Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, how many Section 321 directions have been issued to allow for closed planning hearings in each of the last ten years.

In the last ten years Section 321 directions have been issued in relation to two applications.

Communities and Local Government, whether there is a tracker document for the (a) pipeline and (b) applications in relation to the 150 national infrastructure application target.

My Department tracks the progress of the commitment to decide 150 planning decisions on major infrastructure projects by the end of this Parliament.The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) are responsible for the Infrastructure Pipeline.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104668 on council tax, how county councils which are fire authorities and do not have separate fire precepts are treated for the purposes of that methodology.

The updated distribution for the Local Government Finance Settlement includes a resource adjustment, which takes account of a local authority's ability to raise income locally.To reflect their differing responsibilities, within the resource adjustment we apply a different tier split to Shire Counties with fire authority responsibilities than we do to Shire Counties without fire authority responsibilities.More information can be found in the Technical Annex on the Resources Adjustment (measure of tax base).

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Greater London Authority supplementary business rate arising from increases in Rateable Values from the 2026 business rates revaluation on the business rates of medium-size pubs in London in 2026-27.

The Greater London Authority currently levies a Business Rates Supplement (BRS) to fund the costs of the Crossrail project (renamed Elizabeth line in 2016). The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026 in line with average percentage increase in rateable values. In line with the requirements of the Crossrail BRS final prospectus published when the supplement was introduced in 2010-11, the Mayor is required to increase the threshold in line with the average change in rateable values in London at each revaluation. The intent of this threshold increase is to ensure that the total number of ratepayers liable to pay the BRS remains broadly unchanged each year.On 27 January the government announced that for 2026/27 it was providing a further 15% business rates relief to pubs and live music venues on top of the support already announced at the Budget. Where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme, Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes in line with the requirements of section 13(7) of the Business Rates Supplement Act 2009. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Land Registry holds information on the numbers of sales of primary homes by local authority area in 2025.

HM Land Registry does not collect or hold information that confirms whether a registered property purchase is a primary residence.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104789 on Council Tax: Tax Yields, whether his Department has unpublished working estimates of the revenue from council tax in England in each year from 2026-27 onwards based on the assumptions in the Spending Review.

The Department routinely considers a range of council tax data as part of policy development and has published its estimates of the revenue from council tax in England in each year from 2026-27 onwards.As part of the multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government has made estimates of changes to Core Spending Power for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29. This includes estimates of the council tax councils will set for those years. These estimates are set out here. These estimates exclude parish precepts, police and crime commissioner precepts.

Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the (a) number, (b) total and (c) individual amount of local authority exit payments by authority in 2024-25.

The Government publishes data on local authority exit payments on an annual basis. It is available on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2026 to Question 103284 on Council Tax: Warwick, whether a local authority must undertake an impact assessment before introducing a second homes council tax premium.

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 99200 on 22 December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statistics entitled Local authority Council Taxbase in England 2025 (revised), 21 January 2026, for what reason there are some exceptions where the premium is not applied to second homes even though the premium is in use by the authority.

The Government recognised that there were circumstances where it may not be appropriate for a premium to apply and introduced a number of mandatory exceptions to premiums. These exceptions include circumstances where the property is marketed for sale or let, has recently concluded probate or where it is undergoing major repairs for example. The regulations underpinning the exceptions can be found here. The government’s guidance also sets out these exceptions.

Communities and Local Government, whether core spending power figures published in the Local Government Finance assumes (a) that each principal local authority sets the maximum level of council tax that does not trigger a council tax referendum or (b) a different level of council tax.

Over the multi-year Settlement, Core Spending Power is calculated by assuming that authorities increase their Band D council tax in line with the maximum allowable level set out by the council tax referendum principles; and each authority’s council tax base increases in line with the average annual growth in their council tax base between 2021-22 and 2025-26. This type of approach has been standard practice under successive governments. Explanations on how council tax and associated referendum principles are calculated as part of core spending power is set out here - Explanatory note on Core Spending Power: final local government finance settlement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK. Local authorities are responsible for setting their own council tax levels. The way council tax in Core Spending Power is estimated is unchanged from previous Local Government Finance Settlements. In line with usual practice and in recognition of the views raised in response to this consultation, the government will continue to keep its methodology for calculating the Core Spending Power of local government under review in future years.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2026 to Question 107021 on Affordable Housing: Asylum, what types of accommodation, including (a) change of use, (b) HMOs, (c) hotels or communal accommodation and (d) new build will the new fund for local authorities support.

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107021 on 20 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his oral statement of 22 January 2026, Official Report, Column 486, on Local Government Reorganisation, whether he will reimburse councils for the administrative costs of preparing for May 2026 elections now being cancelled.

I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February HCWS1349, updating the House on 2026 local elections.

Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on (a) further delaying or (b) cancelling under scheduled council elections in 2027 in areas with local government restructuring.

I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February HCWS1349, updating the House on 2026 local elections.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the British High Commission Islamabad news story of 17 April 2025, which individuals and external organisations Lord Khan met during his visit to the (a) Overseas Pakistanis Convention, (b) Faisal Mosque and (c) St Joseph’s Cathedral whilst on his official Ministerial visit to Pakistan.

A summary of the former Minister’s schedule will be placed in the Library of the House.

Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on establishing (a) shadow unitary councils and (b) preparing councils when undertaking local government restructuring.

My officials are in regular contact with councils to support them to undertake preparatory work to ensure readiness for any transition to new authorities.Once a decision is taken on which proposals, if any, to implement, the Structural Changes Order will specify the governance arrangements for the new unitary councils in the transition period. Representations will be sought from the councils on the detailed content of the Structural Changes Order including on whether a shadow unitary council or preparing council is appropriate.For all areas except Surrey, we anticipate elections to new authorities will take place in 2027, with those authorities going live in 2028.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to consult the public on formal new names for new unitary councils.

A statutory consultation has already been undertaken, or is currently underway, on the proposals for new unitary councils, many of which included suggested names.There are no plans to further consult the public on formal new names for new councils.Where proposals did not include names for the new councils, or where different views have been expressed, then the Secretary of State may seek further representations from the councils and other interested parties before reaching a decision on what the formal new names of the councils should be.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled The implementation of the council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes, published on 1 November 2024, what plans he has to review the guidance given to local authorities in relation to the practices of council tax premiums being introduced by local authorities.

211 local authorities began charging a second home premium from April 2025. The guidance was published in November 2024 to support councils in their decision making on the premium and assist taxpayers in understanding when a premium may apply. As ever, the government continues to keep all guidance under review.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 102765, on Planning: Publications, whether he intends to update any of the other Plain English guides published on gov.uk by his Department.

The government will continue to keep all guidance under review to update as necessary. Any new or updated guidance will be published in the usual way on gov.uk.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 28 May 2024, to Question 53574, on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, and with reference to page 26 of the Section 106 agreement, for what reason the agreement references Articles 13 and 141 of the EU Treaty Articles.

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. The EU Treaty Articles are addressed at footnote 47 of the decision letter.

Communities and Local Government, what are the internal areas within the proposed Chinese Embassy that would be exempt from UK inspection and verification.

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 enforcement is addressed at paragraphs 103-105 of the decision letter.