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 17 June 2025 to Question 58761 on Parish and Town Councils: Devolution, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) local government restructuring and (b) the abolition of district councils does not lead to an increase in the overall level of council tax.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Decisions on council tax levels will be taken by new councils. Where new councils inherit different levels of council tax from their predecessors, legislation provides for them to be harmonised for up to seven years. The Secretary of States determines referendum principles each year to ensure residents have the final say over excessive increases. Council tax referendum principles are set on an annual basis and no decision have been taken about the principles for future years.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what what steps she is taking to help ensure consistency in standards of (a) ethics, (b) training and (c) reporting in (i) parish, (ii) town and (iii) district councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government’s December 2024 consultation set out the government’s views on the adequacy of the current local government standards regime. The consultation also set out what sanctions are currently available and that government considers that, in key aspects, the current system is ineffectual, inconsistently applied, and lacking in adequate powers to effectively sanction members found in serious breach of their codes of conduct.
This consultation sought views on proposed measures to strengthen the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England, including the introduction of the sanction of suspension, to empower local authorities of all types and tiers to deal appropriately member misconduct where it arises. The government response will be issued in due course. The government does not collect data on local authority complaints.
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 district councils with borough status that are abolished will be able to maintain their borough status through Charter Trustees under her local government restructuring plans.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will ensure that the ceremonial rights and privileges of an area will be maintained after any reorganisation of local government and will work with local leaders to ensure that areas retain these, following the submission of proposals from local councils, and a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement.
Where specific provision is needed in legislation to maintain ceremonial privileges, such as the establishment of Charter Trustees, then this will be considered, as necessary, reflecting the circumstances in each area, as has previously been done for other areas undergoing local government reorganisation.
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, what consideration she will give to the findings of district councils public consultations in determining the structure of new unitary councils in Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 5 February 2025 councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were invited to submit proposals for unitary local government by 28 November 2025. Once a proposal has been submitted it will be for the government to decide on taking a proposal forward and to consult as required by statute. The exact timings and detail will depend on the proposals received and the decision taken on which proposal, if any, to implement.
Decisions on the most appropriate option for each area will be judgements in the round, having regard to the statutory guidance and the available evidence. One of the criteria is that proposals should show how councils in the area have sought to work together in coming to a view that meets local needs and is informed by local views. We expect there to be wide engagement with local partners and stakeholders, residents, workforce and their representatives, and businesses on a proposal. The engagement that is undertaken should both inform the development of robust proposals and should also build a shared understanding of the improvements expected through reorganisation.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to help increase job (a) creation and (b) retention in (i) industrial communities, (ii) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (iii) Staffordshire.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There is a strong ecosystem of skills and employment support, across Staffordshire and Newcastle -Under Lyme, co-ordinated through county, district and borough councils, in partnership with national government and not for profit organisations.
The Department for Business and Trade offers a range of business support services which we will be building with measures being announced in the Small Business Strategy later this year. Our support helps businesses start, grow, invest, and export, creating opportunities across the country, including communities in Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle environmental harm in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) advises and regulates businesses across the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors; they are the environmental regulator for water companies; they prosecute and take action against those who pollute the environment and blight our communities; and they reduce and protect against flood risk and coastal erosion.
They are a Category 1 Responder (with the emergency services) under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and have a duty to warn, inform, and respond to flood incidents and prevent environmental damage. They work with other local responders to co-ordinate their response and support recovery.
For example, the EA advises on planning applications for all local planning authorities within their statutory remit, including St Albans and Dacorum district councils. This includes assessing flood risk and potential impacts to main rivers or controlled waters. They also have a role in working with Local Planning Authorities during the preparation of Local Plans to ensure flood risk, climate change, land contamination, and the water environment are appropriately included in their evidence base and policies.
In addition, they partner with the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, local authorities, and local police departments, such as Hertfordshire Constabulary, to tackle environmental waste crime. They follow a triage style approach to enforcement, ensuring it is intelligence led and target their efforts based on threat, risk, and harm.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to announce further proposals for local government reorganisation in Leicestershire.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 5 February 2025, the government issued statutory invitations to two-tier authorities and small neighbouring unitary authorities to develop proposals for unitary local government. Accordingly, an invitation was sent to Blaby District Council, Charnwood Borough Council, Harborough District Council, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Leicestershire County Council, Melton Borough Council, North West Leicestershire District Council, Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council.
The invitation also asked areas to submit interim plans by 21 March 2025. We received interim plan responses from all areas and committed to providing feedback. Feedback will soon be provided to those all councils listed above to support them as they progress work on developing final proposals. Their final proposals are due by 28 November 2025. Once any final proposals are submitted it will be for the government to consult as required by statute before deciding which proposal, if any, to implement.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support (a) South Holland District Council and (b) South Kesteven District Council in reducing fly tipping incidents.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to help them tackle fly-tipping. These include prosecution, which can lead to a significant fine or even imprisonment, and powers to seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. They can also issue a fixed penalty notice of up to £1,000 to fly-tippers and £600 to householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier, the income from which is kept by councils and must be spent on enforcement or cleaning up fly-tipping.
We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers and we are currently taking steps to develop statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
In our manifesto we committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
In the meantime, Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage which is available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group#.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the evidential basis is that (a) growing and (b) reorganising Portsmouth City Council will increase it's financial stability.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government was elected on a manifesto that pledged to fix the foundations of local government alongside a transfer of power and funding out of Westminster through devolution. Local government reorganisation is central to this pledge, and we have set out the rationale for reorganisation in the English Devolution White Paper.
The local government reorganisation programme invites all councils in two tier areas and their neighbouring small unitary authorities to put forward reorganisations proposals. Accordingly, Portsmouth City Council, together with the twelve two tier councils in Hampshire, Isle of Wight Council and Southampton City Council, were invited to submit proposals for unitary local government. Existing district areas should be considered the building blocks for proposals, but where there is a strong justification more complex boundary changes will be considered. Ultimately it is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of their whole area.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to delay planned local elections for new unitary authorities after 2027.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the local government reorganisation programme, we anticipate that, on the most ambitious timelines, there could be elections to ‘shadow’ unitary councils in May 2027, ahead of “go live” of new councils on 1 April 2028. For Surrey, our expectation is that the only elections that will take place in May 2026 are elections to new shadow unitary local government, with a view to going live in April 2027.
We have no plans to postpone the elections which councils are scheduled to hold, whether to new unitary authorities, or to district councils in 2027. We will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation. The exact timings and detail of elections will depend on the proposals received and the decision taken on which proposal, if any, to implement.