Written questions by McMahon.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues to ensure families with children placed in hotels have adequate access to cooking facilities, nutritional meals and safe communal spaces.

Chapter 17 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance includes information on the suitability of accommodation and makes clear that accommodation which may lack or require sharing of important amenities, such as cooking facilities, should be avoided wherever possible and is not suitable for families with children. You can access the Code of Guidance on gov.uk here. Such accommodation, including hotels and often referred to as B&B accommodation, should only be used in very short-term emergencies. That is why this government has set a target to end the unlawful use of B&B accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament. We are working with councils with some of the highest levels of B&B use for temporary accommodation through our £10.5 million Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots to test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives to provide more suitable accommodation for homeless families. This includes £360,000 for Oldham over 2024-26.

Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to Oldham Council to reduce reliance on hotel-based temporary accommodation.

Chapter 17 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance includes information on the suitability of accommodation and makes clear that accommodation which may lack or require sharing of important amenities, such as cooking facilities, should be avoided wherever possible and is not suitable for families with children. You can access the Code of Guidance on gov.uk here. Such accommodation, including hotels and often referred to as B&B accommodation, should only be used in very short-term emergencies. That is why this government has set a target to end the unlawful use of B&B accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament. We are working with councils with some of the highest levels of B&B use for temporary accommodation through our £10.5 million Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots to test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives to provide more suitable accommodation for homeless families. This includes £360,000 for Oldham over 2024-26.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential safeguarding risk of unknown adults from the general public being on premises such as B&Bs and hotels along with families with children living in temporary accommodation.

The Government is clear that B&B accommodation is never suitable for families with children and their use in emergencies should be rare and short. Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets a target to end the use of B&B accommodation for families with children by the end of this parliament.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of levels of homelessness relative to (a) levels of affordability of rented accommodation and (b) rates of local housing allowance.

A lack of affordable housing is a key driver of homelessness. This Government plan to deliver a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing, including with £39 billion funding for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme. We recognise some private renters need support with their rent. That is why we will work across government to keep Local Housing Allowance rates under review in order to deliver on the government's priorities, including maintaining the long-term fiscal sustainability of the welfare system.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the cost of building materials on house building costs.

Construction costs have increased 52% over the past ten years. Prices are now stable, rising only 1% between January 2024 and January 2025. We are taking urgent action to support housebuilding and meet our mission to build 1.5m homes through bold planning reforms and a record £39bn investment to kickstart social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that the social media and online platform income and donations by non-party political activists are published.

Political parties, candidates and third-party campaigners are subject to strict campaign spending limits and transparency requirements at UK elections. Registered third-party campaigners are required to report all forms of donations related to their campaign activity above the relevant thresholds in their spending returns to the Electoral Commission. Electoral law only covers donations given specifically for regulated campaign activity; it does not cover general income or revenue, whether from social media platforms or other sources. As set out in our Strategy for Modern Elections, we are taking forward a package of measures to strengthen the rules around political finance, some of which will apply to third-party campaigners.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of financial caps on political donations for UK political parties, national, devolved and local elections.

The Government is focused on delivering our manifesto commitment to protect UK democracy from foreign interference, through measures such as Know Your Donor, transparency surrounding connected sources of funding and tightening regulations on company donors and unincorporated associations. The Government does not currently have plans to put a cap on political donations. Political parties play a vital role in our democracy, and it is important that they are able to fundraise effectively and communicate with the electorate.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of electoral law governing crypto digital currency donations to UK political parties.

The rules around political donations must be abided by regardless of the type of donation made, which includes cryptoasset donations. Political donations can only be accepted from permissible sources, and the recipients of the donations must make an honest assessment of the value of the donation at the time they receive it. Those who receive political donations from an impermissible or unidentifiable source must return them.The Electoral Commission provides guidance on donations, including for non-standard donations such as those made in cryptocurrencies.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to give councils additional planning powers to help tackle unwanted uses such as barbers, vape shops and betting shops.

My Department has no current plans to amend local planning authorities’ powers along the lines suggested. The government is empowering communities to curate healthy, vibrant public spaces through the Pride in Place Strategy. We have committed to introduce Cumulative Impact Assessments in respect of gambling licensing which will allow councils to take data-driven decisions on premises licences, particularly in areas that have been identified as being vulnerable to gambling-related harm.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of third-party campaigner regulations and levels of compliance in England.

Political parties, candidates and third-party campaigners are subject to strict campaign spending limits at UK elections and transparency requirements. As set out in our Strategy for Modern Elections, we are taking forward a package of measures to strengthen the rules around political finance, some of which will apply to third-party campaigners. This includes requiring recipients of donations to consider the risk of political donations being illegitimate, ensure political donors declare any benefit or sources of funding connected to their donation and tighten the rules around company donations by allowing them to donate only if they have a genuine connection to the UK or Ireland.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on practices for the safe evacuation of high rise buildings in the event of fire as building heights increase to over 70 stories.

Responsibility for fire safety building regulations and evacuation both now sit within MHCLG policy responsibilities. All new building work must meet the functional requirements of Building Regulations, including a means of warning and escape in case of fire to a place of safety outside the building that is capable of being safely and effectively used at all material times. In non-common building situations, which may include very tall buildings, a fire engineered solution may be necessary. Government published Means of escape in residential buildings earlier this year; this analysis covers evacuation strategies in relation to high-rise residential buildings, taking into account building design, fire alarm systems and human behaviour.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the trends in insourcing in adult social care and children social care in England.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government works closely with both the Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Education on the provision of, and funding for, social care services. Local Authorities are responsible for delivering adults and children’s social care services, and it is for them to decide how to deliver them locally and ensure there is adequate provision in their communities. The government is taking specific steps to ensure the delivery of quality care services that secure better outcomes whilst achieving value for money for the taxpayer; for example, investment in children’s residential care that includes creating 200 new placements in high-quality council-run children’s homes and powers through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ensure financial oversight of the children’s care home market.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the number of domestic boilers sold in England against the number of installations reported to local authority building control.

Neither the department nor the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) hold figures on boiler sales. Figures held by the BSR show 1,089,862 total gas appliance work notifications between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 under the Gas Safe Register scheme. Of this total, 1,039,920 was for central heating natural gas boiler installations. This is more than 95% of the total gas installation work. A much smaller number of other gas boiler installations, such as for water heaters or warm air heating appliances, were also registered. The Gas Safe Register scheme is run by the Health and Safety Executive but the BSR has access to the scheme’s installation registration numbers. The BSR regulates other installation schemes, also called competent person schemes, which include installation of non-gas types of boilers but neither the BSR nor the department hold figures specifically on non-gas boiler installations. Local authorities must make available to the public details of building control notifications in their area including for boiler installations.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with councils in the devolution priority programme areas on securing investment ahead of the delayed mayoral elections.

The English Devolution White Paper sets out how Local Growth Plans will galvanise action and investment, including through setting out a pipeline of investment opportunities for strategic authorities. Adopting a Local Growth Plan will be a duty conferred on combined authorities as soon as the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill receives Royal Assent, so we encourage all councils in the Devolution Priority Programme to use the guidance we’ve provided to develop their growth plans. In the interim period between the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the new year and inaugural mayoral elections, we will provide the authorities with a portion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground ahead of the Mayors taking office.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of approaches to bringing empty residential properties back into use.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80458 on 20 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what process his Department plans to use to allocate funding following the end of UK Shared Prosperity Fund in regions and counties without an elected mayor.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will conclude in March 2026. Looking ahead, the government is introducing a long-term approach to local growth, providing sustained and predictable support for local authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement and complemented by targeted interventions designed to drive local growth and strengthen communities. The recent Spending Review provided over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on, including £3.4 billion of new grant funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29. In addition, a new Local Growth Fund will target 11 mayoral city regions in the North and Midlands with the greatest potential for productivity catchup and agglomeration. Further, the Pride in Place programme is providing up to £5bn over 10 years to support 244 places across the country, helping build strong, resilient and integrated communities in areas that experience the most entrenched social and economic challenges.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to implement remote electronic voting for (a) UK and (b) local elections.

There are no plans to introduce remote electronic voting for UK or local elections.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local government on improving community cohesion and building stronger local relationships between people from different backgrounds.

Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. As is precedent, details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly on gov.uk here. The department also continues to work in partnership with local government, communities and stakeholders on improving community cohesion.

Communities and Local Government, whether the government intends to review planning laws to increase support for farming business diversification in rural areas.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 95296 on 4 December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the compliance of private parking companies using contract breach terms to apply a penalty when there is no option for the driver to decline to enter into the contact, for instance where signage setting out contract terms is only placed within an area where charges are automatically applied on entry.

Private parking operators are regulated through their membership of the two main trade associations. These are the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC). The BPA and IPC have launched a single industry Code of Practice which their members must follow. The industry Code of Practice requires private parking operators to provide a consideration period to allow a motorist the time to read the terms and conditions and decide whether to accept or reject them before a parking charge can be issued. The industry consideration periods vary from 1 minute to 10 minutes depending on the size of car park. The trade associations currently monitor compliance with its Code of Practice. The Government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. My department recently ran a consultation outlining its proposals to raise standards across the private parking sector (available from gov.uk here). The consultation included proposals for a minimum consideration period of 5 minutes to be included in the new Government Code of Practice. All responses are now being analysed and the Government will publish a response, together with the new code, in due course. Our consultation proposed that compliance with the Government Code of Practice would be monitored by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies, who would report compliance figures to the Government.