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 17 October 2025 to Question 77558 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Aviation, whether his Department has a policy on undertaking domestic flights where direct train journeys are available.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG has a Travel and Expenses Policy which requires colleagues to consider cost, business need, sustainability and practicability when planning journeys. Low carbon options, such as Rail travel, must be considered first.
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 16 September 2025 to Question 75613 on Central Government: Supply Estimates, whether his Department has produced an internal 2025-26 outcome delivery plan.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 75613 on 16 September 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 page 54 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, when he plans to issue updated procedures to enable the use of the (a) Crown Development and (b) Urgent Crown Development routes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Crown Development planning regulations in England came into force on 1 May 2025. The government has no current plans to change those regulations.
The reference to updated procedures in the Defence Industrial Strategy relates to how the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Defence will work together when the latter identifies potential applications for Crown development routes. Further details will be published in due course.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the freeze in temporary accommodation subsidy rates since 2011 on (a) local authority budgets and (b) the financial sustainability of homelessness services.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for Temporary Accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is the lowest of £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere, 90% of 2011 LHA rates, or the claimant’s Housing Benefit entitlement. This incentivises local authorities to ensure Temporary Accommodation is good value for money.
We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. This Government has invested £1bn in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £233m increase on the previous year.
We want to encourage better investment into Temporary Accommodation stock up-front to minimise costs to local authorities and £950m was announced in the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. This coupled with measures to strengthen local authorities’ financial position such as a new £39 billion Affordable Homes Programme and a 10-year rental settlement at Consumer Price Index + 1, will support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality Temporary Accommodation and drive down the use of costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.
We continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Inter Ministerial Group.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of uprating temporary accommodation subsidy rates to 90 per cent of 2024 Local Housing Allowance rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for Temporary Accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is the lowest of £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere, 90% of 2011 LHA rates, or the claimant’s Housing Benefit entitlement. This incentivises local authorities to ensure Temporary Accommodation is good value for money.
We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. This Government has invested £1bn in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £233m increase on the previous year.
We want to encourage better investment into Temporary Accommodation stock up-front to minimise costs to local authorities and £950m was announced in the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. This coupled with measures to strengthen local authorities’ financial position such as a new £39 billion Affordable Homes Programme and a 10-year rental settlement at Consumer Price Index + 1, will support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality Temporary Accommodation and drive down the use of costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.
We continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Inter Ministerial Group.
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 10 October 2025, to Question 75980, on MHCLG: Travel, if he will breakdown the requested information for each month of the last six months.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Question 75980 does not relate to travel. If the Rt Hon Member can clarify his question, I will ensure he receives a response.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many officials were investigated under their Department's disciplinary processes in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The data held on how many officials were investigated under the department’s disciplinary processes is not held in the format requested, and is contemporaneous and personally sensitive in nature. For that reason information on disciplinary proceedings is not usually disclosed.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Public Sector Fraud Authority has issued recent guidance to local billing authorities on council tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion in relation to the second homes council tax premium.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Guidance in relation to the payment and billing of council tax is developed and issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to local authorities.
However, the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), as part of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), works closely with local authorities to help them identify and prevent fraud.
As part of this, the NFI is currently collaborating with local authorities to understand the fraud risks related to council tax second home premiums. The NFI will use that insight to inform options, such as a data matching pilot, to detect and prevent fraud in this area.
This collaboration is also what has allowed the removal of fraudsters from social housing properties, ensuring they go to those families in genuine need, and cracking down on blue badge fraud - of which 22,000 fraudulent permits were cancelled in the last year alone.
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 October 2025 to Question 77635 on English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which organisations (a) supported and (b) did not support changing the electoral system to Supplementary Vote.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has engaged with a wide range of local government stakeholders during the development of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We engaged with both Mayors and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on changing the voting system for Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners back to the Supplementary Vote.
As part of the usual parliamentary process, a range of stakeholders set out their views on the Bill to the Public Bill Committee, both via the Oral Evidence session on 16 September and in writing.
The Government firmly believes the Supplementary Vote system works better for electing people to single executive roles and ensures a wider range of support than First Past the Post.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74189 on Chinese Embassy, if he will publish (a) that reply and (b) any subsequent correspondence.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to decide what documentation to publish as part of that process.