Written questions by Snowden.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 2025 Budget on local authority funding settlements in the North West of England for 2025–26.

Final local authority funding allocations for financial year 2025-26 were confirmed at the Final local government finance settlement: England, 2025 to 2026. There are no plans to review the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement in view of the 2025 Autumn Budget. We will publish the provisional multi-year Settlement in December. Proposals and allocations will be subject to consultation and the usual Parliamentary process.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the administrative cost to local authorities of implementing the High Value Council Tax Surcharge from April 2028.

The Government has set out, in its guidance, that it will carry out a new burdens assessment to ensure local authorities are fully funded for these costs.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning property management companies from charging disproportionate fees for homeowners to obtain documentation relating to the sale of their properties.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 62778 on 4 July 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with landlord and tenant organisations on abolishing Section 21 no-fault evictions.

My Department engaged with a range of landlord and tenant organisations during development of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and looks forward to ongoing engagement with all stakeholders to ensure a smooth implementation of this transformative Act.

Communities and Local Government, how many Section 21 eviction notices were issued in each of the last five financial years, broken down by local authority.

My Department does not hold data on Section 21 evictions issued by landlords.

Communities and Local Government, how many (a) social rent, (b) affordable rent, and (c) shared ownership homes have been provided through the Social and Affordable Homes Programme since its inception.

Bidding for the Programme in question has not yet opened. On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement on the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) which can be found on gov.uk here. This was accompanied by detailed guidance for prospective bidders published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme to meeting national housing need.

Bidding for the Programme in question has not yet opened. On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement on the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) which can be found on gov.uk here. This was accompanied by detailed guidance for prospective bidders published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of delays in building safety approvals on the (a) volume and (b) value of residential investment transactions.

We recognise that delays to the assessment of applications have been unacceptable on the construction supply chain. This is why we announced reforms to the Building Safety Regulator on 30 June, including plans to establish the BSR as a separate body. The BSR has committed to improving operations by December, with faster processing of new build applications and decisions on most of the existing new-build caseload.The BSR is already making operational and policy changes to speed up decision making, particularly on building control approval, including through the introduction of an Innovation Unit (IU). Early signs are positive with the majority of applications in the IU so far on track to exceed or meet the 12-week SLA as they progress through the application process.New guidance, developed with the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), is also helping to support industry to better understand all aspects of the new building control regime and secure approval from BSR.To support transparency and accountability, the BSR published performance data on 16 October and will continue to do so monthly to track progress against this commitment.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding under the Social and Affordable Homes Programme has been (a) allocated and (b) spent.

Bidding for the Programme in question has not yet opened. On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement on the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) which can be found on gov.uk here. This was accompanied by detailed guidance for prospective bidders published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has provided to (a) developers and (b) investors on ensuring that applications to the Building Safety Regulator (i) provide the required detail and (ii) meet the required standards to avoid rejection.

New guidance, developed with the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), supports industry to better understand all aspects of the new building control regime. A joint Building Safety Regulator (BSR)-CLC working group with Tier 1 developers is also addressing key challenges and identifying areas for improvement. More broadly, BSR run a series of webinars covering both design and construction requirements, as well as in-occupation requirements, and has published guidance online including “getting building control applications right.” BSR is actively supporting the Construction Leadership Council to publish a further suite of industry guidance, expected around mid-November on the statutory documents accompanying building control approval applications, staged approvals and Gateway 3.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to introduce a national standard or accreditation scheme for consultants conducting fire risk and structural integrity assessments under the Building Safety Act 2022.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry report made recommendations for reform relating to certain built environment professions, including regulation of fire engineers and mandatory accreditation of fire risk assessors. We have accepted these recommendations in full. We are aware of the importance of competence, accountability and good regulation to achieve a safer built environment and will continue to engage with the sector on this. Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires that building safety risks in Higher Risk Buildings are assessed, managed and controlled.  The assessment must be suitable and sufficient and all reasonable steps must be taken to manage and control the building safety risks.  Along with the Building Safety Regulator we keep under review the operation of the Building Assessment Certificate regime to ensure appropriate management of risks in Higher Risk Buildings.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has had recent discussions with Lancashire County Council on inactive landlords in that area. Lancashire.

My Department has had no recent discussions with Lancashire County Council regarding ‘inactive’ landlords in Lancashire.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with representatives of the build-to-rent sector on the effect of regulatory delays on property transactions and investment inflows.

My Department engages regularly with the sector on a range of issues.

Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to simplify planning consent processes for (a) food and drink production facilities and (b) other manufacturing sites.

The National Planning Policy Framework already makes clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise and address the specific locational requirements of different sectors. The government intend to consult this year on a new suite of national policies for decision making.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Chancellor cuts pointless admin in nearly £6 billion business blitz, published on 21 October 2025, whether his Department has tested the (a) reliability, (b) accuracy and (c) risk of bias of AI systems for planning application reviews; and whether he plans to consult with local authorities on the adoption of these technologies.

My Department is actively exploring options to develop AI-enabled products to speed up public service provision, including in respect of planning services. We are developing, and will deploy, these products responsibly, in line with guidance set out in the AI Playbook for the UK Government and clauses in the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Code of Conduct.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring councillors in principle tier authorities to obtain a DBS check.

Criminal record checks provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service (‘DBS checks’) for local government members are currently optional; it is for individual local authorities to adopt eligible checks as they determine necessary.I am considering options on criminal record checks for local government members.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of homelessness in (a) Lancashire and (b) Fylde constituency.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected and we must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and is developing a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness. The Government publishes homelessness statistics by local authority in England on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, if he will publish a breakdown of how each local authority spends its share of the new £84 million homelessness support funding announced in the news release entitled £84 million injection to tackle homelessness, published on 9 October 2025.

Local authorities are best placed to understand local need. Our funding provides local authorities with the flexibility to determine the most effective services to support vulnerable individuals in their areas. You can find local authority level allocations of the £84 million announced on 10 October here: Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant 2025 to 2026: updated allocations - GOV.UK​​Supporting Children Experiencing Homelessness:​ funding allocations - GOV.UKRough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programme 2025 to 2026: updated funding allocations - GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed digital ID cards will be considered valid ID to vote at polling stations.

Once the new Digital Credential is available, we intend to add it to the list of accepted forms of ID for use in voting in elections. We will confirm the details of this closer to the launch of the new digital credential when further development has been completed.

Communities and Local Government, how many First Homes properties have been built; and how many are due to be built by 2030.

Up to March 2024, 395 First Homes have been delivered through Section 106 developer contributions, and a further 1,275 through the Early Delivery Programme. This totals 1,670 First Homes altogether. These figures are published in the Live tables on affordable housing supply (Table 1011) which can be found on gov.uk here. Local authorities are not required to report First Homes delivery separately, so these figures represent the most current data available. Since the removal of the national minimum delivery requirement, local authorities now have discretion over whether to deliver First Homes, and if so, how many. This flexibility allows them to prioritise housing tenures that better meet local needs, such as Social Rent, Affordable Rent and Shared Ownership. As a result, my Department does not hold data on future delivery and cannot provide an estimate of how many First Homes will be built by 2030. Delivery decisions rest with individual local authorities.