Written questions by Reynolds.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of legislation that exempts the conversion of buildings to nursery use from requiring planning permission on the adequacy of the locations of nurseries.

The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 groups together uses which have similar land use impacts into classes, allowing flexibility to change between uses within each class without the need for an application for planning permission. Since 2020, children’s nurseries are in the broad Class E ‘Commercial Business and Service’ class allowing a wide range of uses commonly found on high streets to move to use as a nursery without the need for a planning application, bringing new uses to the high street and providing additional nursery places including near to where people work.

Communities and Local Government, whether she will issue guidance to local authorities to waive street party fees for celebrations commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe.

On 5 March 2025, Minister Peacock, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) wrote to all local authorities regarding the 80th anniversaries of Victory in Europe (VE) and Victory over Japan (VJ) Day this year.The letter asked councils to help their communities in their preparations for VE Day – including by making processes cost-free for residents, as well as by signposting and updating existing community activity guidance and being flexible when receiving applications for road closures for street parties.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking help tackle homelessness.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people. We will consider youth homelessness as we develop our long-term cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country, to get us back on track to ending homelessness.We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help secure the financial sustainability of (a) the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and (b) all local councils.

This Government recognises that council funding has been under pressure since 2010. Any council that has unmanageable pressures and is concerned about its financial position should approach the department.We will provide councils with more stability and certainty through moving towards multi-year funding settlements and by ending wasteful competitive bidding pots. This will ensure councils can plan their finances for the future properly, delivering better value for money for taxpayers. Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement in which we are engaged.Department officials continue to engage regularly with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead regarding its financial position.