Written questions by Frith.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential differential impact of the local government finance system on local authorities.

On 20 November the government published the Local Government Finance Policy Statement which sets out our plans for the 2026-27 to 2028-28 multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement. These plans represent a fairer system for all authorities which recognises the variation in demand and the cost of providing services in different places and the vast majority of social care authorities will receive a real terms increase.The government wants to move decisively to a reformed system, but we have heard clearly that we need to implement funding reform in 2026-27 with transitional arrangements to allow time to adjust. We will therefore phase in allocations over the multi-year Settlement and protect the income of authorities which would see losses from funding reform. We will use a range of funding floor levels appropriate to specific groups of authorities’ circumstances. Further details can be found here: Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK .These changes will not fix the challenges facing local government overnight. Tough decisions are required on all sides, but these proposals are a fundamental step to improving the sustainability of local government in the years to come and will allow councils to focus on service delivery and transformation.We will publish provisional local authority allocations at the upcoming provisional multi-year Settlement in December. Proposals and allocations will be subject to consultation and the usual Parliamentary process.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she had made of the potential impact of the planning process for building film studios on economic growth.

The government is committed to supporting the growth of the creative industries, including film production. As part of its forthcoming industrial strategy, the government will publish a creative industries sector plan which will include actions to support the film and TV sector. While capacity and need would be material planning considerations in assessing any specific application, and each case is assessed on its own merits, the government is supportive of the development of appropriate new studio space. We have not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of the planning process for building film studios on economic growth.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support the conversion of (a) vacant and (b) underused mills into (i) housing and (ii) commercial space in (A) Bury North constituency and (B) the North of England.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other uses and promoting an effective and efficient use of land. This includes supporting opportunities to remediate derelict land and the development of under-utilised land and buildings, especially to meet housing needs. In relation to commercial space, a permitted development right enables change of use of Class B2 General Industrial buildings to Class B8 Storage and Distribution, subject to size limit of 500 square metres of floorspace changing use. Mills are likely to fall into the Class B2 use class. Homes England and its local authority partners are working with mill owners across Greater Manchester to bring redundant mills back into life as housing. This includes the Eckersley Mill complex in Wigan, which is the subject of joint working between the Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Homes England to bring forward a range of uses, including 800 homes. The first phase is commercial and has been part funded by Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Brownfield Housing Fund.Although the site is not within the Bury North constituency, Homes England also acted jointly with Bury Council to dispose of East Lancs Paper Mill site for the development of around 400 new homes.