Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the proportion of planning applications rejected by Councils in each of the last five years, broken down by controlling political party.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of houses in urban areas which have been rejected for planning permission since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of houses that have been rejected for planning permission in Greater London since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The proportions of planning applications that have been rejected in each of the past five years in England and in London can be derived from the data available in the PS2 time series section of the interactive planning application statistics dashboard, available here.
They can also be derived from the detailed data held in PS2 open data file on gov.uk here.
My Department does not hold the information on political control needed to provide the requested breakdown of figures by controlling political party in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to strengthen sovereign capacity in cloud services and cyber resilience.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
DSIT is supporting industry in building more data centres in the UK (including via AI Growth Zones), which helps enable cloud providers in the UK to expand. We are working with other government departments to speed up planning permission and grid connection timings to support this.
The Government believes complex issues such as the security of data and digital governance are best addressed through transparent, inclusive multistakeholder engagement. We remain committed to working with international partners within recognised global mechanisms to promote shared understanding and responsible international behaviours, while ensuring support for UK-based data-driven businesses to innovate and grow.
Cyber security is a key part of the Industrial Strategy. DSIT supports the development of sovereign capability in the £13.2 billion UK cyber security sector through its accelerator programmes, including CyberASAP, which commercialises cyber security research, and Cyber Runway, which supports entrepreneurs and companies. Our £187 million TechFirst programme will improve digital skills across the country, including cyber security skills. We are investing significantly in the National Cyber Security Centre, the Government’s technical authority on cyber security, which continues to work to strengthen UK cyber resilience. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will further strengthen UK cyber defences and boost protections for our essential and digital services, including cloud computing.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the maximum residency period for UK citizens in the EU from 90 days to 180 days.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HMG officials and Ministers, including myself, regularly engage EU and EU Member State counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals.
The EU allows for travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review planning requirements for converting homes into houses in multiple occupation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities already have planning powers to limit the concentration or proliferation of HMOs within their locality. They can remove the national permitted development right for smaller HMOs to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction which, once in place, requires all new HMO proposals to secure planning permission. We keep the powers to regulate HMOs under review.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to bring forward further legislative proposals on planning reform.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Any new primary legislation will be formally announced to Parliament in the usual way.
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 are the internal areas within the proposed Chinese Embassy that would be exempt from UK inspection and verification.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All material planning considerations, including national and international law, will be taken into account in reaching a decision on this case. The full reasons for the decision will be set out in the final decision letter.
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 30 October 2025 to Question 84643 on Infrastructure: Planning Permission, if he will publish a list of planning applications that have been submitted in this Parliament but not yet had a decision by (a) name of the project, (b) local authority, (c) application date and (d) target date for a decision.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, including details such as project name, location, application date, and target decision date, is published and regularly updated on the Planning Inspectorate’s website here.