Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, how much total government grant will (1) Wandsworth Borough Council and (2) Westminster City Council receive in (a) 2024-25, (b) 2025-26 and (c) 2026-27.

The provisional Settlement 2026–27 will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power (CSP) for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025–26. CSP allocations for individual local authorities through the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-27 can be found here. CSP allocations for individual local authorities for the Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25 and 2025-26 can be found here and here respectively.

How many hereditaments in London were (a) valued over £75,000 on the 2023 Rating List and (b) valued over £85,000 on the 2026 Rating List, according to information held by the Valuation Office Agency.

Information relating to your request can be found here.

How many value estimates will be produced by the Valuation Office Agency for the council tax surcharge valuations.

Fewer than 1% of properties are expected to be above the £2 million threshold. The Valuation Office Agency is developing its approach and will set out more information alongside the government’s consultation.

If she will place in the Library a copy of the Equality Impact Assessment produced by the Valuation Office Agency for the 2026 business rates revaluation.

We do not routinely release equality assessments.

Pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2025, to Question 95399, on Council tax: valuation, what was the evidential basis and sources used to estimate the 1% figure.

The sources used to calculate the number of properties impacted are set out in the published costings document: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

Communities and Local Government, further to the press release, Councils offered flexibility to complete reorganisation, of 18 December 2025, whether district council Returning Officers would still be obliged to organise county council elections in May 2026 in their district area, if a scheduled district council election was cancelled but not the county council election.

Yes.

Communities and Local Government, how many hereditaments claimed Retail Hospitality and Leisure rate relief in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26, excluding those at the £110,000 cash cap.

The number of hereditaments receiving the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief as at 31 December 2024 can be found in Table 4 here. This is based on a snapshot taken by local authorities on or as close to the 31 December 2024. It is not possible from the data collected to exclude properties at the cash cap. The snapshot as at 31 December 2025 is currently being collected and will be published by the end of March.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 88734 on Asylum Housing, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Planning Inspectorate has issued guidance on this matter.

Neither my Department nor the Planning Inspectorate has issued any guidance to local authorities on when and how often they can issue stop notices in relation to housing asylum seekers.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2026, to Question 102762, on Countering Foreign Financial Influence and Interference in UK politics independent review, how many civil servants are assigned to support the review; and whether the review will be undertaking any formal call for evidence.

A team of five civil servants has been assigned to support the review. The review will not be undertaking a formal call for evidence, but individuals and organisations are able to submit evidence via the public mailbox - reviewteam@rycroftreview.independent.gov.uk.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to Local authority capital expenditure and receipts in England: 2024 to 2025 final outturn, Published 6 November 2025, what proportion of the £3.0 billion of total capital receipts in 2024-25 was subject to the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts direction that allows such receipts to spent on revenue expenditure.

The Flexible Use of Capital Receipts general direction was introduced in 2016 by the previous government and remains substantively unchanged. The total value of capital receipts received by local authorities in 2024-25 was £4.3 billion, as reported on gov.uk here. 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.

Whether HM Treasury collates data on central government spending on translation and interpretation into foreign languages for those residing in the United Kingdom.

Government spending on translation and interpretation services for British residents exists across many departments. Spending on such services typically falls below the HM Treasury approval and disclosure threshold, as defined by a department’s Delegated Authority Limit. HM Treasury therefore does not collect or receive data at the requested level of granularity.

Communities and Local Government, how much Luton Borough Council received in retained business rates in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26, and what are the projected figures for each of the next three years under the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27.

Luton Borough Council reported their retained business rates for 2024-25 to the department here in the document ‘Revenue outturn summary (RS) 2024 to 2025’, in the ‘LA Dropdown’ tab line 870. For 2025-26, their estimated retained business rates is here in the document ‘Revenue Account Budget (RA) data 2025-26 (part 1)’, in the ’LA Dropdown 25-26’ tab in line 970.At the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29 the department published local authorities’ baseline funding levels. The baseline funding level does not represent the total amount of business rates an authority will retain in a year but amount of an individual local authority’s Fair Funding Assessment provided through the local share of retained business rates income. The values for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29 are published here, in column L of the relevant years’ tabs.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2025 to Question 95327 on Councillors, whether the £120 million includes the cost of mayoral offices where mayors take on the role of Police and Crime Commissioners.

The £120 million cost estimating the savings through a potential reduction in the number of councillors does not include the costs of mayoral officers where mayors take on the role of Police and Crime Commissioners as this was not considered a linked cost of local government reorganisation. The £130 million cost estimate from the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners does include the costs of both Mayors and newly created Policing and Crime Boards taking on the functions.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 90719 on Local Government Finance, which local authorities have notified his Department of disposal flexibility transactions since 4 July 2024.

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 90719 answered on 24 November 2025. Government does not publish details of the plans submitted by local authorities, but authorities should, in accordance with the guidance that accompanies the direction, make their strategies publicly available, and use of the flexibility should be reported in the annual statement of accounts.

What the Valuation Office Agency’s budget is for developing the Automated Valuation Model for council tax in England.

The VOA is not developing an automated valuation model for council tax in England.

What Rateable Value thresholds, (i) inside and (ii) outside London, apply to (a) transitional relief and (b) supporting small business relief, from 2026-27, based on each small, medium and large bucket, in each of the next three years.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including grassroots music venues, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit. The support package includes a redesigned transitional relief scheme which caps bill increases. The Transitional Relief caps will be as follows for properties with a rateable value of: - Up to £20,000 (£28,000 in London): in 2026-27 – 5%, in 2027-28 – 10% (plus inflation), in 2028-29 – 25% (plus inflation).- £20,001 (£28,001 in London) to £100,000: in 2026-27 – 15%, in 2027-28 – 25% (plus inflation), in 2028-29 – 40% (plus inflation).- Over £100,000: in 2026-27 – 30%, in 2027-28 – 25% (plus inflation), in 2028-29 – 25% (plus inflation). The Government is also proceeding with a supporting small business scheme (SSB) capping bill increases for the smallest businesses losing some or all of their small business rates relief or rural rate relief. For any business whose value has increased so that they are no longer eligible for small business rates relief – which provides up to 100% relief from business rates for small businesses – we are capping their increase at the higher of £800 or the relevant Transitional Relief percentage cap for a property of their value, before changes in other reliefs and local supplements. SSB eligibility and thresholds can be found at: Business rates relief: Small business rate relief - GOV.UK. Transitional Relief eligibility and thresholds can be found at: Business rates relief: Transitional relief - GOV.UK

With reference to the oral answer of 26 November 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, Column 1331, on West Midlands Police: Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans, if she will publish the review.

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary’s inspection report on West Midlands Police’s match assessment for the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match has been published on GOV.UK.The report has also been deposited in both House libraries and shared with the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026 to Question 99491 on Local Government: Public Relations, whether his Department monitors local authority adherence to the Publicity Code provisions on hiring lobbyists to influence the local government restructuring process.

My letter of 19 November reminded councils in reorganisation areas that they must have regard to the Code when producing publicity relating to local government reorganisation. Concerns about specific cases should be raised with the relevant council’s Monitoring Officer.

Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will be able to set planning fees to (a) make a profit for their general fund and (b) reduce the subsidy of planning services from the general fund.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act provides the Secretary of State with the power to delegate the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities. Fees are to be set on a cost-recovery basis and cannot be used to generate a profit for an authority’s general fund. Income from planning fees must be used to deliver an authority’s statutory planning decision-making functions and cannot be used to cross-subsidise other planning services, which should continue to be funded from the general fund. The process for local fee setting will be set out in regulations this year. We will shortly also be consulting on a national default fee, which will be the baseline from which local planning authorities can vary and set their own fees.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025, to Question 88641, on Stop Notices, and to the answer of 20 November 2025, to Question 89449, on Planning: Enforcement, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending guidance to facilitate the use of Temporary Stop Notices by local authorities against unauthorised traveller sites.

My Department has no current plans to amend the guidance on temporary stop notices. The criteria for issuing a temporary stop notice, namely that the local planning authority thinks there has been a breach of planning control and that it is expedient for it to be stopped immediately, are set out in legislation. The changes made to the National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024 do not affect this. We have not made an assessment of the effectiveness of temporary stop notices in preventing unauthorised development by travellers.