, if she will place a copy of the template Asylum Accommodation Service Contracts in the Library.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts are already published and available on Contracts Finder as follows:
Wales AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
South AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder
North West AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder
Midlands & Eastern England AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder
North East Yorks & Humber AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder
Scotland AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Scotland - Contracts Finder
Northern Ireland AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether county council elections which were postponed in May 2025 will take place in May 2026.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there is strong justification. As set out to the House on 17 June, the government is now consulting on two proposals for unitary local government from councils in Surrey. If the Secretary of State decides to implement a proposal, secondary legislation, which will be subject to Parliamentary approval, will be required to abolish existing councils, establish new structures and make transitional arrangements. Those transitional arrangements, consistent with precedent, would include replacing scheduled local elections with elections for the new councils, which will operate initially as new unitary authorities. This follows standard practice during Local Government Reorganisation, as conducted by the last government in Northamptonshire in 2020 and in Cumbria and North Yorkshire in 2022.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support her Department has provided to local authorities to (a) build and (b) maintain sports facilities in (i) Hexham constituency, (ii) Northumberland, (iii) Newcastle, (iv) the North East and (v) England.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.
The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
DCMS and its ALB provide direct funding to sports facilities. The government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Additional funding for grassroots sport facilities is also delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is providing £98 million across the UK in 2025/26 to support new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities.
In June the Culture Secretary announced another £400 million to transform community sport facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review. We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
Asked by: David Baines (Labour - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help tackle child poverty in St Helens North constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In St Helens North, there were 6,670 children in UC households in November 2024. There are 7,634 pupils (28.3%) known to be eligible for free school meals in St Helens. In 2023/24, there were 7,096 (33.8%) children in in relative low income after housing costs. Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is a priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty, including children in the St Helens North constituency.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
Our commitments at the 2025 Spending Review come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.