Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the correspondence, Local government reorganisation: further letter to council leaders with elections in May 2026, of 19 January 2026, for what reason those letters were sent to those specific councils; and if he will place copies of replies to those letters in the Library.

I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils. Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way. We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.

Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the evidence he planned to file at the High Court on the postponement of local elections in England in May 2026.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The case the Rt Hon. Member refers to has now been concluded and the Court did not make any judgement against the government.

Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Housing Minister determined that local elections should proceed in May 2026; and what factors he considered.

I refer the Rt hon. and hon. Members to the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 23 February 2026 (HCWS1349). It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice. The Government has no plans to publish individual correspondence from councils. Councils are being supported to deliver elections. The administration and cost of running local elections remain matters for local authorities, with wider costs handled in the usual way. We are also making available up to £63 million in new capacity funding for reorganisation areas.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving overseas electors the option to register to vote when they renew their British passport online.

The Government is committed to improving electoral registration and is actively exploring ways to do so. The Representation of the People Bill will lay the foundations for a more automated registration system. Any changes must be tested to ensure they have a positive outcome in an already complex system.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) hon. Members, (b) councillors and (c) political parties will have access to the full electoral register with attainers aged below 16.

Under the current UK electoral framework, political parties, elected officials and candidates are entitled to request copies of the electoral register and may use them for “electoral purposes” and for the purposes of complying with rules regarding political donations, and office holders for purposes related to their office.With regard to individuals standing for an election having access to the full register, once the provisions set out in the Representation of the People Bill come into effect, no candidates will have access to the data of 14- and 15-year-olds, unless the individual turns 16 by the polling date for that specific election. This is provided for because it is important that 15-year-olds who will turn 16 on or before polling day - and will therefore be eligible to vote - have the same opportunity to be canvassed so they can form an opinion in the same way as any other eligible voter.The Government takes the safeguarding of young people and their data seriously, with strict controls set out in legislation on who can access information from the electoral register and for what purpose. The approach set out in the Representation of the People Bill balances the need for proportionate safeguards within our electoral system, without disadvantaging young voters from being able to participate in it.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has has discussions with West Yorkshire Combined Authority on contract reference 20250627172243-103257, awarded to Lexington Communications; and whether his Department has received communications from Lexington.

Local authorities are responsible for the award of contracts in line with the procurement regulations at the time of the award.

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, 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, 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, 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, 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, with reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee press notice of 20 January 2026, what steps his Department is taking to improve clarity on the role that national security considerations play in planning decisions.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that planning policies and decisions should promote public safety and take into account wider security and defence requirements by anticipating and addressing possible malicious threats. Proposals for major development in such locations should be informed by the most up-to-date information available from the police and other relevant agencies about the nature of potential threats and their implications. The government is consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, more rules-based policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes policies on public safety and security. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance has been given to principal local authorities on providing financial support to town and parish councils for their contribution towards local council tax support; and what estimate has been made of the number of principal local authorities which do so.

Successive government have been clear that it is the responsibility of principal authorities to work with parish and town councils on council tax matters, including support schemes and to agree appropriate funding arrangements so that large increases in parish precepts can be avoided

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 103895 on Local Government: Working Hours, whether he plans to take Best Value intervention action against local authorities implementing four day weeks.

The letter of 19 December 2025 is clear that the provision in the current Best Value Guidance in relation to the four-day week remains in force. Ministers take a range of factors into account when considering whether to exercise statutory powers in relation to a local authority and will only act where necessary to secure compliance with the Best Value duty.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2026, to Question 104170, on Local Government: Reorganisation, and pursuant to the answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage of 26 January 2026, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 715, if he will define what is meant by the "most ambitious timelines"; and whether some of the new unitary councils will be elected at a later date than May 2027.

The Government remains committed to the indicative timetable published in July, with elections to new councils in May 2027. This is with the exception of Surrey, where we have already announced two new councils with elections expected in May 2026.

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 9 February 2026 to Question 109623 on Local Government Finance: City of Westminster and Wandsworth, what methodology his Department used to estimate the average increase in council tax; and whether his Department held discussions with councils on this methodology.

The government believes it is right to continue to calculate Core Spending Power in line with the approach used at previous Settlements. This includes an assumption that authorities increase their Band D council tax by the maximum allowed within any council tax referendum principles set for them.To increase fairness for taxpayers, provide better value for money and enable the rebalancing of disparities in council tax levels, the government intends not to set referendum principles in 2027-28 and 2028-29 for six upper-tier authorities with the lowest council tax levels receiving 95% income protection. Removing referendum principles in these areas will enable the government to allocate over £250 million more funding for public services in places with higher need instead of subsidising very low bills for 500,000 households in these councils.To calculate their Core Spending Power, we assume City of Westminster, Wandsworth, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, City of London, and Windsor and Maidenhead increase their council tax by 5% in 2026-27. We also assume they will increase their council tax by 5% plus £150 in 2027-28 and 2028-29, which is closer to the average council tax increase across the country.The actual level of council tax remains a local decision for individual councils, taking into consideration a range of local factors including the impact on taxpayers.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2026 to Question 109623 on Local Government Finance: City of Westminster and Wandsworth, what the assumed increases in Band D council tax are for the other four councils with no referendum principles.

The government believes it is right to continue to calculate Core Spending Power in line with the approach used at previous Settlements. This includes an assumption that authorities increase their Band D council tax by the maximum allowed within any council tax referendum principles set for them.To increase fairness for taxpayers, provide better value for money and enable the rebalancing of disparities in council tax levels, the government intends not to set referendum principles in 2027-28 and 2028-29 for six upper-tier authorities with the lowest council tax levels receiving 95% income protection. Removing referendum principles in these areas will enable the government to allocate over £250 million more funding for public services in places with higher need instead of subsidising very low bills for 500,000 households in these councils.To calculate their Core Spending Power, we assume City of Westminster, Wandsworth, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, City of London, and Windsor and Maidenhead increase their council tax by 5% in 2026-27. We also assume they will increase their council tax by 5% plus £150 in 2027-28 and 2028-29, which is closer to the average council tax increase across the country.The actual level of council tax remains a local decision for individual councils, taking into consideration a range of local factors including the impact on taxpayers.

Communities and Local Government, what commissioned data was provided to the Office for Budget Responsibility for the calculation of recent business rate receipts forecasts.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for producing the business rates forecast for England only. This is primarily based on estimates of national non-domestic rates, collected and published by the department, alongside CPI inflation assumptions provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The latest forecast uses 2025-26 national non-domestic rates data as its baseline.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds information on business rate receipts from (a) Business Rate Improvement Districts levies and (b) the GLA Business Rate Supplement across (i) England and (ii) individual local authorities.

Information on receipts from the GLA Business Rate Supplement is collected and published on Revenue Outturn RS Line 793. The latest local authority and England level data from 2024 to 2025 can be found here.The Department does not hold data on Business Improvement District (BID) levy receipts.The cost of administering BID ballots are recorded on Revenue Outturn RO6 Line 428 also published here.