Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, further to the oral evidence by the Deputy Director, Local Government Accountability and Audit, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, at the Public Accounts Committee, Oral evidence: Whole of Government Accounts 2023-24, HC 1243, 11 December 2025, Question 25, and the objective to complete reorganisation by April 2028, on what date will elections be held for the new unitary councils other than Surrey.

The Secretary of State will consider the position of each council individually, weighing up the evidence received. This means that different decisions may be taken for different councils within the same local government reorganisation invitation area that have local elections scheduled, depending on the representations received. As I set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 18 December (HCWS1215), I remain committed to the indicative timetable that was published in July, that sees elections to new councils in May 2027 and those councils going live in April 2028.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2025, to Question HL12631, on Universal Studios: Bedfordshire, who is the designated Planning Minister for the Chinese Embassy called-in planning application decision.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 62966 on 7 July 2025.

Communities and Local Government, further to the written statement of 18 December 2025, HCSWS1215, on Local Government Reorganisation, in cases where an individual council makes a representation to cancel elections, whether (a) only the scheduled elections for that individual council will be cancelled or (b) all the scheduled unitary, district and county elections within that wider local government restructuring area will be cancelled.

The Secretary of State will consider the position of each council individually, weighing up the evidence received. This means that different decisions may be taken for different councils within the same local government reorganisation invitation area that have local elections scheduled, depending on the representations received. As I set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 18 December (HCWS1215), I remain committed to the indicative timetable that was published in July, that sees elections to new councils in May 2027 and those councils going live in April 2028.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 April 2025, to Question 43564, on Waste Disposal: Birmingham, what discussions he and his Ministers have had with Unite on the Birmingham bin strike since his appointment.

Since being appointed in September 2025, the Secretary of State has met with Unite and urged the Trade Union to bring the dispute to a close for the benefit of Birmingham’s residents. The waste dispute remains a local issue and is rightly being dealt with by Birmingham City Council.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the draft Local Government Finance Settlement published on 17 December 2025, whether his department will consider requests for higher council tax referendum thresholds for other councils than the six councils mentioned.

The provisional settlement sets out the eligibility criteria for removing referendum principles for the last two years of the multi-year settlement period. We consider that only six authorities meet the criteria. For the vast majority of councils, the government intends to maintain a core referendum threshold of 3%, and a 2%, adult social care precept over the multi-year Settlement. However, the government is under no illusions about the pressures councils are facing. Following precedent set by the previous government, we will consider requests for additional limited council tax flexibility from councils in extremely difficult financial situations on a case-by-case basis. All local authorities should continue to do all they can to manage their finances and protect vulnerable taxpayers.

Communities and Local Government, further to the introduction of the council tax surcharge, whether he intends to revalue the main council tax system.

The Valuation Office will conduct a targeted valuation exercise to identify properties in scope of the High Value Council Tax Surcharge. Current Council Tax bands will not be revalued and will still apply. The Government will consult on the design of the High Value Council Tax Surcharge. The Government is committed to ensuring the council tax system is fair for taxpayers and local authorities and will continue to keep council tax under review.

Communities and Local Government, on what date were political parties (a) informed and (b) consulted on the 2026 local election pilots.

The government is exploring ways to make voting in person more efficient, more convenient, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s electors. Local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England. We continue to engage with stakeholders on the development of the proposed pilots.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of council tax in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 on the cost of living for (i) working households and (ii) pensioners.

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 working households and pensioners. For the vast majority of councils, the government intends to maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept and is consulting on this 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. The support for pensioner households is centrally prescribed and provides reductions of up to 100%.

Communities and Local Government, if he will list the third parties who have been consulted on the report provided by the Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred working group.

As is standard practice in government policy making, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with relevant stakeholders as we consider the advice presented to government by the working group.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department or Homes England for the Lancaster West Estate refurbishment; and what assessment he has made of the estimated £85 million shortfall in funding identified the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

The government is committed to supporting the community affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy for the long term.In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government agreed to provide c£25m towards the refurbishment of the Lancaster West estate on the assumption that this funding was to be matched by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and that no further funding would be required from Government.My officials have been engaging with RBKC, who lead on the refurbishment of the estate, to fully understand the cause of the shortfall and the Council’s plans for delivery.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter entitled 5/2025: Confirmation of Budget package and the Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers for 2026/2027, of 26 November 2025, whether the calculation of the amount and capping of transitional relief is based on the previous business rates bill which includes the value of the previous Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief in 2025-26.

The 2026 Supporting Small Business Relief Scheme provides support for ratepayers losing certain reliefs including the current 40% relief for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.The Supporting Small Businesses Relief is calculated from a base liability that takes into account the effect of eligible reliefs – Small Business Rate Relief, Rural Rate Relief, 2025/26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief, or 2023 Supporting Small Business Relief. The government published guidance for local authorities on the administration of the scheme on 15 December. This can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 75987 on Local Government: Reorganisation, whether he has a policy on the area that Charter Trustees should cover.

Government policy is to work with local leaders to ensure ceremonial rights are maintained through local government reorganisation.Charter trustees are one of the mechanisms available. Their role is simply to protect ceremonial rights and civic traditions, not to exercise wider powers. They may be established in unparished areas following the abolition of a council to ensure that historic property is maintained for an area where there is no parish or town council to take on those historic charters. Their area is therefore limited to the former chartered area.Further detail on charter trustees and how they work is set out in the Charter Trustee Regulations 2009. We will continue to work with local councils throughout reorganisation to consider if these are an appropriate mechanism for each area at the appropriate time.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025, to Question 90719, on Local Government Finance, further to the figures listed for 2024-25 and 2025-26, which local authorities have had disposal flexibility requests approved since 4 July 2024.

The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts general direction was introduced in 2016 by the previous government and remains substantively unchanged. As in previous years, the government does not approve specific use of the flexibility.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter from the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness to council leaders on the local government publicity code, dated 19 November 2025, whether local authorities may fund public affairs consultants and public relations firms for statutory consultations on unitary local government restructuring.

The Publicity Code provision at paragraph 26 under the heading of the “appropriate use of publicity” principle states local authorities should not incur any expenditure in retaining the services of lobbyists for the purpose of the publication of any material designed to influence public officials, Members of Parliament, political parties or the government to take a particular view on any issue.

Communities and Local Government, further to the Local Authority Housing Fund: Round 4 prospectus and guidance, of 19 November 2025, what is the profile of the spending in each year; and what is the profile of competition of the units.

The £950 million fourth round of Local Authority Housing Fund will primarily support local authorities in England to increase the supply of better-quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of Bed and Breakfasts for families with children.It will also provide safe and suitable housing for those on the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP), to fulfil the UK’s humanitarian duties to assist those who assisted British efforts in Afghanistan and are at risk of homelessness.The fund will run for four years (2026/27 - 2029/30) and it will support delivery of up to 5,000 homes.We have written to councils to inform them of their initial allocation offers. We will agree allocations and delivery profiles ahead of delivery commencing in April 2026.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the consultation response entitled Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England – consultation results and government response, of 11 November 2025, whether the mandatory code of conduct will extend to conduct in a personal capacity.

The mandatory code the government intends to introduce as part of the full reform of the local government standards and conduct framework will ensure that every elected member in England is clear what standard of conduct and behaviour is demanded of them in all aspects of their public office.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has received representations from (a) the Welsh Government and (b) members of the Welsh Senedd over the use of the Internal Market Act 2020 to deliver the Pride in Place programme.

I recently wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government in the Welsh Government to express my commitment to greater collaboration between the UK and Welsh Governments on areas of shared interest.In Wales, we have set out the requirement for Pride in Place Neighbourhood Boards to consider how their plans align with the objectives of the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government, the Well-being of Future Generations Act, the Transforming Towns programme, and the Future Wales: National Plan 2040 planning framework, as well as other relevant strategies. We believe the close collaboration within communities and across government will make these neighbourhood boards stronger and more effective.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025, to Question 87319, and to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58975 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote Working, whether his Department holds data on levels of workforce attendance in each of those offices.

The Department regularly monitors Office Attendance for its employees and is able to assess utilisation of available capacity in its offices.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2025 to Question HL11495 on Housing: Construction, whether the net additional dwellings metric will include communal accommodation.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78186 on 20 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral answer of 24 November 2025, Official Report, on Social and Affordable Housing: South Shields, to the Hon Member for Orpington, what the value of that grant is in each year of this Parliament in real terms expressed in 2024 figures.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60128 on 4 July 2025.