Written questions by Stephenson.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Raising a glass: Beloved village pubs to be helped with new funding to broaden their services, published on 18 October 2025, whether he plans to bring forward planning reforms to allow pubs to more easily construct new premises to achieve those goals.

The government is currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including policies which would give substantial weight to proposals that provide new or improved community facilities such as public houses and safeguards against the loss of existing public houses. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made against his house building targets.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19066 on 20 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, how many houses are planned to be built in the next five years in England.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19066 on 20 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, who will adjudicate if neighbouring authorities cannot reach agreements on unmet housing need in the context of planning reforms.

Planning inspectors will examine new Spatial Development Strategies and will continue to examine plans in line with the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Communities and Local Government, whether stewardship models involving ongoing service charges for residents will be considered for new towns.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether development corporations for new towns will be able to purchase primary residences.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating planning validation checklists to require Soil Impact Assessments for major housing developments.

The government is currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including policies designed to encourage a more consistent and proportionate approach to local information requirements (local validation lists). The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the chapter Planning for local Housing Need in his Department’s response to the New Towns Taskforce entitled Initial government response - September 2025, whether local housing targets for areas containing a new town may be reduced.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered the potential implications for his policies of paragraph 31 of page 8 of the New Towns Taskforce report to Government.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce consulted flooding experts.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has allocated funding for Mayoral strategic authorities which a) do not currently exist and b) are not in the priority programme across the Spending Review period.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97367 on 11 December 2025. Decisions on future devolution areas beyond those in the Devolution Priority Programme, including Bedfordshire, have not yet been taken, but the Department will continue to engage with local authorities about possible future devolution agreements. All future funding decisions, including the 30-year investment fund, will form part of conversations with local areas. The government is committed to ensuring that all new Strategic Authorities are built on strong foundations and set up to succeed.

Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities will have lower funding from Government grants in 2028-29 than 2024-25.

We are investing in local government. The Spending Review 2025 provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years, which includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29. Core Spending Power is the government’s measure of the resources available to local authorities to fund service delivery through the Local Government Finance Settlement. By 2028-29, we will have made available a 23.6% increase in Core Spending Power compared to 2024-25, worth over £16 billion. The vast majority of upper-tier councils will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the next three-years. Detailed local authority allocations were published through the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 and are being consulted on until 14 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate the proportion of the Tempsford New Town that will be in Central Bedfordshire Council.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Milton Keynes New Town recommended by the New Towns Taskforce will include any areas in Central Bedfordshire Council.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will receive powers to set planning fees locally for the 2026/27 financial year.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act provides the Secretary of State with the power to delegate the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities. The process for local fee setting will be set out in regulations this year. We will shortly also be consulting on a national default fee, which will be the baseline from which local planning authorities can vary and set their own fees.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 64580 on New Towns Taskforce, whether he has had discussions with the Chair of the independent New Towns Taskforce on the reasons for the publication of the Taskforce's report after the expected date of summer 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, how many school places per head he is targeting for new towns.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of local authorities whose five year land supply is based on housing targets published in December 2024.

For the purpose of calculating their five-year housing land supply, local planning authorities with up-to-date local development plans are assessed against their adopted plan requirement. LPAs without up-to-date development plans are assessed against Local Housing Need, calculated using the revised standard method published in December 2024. While the Planning Inspectorate may be aware of an authority’s five-year housing land supply position at the time of a specific appeal, this may change over time due to annual updates or as a result of subsequent planning appeal decisions. As such, my Department does not collect live data on the five-year housing land supply position of individual local planning authorities.

Communities and Local Government, if he will discuss with the Chair of the New Towns Taskforce the potential merits of the publishing the sites that it considered but did not recommend for new towns.

I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, if he will set out the timeline for establishing a Mayoral Strategic Authority in Bedfordshire.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 97367 on 11 December 2025. Decisions on future devolution areas beyond those in the Devolution Priority Programme, including Bedfordshire, have not yet been taken, but the Department will continue to engage with local authorities about possible future devolution agreements. All future funding decisions, including the 30-year investment fund, will form part of conversations with local areas. The government is committed to ensuring that all new Strategic Authorities are built on strong foundations and set up to succeed.