Written questions by Simmonds.

With reference to the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the allocation of funds from the Growth Mission Fund.

The Growth Mission Fund will invest £240 million of capital from 2026/27 to 2029/30 in projects that enable local job creation and the economic regeneration of local communities. Further detail on this fund and the criteria that will be applied for project selection will be set out in due course.

With reference to her Department's guidance entitled Terms of reference for VfM Study on procuring short-term residential accommodation, published on 11 March 2025, how much local authorities have spent on procuring short term residential accommodation for asylum support in 2024-25.

The provision of asylum support, including accommodation, is the responsibility of the Home Office, not of local authorities. Local authorities do not provide any funding for asylum support. The Home Office’s total expenditure on asylum accommodation in 2024-25 will be confirmed in its Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15199 on Council Tax: Wales, if he will list each individual value significant code that is utilised in the Automated Valuation Model.

The subsidised housing indicator is the only value significant code used in the Automated Valuation Model, as detailed in the response to UIN 16941.

Whether the Government has a residual financial interest in the Royal Mint site near the Tower of London.

The Royal Mint site near the Tower of London was sold by the Crown Estate in 2010 and, as such, there is no residual financial interest to the Exchequer from The Crown Estate.HM Treasury has not made specific representations to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the proposed Chinese Embassy at the Royal Mint site in London. Information relating to HMT agencies is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14949 on Property: Valuation, who recommended the use of Gaussian Markov Random Fields in the Automated Valuation Model.

The approach has been endorsed in reviews by both the Centre for Appraisal Research and Technology and the International Association of Assessing Officers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14995 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, if she will publish a breakdown of the £1.6 billion.

Autumn Budget 2024 announced the extension of Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and the freezing of the small business multiplier for 2025-26. This is a package worth over £1.6 billion in 2025-26. For both business rates measures, the breakdown of costings over the scorecard period can be found on page 120 (lines 47-48) in ‘Chapter 5: Policy decisions’ of Autumn Budget 2024: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/672b9695fbd69e1861921c63/Autumn_Budget_2024_Accessible.pdf

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15198 on Business Rates, what estimates her Department has made of business rate receipts in England in each financial year from 2024-25 onwards.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) publish non-domestic ratings receipts data and forecasts for the financial year ahead in England. As such, projections for non-domestic rates income for 2025-26 will be published in due course by MHCLG. For 2024-25, local authorities estimate the non-domestic rating income to be £26.3 billion: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2024-to-2025/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-for-2024-to-2025

Whether (a) her Department and (b) its agencies has made representations to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the proposed Chinese Embassy at the Royal Mint site in London.

The Royal Mint site near the Tower of London was sold by the Crown Estate in 2010 and, as such, there is no residual financial interest to the Exchequer from The Crown Estate.HM Treasury has not made specific representations to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the proposed Chinese Embassy at the Royal Mint site in London. Information relating to HMT agencies is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 17827 on Private Education: Business Rates, what estimate she has made of the number of independent schools which receive discretionary business rate relief from their local authority to top up the 80% mandatory charitable rate relief; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of mandatory charitable relief on funding by local authorities of discretionary rate relief for independent schools.

Under the existing discretionary relief powers provided by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 local authorities are permitted to award relief of any level to any ratepayers, where they feel it reasonable to do so and it is in the interest of local council taxpayers.Existing discretionary relief powers are provided by the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and will be unaffected by the ending of charitable rate relief for private schoolsCentral Government does not collect data on specific recipients of discretionary relief.

What steps her Department has taken to change to the valuation of airports for business rates in the last two years; and what representations (a) the Valuation Office Agency and (b) her Department have received on the issue.

I refer the member to the answer given to UIN 19700.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024, to Question 17827 on Private Education: Business Rates, what estimate she has made of (a) how many independent schools will lose their 80 per cent charitable rate relief and (b) the average annual business rates bill for independent schools in 2025-26.

As set out in the Government’s impact note, using Department for Education data the Government has identified 2,444 private schools in England, of which 1,139 are charities. Private schools that are wholly concerned with the training or welfare of disabled people will be exempt from business rates under existing provision. Private schools that are wholly or mainly concerned with providing education for pupils with an EHCP will also retain their charitable rate relief. Taken together, the Government expects the number of private schools that will lose business rates charitable relief to be 1,040. Government analysis also shows the average increase in business rates per pupil to be £308 in the financial year 2025-26. This note can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0129/ImpactNote.pdf

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, whether (a) council tax and (b) other local taxes will be included in the target of higher Real Household Disposable Income per person.

Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) is reported by the ONS as part of the UK Economic Accounts. RHDI represents the total income of households in a given period after direct taxes have been accounted for, with an adjustment for inflation. RHDI per person is calculated as aggregate RHDI divided by the estimated population. As council tax is a direct tax faced by households, it is accounted for in the measurement of RHDI per person. Where other local taxes directly affect household income, they will also be accounted for in the measurement of RHDI per person.

Whether the Valuation Office Agency's NextGen Rating (NGR) programme will include (a) business rate and (b) council tax valuations.

The Valuation Office Agency’s NextGen Rating Programme includes the upgrade of its internal operational technology for business rates valuations and the reforms legislated for in the Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023. It does not cover council tax valuations.

If she will publish (a) the contract, (b) the agreed programme of work and (c) other side documentation for the Valuation Office Agency's agreement with Cognizant; and what the (i) value and (ii) length of that contract is.

Details of the contract can be found on Contracts Finder: Valuations Office Agency Programme - Valuations Cloud App - Contracts Finder. The published contract covers new services developed through the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) transformation programmes. It includes the call off capacity for these programmes to deliver transformation through new technology solutions, and additional capacity to support live operations for new VOA services.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2024 to Questions 11930 and 11931 on Business Rates: Tax Yields, whether the real terms monetary value of the tax reduction from the new Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multiplier from the 2026-27 financial year is intended to be the same as the real terms monetary value of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief provided to qualifying hereditaments in the 2024-25 financial year.

The existing retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) relief has been repeatedly extended year-by-year as a temporary stopgap measure. The Government recognises that this creates cliff-edges and uncertainty for businesses, as well as significant fiscal pressure.That is why, from 2026-27 the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties, including those on the high street. There will be two lower RHL multipliers, with the lowest rates paid on smaller RHL properties with a rateable value under £51,000.This permanent tax cut for RHL properties must be sustainably funded, and so the Government intends to apply a higher rate from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but include the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.The exact rates for all new business rate multipliers will not be set until Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.However, the Government recognise that RHL businesses will need support during the interim period for 2025-26, and so we are providing 40 per cent relief to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Alongside freezing the small business multiplier, this is a support package worth more than £1.6 billion in 2025-26.

Pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2024 to Question 11936 on Public Sector: Finance, how local authorities will bid to receive funding from the Public Sector Reform and Innovation Fund.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 11936 on 8 November 2024.The Public Sector Reform and Innovation Fund allocates £165 million to a range of projects in 2025-26, including support for foster care, delivering apprenticeships and planning reforms.Partnering with local leaders, the Budget allocates a further £100 million over the next three years to reform public services with a focus on experimentation and learning. We will announce more details on this in due course.

What data the Valuation Office Agency holds on the rateable value of (a) farms and (b) farmland.

Farms and farmland, if used by the occupier for agricultural purposes, are exempt from non-domestic rating under Schedule 5 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. Consequently, agricultural land and buildings are not included in rating lists and no rateable values are shown, so the Valuation Office Agency does not hold any relevant information.

With reference to her Department's discussion paper entitled Transforming Business Rates, published on 30 October 2024, what the estimated yearly decrease is in business rate receipts from the lower multiplier for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure hereditaments from 2026-27.

To protect the high street, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties from 2026-27. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and the government intends to introduce a Large Business Multiplier from 2026-27, which will apply a higher rate on the most valuable properties (with rateable values of £500,000 and above). The rates for new multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the government can factor into its decision-making the next revaluation outcomes and the broader economic and fiscal context.

With reference to paragraph 2.81 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, what the assumed local government core spending power in cash figures is in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26: and what the assumed respective cash figures within that are for (i) council tax, (ii) business rates and (iii) central government grants in each year.

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.

With reference to paragraph 2.99 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, which public bodies can apply for funding from the new Public Sector Reform and Innovation Fund; whether public bodies will bid for those funds competitively; and if she will publish the terms of reference for that Fund.

The Public Sector Reform and Innovation Fund allocates £165 million to a range of projects in 2025-26, including support for foster care, delivering apprenticeships and planning reforms. In addition, the Budget allocates a further £100 million over the next three years to trial new and innovative projects, partnering with Mayors and local leaders, and focused on developing new approaches to public services with a focus on experimenting and learning. We will announce more details on this in due course.