Written questions by Badenoch.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 29 July 2024 to Question 815 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, what steps she plans to take to empower (a) regulators and (b) local authorities to act.

The pace of remediation has been unacceptably slow. Work is underway through existing programmes to bring together local actors, enforcers and partners to drive efficiencies in the current operation. In parallel, we are developing a comprehensive action plan that will tackle the root causes of the problem, and we will be announcing these in the autumn.The government’s Recovery Strategy Unit continues to take action against the most egregious actors to force them to fix their buildings and hold them to account for the cost of remediation. To date, the Unit has successfully obtained 10 remediation orders against Grey GR, a subsidiary of Railpen, and Wallace Estates Ltd ensuring 900 homes will be safer. The Unit is now seeking to recover c£72 million of taxpayer and leaseholder funding through remediation contribution orders from Yianis Group, Hollybrook Homes and Urban Splash. Further action will follow.Buildings in remediation programmes that require additional action are escalated by the department to regulators, as additional pressure from local regulators can help to unblock buildings. Local authorities, fire and rescue services, and the Building Safety Regulator have a range of tools to compel building owners to fix their unsafe building. Regulators have long-standing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The Building Safety Act 2022 bolstered these powers by introducing remediation orders and remediation contribution orders.We provide funding to local authorities directly, to support their enforcement action, with more than £14 million in funding given to local authorities since November 2022. We also fund the Joint Inspection Team, a specialist team of building safety experts who support councils on building safety inspections.The Deputy Prime Minister wrote to mayoral authorities on 13 September to support and empower them to deliver local remediation acceleration plans, using their convening powers, relationships and local knowledge. I will convene roundtables to bring together metro mayors with the Building Safety Regulator, National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and other key partners, to support and drive forward this critical work.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) officials, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers have met representatives of Hope Not Hate since the general election.

(a) Officials have attended forums where Hope Not Hate have been present and have been sighted on reports generated by the organisation since the General Election, (b) details of meetings special advisers have with external organisations are published on gov.uk in line with requirements set out in guidance here, (c) details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 5223 on Council Tax: Wales, if she will publish the contract between the Valuation Office Agency and the Centre for Appraisal Research and Technology.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes all contracts above £12,000 (including VAT) on GOV.UK in line with Government transparency rules. As the contract between the agency and the Centre for Appraisal Research and Technology (CART) falls below this threshold the VOA has no plans to go beyond these requirements. The VOA intends to publish more information about the Automated Valuation Model (AVM) before April next year, therefore it currently has no plans to place documentation provided by CART in the House of Commons Library.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2024, to Question 4354, on Public Houses: Business Rates, whether the introduction of a pub smoking ban would be deemed to be a material consideration for the purposes of calculating the Rateable Value.

Schedule 6 of The Local Government Finance Act 1988 states that no account is to be taken of any matter that is directly attributable to a change in legislation when determining a pub’s rateable value.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2024, to Question 5155, on Council tax: Wales, if she will list each individual type of variable used in the Valuation Office Agency's Automated Valuation Model.

The variables used in the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) Wales Automated Valuation Model and sources are listed in the table below: Data / VariableSource:Sale Price & DateVOA sales data; HM Land Registry Price Paid DataSale Price AdjustmentOffice for National Statistics / HM Land Registry House Price IndexProperty CoordinatesOrdnance Survey AddressBase Premium; VOA records; National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL)Billing Authority of PropertyVOA RecordsProperty Attributes: Dwelling Type Dwelling Group Dwelling Age Dwelling Area Parking Facilities Subsidised Housing Indicator Bedroom Count Bathroom CountVOA RecordsPlot sizeLand Registry Title Polygons and Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 September 2024 to Question 5409 on Recycling, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward the secondary legislation to meet the timescales set out in Annex A.

The relevant legislation introducing Simpler Recycling in the Environment Act 2021, launched under a Government she was part of, has now come into force. This means that the requirements regarding separate collection of the core recyclable waste streams will automatically come into effect as per the previously announced timetable.

Pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2024, to Question 5223, on Council Tax: Wales, if she will place in the House of Commons Library a copy of any report or documentation provided by CART to the Valuation Office Agency.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes all contracts above £12,000 (including VAT) on GOV.UK in line with Government transparency rules. As the contract between the agency and the Centre for Appraisal Research and Technology (CART) falls below this threshold the VOA has no plans to go beyond these requirements. The VOA intends to publish more information about the Automated Valuation Model (AVM) before April next year, therefore it currently has no plans to place documentation provided by CART in the House of Commons Library.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2024, to Question 4354, on Public Houses: Business Rates, whether (a) pavement licences under the Business and Planning Act 2020 and (b) outdoor licensing under the Licensing Act 2003 affect the assessment of a Fair Maintainable Trade for the purposes of the Rateable Value valuation or revaluation.

Fair Maintainable Trade (FMT), for the purposes of determining a property’s rateable value, is an assessment of the property’s potential turnover. The absence or presence of a pavement or outdoor license will be reflected in the overall FMT for each pub.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government's planning policies on large-scale solar farms on food (a) production and (b) security in England.

The total area used for solar farms is very small, and – even in the most ambitious scenarios – solar farms will occupy less than 1% of the UK’s agricultural land, causing minimal impact on food production. We produce 62% of all the food we need, and 75% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes. Imports supplements domestic production, ensuring that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. As we face up to the challenge of the energy transition, we must plan for how we use land in this country to ensure a proper balance between food security, nature recovery and clean energy. We will publish a Land Use Framework for England to help find this balance, working in tandem with our spatial energy plan. Solar power is crucial to achieving net zero, providing an abundant source of cleaner, cheaper energy on the mission towards 2030. We do not believe that the rollout of solar power poses a threat to food security.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on (a) producing and (b) updating productivity plans since 4 July 2024.

I wrote to all councils on 13 September to thank them for producing a plan and detail the rich evidence base they have given us. I proposed that we work together to build on the work to get more out of existing resources. I was also clear that I am not interested in micromanaging councils, but helping the sector improve efficiency even further, including reducing the barriers to change.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department was consulted prior to the publication of the revised planning policy on onshore wind.

The planning policy on onshore wind was announced pre-election. It was supported by the voting public and has our full support.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the papers produced for her meeting with local authorities to discuss housing reforms in August 2024.

It is not standard practice to publish the papers for this kind of confidential meeting.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the level of intimidation experienced by candidates during the general election in 2024.

Intimidation and abuse of those participating in public life has no place in our society and cannot be tolerated.The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary have already hosted a roundtable to discuss the unacceptable intimidation and abuse directed towards candidates and campaigners during the recent General Election.There is work going on across Government to understand what happened and why, and what more we can do to prevent this type of behaviour from taking place.

Communities and Local Government, which measures in the Electoral Integrity Programme have been implemented; and what her planned timetable is for implementing the remaining the measures.

All the measures pertaining to the Electoral Integrity Programme, stemming from the Elections Act 2022, have now been implemented. This is with exception of the measures regarding the franchise for European citizens, which are in progress and are due to have completed implementation by February 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her policy on lowering the voting age to 16 and to the Answer of 2 August 2024 to Question HL382 on Caffeine: Children, what steps she plans to take to help support 16 year-olds to verify their identity at polling stations.

The Government is committed to carefully and thoroughly reviewing the voter identification rules and evaluating how they impacted citizens during the General Election. Work is already underway on this evaluation and will include consideration of how 16 and 17 year olds will be able to verify their identification at polling stations in line with plans to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2024 to Question 5232, what (a) council and (b) mayoral elections are (i) scheduled and (ii) expected, subject to the passage of secondary legislation, to take place in May (A) 2025 and (B) 2026.

The department publishes our understanding of the years in which each council’s elections will be held. That list can be found here.In accordance with legislation, councils are required to post notice of any election or by-election taking place which they administer, and this can be found on council websites.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to hold discussions with (a) the Parliamentary Parties Panel and (b) electoral administrators on electoral law.

Alongside work to deliver on our manifesto commitments, the Government is considering a range of policies and approaches to tackle the challenges in the current systems for electoral registration and conduct. We will continue to work in partnership with key stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission and electoral administrators, to help ensure that any proposed changes address the priorities of the sector. Ministerial meetings with partners in the electoral sector are already taking place.

Communities and Local Government, whether she is a member of the National Security Council.

Details of Cabinet Committees and their membership are published on gov.uk at the following link.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance entitled Flying flags: a plain English guide, published on 20 July 2024, which flags related to sexual orientation and gender identity have deemed consent.

Flag advertisements which benefit from deemed consent are set out in Class 7 of Schedule 3 to The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisement) (England) Regulations 2007.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2024 to Question 3903 on Political Parties: Finance, what her policy is on (a) the regulation of and (b) reporting thresholds for donations to unincorporated donations.

As set out in our manifesto, the Government intends to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy. The policy development work to give effect to this commitment is ongoing, and we will engage with key stakeholders over the course of this work.