Written questions by Badenoch.

Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to consult the Electoral Commission's parliamentary parties panel on proposed changes to electoral law.

The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy, upholding the integrity of elections and encouraging wide participation in the democratic process.We will tackle the unacceptable participation gap in our democracy by taking action to improve rates of electoral registration, and encourage engagement by young people by legislating to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections in due course.The Government also recognises the threat posed by malign actors who seek to interfere in UK elections by hiding the true source of funding behind political donations. We will therefore act to strengthen protections against foreign interference in our political finance framework.The Government will work with the electoral sector, devolved and local government, and other stakeholders (including the Parliamentary Parties Panel) to raise participation and make the electoral system more effective. Any changes to electoral law will require careful consideration and consultation, including a review of the General Election by the Electoral Commission.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to set a council tax referendum threshold for 2025-26.

Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement in which we are engaged.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review council tax (a) discounts, (b) exemptions and (c) disregards.

Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement in which we are engaged.

Communities and Local Government, what her target is for increasing net housing supply in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 586 on 22 July 2024.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the environmental principles assessment for the Policy statement on onshore wind, published on 8 July 2024.

Environmental Principles assessments are not published routinely, but the potential environmental effects of changes to planning policy are considered in line with the requirements of the Environment Act 2021.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will include measures to reform the judicial review process to speed up planning decisions.

Work on the Bill is underway and we will provide more details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Policy statement on onshore wind, published on 8 July 2024, whether her Department has made an estimate of trends in the number of bird deaths caused by changes in the number of onshore wind farms; and what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs before the publication of that statement.

The Government recognises that poorly sited wind farms can pose a threat to some wildlife, such as birds. That is why we retain important checks and balances in the planning system that require extensive up-front environmental surveying, and for decision makers to ensure statutory environmental and habitats impact assessments are conducted as part of the planning determination. Should significant adverse impacts on species or habitats be predicted, developers must put in place measures to avoid, reduce, mitigate or compensate for these impacts.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to modernise planning committees.

The King’s Speech announced that the Government would introduce a Planning and Infrastructure Bill to accelerate housebuilding and infrastructure delivery. This will include measures to modernise planning committees in order to improve decision making. Work on the Bill is underway and we will provide more details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will remain subject to the environmental and land supply framework set out in the previous National Planning Policy Framework under proposed mandatory housing targets.

Protections for safeguarded land will remain, in accordance with the policies set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to pages 23 to 25 of the policy paper entitled, King's Speech 2024: background briefing notes, published by the Prime Minister's Office on 17 July 2024, on the proposed English Devolution Bill, what role she plans for (a) district councils and (b) county councils in drafting local growth plans; and how she expects such plans to interact with the local plans of (i) mayoral combined and (ii) local planning authorities.

Every town and city has a vital contribution to make to growing our economy. The Government has set out its intention to work with places to develop ambitious, long-term Local Growth Plans. Local Growth Plans will be delivered through partnership, and MHCLG will write to places shortly to provide further detail on the approach to developing these Plans.

Communities and Local Government, how much her Department (a) has spent on departmental rebranding since 4 July 2024 and (b) plans to spend on such rebranding in the next 12 months.

Changing the name of the department will not attract a significant cost as we are returning to a department name which has been previously used. The majority of the work will be completed internally. Details of expenditure over £250 are published on gov.uk.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to pages 23 to 24 of the policy paper entitled, King's Speech 2024: background briefing notes, published by the Prime Minister's Office on 17 July 2024, on the proposed English Devolution Bill, what plans she has for the operation of the proposed right to buy for community assets.

The Government recognises the vital role of high streets and community spaces, and we want to see them thriving again. Community Right to Buy will empower local people to bring community spaces back into community ownership and end the blight of empty premises on our high streets, and stem the loss of important community assets we have witnessed over the past decade.Community Right to Buy will help local people acquire valued community spaces if they come up for sale, keeping these assets in the hands of the community working together in co-operation. We will provide more detail on the planned measures in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what methodology she plans to use to allocate the proposed 300 new planning officers; what the (a) average salary and (b) local government grade of those planning officers will be; and what estimate she has made of the number of full-time equivalent planning staff employed by local planning authorities on 23 July 2024.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 1007 on 25 July 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support the right to buy; and what her policy is on uprating right to buy discounts with inflation.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne on 30 July 2024 (HCWS48).

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to require minimum quotas of affordable housing in her Department’s proposed new towns.

Large-scale new communities created as part of the Government’s programme of new towns will help meet housing need by targeting rates of 40% affordable housing, with a focus on genuinely affordable social rented homes. We will provide further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to pages 23 to 24 of the policy paper entitled, King's Speech 2024: background briefing notes, published by the Prime Minister's Office on 17 July 2024, on the proposed English Devolution Bill, whether she plans to enable local leaders to request additional powers to levy new local (a) taxes and (b) other charges.

We will ensure that local leaders have access to the right levers to deliver economic growth in their areas and are reviewing existing arrangements to ensure they support our growth agenda and manifesto commitments. As the Bill will primarily focus on devolution of powers from Whitehall to our mayors and combined authorities, and other matters, no presumption should be made on the application of new taxes or changes at such an early stage. Stakeholders and MPs will be fully engaged during the Bill process.

Communities and Local Government, what her Department's policy is on (a) Strategic Environmental Assessments and (b) Environmental Impact Assessments.

The powers secured through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 would allow Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment to be replaced with a new framework of Environmental Outcomes Reports.The government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need, and will consider how best to reform environmental assessment with this objective in mind. In the meantime, the current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take steps to review postal voting delays that occurred during the general election 2024.

The Electoral Commission will publish a report on the administration of the General Election held on 4 July later this year, and the Government will give careful consideration to any findings or recommendations made in the report in relation to the current arrangements for postal voting.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to (a) remove or (b) curtail permitted development rights that were introduced since May 2010; and what her policy is on Article 4 directions.

The Government has not announced plans to remove or curtail permitted development rights.We intend to set out proposed changes to national planning policy in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for completion of each of the revised National Policy Statements.

As the Chancellor set out on 8 July, the Government will review relevant National Policy Statements over the next twelve months, ensuring the planning system is simplified and improved to deliver Government missions around growth and clean energy. This is one of a number of changes the Government intends to make to build the infrastructure that we need.