Written questions by Riddell-Carpenter.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make membership of a New Homes Ombudsman mandatory for housing developers.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 102928 on 13 January 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the role of pubs as community hubs in rural areas.

The Government recognises the vital role of pubs in rural areas, supporting local economies, providing spaces for people to come together, and offering essential services for local people. Through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, we will introduce a new community right to buy to empower local people to bring valued assets such as pubs into community ownership and protect them for the benefit of the wider community. Our £5.8 billion Pride in Place programme will support investment in valued local assets. The selection methodology for the programme targets need across all communities, including rural areas.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure landlord and property rules to hold directors owners accountable.

Building owners are responsible for managing and addressing fire and structural safety risks in their buildings. They are required to apply for a Building Assessment Certificate (BAC), which includes an assessment by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) of whether they understand and are managing their building safety risks to an acceptable standard.Where a BAC is rejected by the BSR, the building owner will be notified by the Regulator of the issues they need to fix, and the deadline they must fix them by. The BSR can also take further enforcement action for non-compliance. The building owner is often the principal accountable person. Where the principal accountable person is not meeting their duties, residents should raise a complaint to them directly. If the resident is not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint, they can contact the Building Safety Regulator.One of the significant challenges local regulators (local authorities and fire and rescue authorities) can face in relation to building safety, is identifying who is practically responsible for each building. While determining the legal owner is usually straightforward, the identity of the parent company, which makes decisions and benefits financially, is often hidden behind layers of corporate ownership. This obfuscation makes it difficult to pinpoint where the real decision-making power lies.To address this issue, the government is proposing legislation that will provide regulators with the powers to compel the disclosure of full ownership structures. This measure aims to enhance transparency and ensure that enforcement bodies can hold the appropriate parties accountable. This legislation will be brought forward in the Remediation Bill, when parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing councils to take more rapid action to shut down shops repeatedly found to be trading illegally.

The government is committed to taking further action against illicit activity on high streets. There has already been a significant crackdown on illegal working, raising enforcement activity to the highest levels in recorded history. The 2025 Budget provided £15 million per year for a range of additional interventions, including an uplift in funding for Trading Standards and a cross-government taskforce to better understand and disrupt criminality on our high streets. Alongside this, our Pride in Place Programme will give local communities greater control to influence the make-up of their high streets, and support communities to take ownership of shops and key assets. These measures build on existing powers to ensure that high streets remain safe, vibrant, and welcoming for consumers and legitimate businesses.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to bring forward legislative changes to strengthen local enforcement powers before the introduction of unitary local government arrangements.

Local authorities currently exercise a range of enforcement powers across different functions, reflecting the services they deliver. The Government has no plans to amend these powers in connection with local government reorganisation. Where councils are reorganised, continuity regulations made under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 ensure that all existing powers transfer to new unitary authorities.

Communities and Local Government, how many large panel system buildings have been registered with the building safety regulator.

As of 30 November 2025, the Building Safety Regulator is aware of 738 registered structures containing large panel systems.

Communities and Local Government, how many building assessment certificate applications have been (a) made to the building safety regulator, (b) approved, (c) refused, and (d) yet to be determined.

As of 1st December 2025, the average cost of a determination for a Building Assessment Certificate was £23,084. There has been a total of 1838 Building Assessment Certificate applications to the Building Safety Regulator since it was established. Of which, (b) 166 have been approved, (c) 448 have been refused, (d) and 1224 applications have yet to be determined. The Building Safety Regulator is continuing to work to enhance the level of appropriate BAC information and guidance that is available for applicants.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of building assessment certificate application refusals on the lending, mortgage and insurance markets.

From 16 January 2024, the Building Safety Act introduced a requirement for Principal Accountable Persons to assess and manage the safety risks relating to the buildings for which they are responsible. Building safety risks are defined in the Act as being spread of fire and structural failure.A Building Assessment Certificate (BAC) is issued by the Building Safety Regulator when it is assessed that these and other relevant legal duties are being met. A BAC application may be refused for a variety of reasons, for example where the safety case report or the residents’ engagement strategy are insufficient or incomplete. It is important to note therefore that a decision to refuse the application for a BAC does not necessarily mean that the building is unsafe.Lenders and insurers have their own, well-established, mechanisms for assessing a building’s condition, on which they base their commercial decisions.We engage regularly with the lending and insurance industries, who have not raised BAC application refusals as a concern, but we encourage industry and individuals to bring any concerns to the attention of the Department.

Communities and Local Government, what is the average cost incurred by accountable persons for time spent by the building safety regulator to determine and issue a decision on a building assessment certificate application.

As of 1st December 2025, the average cost of a determination for a Building Assessment Certificate was £23,084. There has been a total of 1838 Building Assessment Certificate applications to the Building Safety Regulator since it was established. Of which, (b) 166 have been approved, (c) 448 have been refused, (d) and 1224 applications have yet to be determined. The Building Safety Regulator is continuing to work to enhance the level of appropriate BAC information and guidance that is available for applicants.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of regulations relating to private parking enforcement companies.

The government is aware of concerns about poor practice from a number of parking operators and is determined to raise standards. In accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the government is preparing a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. The government has recently consulted on its proposals for a new code of practice for private parking operators to follow. The consultation closed on 26 September, and the government will respond in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the role of (a) parish and (b) town councils in the context of Local Government reorganisation; what assessment he has made of the potential merits in maintaining their statutory role in representing local communities on planning applications; and what steps he is taking to ensure parish councils remain integral to local democratic accountability.

Town and parish councils are not in scope for local government reorganisation and will continue to operate as they do now. Councils may wish to collaborate with their town and parish councils to determine how they can most effectively contribute to the delivery of services in future arrangements. In doing so, they may wish to consider the support town and parish councils will require to do so effectively.We recognise the important role that parish and town councils play in the planning process. Planning law allows parish councils and neighbourhood fora to require local planning authorities to consult them on any relevant planning applications in their area, and notify them of the decision. This will not change in the context of LGR. The government continues to value the role of town and parish councils in driving forward the priorities of their communities and delivering effective local services.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to require local planning authorities to consider the financial viability and track record of developers as part of the planning process.

On 25 May, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out (which can be found on gov.uk here) which included proposals to implement a new power for authorities to decline to determine planning applications made by developers who fail to build out at a reasonable rate. The consultation closed on 7 July and we are currently considering all feedback received.It would not be appropriate for local planning authorities to be required to assess the financial viability of a developer when determining a planning application. This is not a planning matter and would place undue burden on both applicant and local planning authority.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities are correctly implementing the council tax premium on second homes.

The second homes council tax premiums is not a mandatory requirement, and it is for individual councils to decide whether to make use of a premium. However, where councils apply a premium, they are required to implement this in line with the relevant regulations. Furthermore, the government has published guidance for councils on the implementation of premiums and exceptions. Councils must have due regard for this guidance when considering application of the premium. Where a household believes their council has incorrectly applied the premium, they may be able to appeal this to the Valuation Tribunal in certain circumstances.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to protect nature in the design of new build housing developments.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear about the importance of conserving and enhancing the natural environment. Planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by minimising impacts on and providing net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures and incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats, and hedgehogs.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to extend the boundary of Freeport East.

The boundaries of Freeport tax sites are defined in law. They were agreed, after careful deliberation, by the Government and local Freeport partners, including the relevant local authorities. The Government currently has no plans to amend the boundaries of Freeport tax sites.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to University of Central Lancashire's report entitled Minimising firefighters’ exposure to toxic fire effluents, published in November 2020, what steps she is taking to protect firefighters.

The University of Central Lancashire’s report was helpful in highlighting this particular issue. This must be considered alongside other relevant academic research and study in this area.We are continuing to review the evidence around risks to firefighters posed by contaminants and will determine a policy position.Responsibility for firefighters’ health and safety sits with fire and rescue authorities, This responsibility includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents that they attend.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the time spent by the Building Safety Regulator to (a) determine and (b) issue a decision on an application for a building assessment certificate on costs for accountable persons.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (“the Act”) requires the Principal Accountable Person to apply for a Building Assessment Certificate when directed to do so by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Under the Act, accountable persons may pass on costs they incur in meeting their building safety obligations to leaseholders via the service charge. The government recognises that there will be costs associated with implementing building safety requirements and considers these to be vital to ensuring fire and structural risks in higher-risk buildings are properly managed to ensure residents are and feel safe in their homes. The assumptions for the Building Assessment Certificate process do not distinguish between "Determine" and "Issue". The Regulator operates independently of MHCLG and the BSR have advised that their initial estimates range from £7,488 to £20,736 per assessment depending on the complexity and quality of the submission. The BSR have stated that they consider it too early to assess how many buildings will fall into each category or whether they will need to update these assumptions over time.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review provisions within the Building Safety Act 2022 on removing the leasehold protection provisions for shared ownership leaseholders who staircase to 100% ownership and lose the statutory protections provided in their original lease.

The Building Safety Act ensures that those who built defective buildings take responsibility for remedying them, that the industry contributes to fixing the problem, and that leaseholders are protected in law from crippling bills for historical safety defects. These leaseholder protections came into force on 28 June 2022, with new financial protections for leaseholders in relevant buildings with relevant historical safety defects. Schedule 8, paragraph 6(5) of the Building Safety Act provides that any contributions required towards remediation costs are capped according to the share of the lease the leaseholder owned at the time the lease became qualified for the protections. This position does not change should a shared owner later increase their share by staircasing, including up to 100%. Further information on this can be found in the explanatory notes on the legislation, starting with note 1731: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30/notes/division/18/index.htm.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the average time taken to receive building control decisions on applications to carry out works on higher risk buildings on the costs of those works.

Our priority with the new regime is to ensure buildings are safe and decent. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has 12 weeks to determine a building control approval application for new higher-risk buildings and 8 weeks to determine the applications for building work to existing higher-risk buildings. This is longer than had previously been the case. It is expected that dutyholders will consider and plan for any additional costs and adjust their programme of works to ensure that building work is carried out in a cost effective and efficient manner. However, we recognise there are delays in processing building control approval applications for higher-risk building work and that these may have associated costs for developers. We are currently working to address delays within the higher-risk regime through a range of measures. The sector must also play its part in ensuring building control applications are of a good quality, extensive guidance is available on gov.uk. As the higher-risk regime was introduced in October 2023, it is too soon to provide an impact assessment for the time it takes to get building control approval from the BSR. Under the Building Safety Act, the Secretary of State must appoint an independent person to review the effectiveness of the BSR and the higher-risk regime by 28 April 2027, which may include the cost impacts of the higher-risk regime on developers.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to review authorised competent person schemes providers.

The Building Safety Regulator is responsible for oversight of the competent person schemes and has committed in its Strategic Plan 2023-2026 to carry out a review of the conditions of authorisation, which must be met by all competent person schemes to ensure they are fit for purpose. In addition, the department is always looking to improve public and building safety and intends to review the operation of competent person schemes to identify whether improvements can be made, working with the Building Safety Regulator. This will include reviewing the types of work that can be carried out under the competent person schemes. We will consider whether and how this review might touch on third party certification schemes.