Written questions by Hayes.

Communities and Local Government, how many times the Islamophobia Definition Working Group has met.

The working group has met weekly since it was first established. The meetings included engagement with relevant stakeholders.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to (a) maintain and (b) promote local green spaces in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

The government is firmly committed to creating better access to parks and green spaces for all sections of society. Green spaces such as South Holland’s Ayscoughfee Gardens are an essential part of local social infrastructure which supports more connected, stronger communities. The MHCLG-owned Green Flag Award sets the national quality standard for parks and green spaces, the scheme aims to meet the needs of the communities they serve and has helped to transform thousands of parks and green spaces across the countryMHCLG has also established the Parks Working Group, which brings together sector experts with government officials to find innovative ways of managing parks, creating employment, hosting economic activities and encouraging inward investment. Finally, the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) allows communities to designate land as Local Green Space, in order to protect green areas that are important to them.

Communities and Local Government, how much her Department has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

The cost to provide Digital equipment to enable staff to work effectively from home for the 3 years 07/07/2022 to 06/07/2025 is £272,301.85.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the number of disability-accessible houses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 40122 on 26 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect supported housing in Lincolnshire.

Local authorities are best placed to decide how their funding is spent locally. This Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in an average overall real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year between 2025-26 and 2028-29.

Communities and Local Government, how many compulsory purchase powers have been granted as part of nationally significant infrastructure project approvals since 2022.

The government does not hold data on the total number of compulsory acquisition powers that have been granted from the 55 Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects decided since the start of 2022. All compulsory acquisitions approved as part of a Development Consent Order are recorded and can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website here.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) training and (b) resources her Department has provided to fire and rescue services to respond to fires related to electric cars.

It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate resources, equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents which they attend. We will continue to work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to ensure fire and rescue services have access to the training, resources and equipment they need to keep the public safe.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.

We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services. Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.” Since 2023, the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government has increased the proportion of its staff on apprenticeships from 2% to 5.1%. We are currently exploring how additional entry level programmes in digital, data and AI, including the TechTrack Level 4 Business Analyst apprenticeship, can be used to build the department’s capability in this vital area.

Communities and Local Government, what the total cost to the public purse was for the creation of the Greater Lincolnshire combined county authority.

The costs of establishing and running Mayoral Combined (County) Authorities are managed by its constituent councils and the Authority itself once established. Government provides support to help with these costs. For Greater Lincolnshire the government provided £500k Mayoral Capacity Funding in 2024-25. There are considerable benefits for Greater Lincolnshire from the devolution agreement, which include £24 million a year investment funding for 30 years, and the transport and adult skills budgets that were previously controlled from Whitehall.

Communities and Local Government, with reference the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025, whether her Department plans to amend its policy on the use of women only spaces in its buildings by transgender women.

We are reviewing our policies, including on toilets and single-sex spaces, in line with the Supreme Court ruling.We will follow external advice from relevant advisory bodies.We aim to ensure appropriate facilities are available for all staff.

Communities and Local Government, whether Homes England has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2018.

Homes England has made use of apprentices each year in its workforce since 2017.

Communities and Local Government, whether HM Land Registry has offered apprenticeships since 2010.

The Civil Service is committed to using apprenticeships to break down barriers to opportunity, support skills development and deliver more effective public services. HM Land Registry has offered 800 apprenticeships across England and Wales since 2014. Those apprenticeships have ranged from Level 2 to Level 7 to support personal development and increase organisational capability while also supporting apprentices to join Government Professions such as Digital, Data & Technology, Legal, HR and Finance.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of local government reorganisation in Lincolnshire.

The overall case for local government reorganisation is set out the English Devolution White Paper. A PWC 2020 report estimated that reorganisation of the then 25 two-tier areas to a single unitary would have a one-off cost of £400 million, with the potential to realise £2.9 billion over five years, with an annual post-implementation net recurring saving of £700 million, however as it is for local areas to submit proposals for government to consider, the savings could vary area by area and across England in the round. We are also keen to ensure the wider benefits are also promoted, specifically simplified and more efficient structures. Councils in Lincolnshire were invited on 5 February to develop proposals for reorganisation, which are due to be submitted to government by November 2025. It will be for the new councils to achieve the efficiencies identified in reorganisation proposals and subsequent detailed implementation and transformation plans while delivering high quality and sustainable public services to local residents and businesses.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help support young people to get onto the housing ladder in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership. This government is determined to change that, ensuring that young families and hardworking renters can buy a home of their own.Boosting the supply of homes of all tenures must be at the heart of any strategy to improve housing affordability which is why the government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, we are committed to introducing a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme, to support first-time buyers, including those in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and Lincolnshire, who struggle to save for a large deposit, with lower mortgage costs.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking embodied carbon into account when considering proposals to restore or replace older buildings.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 28035 on 18 February 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

As tenants in our offices, the management and procurement of food supplies is overseen by the Government Property Agency or the Landlord.To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. This Government is reviewing the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Communities and Local Government, for what purposes the Planning Inspectorate has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is key to delivering the outcomes set out in the blueprint for modern digital government published on 21 January 2025. The policy paper can be found on gov.uk here.The Planning Inspectorate has undertaken the following exploratory work in relation to AI in the past 12 months:· The Inspectorate issued guidance on use of artificial intelligence as part of any appeal, application or examination being dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate.· The Inspectorate established an Artificial Intelligence Governance Board as per the government’s Generative AI Framework.· The Inspectorate investigated the use of Artificial Intelligence tools to support in the redaction of the data and documents it publishes, as necessary.· The Inspectorate investigated the use of tools powered by artificial intelligence to create visualisations and extract insights from data about casework for internal staff use only.· The Inspectorate undertook the first phase of internal testing of Microsoft CoPilot tools for staff to establish their impact and ensure appropriate security measures are in place.The Planning Inspectorate can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.The Planning Inspectorate also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.

Communities and Local Government, for what purposes HM Land Registry has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

HM Land Registry is exploring the potential of Artificial Intelligence to deliver the outcomes set out in the blueprint for modern digital government published on 21 January 2025. The policy paper can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, for what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have used AI in the last 12 months.

Ministers and officials utilise AI for various purposes. This includes automating routine tasks (such as data entry and document processing), supporting research and development initiatives and analysing large datasets to identify trends and inform policy decisions.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to increase levels of investment in high streets in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

This Government is committed to supporting our high-street businesses and communities. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it is retaining and reforming the Long-Term Plan for Towns as part of a new regeneration programme. Spalding, Skegness and Boston, together with 75 towns, will each receive up to £20 million in additional funding and support for their communities.An additional £900 million UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was also announced for financial year 2025/26, with the Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority set to receive £14.7 million. This follows £2.6 million UKSPF funding that South Holland District Council received for 2022-2025. Under the UKSPF-delegated model, Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority may choose to invest in high streets in their area. This allows local leaders to continue to invest in local priorities and deliver projects that drive growth and support regeneration.