Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2026, to Question 106112, on Local Government: Elections, and with reference to his letter to local authorities of 22 January 2026, on what evidential basis district councils have the capacity to organise (a) county and (b) town and parish elections but not district elections.

I refer the Rt.hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February (HCWS1349). All local elections will go ahead in May 2026.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026, to Question 104668, on council tax, if he will publish a table listing the notional Band D level for each local authority in England in 2025-26, based on the methodology outlined in that answers of 66201 and 104668.

The notional council tax level for each authority in England is published on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 5 August 2024, to Question HL394, on Legal Systems: Islam, what research has his department conducted on the operation of (a) shariah courts and (b) Muslim Arbitration Tribunals.

We have not conducted research on the operation of sharia courts and Muslim Arbitration Tribunals.In line with previous governments, the government’s position remains that individuals are free to practise their religion, including seeking religious guidance or arbitration, provided this does not conflict with UK law. Where religious practices or decisions conflict with UK law, UK law – as enacted by parliament and applied by courts – prevails.

Communities and Local Government, which body forfeited monies for impermissible political donations will be given to.

As set out in section 60 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, sums forfeited by court order under section 58 or 59 of that Act are paid into the Consolidated Fund. We have introduced the Representation of the People Bill which brings forward a package of reforms to deliver on our manifesto commitment to tighten the rules on political donations. We are reinforcing the principle that only permissible donors may fund UK politics. Where illicit funds do enter the system via impermissible donors (e.g. individuals not on the electoral register), they will be subject to full forfeiture, providing a clear deterrent and supporting compliance by political parties and campaigners.

Communities and Local Government, whether the National Protective Security Authority provided advice on the planning process on the Chinese Embassy.

Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety. Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99. As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the correspondence entitled Public Letter on Called-in decision: Royal Mint Court, of 20 January 2026, whether the evidence provided to the Intelligence and Security Committee was given to (a) the planning inspector and (b) him.

Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety. Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99. As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what planning guidance has been given to local authorities on land which is contaminated due to former foot and mouth burial pits.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that a development site is suitable for its proposed use, taking account of risks arising from land contamination. This includes risks arising from natural hazards or former activities, and any proposals for mitigation including land remediation. After remediation, as a minimum, development should not be capable of being determined as contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which provides a risk-based approach to the identification and remediation of land where contamination poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. Planning Practice Guidance, available on gov.uk here, sets out further information on how planning can deal with land affected by contamination.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104895 on Elizabeth Line: Business Rates, whether (a) the Valuation Office Agency and (b) his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of increased valuations on the liability of pubs for the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.

I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111143 on 12 February 2026. This is a matter for the Greater London Authority, rather than central government.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026, to Question 102811, on Planning Permission, whether any other guidance has been given on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the planning system.

Neither the government nor the Planning Inspectorate has issued guidance in respect of the treatment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the planning system.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2026 to Question 108220, on Affordable Housing: Greater London, whether there have previously been revisions of the Greater London Authority’s historical data.

Published Affordable Housing Supply statistics always reflect the latest available data provided to my Department.Previous revisions to historical data have been made by the Greater London Authority, as well as by Homes England and some local planning authorities.These revisions have been made in accordance with the policy for schedule revisions to the affordable housing supply statistics in England as set out in Section 6 of its technical notes, which are available on gov.uk here.Details of the revisions made each year to the publication are available in the technical note corresponding to that year’s publication. For the last three years these can be found in Section 7 of the technical notes, available on gov.uk for 2024-25 here, 2023-24 here, and 2022-23 here.All the available publications can be found on gov.uk here. Up to and including the 2018-19 statistical release, the technical notes are included in the bulletin and are not a separate document.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an estimate of the monetary value of Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief to qualifying individual businesses in (a) 2024-25, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme provided eligible, occupied, retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a 75% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business in 2024-25 and with a 40% relief, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business in 2025-26. There is no equivalent relief in 2026-27. The value of the relief to individual businesses is not available. However, aggregated data on how much relief has been given in 2024-25 can be found in Table 2 at the following linkhttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-2024-to-2025 and how much is expected to be given in 2025-26 in Table 2 at this linkhttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2025-to-2026.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2026 to Question 108645 on Business Rates, what the aggregate (a) monetary and (b) percentage change in business rate receipts is in (i) each local authority in England and (ii) England from 2025-26 to 2026-27.

The latest available data on business rates receipts relates to 2024-25. Data for England and each local authority can be found at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/collection-rates-for-council-tax-and-non-domestic-rates-in-england-2024-to-2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the correspondence entitled Public Letter on Called-in decision: Royal Mint Court, of 20 January 2026, whether the mitigation measures are reflected in planning conditions.

Full reasons for the decision in question are set out in the Secretary of State’s decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here. The letter and associated Inspector’s Report must be read in their entirety. Planning conditions are addressed at paragraphs 107-110 and are listed at Annex B of the decision letter. Application drawings are addressed at paragraphs 89-99. As part of his careful consideration of the applications, the Secretary of State referred back to parties on a number of matters, including the redacted drawings, on 6 August 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether election pilots will be held in the local authorities which had local elections cancelled, but which are being reinstated.

The Government committed in its manifesto to encourage greater participation in democracy. To support this, the Government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. Orders designating the pilots for May 2026 have been signed and shared with participating local authorities and the Electoral Commission. I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made yesterday, which details participating local authorities and nature of each pilot. No flexible voting pilots are due to be held in local authority areas where elections due to run in May 2026 were previously postponed.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Tougher rules on political interference to keep UK elections secure, published on 12 February 2026, in which local authorities election pilots will take place in May 2026; and what type of pilot will take place in each.

The Government committed in its manifesto to encourage greater participation in democracy. To support this, the Government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. Orders designating the pilots for May 2026 have been signed and shared with participating local authorities and the Electoral Commission. I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made yesterday, which details participating local authorities and nature of each pilot. No flexible voting pilots are due to be held in local authority areas where elections due to run in May 2026 were previously postponed.

Communities and Local Government, how many (a) legal challenges and (b) judicial reviews his Department has (i) lost in court and (ii) conceded prior to the court hearing since July 2024.

The Department deals with a large variety of legal cases including judicial reviews, statutory challenges in planning cases, Information Tribunal cases and private law litigation. The number and outcome of legal challenges and judicial reviews since July 2024 is not held centrally in the format requested.

Communities and Local Government, whether guidance has been provided to local authorities on entitlement to council tax reduction for people who receive Universal Credit.

I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer provided on 4 February 2026 to UIN 109028.

Communities and Local Government, further to the statistics, Local authority Council Taxbase in England 2025 (revised), 21 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the figure of 71% of local authorities charging a second homes council tax premium, in light of the original policy intent of the policy.

The second homes council tax premium provides local leaders with additional flexibility to address the impacts of second homes and improve the sustainability of local services. It is for individual councils to decide whether it is appropriate to apply the premium in their area. In doing so, councils will consider a range of factors, including local circumstances and the government’s guidance.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2026, to Question 106138, on Local Government Finance, whether his department holds data on the proportion of the £4.3 billion that was subject to the flexible use of capital receipts provisions; and which individual local authorities utilised the flexible use.

The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts general direction was introduced in 2016 by the previous government and remains substantively unchanged. This government has not changed the rules on use of capital receipts; not all capital receipts are eligible for use under the general flexibility. For example, under the direction, eligible capital receipts must be genuine disposals outside of the local authorities’ group structure. Nor does the flexibility override any statutory restrictions that may exist on certain types of assets. The government does not collect specific data on eligible capital receipts held by local authorities.Use of the flexibility is at the discretion of local authorities but must be compliant with the conditions of the general flexibility and their wider statutory duties. The government is clear that its use should represent value for money and be in the best interests of local residents. Use of the flexibility is reported annually. The data for 2024/25 can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the trends in the level of antisemitism in the City of Bristol.

Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms, wherever it manifests. We work closely with partners to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities throughout the UK. This includes working together with the Jewish community to monitor levels of religiously motivated hatred. We continue to closely observe rates of antisemitism across the country and will make the necessary interventions to combat antisemitism in all corners of our society.