Written questions by Cleverly.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2025 to Question 76143, on Planning Permission: Multiple Occupation, what guidance his Department provides on whether local authorities are permitted to use an Article 4 Direction to remove permitted development rights for Houses in Multiple Occupation that are specifically occupied by asylum seekers.

We have not issued any such guidance.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77538 on East End Homes: Finance, what recent assessment the Regulator has made of the financial viability of East End Homes.

The independent Regulator of Social Housing last issued East End Homes Limited with a regulatory judgement on 25 May 2023. It can be found ongov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, which Minister in his Department is the designated Planning Minister for the called-in Chinese Embassy planning application.

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

When she plans to respond to the letter from the Rt hon. Member for Braintree of 8 September 2025 on Wethersfield.

I apologise to my Rt Hon friend for the delay. He will receive a response by 28 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with local authorities on running election pilots in the May 2026 local elections.

The Government committed in its manifesto to encourage greater participation in democracy. To support this, 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 submit applications to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England, and these are being considered for approval.

Media and Sport, what her planned timeline is for the introduction of a mandatory short term let registration scheme.

Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. A pilot will launch later this year with the scheme launching in 2026.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2025 to Question 43483 on Local Government: Local Press, if he will make it his policy to maintain the requirement to place statutory notices in hard copy local newspapers.

Government recognises that local press in print and online continues to play a valuable role in informing local communities, and that statutory notices can be important in helping inform the public of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2025 to Question 69634 on Swifts: Bricks, if she will make it her policy to amend the Statutory Biodiversity Net Gain metric to allow the installation of swift bricks in new housing to count towards biodiversity net gain.

Swift bricks cannot be counted towards Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units, which must be calculated using the statutory biodiversity metric or its small sites version. The metric does not account for species-specific features, which are typically installed to mitigate the loss of features in the built environment.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage national pride among (a) individual people and (b) public sector organisations in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) England.

On 25 September, this Government published its Pride in Place Strategy, setting out a vision to restore national pride by empowering communities and revitalising local areas. It recognises that pride stems from what people see from their doorstep - safe streets, thriving high streets, and trusted public services.The strategy is a significant step change in how we support communities, a new way for government to work in partnership with people and neighbourhoods, empowering them with the tools and levers to drive meaningful change that reflects their priorities. Our flagship Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £20 million of flexible funding and support over 10-years to 244 neighbourhoods to unlock the potential of the place they call home.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2024, to Question 5687, on Housing: Construction, whether his Department's target to build 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament will be based on the number of housing (a) starts and (b) completions.

As we have repeatedly made clear, progress toward the government’s Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament will be measured through the number of net additional dwellings.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the planned increases in landfill tax for inert and inactive waste on the cost of the construction of new build homes.

The Government recently consulted on proposals for reform of Landfill Tax to ensure the regime remains effective in encouraging waste to be diverted away from landfill and to support our environmental goals. As part of the consultation, the Government has received a wide range of views from stakeholders, including representatives from the construction sector. The consultation closed on 28 July, and the government is considering responses and will set out next steps, including a summary of responses, in due course. This government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over 5 years as set out in the Plan for Change, and any final proposals will be designed to maintain the environmental effectiveness of the tax while supporting these plans.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of its proposal to remove the dual registration rule from the Elections Act 2022 on the growth of super-PAC style campaigns in the UK.

The prohibition on dual registration has affected organisations which operated under longstanding formal electoral agreements and stood joint candidates with other parties. These restrictions meant legitimate smaller parties were excluded from participating fully, effectively barring these parties from our democracy.We plan to correct this issue in limited circumstances while ensuring we protect the level playing-field for political campaigning. Our changes will not facilitate super-PAC campaigns.These measures support the broader democratic objective of enabling a diverse range of campaigners to participate in political debate. It is vital that voters are able to hear a variety of voices and perspectives, and third-party campaigners play a critical role in fostering healthy democratic engagement.

When he plans to reply to the correspondence from the Rt hon. Member for Braintree of 27 August 2025.

I have received the hon. Member’s letter and I have responded.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press notice entitled Government launches working group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia definition, published on 28 February 2025, whether he plans to produce guidance to public bodies on the definition of Islamophobia after the working group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia has delivered against its aims.

The Working Group have now submitted their independent advice to Ministers who will take the time to review and consider the advice carefully before confirming next steps in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the dashboard accompanying the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority Annual Report 2024-25, published on 11 August 2025, for what reason his Department's project entitled Digital Planning Programme was not included on the Government Evaluation Registry.

The Digital Planning Programme is included in the Government Evaluation Registry.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 62599 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Official Engagements, if he will publish his Department's Freedom of Information response with the reference FOI2025/22450 of 3 September 2025.

It is not MHCLG policy to routinely publish FOI responses. The Information Tribunal views disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a release into the public domain.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 August 2025 to Question 69060 on Flats: Standards, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of allowing for different space standards for flats for occupation by single adult households on housing (a) stock and (b) affordability.

The nationally described space standard in question is not mandatory, and it is at the discretion of local planning authorities to adopt those standards in their area where they believe there is a justified need to do so.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons preventing local authorities from adopting (a) roads and (b) communal areas in new build developments.

Local planning authorities already have powers to issue a completion notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which requires a developer to complete their development if it is left uncompleted. If they fail to do so, the planning permission for the development will no longer be valid.As part of their responsibilities local authorities should consider how to mitigate risks around infrastructure delivery, including looking at the timing of infrastructure completion on site and considering whether it is appropriate to require developers to set aside bonds which can be used to complete infrastructure should the developer be unable to do so.The government is determined to end the injustice of 'fleecehold' and we have committed to consult this year on options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders. I refer the hon. Member to my Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS2440) I made on 21 November last year for further details.

Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the representations made to the Special Development Order planning inquiry for the Entertainment Resort Complex in Bedford.

On 3 July 2025, my Department published a document titled ‘Request for planning permission: Entertainment Resort Complex, Bedford: Environmental Impact Assessment Handling, Publicity and Consultation Arrangements’. I refer the Rt Hon. Member to this document which sets out how the Department intends to conduct publication, notification and consultation in considering a request for planning permission for an Entertainment Resort Complex and associated development in Bedford. It includes how the public will be informed of the final decision.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had meetings with Henham Strategy since 4 July 2024.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings are published on gov.uk on a quarterly basis. No meetings with Henham Strategy have taken place since 4 July 2024.