Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled English Devolution White Paper​: Power and partnership: Foundations for growth, published on 16 December 2024, what process will be used to decide on the new unitary councils in Cambridgeshire; and what his planned timeline is for making that decision.

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.

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.

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.

Communities and Local Government, what progress she has made in updating all relevant National Policy Statements by this summer.

Consultation on proposed amendments to the Energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) 1, 3 and 5 closed on 29 May, with the relevant period for parliamentary scrutiny of these NPSs closing on 22 July 2025.Consultation on a draft revised Ports NPS began on 4 June and will close on 29 July. The relevant period for parliamentary scrutiny of this NPS will close on 14 November 2025.Completion of the updates to these NPSs is subject to the outcome and timings of these consultation and parliamentary scrutiny processes.The NPS for Water Resources Infrastructure was designated in September 2023. The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs are considering whether the NPS needs to be reviewed at this time.Consultation on the draft new nuclear NPS EN-7, which will be applicable to nuclear power stations expected to deploy beyond 2025, closed on 3 April. Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft NPS is expected to be completed by 23 June. Depending on the completion and outcome of these processes, the government aims to designate this new NPS before the end of the year.We are introducing legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to require National Policy Statements to be updated every five years. This will include a transitional period, which will require any NPS that is more than 5 years old at the time of Royal Assent to be updated within 2 years of the Bill being enacted.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2025 to Question 53289 on RAF Wyton: Housing, when she expects the trailblazer site at RAF Wyton to (a) start and (b) complete development.

It is not yet possible to identify an exact date for when development would start on site because the site is unallocated within the Local Plan and a planning application has not been submitted. The site has potential capacity for 4,500 homes and the timeframe for delivery of these will be determined when the development and planning application come forward.

Communities and Local Government, what area of land is defined as Greater Cambridge.

Greater Cambridge is comprised of the city of Cambridge and the surrounding South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Communities and Local Government, how many new homes have been (a) started and (b) completed since 5 July 2024.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 39650 on 25 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending a statutory duty on flood response to the Fire and Rescue Service.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this government. In Autumn 2024, as the minister previously responsible for fire, the Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson asked officials to undertake further work alongside Defra and other relevant partners to understand in more detail if there are gaps in the fire and rescue services flooding response and resilience system.Fire and Rescue Authorities have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. Fire Rescue Authorities also have discretionary powers to respond to incidents under their core functions in the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) and in response to the risks set out in their Community Risk Management Plans prepared under the National Framework. At this time, a clear rationale for introducing a statutory duty has not been determined.However, MHCLG officials and representatives of fire and rescue services will continue to work with Defra, as the lead government department for flooding, and its partners to understand the challenges that fire and rescue services face and consider how best to ensure that all partners involved in flood response have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with fire and rescue services to help increase levels of (a) resilience and (b) preparedness in (i) central government, (ii) local authorities, (iii) local communities and (iv) emergency services.

Fire and Rescue Authorities have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, such as a major fire or flooding and extends to areas such as cyber security. Fire Rescue Authorities also have discretionary powers to respond to incidents under their core functions in the Fire and Rescue Services Act (2004) and in response to the risks set out in their Community Risk Management Plans prepared under the National Framework. These local plans identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks and make provision for prevention and protection activities and appropriate response to incidents.The Government provide grants to Fire and Rescue Authorities to support and maintain the national resilience capabilities which are widely used in day-to-day operations by Fire and Rescue Services to enhance both local response and response to major and national scale catastrophic incidents. Central Government works with the National Fire Chiefs Council, Fire and Rescue Services and Authorities who play an active role in supporting the work of Local Resilience Forums which all contributes to ensure a multi-agency approach to prepare and respond, as well as recover from such incidents.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to establish national standards for fire and rescue services.

The Government funds the independent Fire Standards Board (FSB) to develop and maintain a comprehensive set of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England. The FSB has published 19 national standards for fire and rescue services: these cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics. The Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry’s phase two report recommended the establishment of a college of fire and rescue and suggested that it should have a role in the development and maintenance of national standards. The Government has accepted in principle the recommendation to establish a college, and we plan to hold a public consultation on the college and its proposed functions later in the year. Any future college function relating to national standards would build on the work already undertaken by the FSB.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of new (a) residential and (b) commercial properties that have been built in Cambridgeshire since 2001.

The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. This includes estimates of net additional homes in each local authority and county, including Cambridgeshire, in each financial year, from 2001-02 to 2023-24, as well as by component flows (including the number of new build homes) from 2012-13 to 2023-24. This data can be found in Live Table 122 and Live Table 123 on gov.uk here. The Department also publishes a quarterly release entitled ‘Housing supply: Indicators of New Supply, England’, which includes more timely estimates of new build starts and completions in England, and in each local authority district. Statistics from the quarter ending March 2005 to the quarter ending December 2024 can be found in Table 253a on gov.uk here. This dataset covers new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply. Data on the number of commercial properties built in any particular period is not held by the Department.

Communities and Local Government, what additional infrastructure is required to support the proposed development of residential housing at Wyton Airfield in Cambridgeshire.

Wyton Airfield is dependent on delivering A141 road improvement works. These are currently at preparation of outline business case stage with a proposed date for publication of November 2025.Following renewed engagement on the project as part of the new taskforce to support the release of surplus public sector land for housing, My Department is not aware of other project specific infrastructure requirements.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2025 to Question 34056 on Fire and Rescue Services: Finance, when will the population data be updated to include a population projection from the 2021 census data.

In reference to when any updates or changes may be made to the Fire Funding Formula, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36212 on 11 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, how many homes will be built on Wyton Airfield in Cambridgeshire.

It is not yet possible to indicate the exact number of new homes that will be delivered at Wyton Airfield. Huntingdonshire District Council are in the process of updating its Local Plan and the Wyton Airfield site has been submitted through the ‘call for sites’ with an indicative capacity of 4,500 homes. Any proposals for new housing will be the subject of planning applications in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2025 to Question 34056 on Fire and Rescue Services: Finance, whether the Settlement Funding Assessment for Fire and Rescue Authorities includes the increase in rescue responsibilities since 2013-14.

On factors included in the current Fire Funding Formula, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36212 on 11 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether additional funding has been provided to fire and rescue services for protecting (a) large-scale solar farms that are nationally significant infrastructure projects and (b) their respective battery storage infrastructure.

Decisions on how fire and rescue services’ resources are best deployed to meet their core functions based on local needs and risks are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority, in line with their Community Risk Management Plan. The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement, published on 3 February by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5 million in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. We will continue to work closely with Fire and Rescue Services to ensure they have the resources they need to help keep their communities safe.

Communities and Local Government, which metro mayors (a) hold and (b) do not hold the Police and Crime Commissioner function; and in which locations will that responsibility change following the implementation of local government reforms.

The Mayors of Greater Manchester Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and Greater London Authority have responsibilities equivalent to that of a Police and Crime Commissioner. None of these areas are part of the current programme for Local Government Reorganisation and so these PCC functions will not be affected. As part of the local government reorganisation programme, the government invited all councils in two-tier areas and their small neighbouring unitary authorities to develop interim proposals by 21 March 2025 that would be in the best interests of their areas. MHCLG will consider these proposals against the criteria set out in the statutory guidance, we are clear that reorganisation should not delay devolution and plans for both should be complementary. We will then consult on these plans before taking a decision on which of those proposals will be taken forward and implemented.

Communities and Local Government, what progress she has made with local authorities on removing local connection tests for veterans seeking social housing.

On 18 December 2024, the government brought into force regulations to exempt all former members of the regular armed forces from local connection and residency tests to facilitate their access to social housing.The regulations removed the five-year limit and will ensure that no veterans of the regular armed forces will need to meet a local connection test for social housing regardless of when they last served.Statutory guidance was updated on 18 December 2024 to reflect this change, and can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 48207 on Fire and Rescue Services: Finance, how the fire and rescue services Relative Needs Formula works.

I refer the hon. member to the answer to Question UIN 36212 answered on 11 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 29th April 2025 to question 46179 on Councillors: Disqualification, whether a criminal conviction resulting in a custodial sentence of three months or more would disqualify an individual from appointment as a metro mayor.

Yes, an individual would be disqualified from being a metro mayor candidate or holding the office in these circumstances. The five-year disqualification for a criminal conviction that results in a custodial sentence of three months or more, suspended or not, applies to all elected mayors, including metro mayors, other than in cases where a mayor also holds the Police and Crime Commissioner function. Where a mayor also holds the Police and Crime Commissioner function, they are disqualified if they have ever been convicted of an imprisonable offence. The Electoral Commission publishes guidance on disqualifications for single authority, combined authority, combined county authority and Greater London Authority mayoral candidates online.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 47888 on Fire and Rescue Services: Finance, when she will publish the output of the public consultation on local government funding reform.

The government is committed to implementing long-awaited local government funding reforms through a multi-year Settlement in 2026-27. On 19 December 2024, we published a consultation on the principles and objectives which will underpin our plans for those reforms. We will publish a second consultation on more detailed proposals for funding reform in the summer, after the Spending Review, and this will include the government’s response to the first consultation.