Written questions by Khan.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of child mortality rates among children living in temporary accommodation in England in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to improve the safety and suitability of temporary accommodation for families with children.

It is unacceptable that living situations are contributing to the tragic deaths of children. The Child Poverty Strategy and our National Plan to End Homelessness set out our commitments to eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation and ensure children in temporary accommodation do not experience gaps in health care provision. These include our commitment to eliminating the unlawful use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament, introducing a clinical code to improve data and prevent incidents in temporary accommodation, ending the practice of discharging newborns into B&B or other unsuitable shared accommodation, and providing proactive outreach to families in temporary accommodation. Through our Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, we have been driving place-based good practice by working with local authorities with the highest use of B&B accommodation, backed by £10.5 million over two years. We will expand this work through an Emergency Accommodation Reduction Programme, backed by £30 million over three years. The government is providing £950 million of investment for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund – the largest investment in the fund to date - to support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of costly B&B and hotels. Alongside this, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will provide the strongest protections in a generation, making sure vulnerable children are identified and supported. We are also introducing a new temporary accommodation notification duty, to inform schools and specified health providers when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, to allow additional or different support to be provided to these children.

Communities and Local Government, whether he is having discussions with property management companies on effective communications with leaseholders.

Neither the Secretary of State nor I have regular discussions with individual property management companies regarding effective communications with leaseholders. I have had no further direct discussions with FirstPort subsequent to my meeting with Martin King on 17 November 2025 and the exchange of letters that followed it as referenced in my answer to Question UIN 94116 on 1 December 2025. My Department continues to actively monitor standards and quality of service among property management companies, including FirstPort. I otherwise refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 85213 on 4 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2025 to Question 94116 on FirstPort: Standards, what discussions he has had with FirstPort since 17 November 2025.

Neither the Secretary of State nor I have regular discussions with individual property management companies regarding effective communications with leaseholders. I have had no further direct discussions with FirstPort subsequent to my meeting with Martin King on 17 November 2025 and the exchange of letters that followed it as referenced in my answer to Question UIN 94116 on 1 December 2025. My Department continues to actively monitor standards and quality of service among property management companies, including FirstPort. I otherwise refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 85213 on 4 November 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that local authorities have the resources to activate the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol promptly and provide sufficient safe accommodation during periods of extreme cold.

Local authorities should plan services which meet the needs of people in their area, which includes planning for periods of extreme cold. The government is providing more than £3.3 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping funding from 2026/27 to 2028/29 through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and councils can use this and their wider settlement to plan and deliver safe accommodation during periods of extreme weather.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a cap on individual political donations to political parties.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97817 on 11 December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what consideration he has given to the potential merits of establishing a National Commission on Electoral Reform to examine reforms to the UK’s voting system and improve democratic participation.

The government has no plans to establish a National Commission on Electoral Reform. Through the Representation of the People Bill 2026, the government is taking action to improve democratic participation and public trust in politics, including improving registration processes and allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on local communities of restricting planning protections for public houses to cases where they are the final pub in an area.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 105500 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the cultural and heritage value of public houses and the potential impact of planning deregulation on that sector.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 105500 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of public houses that could lose planning protection under proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 105500 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation entitled Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services, which closed on 26 September 2025.

The consultation in question closed on 26 September 2025. We are analysing responses and will bring the relevant measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter.

Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for the rollout of Automatic Voter Registration as part of the Democratic Modernisation Strategy.

The government is exploring more automated approaches to electoral registration over the coming years. Any changes must be tested to ensure they have a positive outcome in an already complex system, which will take time to assess. Some of this work may also require legislative changes which can only be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on tackling Islamophobia.

To help inform policy development, Ministers and officials regularly engage with relevant stakeholders, such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, including on tackling religious hatred.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer on 10 September 2025 to HL10181, when he plans to launch the competitive funding award process for a Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum to those of a Muslim faith who gave their lives in two World Wars, as announced in the March 2024 Budget.

The Government committed to provide up to £1 million funding for a fitting Muslim War Memorial to commemorate the immense contribution of Muslim soldiers in service of this country during the World Wars. A public market engagement exercise was launched on 31 January 2025 and ran for one month to gather information on potential delivery options. The information has been evaluated, and we are developing plans for a competitive funding process. Stakeholder engagement will be an integral part of the delivery of the memorial and the most effective means of achieving this will be factored into our planning.

Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on plans to finance a Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum to those of a Muslim faith who gave their lives in two World Wars, as announced in the March 2024 Budget.

The Government committed to provide up to £1 million funding for a fitting Muslim War Memorial to commemorate the immense contribution of Muslim soldiers in service of this country during the World Wars. A public market engagement exercise was launched on 31 January 2025 and ran for one month to gather information on potential delivery options. The information has been evaluated, and we are developing plans for a competitive funding process. Stakeholder engagement will be an integral part of the delivery of the memorial and the most effective means of achieving this will be factored into our planning.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on plans for a Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum to those of a Muslim faith who gave their lives in two World Wars, as announced in the March 2024 Budget.

The Government committed to provide up to £1 million funding for a fitting Muslim War Memorial to commemorate the immense contribution of Muslim soldiers in service of this country during the World Wars. A public market engagement exercise was launched on 31 January 2025 and ran for one month to gather information on potential delivery options. The information has been evaluated, and we are developing plans for a competitive funding process. Stakeholder engagement will be an integral part of the delivery of the memorial and the most effective means of achieving this will be factored into our planning.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help improve public transparency and local awareness of the implications of freeports.

The government is committed to public transparency, accountability, and oversight for all Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs), the collective term for Freeports and Investment Zones. The ISZs Action Plan and the latest Freeports Programme Report, both published in June 2025, set out the steps being taken to deliver upon these requirements, including by holding at least one public meeting a year and publishing all meeting minutes.To ensure elected local leaders have oversight, all ISZs in England have a local authority or Mayoral Strategic Authority acting as their accountable body, providing public transparency and accountability for the management of funding and their ongoing development. These mechanisms underpin a programme that has attracted £6.4 billion in private investment to date, unlocking regeneration and new jobs for local communities, and delivering upon the government's number one priority of economic growth.

Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms are in place to ensure effective public and local authority oversight of freeports and their ongoing development.

The government is committed to public transparency, accountability, and oversight for all Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs), the collective term for Freeports and Investment Zones. The ISZs Action Plan and the latest Freeports Programme Report, both published in June 2025, set out the steps being taken to deliver upon these requirements, including by holding at least one public meeting a year and publishing all meeting minutes.To ensure elected local leaders have oversight, all ISZs in England have a local authority or Mayoral Strategic Authority acting as their accountable body, providing public transparency and accountability for the management of funding and their ongoing development. These mechanisms underpin a programme that has attracted £6.4 billion in private investment to date, unlocking regeneration and new jobs for local communities, and delivering upon the government's number one priority of economic growth.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish further information on his proposals to help tackle (a) unaffordable and (b) unregulated ground rents.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in ground rents on the ability of leaseholders to sell their homes.

I refer the hon. Member to UIN 74455 on 15 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help promote (a) private and (b) communal garden space in new housing developments; and whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing minimum garden density of 29.5% in all new developments.

The National Planning Policy Framework emphasises the importance of a network of high quality, open spaces for the health and wellbeing of communities and the environment. This is supported by national design guidance, which explains that well designed places provide both usable private and public open green spaces, which can include private and communal gardens.We currently have no plans to assess the merits of introducing minimum garden density in new developments.