Written questions by Simmonds.

Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to raise awareness of the new building regulations coming into effect from October 2024.

Legislation was laid in Parliament in May 2024 to update the Building Regulations 2010 by setting out toilet requirements in new non-domestic buildings in England. Statutory guidance supporting these changes was also published (Approved Document T). These changes came into force on 1 October 2024.At the time legislation was laid, circular letters were sent on behalf of the Secretary of State informing local authorities, heads of building control and approved inspectors of the upcoming changes to the Building Regulations. These can found on GOV.UK. A formal response to the consultation was also published on GOV.UK alongside impact assessments.

Communities and Local Government, what the status is of the best value intervention in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets; and what discussions she has had with local hon. Members on that intervention since 4 July 2024.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 3610 on 9 September 2024. The Secretary of State has received the independent Best Value inspection team’s report, this is being considered carefully and any next steps will be set out in due course. The Report will be sent to local hon. Members together with the government's response at the appropriate time.

Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings claim the council tax exemption for probate in each local billing authority in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the estimated cost is of the exemption each year.

As of the most recent available data for September 2023, there were 135,698 dwellings exempt from council tax due to the dwelling being empty following the passing of the occupant (exemption class F). The Government does not collect data on the council tax foregone in providing this exemption.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3109 on Health, whether she plans to use the planning system to regulate the (a) sale of hot food and (b) type of food offered by food outlets.

As part of the consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, the Government sought views on how the planning system could better support local authorities in promoting healthy communities, and specifically, in tackling childhood obesity. This included considering whether a more consistent approach to controlling hot food takeaways near schools though planning policies would be effective.The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has received representations on abolishing the Right to Buy from (a) the Mayor of London, (b) London Boroughs, (c) the London Councils organisation and (d) the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has not, as far as it is aware, received any direct representations on abolishing the Right to Buy from the Mayor of London, London Boroughs, the London Councils organisation, or the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2024, to Question 3008, on New Towns: Disclosure of Information, for what reason she has not provided the information requested.

The House was not sitting on 31 July when the New Towns Taskforce was announced. The Government published a written ministerial statement on new towns on 8 October (HCWS112). It can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3408 on National Security, what her Department's timetable is for developing proposals on (a) strengthening democracy and (b) upholding the integrity of elections.

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.My department is currently working with key stakeholders to develop proposals which give effect to this commitment and will introduce legislative measures when parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, how many total Right to Buy sales there were in each local housing authority in each year since 2010-11; and what the average value of the discount was in each such authority in the most recent year for which figures are available.

The number of Right to Buy sales by local authority can be found in Live Table 691b_L. The associated discounts can be found in column b2ac of the Local Authority Housing Statistics open data published on GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 6 September 2024 to Question 2316 on Equality, whether the socio-economic duty will apply to local authority decisions on the configuration of household waste and recycling collections.

Local authorities must comply with all relevant Equalities Act duties and in England this will include the socio-economic duty in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding a consultation on the potential merits of removing the council tax exemption for homes in probate in the context of the Welsh Government’s consultation on that matter.

Council tax is a devolved policy issue, the devolved governments therefore take decisions on council tax policy independent of central government. The Government does not currently have any plans to reform council tax in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to implement the policies set out in Annex A of the Government response to the consultation on Consistency in household and business recycling in England, updated on 21 November 2023.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. By default, the primary legislation requires that the recyclable waste streams are collected in separate containers, unless this is technically or economically impracticable, or provides no significant environmental benefit. Regarding exemptions that were announced in the Simpler Recycling Government response in October 2023 and May 2024: further regulations would be required to implement these exemptions. Ministers are reviewing these policies; we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3001 on MHCLG: Public Consultation, if she will list the consultations issued by her Department before 24 May 2024 that are (a) closed and (b) have not yet received a formal response.

This information relating to the previous administration cannot be provided as it is not held centrally and collating it would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2313 on Members: Age, whether she plans to lower the candidacy age to 16 for (a) Members of Parliament, (b) elected Mayors, (c) councillors and (d) Police and Crime Commissioners, in the context of lowering the voting age to 16.

As per the manifesto, the Government is committed to act during this Parliament to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections, strengthening our democracy, empowering young people to participate and building an informed and empowered electorate.Regarding the candidacy age for members of the House of Commons, elected Mayors, councillors and Police and Crime Commissioners the Government currently has no plans to change the eligibility criteria.Lowering the voting age will be a major change to the electoral franchise, with implications for the wider electoral sector. Successful design and implementation of the change will require careful planning and engagement with stakeholders in the electoral sector, devolved and local government, education and civil society and, importantly, young people themselves.

Communities and Local Government, whether it remains her Department's policy that the mayoral elections for (a) Hull & East Yorkshire and (b) Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined Authorities will take place in May 2025; and when she plans to bring forward secondary legislation in relation to these elections.

On 19 September we announced that the government would proceed with the devolution agreements for Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire. Legislation to implement these agreements will be laid before the House as Parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2451 on Housing: Construction, what recent estimate she has made of the number of new homes that will be needed each year to meet housing demand from levels of net migration.

Immigration is one of a number of factors that impacts on housing demand and future housing supply. We will continue to monitor both and update Parliament on our commitment to build 1.5 million homes over five years.

Communities and Local Government, what information (a) her Department and (b) the Planning Inspectorate holds on which local authorities have (i) slowed and (ii) stopped house building due to nutrient neutrality requirements.

At present, advice on the need to achieve nutrient neutrality applies to areas of land within approximately sixty local planning authorities. However, the provision of such advice does not mean that housebuilding in these areas is necessarily being stopped or slowed down as it depends whether the nutrient impact of development can be mitigated.While there is a developing pipeline of mitigation available, including schemes supported by government funding, we are exploring solutions to support the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on building new homes on land designated for strategic industrial locations.

Strategic Industrial Land is land designated in the London Plan as vital for industrial and related capacity.On 18 March 2024, the last Government directed the Mayor of London to complete a partial review of the London Plan including in relation to the use of industrial land.This Government believes that a review of industrial land policies is better undertaken as part of the wider London Plan review given that it cannot be meaningfully reviewed in isolation. As a result, we withdrew the direction, given under section 340(2) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, on 30 September 2024.Withdrawing the direction will allow the government and the Greater London Authority to take a new partnership approach on our shared aim to deliver the homes London needs.

Whether (a) officials, (b) Ministers and (c) special advisers in her Department have (a) met and (b) corresponded with the Mayor of London's Night Czar on the issue of London's night-time economy since the general election.

Since the General Election, officials, special advisors, or Ministers, in their Ministerial roles, have not as yet met or corresponded with the Mayor of London’s Night Czar, Amy Lamé.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral answer of 2 September 2024 from the Minister for Democracy and Local Growth, Official Report, Column 24, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to add Veterans ID cards as a form of recognised identification at polling stations; and whether such proposals will include Northern Ireland.

We will bring forward legislative proposals when parliamentary time allows.Electoral policy for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a separate regime for voter identification exists there.

Communities and Local Government, what the value of the council tax single person discount on a Band D home is in each local billing authority in England in 2024-25; how many households claim that discount in each local billing authority in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made of the annual aggregate cost of the discount.

The annual aggregate cost of the single person discount is dependent on decisions taken by individual local authorities who set their council tax level having taken account of their tax base. Data on the number of households receiving the single person discount is collected by the Department as part of the annual Council Taxbase snapshot. The 2023 snapshot can be found at the following link.