Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, whether any staff in his Department work a four day week.

In response to the question of whether any staff in the Department work a four‑day week, we have interpreted this as referring to staff whose contractual hours are worked over four days per week. On this basis, 241 headcount staff work part‑time hours (less than 1.0 FTE) arranged over four days. Additionally there are 339 staff who work a five‑day week (1.0 FTE) over four extended days. These are staff on compressed hours arrangements on full pay. These figures are provided on a headcount basis for active payroll staff at 31/01/2026. Type of Worker31st Jan 2025 31st Jan 2026Full time (compressed 4 days) (1FTE)214339Part time over 4 days (less than 1FTE)285241Total499 (12.4%)580 (15.8%) Flexible working, including part‑time and compressed hours arrangements, is a positive and valuable element of the MHCLG employee offer when managed effectively and in line with business need. The Department supports flexible working where it enables delivery of business objectives while providing benefits to both the organisation and employees. Such arrangements can be particularly beneficial for staff with caring responsibilities, as well as those with health conditions. Supporting flexible working helps the Department to attract and retain a diverse and skilled workforce while enabling staff to achieve a better work‑life balance.

Communities and Local Government, for what reason he has incorporated Planning policy for traveller sites into the National Planning Policy Framework.

The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The rationale for proposing to incorporate policies relating to traveller sites, currently set out in Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, within relevant chapters of the draft Framework is set out in the consultation. The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to amend the Housing supply: indicators of new supply statistics to include a rolling statistic on the yearly shortfall in relation to his 1.5 million housing delivery target.

The government has no current plans to incorporate new indicators into Housing Supply: Indicators of new supply statistical releases.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Northern Growth Strategy, January 2026, CP1485, paragraph 4 and footnotes 3 and 4, what is the evidential basis for the underlying statistics of the 2.2% productivity growth per year in the largest northern mayoral strategic authorities.

Footnotes 3 and 4 of the Northern Growth Strategy: Case for change outline how the calculation of compound average productivity growth rate in the largest northern Mayoral Strategic Authorities is based on ONS Official Statistics, using subnational estimates for Gross Value Added and hours worked.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) Judges' Lodgings and (b) other workplace accommodation are within the scope of the proposed overnight visitor levy.

We have published a consultation running until 18 February, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders, including potential exemptions. The scope of the levy, which will cover short‑term overnight stays in commercially let visitor accommodation, will be set out in future legislation.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2026 to Question 103283 on New Towns: Adlington, on what evidential basis was Adlington added to the list of New Towns.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 102770 on Waste Disposal: Birmingham, whether the meeting between the Secretary of State and Unite was minuted.

Minutes were taken and in line with normal practice, the minutes will not be published. But the Secretary of State reiterated that the waste dispute is a local issue for Unite and the Council to resolve.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes in council tax on the cost of living from April 2026.

Council tax levels are decided by local authorities, and the Department has not made specific assessments on the impact of council tax levels on the cost of living for households. For the vast majority of councils, the government intends to maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept. The government will set out final referendum principles as part of the local government finance settlement. Councils are required to put in place council tax support schemes to support those on low incomes.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Delegation of the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Fair Funding Review on planning fees in local authorities which have lost funding in real terms.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act provides the Secretary of State with the power to delegate the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities. The Fair Funding Review considers how resources are distributed across local government based on relative need and demand for services. It does not determine planning fee levels, which remain cost-recovery charges rather than general funding streams. The government is supporting local authorities to manage their updated funding positions by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income through transitional arrangements, including locally retained business rates growth.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026, to Question 104773, on Housing: Construction, what is his proposed timeline for the delivery of the 9,000 homes.

Delivery of the up to 9,000 new homes is a matter for the Mayor of London and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation. They have published the Old Oak Masterplan Framework, which includes an Illustrative Masterplan, showing how development could be brought forward comprehensively. We will continue to work with the development corporation as it develops its proposals to ensure the best use of the public sector land to bring forward new housing and regeneration.

Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of properties for rent in the private rented sector in each of the last three years.

My Department collects data on the number of dwellings in the private rented sector through the English Housing Survey, which is published annually and can be found on gov.uk here. The latest estimates for the number of private rented sector dwellings in England are as follows: 4,864,000 in 2022, 4,880,000 in 2023, and 4,910,000 in 2024.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 105220 on MHCLG: Publicity, which suppliers his Department has used for publishing content in foreign languages in the last 12 months.

The department does not hold the information in the format requested.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025, to Question 88668, on Flags: Palestine, and further to the UK Statement at the High-Level Conference for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution of 22 September 2025, if he will publish guidance on deemed consent for the Palestine flag.

My Department has no plans to publish guidance on deemed consent for the Palestine flag.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 85176 on England: Anniversaries, and the Answer of 21 January 2026 to Question 99500 on National Identity, whether he will have discussions with the Mayor of London on erecting a permanent statue of King Athelstan on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the foundation of England.

The Government publishes details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 87778 on Affordable Housing: Construction, what proportion of funding from the new Programme will be used to purchase homes that have (a) already been started and (b) built through different schemes.

The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will permit a limited number of acquisitions.For further information, please see the policy statement published by the Department on 7 November which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, for what reason ensuring that each Paper produced by a Crown body includes the most up-to-date Crown copyright statement issued by the Controller is a key performance indicator in the MHCLG Corporate Print Management Service contact with ALLIED PUBLICITY SERVICES (MANCHESTER) LIMITED.

This is included as one of several performance indicators, to ensure our supplier uses accurate, up-to-date Crown copyright statements across all government publications it produces for the department and MHCLG’s Arm’s Length Bodies, helping maintain legal compliance and public trust.

Communities and Local Government, if he will set out how the uplift in rateable values in 2026 affects the calculation of funding of individual local authorities in the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27; and whether council areas with an above-average increase in rateable values will receive additional net funding relative to the previous year from business rate revenue.

I refer the Rt. hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107993 on 28 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether the review into foreign interference will consider the practice of foreign governments hiring UK-based lobbyists.

It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes. The purpose of the Rycroft review is to provide an in-depth assessment of the current financial rules and safeguards and make recommendations. The terms of reference for the review can be found here: Independent review: countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics: Terms of Reference - GOV.UK. Given the review’s independence, we cannot pre-empt specifics of the ground it will cover, nor the recommendations it will make. It is right that the review is independent of Government and independent of any political party. However, we will be looking to mitigate the risk of foreign financial interference in UK politics from any actors and individuals who might wish to undermine our democracy.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2026 to Question 97134 on MHCLG: Departmental Responsibilities, whether the Minister for Housing and Planning discussed government business with Edaroth during his attendance at Housing Group events at the Labour Party Conference in September 2025.

I had no meetings with Edaroth at Labour Party Annual Conference 2025 and shared no platforms with representatives of the company.I participated in a number of advertised events at the conference, including a panel organised by Labour Housing Group, in which I set out the government’s overall approach to housing and planning. I did not discuss other Departmental business at any of these events.

Communities and Local Government, what is the estimated revenue from business rates in England in (a) 2024-25, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.

Estimated net business rates yield in England for can be found in Table 1 of the ‘National non-domestic rates collected by councils in England’ statistical releases.Data for 2024-25 based on out-turn (actual) data can be found on gov.uk here.Forecast data for 2025-26 can be found on gov.uk here.Data for 2026-27 will be published in mid-February 2026.