Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that the creation of a definition of Islamophobia does not prevent discussion and scrutiny of the religious and ethnic dimensions of grooming gangs.

We are clear vile child sexual abuse must be pursued wherever it is found, and we must guard against misplaced cultural or political sensitivities.As stated in the Terms of Reference for the Working Group to define Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred, any proposed definition must be compatible with the unchanging right of British citizens to exercise freedom of speech and expression - which includes the right to criticise, scrutinise, express dislike of, or insult religions and/or the beliefs and practices of adherents.Should government accept the recommendations of the Working Group, the definition used will be non-statutory. It will enable government and other relevant bodies to have a greater understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities – with anti-Muslim hate crime having reached record levels.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 57273 on Road Signs and Marking, what is the mechanism by which her Department is monitoring the implementation of section 81; and whether this includes regular submissions to Ministers.

The operation of section 81 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 is monitored in the same way as any other policy matter, with officials observing any problematic use of the legislation and engaging with the sector and public if they raise any concerns with the department. To date we have not seen, or been approached about, any significant problem with the use of the legislation.

Communities and Local Government, what the monetary amount was of financial guarantees for housing provided by her Department from 2019-20 to 2024-25.

Between 2019-20 and 2024-25 MHCLG provided £3.254 billion of financial guarantees for housing.

Communities and Local Government, whether the planning decision on the called-in Chinese Embassy planning application will be delegated to a specific Planning Minister or made personally by the Secretary of State.

As is longstanding practice with all decisions of this nature, the identity of the decision-making Minister will be published as part of the formal decision letter.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 54295 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Taxis, how much of the £41,439 was spent on Ministerial travel.

Of the total figure of £69,021.26 spent on taxis in the period specified, £24,981.98 of the £69,021.26 related to Ministerial travel

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 55289 on Police: Employment Contributions, whether the methodology used to calculate the National Insurance mitigation for police officers is the same as that used to calculate the funding for firefighters.

Government funding for fire and rescue services is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) in the form of revenue support grant (RSG) and retained business rates. In recognition of the decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions, the Government will provide £515 million to English local councils, including mayoral combined authorities and fire and rescue authorities, allocated based on an assessment of each council’s share of relevant net service expenditure. The 2025/26 LGFS was published on 3 February and sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £69.1m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53573 on Oxford Growth Commission: Public Appointments, if she will publish the Chair's declaration of interests.

As set out in the answer to Question UIN 53573 on 28 May 2025, direct ministerial appointments such as the Chair of the OGC are not regulated public appointments and do not fall within the remit of the Governance Code on Public Appointments. Interests are considered as part of due diligence checks before appointments are made, and the Department is satisfied the usual public law principles applicable to all ministerial decision-making are met by this appointment.

Communities and Local Government, what representations she has received on council tax (a) revaluation and (b) rebanding since 5 July 2024.

The government recognises interest from a number of groups in reforming council tax. However, it does not collect statistics on the issued raised in correspondence it receives. The government currently has no plans to reform council tax.

Communities and Local Government, if she will list each official diary event and meeting she undertook on 10 April 2025.

The Government publishes details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to Table 5.17 in the Spending Review 2025, CP1336, published on 11 June 2025, whether local government core spending power includes revenue from (a) GLA council tax including police, (b) the Police and Crime Commissioner precept, (c) the fire precept for combined police and fire commissioners and (d) combined authority mayoral precepts with policing powers; and what revenue streams are included in the police core spending power included in Table 5.8 in that document.

Local government core spending power includes revenue from the Greater London Authority (GLA) council tax, including the policing element. It also includes the fire precept flexibility for standalone fire authorities, and combined police and fire commissioners. However, it does not include revenue from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) precept or precepts set by combined authority mayors with policing powers. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59321 on 17 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Islamophobia Working Group is taking to consult with stakeholders in (a) private and (b) public.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 61355 on 24 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) funding and (b) financing support her Department has allocated to Greater Manchester Combined Authority for housing development loans since 2011.

In line with the English Devolution White Paper Homes England is working closely will all Mayoral Combined Authorities, supporting them to achieve their housing growth, regeneration and placemaking ambitions. Since 2011 Homes England have provided investments totalling over £483 million (£483,466,719) to Greater Manchester Combined Authority through a range of programmes. These investments have supported the delivery of 35,144 homes. My officials would be happy to send full details should this information be required.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance she has issued to local planning authorities on the redaction of the internal layout of proposed developments from (a) planning (i) officers and (ii) councillors and (b) the wider public.

We have not issued specific guidance to local planning authorities on redacting internal layouts of proposed developments.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding was allocated by her Department to support local communities to develop neighbourhood plans in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25, (c) 2025-26 financial years; and how much has been allocated for each year of the Spending Review.

Details of the contracts that the Department awarded to support neighbourhood planning are available on the contracts finder website. Funding was allocated to support contracts worth, excluding VAT, (a) £6.37m in 2023/24, (b) £6.96m in 2024/25 and c) £0.43m in 2025/26. Following the Spending Review, my Department announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards. Technical support which has already been awarded will continue to be provided but must be completed before the end of March 2026. We will ensure that local planning authorities continue to be appropriately funded for their neighbourhood planning function, including funding for neighbourhood planning examinations. The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of (a) Right to Buy receipts on the level of funding for affordable housing and (b) her Department's changes to (i) the level of discounts and (ii) eligibility for Right to Buy on the availability of new housing over the period of the Spending Review 2025.

The government’s Right to Buy discounts review, which can be found on gov.uk here, was published alongside the Budget on 30 October 2024. It estimated that returning maximum cash discounts to pre-2012 levels would lead to a long-term average of approximately 1,700 Right to Buy sales per year, generating, on average, approximately £250 million of annual net receipts.As confirmed at that Budget, the government is allowing councils to retain the full capital receipt generated by a Right to Buy sale to support the delivery of replacement dwellings. As a result of all these measures, we believe local authorities will now be in a stronger position to replace the homes that are sold.In the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771), I confirmed further reforms to the Right to Buy. We will legislate when parliamentary time allows to bring these reforms into force.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 55284 on Housing: Construction, and with reference to Annex 10 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Impact assessment, published in May 2025, whether she plans to achieve the delivery of the 374,000 annual new additions in England in the (a) 2026-27 financial year, (b) 2027-28 financial year and (c) calendar year 2027.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 55284 on 10 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 54886 on Asylum: Housing, whether she has made an estimate of the number of appeal decisions that have been made by the Planning Inspectorate in relation to (a) hotels and (b) hostels being used to house asylum seekers in the last 12 months.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60845 on 30 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's transparency data, MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, if she will publish the specification of the research commissioned from Frontier Economics Ltd.

The research commissioned from Frontier Economics Ltd. referenced in MHCLG’s transparency data published on 28 April 2025 refers to two separate contracts: the Towns Fund Evaluation and the UKSPF Intervention Evaluation. A feasibility study for these evaluations, which set out the requirements for the work commissioned, has been published and can be accessed here:Gov.uk Towns Fund: evaluation feasibility reportUK Shared Prosperity Fund: intervention-level evaluation feasibility report

Communities and Local Government, whether the Planning Inspectorate has made appeal decisions on asylum accommodation in the last 12 months.

Planning appeals are not routinely categorised by whether an appeal features a decision on asylum accommodation. As such, it is not possible to confirm whether any appeals relating to this have been considered in the last 12 months in the time given.

Communities and Local Government, how much was raised in right to buy receipts in each year since 2011-12; and what proportion of those receipts was spent on affordable housing.

Receipts from Right to Buy (or equivalent) sales of local authority stock for the financial year 2012-13 onwards are published in the attached Table. There are no published figures for earlier years. With regard to the proportion of such receipts spent on affordable housing, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 16195 on 5 December 2024.