Written questions by Simmonds.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024, to Question 5299, on Devolution: Local Government, whether council (a) leaders and (b) mayors were invited to attend the Council of the Nations and Regions.

The Council of the Nations and Regions on 11 October brought together the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, and the Mayors of Combined Authorities and County Combined Authorities in England.The following Mayors from English regions are invited to attend the Council of Nations and Regions: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the East Midlands, Greater London, Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, the North East, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley, the West Midlands, the West of England, West Yorkshire, and York and North Yorkshire.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5674 on National Security, if she will list the key stakeholders who her Department is working with; and whether this includes (a) the Parliamentary Parties Panel and (b) political parties directly.

As set out in our manifesto, the Government is committed to strengthening our democracy, upholding the integrity of elections and widening participation in the democratic process.The department will work closely with key stakeholders, including local authorities, the Electoral Commission, and where relevant the Parliamentary Parties Panel and political parties, to develop proposals which give effect to these commitments.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is to consult on changes to Energy Performance Certificate methodology.

Energy Performance Certificates provide homeowners and renters with valuable information about the energy performance of their homes.However, it is now widely recognised that improvements need to be made to the EPC system to improve their accuracy and reliability, whilst ensuring they are giving people a wider range of information. We are developing plans to address this and will shortly launch a consultation with more detail.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October, to Question 5413, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote Working, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of 40% in-person attendance levels on public sector productivity levels.

We remain committed to maximising the benefits of hybrid working through fostering the best of time in offices, work with partners and stakeholders, and working from home. At MHCLG we see that spending more time together in person brings benefits to the work we do and our departmental culture.Those benefits include sharing ideas more easily, collaborating effectively, solving problems and learning from each other, all of which are vital factors in delivering positive outcomes for the communities we serve.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7872 on Local Government: Elections, in which combined authority areas are mayoral elections expected to take place in (a) 2025 and (b) 2026.

There are two scheduled combined authority mayoral elections in 2025: the Mayor for West of England Combined Authority, which includes the local authority areas of Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire; and the Mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which includes the local authority area of Peterborough City Council and the local authorities in Cambridgeshire.Legislation to establish a new Mayoral Combined Authority covering Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council was laid in Parliament on 26 November and, subject to parliamentary approval of the legislation, their first mayoral election will also take place in 2025. There are no scheduled mayoral elections in combined authority areas in 2026 currently.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled New burdens doctrine: guidance for government departments, updated on 29 July 2022, whether proposed changes to (a) employers National Insurance contributions and (b) the minimum wage are new burdens.

We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services. Together with local income from council tax and locally-retained business rates, this will provide a real-terms increase in total core spending power of around 3.2%, which can be used to address the range of pressures facing local government.The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government.The New Burdens Doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies (for example changes in general taxation, or employment legislation that applies to all organisations), unless these have a disproportionate effect on local government.

Communities and Local Government, whether local authority core funding will include funding for proposed changes to (a) employers National Insurance contributions and (b) the minimum wage.

We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services. Together with local income from council tax and locally-retained business rates, this will provide a real-terms increase in total core spending power of around 3.2%, which can be used to address the range of pressures facing local government.The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government.The New Burdens Doctrine does not apply to policies which apply the same rules to local authorities and to private sector bodies (for example changes in general taxation, or employment legislation that applies to all organisations), unless these have a disproportionate effect on local government.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press notice entitled Thousands of new homes to be built as government unlocks brownfield sites, published on 15 October 2024, how much and what proportion of the £550 million impact investments are funded by (a) direct grants from and (b) financial transactions underwritten by the government.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 16497 on 5 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the impact of planning restrictions on the ability of private rented homes to meet the new Energy Performance Certificate C requirement.

The Government will shortly consult on implementing a minimum energy efficiency standard of Energy Performance Certificate Band C or equivalent in the private rented sector by 2030. The consultation will be accompanied by an Options Assessment, which will consider impacts arising from the policy proposals.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased employer National Insurance contributions, as announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, on (a) the housing association sector and (b) the capacity of housing associations to increase levels of social housing building.

Restoring stability and fixing the foundations of our economy are the best things we can do to support growth. Tax rises need to play a part to fund public services and to invest in rebuilding Britain – and this includes investment in much needed new social and affordable housing.At the Budget, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes. This comes ahead of the multi-year Spending Review next spring, where the government will set out details of new investment to succeed the current Affordable Homes Programme.The government recognises that housing associations and councils need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. We are consulting on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to give housing associations and other providers the certainty they need to invest in new social housing. We will be carefully considering all responses to that consultation.

Communities and Local Government, what methodology was used to calculate the council tax requirement, excluding parish precepts, in (a) Core spending power table: final local government finance settlement 2024 to 2025, published on 5 February 2024, and (b) Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2024 to 2025, published on 8 May 2024.

The Government has confirmed that it will not increase council tax referendum principles above the current 3% core council tax principle and the 2% principle for the adult social care precept, in line with the OBR forecasting. This is a continuation of the previous government’s policy, and informs the Core Spending Power figures for both 2024-25 and 2025-26. Further details will be set out at the Local Government Finance settlement.The Government has published an explanatory note on the methodology used to calculate Core Spending Power for the 2024-25 Local Government Finance Settlement. The note is available on the Gov.UK website here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2024 to Question 11851 on Employers' Contributions: Local Government, which grants are included in the £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025-26; and whether funding will be made available for changes to (a) retail, hospitality and leisure business rate relief in the 2025-26 financial year and (b) the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions.

We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services, of which at least £600 million is for social care. Further details will be included in the upcoming Policy Statement and Local Government Finance Settlement.In regard to whether funding will be made available for changes to:(a) the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, English local authorities will be fully compensated for the loss of income and administration costs resulting from administering 40 per cent Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief and freezing the small business multiplier for 2025-26.(b) the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 11851 on 8 November 2024.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2024 to Question 11851 on Employers’ Contributions: Local Government, what was the evidential basis for allocating £600 million of social care funding.

The Autumn Statement announced at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care. This funding, alongside income from unringfenced sources including council tax, can be used to address the range of pressures facing the social care sector. Further details will be included in the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2024 to Question 11851 on Employers' Contributions: Local Government, if she will publish a breakdown of the £1.3 billion.

We have announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services, of which at least £600 million is for social care. Further details will be included in the upcoming Policy Statement and Local Government Finance Settlement.In regard to whether funding will be made available for changes to:(a) the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, English local authorities will be fully compensated for the loss of income and administration costs resulting from administering 40 per cent Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief and freezing the small business multiplier for 2025-26.(b) the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 11851 on 8 November 2024.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2024 to Question 11925 on Council tax: Greater London, what are the assumed council tax requirement excluding parish precepts figures for the local government core spending power figures of (a) £64,786 million in 2024-25 and (b) £68,459 million in 2025-26.

The Government has confirmed that it will not increase council tax referendum principles above the current 3% core council tax principle and the 2% principle for the adult social care precept, in line with the OBR forecasting. This is a continuation of the previous government’s policy, and informs the Core Spending Power figures for both 2024-25 and 2025-26. Further details will be set out at the Local Government Finance settlement.The Government has published an explanatory note on the methodology used to calculate Core Spending Power for the 2024-25 Local Government Finance Settlement. The note is available on the Gov.UK website here.

Communities and Local Government, what her Department's policy is on gas boilers being (a) installed in new homes and (b) re-installed or replaced in existing homes.

Future standards next year will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and ensures they are fit for a net zero future. These homes will be future proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency. No further energy efficiency retrofit work will be necessary to enable them to become zero-carbon over time as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.For existing homes, the Government’s position is not to force anyone to rip out a working boiler and will incentivise moves to cleaner, affordable heating. The Government has started delivery of the Warm Homes Plan which will support investment in heat pumps and other home improvements to cut bills. More detail will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what the Greater London Authority precept on Band D council tax, (a) including and (b) excluding the Transport for London element, was in each year since 2016-17; and how much was allocated in monetary terms to Transport for London funding in each year.

The average Band D council tax set by the Greater London Authority over time can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/662a4c28690acb1c0ba7e617/Live_Table_-_Band_D_2024-25__revised_.ods.There is no separate council tax precept for Transport for London. The Government does not collect information on how much council tax was allocated by Greater London Authority to Transport for London.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 3.16 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, where the proposed locations are of the three large housing development sites in (a) Cambridgeshire, (b) West Sussex and (c) Durham; and how many houses will be built in each county.

Information on the three housing development sites is as follows:a) Cambridgeshire: Permission for up to 1,000 new homes on land between Huntingdon Road and Histon Road, Cambridge, known as Darwin Green Phases Two and Three, was granted on 25 September 2024;b) West Sussex: A reserved matters application for 280 new homes at Kilnwood Vale, Crawley Road, Faygate, Horsham, was approved on 25 October 2024;c) Durham: Permission for up to 1,924 new homes at Sniperley Park and Sniperley Farm, Pity Me, Durham, was granted on 21 August 2024.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.81of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, what the assumptions are on the increase in the percentage Band D level of the (a) social care, (b) police, (c) fire and (d) Greater London Authority precepts in 2025-26 as part of the estimate of the increase in local government core spending power.

Local government core spending power (CSP) is £64,786m in 2024-25, and is forecast to be £68,459m in 2025-26.These figures for CSP are estimates and subject to data changes. Final figures will be published as part of the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS). Components of CSP will be confirmed in the 2025-26 LGFS, including council tax referendum principles.

Communities and Local Government, what obligations local authorities have to house (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees not covered by Government funded accommodation.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 10286 on 29 October 2024.Individuals granted refugee status are eligible for assistance from their local authority in finding accommodation, if homeless, as well as temporary accommodation if they have a priority need. The Homelessness Code of Guidance sets out the framework which local authorities must follow when carrying out their homelessness duties. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities.