Written questions by Anderson.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes to deliver infrastructure alongside new housing developments.

The table below lists infrastructure projects in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes that have received capital funding through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), the Land Release Fund (LRF), or the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) to unlock housing developments in the last five years, up to 31 December 2024.FundSchemeLocation20/2121/2222/2323/2424/25TotalHIFAylesbury Garden TownBuckinghamshire£8.6m£30.0m£23.0m£0.1m£10.0m£71.7mHIFPrinces Risborough Expansion AreaBuckinghamshire-£5.1m£0.2m--£5.3mHIFRealignment of Abbey Barn Lane (project since withdrawn)Buckinghamshire£0.8m£0.4m--£0.2m £1.0mHIFMilton Keynes East Sustainable Urban ExpansionMilton Keynes£2.0m£9.1m£2.2m£53.8m£27.4m£94.6mLRF 2Wing LRFBuckinghamshire£0.2m £0.2mBLRF 2.2Old Country OfficesBuckinghamshire £0.7m £0.7m

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the demand for housing in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes in each of the next ten years.

As the hon. Member will know, the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024 which included a revised standard method designed to direct residential development to where it is most needed and least affordable.The government expects each local planning authority to use the revised standard method to assess local housing needs as a starting point to inform plan-making. Once an assessment has been made, local authorities should take into account land availability, environmental constraints, such as National Landscapes, and other relevant matters, to determine how much of the assessed housing need can be met.The government is clear all local planning authorities should continue work on their local plans and get them in place as soon as possible.

Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.

The number of households on social housing registers (waiting lists) in England and for each local authority in England is available each year since 1987 in live table 600 on gov.uk here. The number of households on the housing register (waiting list) is not the same as the number of households waiting. Local authorities periodically review their registers to remove households who no longer require housing, so the total number of households on housing registers may overstate the number of households who still require social housing at any one time. Housing register size may also be affected by other factors. For example, there is the potential for some households to be on the housing register of more than one local authority. The frequency of reviews varies between local authorities.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of trends in Local Government Pension Scheme asset allocation to UK equities in the last ten years.

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) invests approximately 9% of its total assets of c. £392 billion in UK equities (or 17% of its total equity holdings) compared to over 20% a decade ago. The government’s landmark pensions review aims to unlock investment in the UK economy.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on what the value of business rates written off by Buckinghamshire Council was in each of the last three financial years.

Data on the amount of business rates that local authorities have written off are published as part of the annual ‘Collection of council tax and business rates’ statistical release, published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics#collection-rates-for-council-tax-and-non-domestic-rates.Local authorities are asked to report the amount written off in the financial year across three lines – in relation to bills for the year itself, in relation to the previous year only and in relation to earlier financial years. All local authority level data are published in Table 9.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the change in (a) core spending power and (b) settlement funding for (i) Aylesbury Vale District Council in each financial year between 2010-11 and

Detailed information on core spending power and settlement funding for Aylesbury Vale District Council, Buckinghamshire County Council and Buckinghamshire Council for each year from 2015/16 to 2020/21 can be viewed here.Due to changes in the function and ...

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the financial health of Buckinghamshire council; and what steps her Department takes to support councils that may be at risk of fin

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the department does not monitor their day-to-day business.The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing. We recognise the vital work...

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of Buckinghamshire Council's financial planning, in the context of increases in levels of demand for services.

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the department does not monitor their day-to-day business.The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing. We recognise the vital work...

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions her Department has had with Buckinghamshire Council on that Council's (a) financial resilience and (b) long-term sustainability.

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the department does not monitor their day-to-day business.The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing. We recognise the vital work...

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions her Department has had with Buckinghamshire Council on the adequacy of its financial reserves.

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the department does not monitor their day-to-day business.The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing. We recognise the vital work...

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the financial sustainability of Buckinghamshire Council in the 2024-25 financial year.

Councils are responsible for their own financial management, and the department does not monitor their day-to-day business.The Government is under no illusions about the scale of the pressures that local authorities are facing. We recognise the vital work...