Every parliamentary written question tabled by Blake Stephenson this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 81–100 of 1,468 · this parliament
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 his Department will produce guidance on reducing long term flood risk in 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, 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, 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 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
Whether stations on the Marston Vale Line will have step free access and boarding when EWR services between Oxford and Bedford begin.
All new and fully refurbished stations delivered as part of East West Rail will be designed to meet modern accessibility standards including step free access and new trains commissioned as part of the East West Rail project will offer step-free boarding. An update on timing for the delivery of infrastructure and services for East West Rail will be provided in due course.
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, whether social housing delivered through new towns will be owned by local authorities.
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 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, 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, 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, if his Department will ask the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to vary local authorities' boundaries where they would be spanned by a new town.
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.
If she will make a comparative assessment of trends in the level of delay and cancellations by rail companies nationalised in 2025 a) before and b) after nationalisation.
Public ownership is not a silver bullet, but it is a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. Due to seasonal variations and the impact of things like service level changes and introduction of new rolling stock, it will take time for the impact of public ownership to be fully reflected in performance trend data. The Department expects all operators, both public and private, to deliver good performance for passengers. However, recent data published by the Office of Rail and Road shows that overall reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership than for private sector operators contracted by the Department. Data on rail performance and other industry statistics is available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/.
How many primary schools do not have a library.
I refer the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 81502.
Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the capacity of the construction industry to deliver planned housing and infrastructure projects in Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes.
Government is investing £625 million in construction skills over this Parliament, with the aim of delivering up to 60,000 additional skilled workers and support employers to invest in training.The industry-led Construction Skills Mission Board is working to create construction job opportunities to meet the government’s announced infrastructure and built environment commitments.The Construction Leadership Council’s Material’s Supply Chain Group, in October 2025, noted that product availability was generally good, with isolated reports of shortages, some caused by manufacturing issues.
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.
If she will make an estimate of the average number of dependent visas sponsored by Minister of Religion visa holders.
The Home Office publishes data on dependants sponsored by holders of Minister of Religion visas in the ‘Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK’.Data on dependants sponsored by holders of Minister of Religion visas is published in table Data_Vis_D02 of the ‘Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, year ending September 2025’.
How many civil penalties have been issued to employers sponsoring workers under work‑related visa routes since 4 July 2024 by a) visa route and b) sector.
Information on illegal working civil penalty statistics has been published since 2016 as part of the Home Office Immigration Transparency Data. This can be found at immigration-enforcement-data-jul-sep-2025 on tab CP02.To identify specific employers sponsoring workers under work‑related visa routes would require collating and verifying individual data from different records, which could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.