Every parliamentary written question tabled by Blake Stephenson this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 181–200 of 311 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press notice entitled Chancellor vows to go further and faster to kickstart economic growth, published on 29 January 2025, what her Department's timetable is for publishing the location of the submissions for sizeable new developments along the East-West Rail route.
The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer.
Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the total cost of employers’ National Insurance contributions in (a) London boroughs, (b) Metropolitan districts, (c) County councils, (d) Shire districts, (e) Unitary authorities, (f) the Greater London Authority, (g) fire and rescue authorities and (h) fire and rescue authorities in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.
In the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced funding to help public sector organisations cover the additional costs associated with employer National Insurance Contributions. This funding has been allocated to departments and other public sector employers, with shares based on data covering headcount, wage and salary costs The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government allocated its share of the funding based on a measure of total service expenditure. The department published details of its methodology on the government website: Updated explanatory note on the Employer National Insurance Contribution Grant 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK.
Communities and Local Government, what local taxes she intends for Mayors to be able to levy.
The English Devolution White Paper sets out an enhanced Devolution Framework. This will be available by default rather than by deal, to both existing and new strategic authorities, creating a consistent, systematic approach and providing Mayor’s with the power to decide what is right for their areas. This framework includes the ability for all Mayoral Strategic Authorities to introduce mayoral precepting on council tax and the ability to raise a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy to fund strategic infrastructure once a Spatial Development Strategy is in place.
Communities and Local Government, if she will publish a digital, publicly available map of Tree Protection Orders.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 35438 on 12 March 2025.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled £2 billion new investment to support biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, published on 25 March 2025, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) social and (b) affordable homes that will be built in Bedfordshire in the 2026-27 financial year.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44049 on 22 April 2025.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Public land unlocked for the next generation of homeowners, published on 27 March 2025, whether any of the land will be in Bedfordshire.
The Secretary of State for Defence has identified a long-term opportunity to build over 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, improving opportunities for homeownership and creating jobs across the country, while Network Rail has announced the establishment of a new property company to unlock up to 40,000 homes over the next decade.There are Bedfordshire sites in both the Ministry of Defence and Network Rail pipelines, including RAF Henlow, which is due to close in 2026, and the Bedford Station redevelopment – part of the major East West Rail project – which could unlock a substantial number of new homes close to the station.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 36495 on Derelict Land: Regeneration, how this will be funded.
The £51.5 million regeneration package announced on 13 February 2025 will be funded through existing departmental budgets for brownfield remediation and regeneration.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 38447 on Environmental Delivery Plans, whether uncompleted conservation projects will lapse at the end of the Environmental Delivery Plan period.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 38477 on 24 March 2025.
Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) parish, (b) town and (c) community councils which will pay additional employers’ National Insurance in 2025-26.
The government recognises the important role town and parish councils have in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of their communities but has no direct role in funding parish and town councils, and therefore has not provided compensation, consistent with the approach taken by the previous government. We recognise that the increase in the rate of employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will lead to increased costs for some parish councils, which may require them to increase their precept. We recognise that decisions to increase precepts are not taken lightly by parish councils.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 37781 on Voting Rights: Young People, whether her Department plans to instruct the Boundary Commissions to perform an early boundary review of Parliamentary Constituencies to ensure electoral equality at the General Election 2029 with the addition of voters aged 16 and 17.
The Government has no plans to amend the timing of the next Parliamentary Boundary Review.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant – Explanatory Note, published on 3 February 2025, which councils were invited to submit their estimates of 2023-24 expenditure.
When determining allocations for the 2024-25 Employer National Insurance Contributions grant, government lacked the relevant, published Revenue Outturn (RO) data for a small number of councils, and we have therefore used councils’ self-submitted expenditure data for 2023-24 where there were gaps. The relevant list of councils with published RO data for 2023-24 is available here.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled £2 billion new investment to support biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, published on 25 March 2025, where the houses will be located.
At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549). The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes. We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. Homes England and GLA will assess bids received in the usual way before awarding funding. Exact funding to different places and the locations of homes that will be built will depend on the bids received from local authorities and housing associations. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership. We have asked HE, GLA and bidders to prioritise homes for social rent, and will publish the number of homes delivered at each tenure in an annual report to Parliament. Local authorities are responsible for their own allocation scheme within the framework of legislation. By law, people who are homeless must be given ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) and local authorities can give ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to those who have urgent housing needs.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March to Question 38446 on Environmental Delivery Plans, whether Natural England will be required to pay for ongoing maintenance of conservation projects.
Natural England will secure and deliver conservation measures as part of an Environmental Delivery Plan to address the environmental impact of the development in question. Conservation measures will be maintained for as long as is necessary to address the relevant development impact, funded by the levy. In some cases, this may mean funding and securing measures for several decades or permanently.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36221 on Housing: construction, whether she plans to issue guidance to local authorities on density.
The National Planning Policy Framework is supportive of development that makes efficient use of land and makes clear that local development plans should include the use of minimum density standards to that ends. I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36221 on 14 March 2025.
Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase levels of data sharing between developers and local authorities.
The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) runs a Digital Planning Programme which aims to enable a modern and efficient planning system in England. Core objectives of the Programme include providing better access to planning data, improving data quality, and making data more open. We are delivering on these objectives through the Planning Data platform, which will continue to expand the availability of standardised and open data on planning.data.gov.uk to drive the creation of new tools and services that share planning data (including making more data accessible to developers) and enable improved monitoring of planning outcomes.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36225 on New Towns: Mid Bedfordshire, if she will make it her policy to inform Rt hon. and hon. Members of a new town proposal in their constituency before publicly disclosing such information.
The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer. As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36228 on Housing: Construction, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing (a) a housing supply forecast and (b) projected profiles of housing delivery every (i) month, (ii) quarter) and (iii) year.
The government publishes quarterly data on planning applications and housing starts and completions. The latest data on planning application statistics can be found on gov.uk here. Data on housing starts and completions can be found on gov.uk here. The main measure of housing supply is net additional dwellings, the latest data on which can be found on gov.uk here.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36227 on New Towns, whether any sites submitted as part of the call for evidence are in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer. As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 35438 on Tree Preservation Orders: Bedfordshire, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that locally held records like Tree Protection Orders are not lost during Local Government reorganisation.
The implementation of local government reorganisation will be a matter for local authorities to consider as they develop their proposals for reorganisation and establish new unitary authorities. It is essential that councils continue to deliver their business-as-usual services and duties, which remain unchanged up until such time as the reorganisation process is complete.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36223 on Housing: Construction, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for policy-making of collecting that information.
The government will keep the matter under review.