Written questions by McMurdock.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of recent graduates employed in non-graduate roles.

Research suggests the majority of graduates are expected to earn a positive financial return from higher education (HE) over their lifetime.The latest HE Statistics Agency data shows that 71.4% of UK-domiciled graduates from 2022/23 in employment were in high-skilled roles 15 months after graduation. This is down slightly from 2021/22, but consistent with 2019/20.Whilst employment rates for graduates remain higher than for non-graduates, we recognise that those leaving HE face challenges and are taking a number of steps to ensure those leaving HE are ready for work.The Office for Students can take regulatory action against HE providers which don’t meet its minimum requirement that 60% of students should progress into graduate employment or further study.Planned reforms to the Strategic Priorities Grant will ensure high-cost subject funding is better targeted towards priority provision that supports skills needs and the Industrial Strategy.Government plans to expand the availability of occupation-focused higher technical qualifications which aim to provide students with the skills employers need.Government has also issued guidance setting out expectations that HE providers play a pivotal role in Local Skills Improvement Plans, strengthening collaboration with strategic authorities, employers and other skills providers to meet the needs of their local economy.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) not allowing councillors whose terms expire to sit for an extra year in areas where elections are postponed and (b) allowing councils in those areas to operate with two thirds of councillors.

The Secretary of State announced on 22 January 2026 that he intends to bring forward legislation to postpone for one year the elections due in May 2026 to councils including Thurrock Council. That legislation will include any consequential amendments to other Orders that are required in order to implement the Secretary of State’s decision. 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. The Secretary of State intends to follow precedent for all previous postponements of elections in relation to local government reorganisation and to extend the term of office of councillors who would otherwise have retired in May 2026. This ensures that councils continue to operate with the designated number of councillors in total and for each ward.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Councils granted flexibility to finish reorganisation, published on 22 January 2026, whether he has received representations from Thurrock councillors on postponing elections to Thurrock Council.

In reaching his decisions, as set out to Parliament on 22 January, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Thurrock. The Secretary of State did not have meetings with the Leader of Thurrock Council on 2026 local elections, prior to the announcement of 22 January.

Communities and Local Government, whether he received representations from people in the unitary authority of Thurrock council before announcing the postponement of elections in Thurrock.

In reaching his decisions, as set out to Parliament on 22 January, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Thurrock. The Secretary of State did not have meetings with the Leader of Thurrock Council on 2026 local elections, prior to the announcement of 22 January.

With reference to his Department's research entitled Alcohol monitoring on licence: process and interim impact evaluation, published 30 October 2025, whether he plans to repeat research on the impact of the Alcohol and Monitoring on Licence scheme with larger sample group sizes.

Alcohol monitoring on licence was introduced in Wales in 2021 and England in 2022 and enables probation to include an additional licence condition banning or restricting the consumption of alcohol, where a criminogenic need related to alcohol misuse is identified as an increase to risk. The alcohol monitoring on licence: process and interim impact evaluation was published on 30 October 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-monitoring-on-licence-process-and-interim-impact-evaluation. A further impact evaluation exploring reoffending will be published in due course which will measure longer-term outcomes than the existing published evaluation. The sample size is not confirmed but we expect it to be broadly similar.The process and interim impact evaluation of Alcohol Monitoring on Licence scheme was based on a sample of the overall tagged population. The process evaluation reported some instances where tag wearers experienced pain or discomfort and had the tag changed or removed. These issues did not indicate widespread concerns about the reliability of alcohol tag readings.

Pursuant to the Valuation Office Agency's news story entitled Business rates revaluation 2026, updated on 22 January 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to business rates on the financial viability of small businesses in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, the Government has introduced a generous support package worth £4.3 billion over the next 3 years, including support to help ratepayers to transition to their new bill. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.The Government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow. At Budget, the Government announced the extension of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Councils granted flexibility to finish reorganisation, published on 22 January 2026, whether he has received and representations from Basildon Borough Council councillors on postponing elections.

As set out to Parliament on 22 January, in reaching his decisions the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Basildon. The Secretary of State did not meet with the Leader of Basildon Council on the topic of 2026 local elections prior to the announcement of 22 January.

If he make an assessment of the potential merits of installing a bridge over the level crossing in East Tilbury.

Network Rail are engaging with London Gateway and other stakeholders on the merits of level crossing interventions in the East Tilbury area and are keeping my officials updated.

Communities and Local Government, whether he had discussions with the Leader of Thurrock Council before announcing the delay to the 2026 local elections in Thurrock.

In reaching his decisions, as set out to Parliament on 22 January, the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Thurrock. The Secretary of State did not have meetings with the Leader of Thurrock Council on 2026 local elections, prior to the announcement of 22 January.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend the scheme of elections updated by the Thurrock (Electoral Changes) Orders of 2024 and 2025 so that the 2025 and 2026 delayed elections taking place in 2027 will be for the whole of the council.

The Secretary of State announced on 22 January 2026 that he intends to bring forward legislation to postpone for one year the elections due in May 2026 to councils including Thurrock Council. That legislation will include any consequential amendments to other Orders that are required in order to implement the Secretary of State’s decision. 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. The Secretary of State intends to follow precedent for all previous postponements of elections in relation to local government reorganisation and to extend the term of office of councillors who would otherwise have retired in May 2026. This ensures that councils continue to operate with the designated number of councillors in total and for each ward.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Councils granted flexibility to finish reorganisation, published on 22 January 2026, whether he has received representations from residents of Basildon borough on postponing elections for Basildon Borough Council.

As set out to Parliament on 22 January, in reaching his decisions the Secretary of State carefully considered all the representations made, including those relating to elections in Basildon. The Secretary of State did not meet with the Leader of Basildon Council on the topic of 2026 local elections prior to the announcement of 22 January.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delaying elections on the timing of his decision on the composition of the new councils in Essex.

In reaching his decisions on 2026 elections, as set out to the House on 22 January 2026, the Secretary of State adopted a locally led approach and carefully considered all the representations made. The consultation on the final proposals for Essex, Southend‑on‑Sea and Thurrock closed on 11 January. We will now assess the proposals against the criteria in the invitation and decide, subject to parliamentary approval, which, if any, proposals are to be implemented, with or without modification. The postponement of some May 2026 elections does not affect the timing of these decisions, and the indicative timetable for local government reorganisation remains unchanged.

What plans she has to introduce interventions to help reduce graduate underemployment.

Research suggests the majority of graduates are expected to earn a positive financial return from higher education (HE) over their lifetime.The latest HE Statistics Agency data shows that 71.4% of UK-domiciled graduates from 2022/23 in employment were in high-skilled roles 15 months after graduation. This is down slightly from 2021/22, but consistent with 2019/20.Whilst employment rates for graduates remain higher than for non-graduates, we recognise that those leaving HE face challenges and are taking a number of steps to ensure those leaving HE are ready for work.The Office for Students can take regulatory action against HE providers which don’t meet its minimum requirement that 60% of students should progress into graduate employment or further study.Planned reforms to the Strategic Priorities Grant will ensure high-cost subject funding is better targeted towards priority provision that supports skills needs and the Industrial Strategy.Government plans to expand the availability of occupation-focused higher technical qualifications which aim to provide students with the skills employers need.Government has also issued guidance setting out expectations that HE providers play a pivotal role in Local Skills Improvement Plans, strengthening collaboration with strategic authorities, employers and other skills providers to meet the needs of their local economy.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of postponing the 2026 local elections on Thurrock council's ability to tackle its financial issues.

On 22 January 2026, the Secretary of State announced his intention to bring forward legislation to postpone for one year the May 2026 elections. This legislation will apply to 30 councils, including Thurrock. Separately, the Government accepts that Thurrock Council holds significant and exceptional unsupported debt, related to capital practices, that cannot be managed locally in their entirety. The government has committed to providing debt repayment support. Thurrock Council remains in intervention and continues to improve and deliver its recovery agenda.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of postponing the 2026 local elections on the progress of Thurrock council's local plan.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government followed a locally-led process and based his decisions on a careful consideration of the representations made from councils with elections scheduled in May and from other councils, interested organisations, Members of Parliament, and members of the public. The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of postponing the 2026 local elections on the progress of Basildon council's local plan.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government followed a locally-led process and based his decisions on a careful consideration of the representations made from councils with elections scheduled in May and from other councils, interested organisations, Members of Parliament, and members of the public. The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his letter to council leaders whose elections he is seeking to postpone published on 22 January 2026, if he will make it his policy to utilise the affirmative procedure to postpone local elections through a statutory instrument.

The Secretary of State’s decisions were explained in his Statements to the House on 22 January and the letter he sent to council leaders, which was also copied to the Honourable Member, and is publicly available. The Department will now prepare the necessary Order, which will be laid in both Houses when Parliamentary time allows. The Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the statutory instrument is required to set out the policy context including what is being done by the instrument and why.It is not within the Secretary of State’s gift to change the process for Parliamentary scrutiny of a statutory instrument as this is prescribed in primary legislation, in this case by section 105(5) of the Local Government Act 2000.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of Thurrock Council's request to postpone the 2026 local elections following the cancellation of the 2025 local elections.

As per the Secretary of State’s statement on 22 January, the necessary legislation will be laid shortly to postpone a minority of local elections in 2026, including Thurrock Council.The Department has had a range of discussions with councils across the country in recent weeks about local government reorganisation and elections, including with Basildon Council and Essex County Council.In relation to local elections in 2027, we anticipate that in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock these will be for any new unitary authorities that are announced following the recent statutory consultation. Once a decision is taken on which final proposal for unitary local government, if any, is to be implemented, we will bring forward a Structural Changes Order as soon as possible to give councils certainty. Officials in my Department, alongside the Electoral Commission and other sector bodies, support Returning Officers with some aspects of election preparation to ensure they are progressing effectively.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the risk to voters from the holding and postponement of elections in the same area.

There are approximately 650 councillors whose terms will be extended as a result of local election postponements. This does not take into account any by-elections. The exact length of the term of the office will vary, including depending on the election cycle in each local authority and whether elections in 2025 were postponed. In areas with two-tier local government, there is money wasted on duplication and it is confusing about who does what and who is responsible. Through local government reorganisation, we will remove the patchwork of local elections and voters will be able to cast their ballot in a single set of local elections where one council is responsible for all local services.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the trends of the levels of superfast broadband in (a) Orsett, (b) Bulphan, (c) Horndon-on-the-Hill and (d) South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations reporting, as of July 2025 superfast coverage for Thurrock Local Authority was reported as 99% up from 97% in September 2023, and for South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency 99% up from 98%.Network coverage data published by Ofcom does not include separate datasets for the villages of Orsett, Bulphan and Horndon-on the-Hill.Superfast coverage in both Thurrock Local Authority and South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency now exceeds the national average of 98%, demonstrating excellent superfast coverage levels and positive progress in maximising the availability of these speeds in the area.