Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of current funding arrangements for people whose homes require adaptations for health reasons.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes. We have provided an additional £172 million across this and the last financial year to uplift the DFG, which could provide approximately 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes. This brings the total funding for the DFG to £711 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26.
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government share policy responsibility for the DFG. We also work with other Government departments more widely on relevant issues.
We continue to keep all aspects of the DFG under consideration. Recently, we carried out a review of the upper limit for the DFG and are currently considering the findings.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will commission research on the potential impact of (a) first and (b) second cousin marriage on local communities.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are aware that all aspects of weddings law, including first cousin marriage, are important. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Department responsible for community cohesion, including policy on faith, belief, and diasporic communities, and regularly undertakes work to understand and support local communities.
At the Ministry of Justice, we are taking the time to properly consider weddings law, before publicly setting out our position.
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 civil servants in her Department relocated outside of London will have their pay reduced, and whether civil servants employed in new locations outside London will lose their existing London weighting.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG has separate National pay ranges and London pay ranges. MHCLG has an established policy and salary change calculation that applies when colleagues transfer from the London to the National pay range or vice versa, this includes individuals being placed on the same relative position on their new pay range as they held on their old pay range, i.e. if the colleague was on the minimum of the London pay range they would move to the minimum of the National pay range.
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 11 June 2025 to Question 54295 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Taxis, how much of the £41,439 was spent on Ministerial travel.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Of the total figure of £41,439 spent on taxis in the period specified, £3058 of the £41,439 related to Ministerial travel
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, if she will list each official diary event and meeting she undertook on 10 April 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government publishes details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of using (a) no-deposit and (b) deposit alternative schemes in the private rented sector on tenants; and what plans she has to ensure tenants are protected from costs associated with those schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware of the issues raised in 2023 by the Competition and Markets Authority in relation to deposit products.
While my Department has not conducted a detailed assessment of ‘zero-deposit’ or ‘deposit alternative’ products, we continue to monitor their impact on private rented sector tenants.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for the Tenancy Deposit Protection system, managing the six contracts which deliver the government-arranged schemes that protect tenants' deposits.
As part of the upcoming re-procurement of these contracts we are reviewing the current tenancy deposit system and will explore what improvements can be made to ensure the best possible protection for tenants.
Asked by: Paulette Hamilton (Labour - Birmingham Erdington)
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 the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, what plans her Department has to provide dedicated capital funding for (a) safe, (b) modern, (c) sustainable and (d) inclusive facilities for fire and rescue services in (a) West Midlands Fire Service and (b) England.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 3 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement, which sets out funding allocations for all Local Authorities, including Fire and Rescue.
These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.
In 2025/26, West Midlands FRA has a core spending power of £135.3 million. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each FRA.
Fire and Rescue Services play a crucial role in making our communities safer, both in prevention and in responding to emergencies. Government will continue to work with the Fire and Rescue sector to understand the investment needed and how that need can be addressed.
Following the Spending Review, my department is now working through departmental allocations. Once this process is complete, I will be able to share what the Spending Review means for the Fire and Rescue sector.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the state of social cohesion and societal and democratic resilience in the UK; and what indicators they are using to measure cohesion and resilience.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is leading cross-Government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with communities and local stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address the deep-seated issues. This will include further consideration of how to effectively measure social cohesion.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, chaired by the Security Minister, has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes from the full range of threats, and the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit is an enduring function that coordinates election security efforts across Government.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) South Northamptonshire constituency, (b) other semi-rural constituencies and (c) rural constituencies will be affected by (i) the Strategic Sites Accelerator and (ii) other place-based investment initiatives set out in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published on 23 June 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and realise Britain’s potential, targeting government investment towards eight-growth driving sectors (IS-8). The Strategy’s place-based approach focuses efforts on the city regions and clusters where the IS-8 concentrate, to identify and accelerate the highest-potential opportunities in these places. There are clusters of the growth driving sectors across the whole country, including in rural areas, and the policy package addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by these businesses.
The Strategic Sites Accelerator will prepare and accelerate strategic sites for development. The Office for Investment and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are working closely together to identify sites for development which align closely with the Industrial Strategy’s strategic focus and the Government’s Plan for Change.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 59412 on Government Departments: Reviews, if her Department will publish the line by line review of its spending conducted for the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is committed making savings and efficiencies, with SR funding allocations agreed on this basis.
These funding allocations – informed by the findings of the ZBR – are the first step in a wider plan to finalise budgets for different projects and programmes, with any necessary savings decided through that process. The savings taken forward will be subject to the normal rigorous business planning processes, and in-year financial management.