Written questions by Simmonds.

Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme 2021-24 is being allocated by bidding.

Bidding rounds for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme ended in June 2022. Decisions on where to allocate funding were made by the previous government.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 19356 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, where the public hearings will take place for the public inquiry.

The venue for the public inquiry is Tower Hamlets Professional Development Centre, 229 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 6AB. These details are published at the following link.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 18376 on MHCLG: Birmingham, what other Government hubs operate in Birmingham; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of merging the departmental office with other Government buildings in Birmingham.

Apart from our current location at 23 Stephenson Street, the department does not hold information on other Government hubs operating in or planned by the Government Property Agency for Birmingham. We made the decision to close our Birmingham office to consolidate and further develop our presence in the West Midlands region at our existing second headquarters in Wolverhampton.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of repealing the Trade Union Act 2016 on the use of leverage campaigns in industrial disputes.

The Government published an impact assessment on 21 October 2024, setting out its assessment of the expected impacts of the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 via the Employment Rights Bill.

Communities and Local Government, if she will list the name of each organisation that responded to the National Planning Policy framework consultation excluding those who asked for their submission to be confidential.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20653 on 24 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 3829 on Islamophobia, whether she plans to undertake a formal consultation on the definition of Islamophobia.

The government engages regularly with faith communities to help foster strong working relationships. We are exploring a more integrated and cohesive approach to tackling racial and religious hatred, including Islamophobia, and further details will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18555 on Asylum: Hotels, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on the (a) first time buyer and (b) private rental market of housing asylum seekers in rented accommodation.

The government is determined to address the dire inheritance left by its predecessor and restore order to the asylum and immigration systems, delivering lower net migration.The Home Office has a set of Asylum Accommodation Plans which set out the approach to the procurement and occupancy of Dispersal Accommodation across the UK. They help ensure the Home Office continues to meet its statutory responsibilities to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.The plans are underpinned by an indexing tool which provides a flexible, transparent evidence-base for the dispersal of the national asylum-seeking population to ensure equity remains at the core.The factors affecting supply and demand in the private rented sector are complex and difficult to disentangle. As well as demographic change, they include house prices, rent levels, taxation policy, interest rates, and the movement of tenants into homeownership and social rented housing. It is not possible to isolate the specific impact of each of these factors.The most sustainable long-term method to improve housing affordability and help people into homeownership is to increase the supply of housing. That is why we have committed to deliver 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament as part of our Plan for Change.The Renters’ Rights Bill will overhaul the experience of private renting in England, providing greater security and stability for tenants.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) Freedom of Information and (b) Environmental Information Regulation responses her Department has issued to consultations in the last 36 months.

It is not normal practice to release individual consultation responses because of data protection considerations. Requesters are pointed instead to the Department's published summary response when that becomes available.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 9072 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Ministers' Private Offices, if she will provide a breakdown of the £33,790.50.

Since the dissolution of the last Parliament, MHCLG has spent £13,938.05 on furniture and fittings, and a further £3,297.56 on electrical improvements in the Ministerial offices in 2 Marsham Street, the Department’s London HQWe spent no money on refurbishments in Ministerial offices in Wolverhampton, the Department’s second HQ. We also spent £16,554.89 on furniture to make meeting rooms suitable for use by Ministers in the Department’s office in Piccadilly Gate, Manchester.A breakdown of items is in the table below.ItemCostDesk, Tables & Chairs£8,848.31Electrical Improvements£3,297.56Manchester Ministerial Office Creation£16,554.89Other furniture and improvements£5,089.74

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2635 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Expenditure, if she will provide a breakdown of the £5 million saving in legal fees.

The £5 million was a contingency in case an organisation or group named as “extremist” brought a successful defamation claim, obtaining damages and costs against the department. It was an overall figure so no further breakdown is available. As the department is no longer expecting to name any organisations or groups as “extremist”, this contingency is no longer needed.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 19776 on Affordable Housing, in what circumstances foreign nationals who are not eligible for social housing are eligible for taxpayer-funded (a) temporary and (b) permanent accommodation.

Eligibility for social housing and statutory homelessness assistance are both determined by immigration status. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they will not be eligible for statutory homelessness assistance, and therefore unable to obtain temporary or permanent accommodation.As the eligibility rules for social housing and homelessness assistance are the same, an applicant who is not eligible for social housing will almost always also not be eligible for homelessness assistance. A small number of EU nationals with pre-settled status (PSS) may be able to access statutory homelessness assistance in a very specific set of circumstances should a ‘not eligible’ decision lead to a breach of their right to dignity under Article 1 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which has direct effect as a result of the Court of Appeal ruling in SSWP v AT.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 4.1.6 of the consultation entitled Local authority funding reform: objectives and principles, published on 18 December 2024, whether councils which have set council tax levels above the assumed level of council tax will, all other factors being equal, receive a higher grant.

The government is inviting views on the objectives and principles of local authority funding reform, including on measuring differences in locally available resources such as council tax. Following this consultation, we will develop, publish and consult on a detailed plan for local authority funding reform ahead of the provisional Settlement for 2026-27.With reference to proposals set out in paragraph 4.1.6 of the consultation, councils which have set council tax levels above the assumed level of council tax, will not, all else equal, receive higher grant allocations.This is because by making a uniform assumption of the council tax level in our measure of locally available resources, any individual council’s council tax level is not directly associated with their grant allocation. A council’s grant allocation will instead be impacted by the number and banding of liable dwellings in the local authority (i.e. their ‘Tax Base’).Any council that sets council tax levels above the assumed level of council tax will receive more income in total than if it had not done so.As set out in the consultation on local authority funding reform, the government believes that making uniform assumptions on the council tax level charged by all authorities, and on factors which determine their ability to raise council tax, promotes simplicity, fairness, and accountability.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the potential role of the United Front Work Department in relation to the planning application for the Chinese Embassy.

An appointed Inspector will hold a public inquiry which will hear a range of evidence for and against the proposals, after which a decision will be made by MHCLG ministers. As this case will come before ministers in MHCLG to determine, it would not be appropriate to comment further. Decisions on planning applications are based on material planning considerations.

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.

Communities and Local Government, what representations she has received from (a) Westminster City Council and (b) business representatives on proposals to (i) create a Mayoral Development Corporation for and (ii) pedestrianise Oxford Street.

An open letter from the Leader of Westminster City Council was published on 18 September 2024, a copy of which can be found here.Responsibility for designating any area of land in Greater London as a Mayoral development area rests with the Mayor of London. Any future proposal for Oxford Street would be subject to a statutory consultation in line with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011. The Government remains supportive of locally-led plans to revitalise Oxford Street and looks forward to working with the Mayor of London, local leaders and businesses to ensure Oxford Street remains a world-class retail destination.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 27 December 2024 to Question 20641 on Local Government Services: Rural Area, what the (a) cash (b) real terms and (c) proportional change in core spending power will be in each individual type of (i) rural and (ii) urban area according to the classification methodology used by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the (A) 2024-25 and (B) 2025-26 financial year.

The provisional Settlement for 2025-26 makes available £69 billion for local government, which is a 3.5% real terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The final Settlement will increase further, to incorporate the £515 million of funding announced for National Insurance Contributions.This government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population (encompassing both authorities classed as predominantly Rural, and Urban with Significant Rural) will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.The cash, percentage, and real terms changes in Core Spending Power for rural and urban authorities, according to the classification methodology used by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and published by the Office for National Statistics, are found in the table below (please see below the table for further explanatory information).Table 1. Provisional local government finance settlement 2025-26,core spending power by Rural/Urban classificationRural/Urban Classification 2011Core Spending Power 2024-25 (£ million)Core Spending Power 2025-26 (£ million)Cash increase (£ million)% change CSP 2023-24 to 2024-25% real change CSP 2024-25 to 2025-26Predominantly Rural8,7259,1514264.9%2.4%Urban with Significant Rural11,19411,8446505.8%3.3%Predominantly Urban36,06738,56424976.9%4.4%Unclassified - no Rural/Urban classification available8,9969,3263303.7%1.2%Total England 64,982 68,88439026.0%3.5% Explanatory information and sourcesCore Spending Power has been grouped using DEFRA’s Rural/Urban Classification (RUC) 2011 dataset, further information can be found here: 2011 Rural Urban Classification - GOV.UK. There are 43 unclassified authorities which are not included in the RUC dataset. Of these, 32 are fire authorities or the GLA and 11 are authorities which have undergone restructuring since the latest available RUC publication.Core Spending Power data: Provisional local government finance settlement: England, 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK.For the financial year 2025-26 real-terms calculation we use the GDP deflator: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - Office for National Statistics.Further information on the provisional local government finance settlement, including the increases in grant for rural and urban areas can be found in the provisional local government finance settlement core spending power publications. These have now been updated to include local authority Rural/Urban classifications and can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-table-provisional-local-government-finance-settlement-2025-to-2026.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish a breakdown of efficiency savings made by her Department in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has already outlined savings found as part of the Fixing the Foundations: Public Spending Audit 2024-25. This included an agreement to £154 million in savings in response to the HM Treasury (HMT) Savings Commission. As part of this, MHCLG has stopped non-essential consultancy spend.As set out in the English Devolution White Paper and Local Government Finance Policy Statement, it is our aim that local government reorganisation will lead to further efficiencies.The department will also work closely with HM Treasury as part of the Spending Review 2025 Phase 2 to identify where these should be pursued for 2025-26 and onwards.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to amend the guidance entitled Illustrative text for local code of conduct, last updated on 20 September 2013, to include a free speech protection clause.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20985 on 9 January 2025, which states that government has launched a consultation on a range of proposals to strengthen the local government standards regime. This includes proposals for the possible introduction of a mandatory minimum code of conduct for local authorities in England.The results of this consultation will help to inform any policy or legislative change with respect to local government codes of conduct.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make changes to the council tax social care precept prior to the conclusions of the Casey Commission on social care.

The government has no plans to change the adult social care precept. However, on 8 January, the government laid regulations which will change how billing authorities include information on the Adult Social Care precept on council tax bills from 2025/26. This is a presentational change to council tax bills and has no effect on the overall operation of the precept.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 16 December 2024 on the Devolution White Paper, HCWS316, what steps her Department is taking to end the use of (a) competitive funding applications and (b) ring-fenced funding.

The Government has committed to simplifying the wider local funding landscape, reviewing and reducing the number of grants (and ringfences), and consolidating grants into the Local Government Finance Settlement wherever possible. This will support local authorities to plan budgets more effectively and have greater freedom to deliver local priorities. We will also end wasteful competitive bidding processes and cut burdensome reporting requirements for government grants - allowing local authorities to focus on delivering services for their residents. We are inviting views (until 12 February 2025) on our principles and objectives for local government funding reform through a consultation.