Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department has provided for cladding removal and remediation in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25, (c) 2025-26 and (d) each other year of the Spending Review; and how much will be raised in taxes on developers for this purpose.

MHCLG has provided for cladding removal and remediation:(a) 2023-24, £647m (Actuals)(b) 2024-25, £438m (Actuals)(c) 2025-26 £1003m (Current financial year budget allocation) Following the Spending Review which agreed the overall funding envelope for MHCLG, the department will undertake a detailed budget allocation process t for 2026-27 onwards. MHCLG funding for 2026-27 onwards is therefore not currently delegated to a programme level.We estimate that we will need to raise £3.4billion pounds from the Building Safety Levy. The levy is due to come into operation in October 2026 and is likely to be in operation for ten years. The levy will be reviewed every three years.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 53762 on Licensing Laws: Fees and Charges, what her planned timetable is for publishing the response to that consultation.

The response to the consultation Local Authority Principles and Objectives: gov.uk (Local authority funding reform: objectives and principles) was published on Friday 20 June 2025. The link to the response can be found gov.uk here.In parallel, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation, which sets out further questions on Sales, Fees and Charges reform. The link to that consultation is gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, April 2025, published on 30 May 2025, what the services commissioned from Allied Publicity Services Manchester were.

These data lines were published in error. The relevant publication has now been updated

Communities and Local Government, what the target number of civil servants in her Department is in each year of the Spending Review 2025.

We are aiming to reduce the number of Civil Servants working in this department by at least 10% over the course of the Spending Review period. This in line with the government’s wider Civil Service reform plan and commitment to reducing administration costs of the civil service by 15% by 2030. We are implementing an ambitious efficiency plan to support this objective, focused primarily on reducing back-office costs and building a leaner, more efficient, and highly skilled workforce. This will enable us to deliver the government’s priorities while maintaining the flexibility to respond to emerging needs. Civil Servants in frontline roles will continue to be aligned with the funding and priority programmes that underpin these activities.

Communities and Local Government, who will cover the duties of the Minister for Housing and Planning whilst he is on jury service.

Duties will be shared amongst the MHCLG Ministerial team when required. As with all departmental business, the Secretary of State maintains overall responsibility for the work of the department

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the goods or services were commissioned from Oxford Economics Ltd entitled Cambridge Economic Forecasting.

The department commissioned Oxford Economics to model economic growth in Greater Cambridge.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support neighbourhood planning; and whether there is a target on neighbourhood plan take-up.

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. The government has no target for neighbourhood plan take-up.

Communities and Local Government, how many active sites being developed by private housebuilders the Minister of State for Housing and Planning has visited since 6 July 2024.

I have visited seven active development sites in a ministerial capacity since 6 July 2024 as per the table below. I have also visited a number of active development sites in my own constituency during that same period

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the goods or services commissioned from 23 Red Limited entitled (a) consultancy and (b) campaign creative production were.

The Department commissioned 23 Red Limited through approved government procurement frameworks to help deliver two key campaigns addressing housing needs in our communities. The 'consultancy' expenditure covered essential strategic and creative elements of our Make Things Right campaign. This campaign supports social housing tenants to effectively engage with the complaints process when experiencing issues with their accommodation, helping to drive improvements in housing standards. The 'campaign creative production' expenditure funded essential strategic and creative elements of our StreetLink campaign. This initiative raises awareness of the StreetLink service and improves public understanding of how to provide effective referrals for people sleeping rough, ultimately helping to connect vulnerable individuals with appropriate support services.

Communities and Local Government, how much will be allocated to London from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in each year of the Spending Review period; and what the outturn allocation was in each year since the creation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will not continue beyond the 2025-26 transition year. As announced at the recent Spending Review, the government is introducing a new, targeted approach to support growth, tackle deprivation, and restore pride to communities.UKSPF allocations for local authorities are published on gov.uk here. An annual breakdown of 2022-25 allocations are also published on gov.uk here.The Greater London Authority spent its entire UKSPF allocation of £144,444,970 for the 2022-25 period, and has been allocated £62,981,782 for 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 53912 on Asylum: Housing, whether the Planning Inspectorate has considered any planning appeals relating to such change of use from hotels to asylum accommodation in the last 24 months.

The Planning Inspectorate does not hold the requested information in a readily searchable way, and planning appeals are not routinely categorised by the specific nature of the change of use, such as from hotels to asylum accommodation. As such, it is not possible to confirm whether any appeals relating to this specific change of use have been considered in the last 24 months.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Civil Service 2024/2025 External Expenditure on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, published on 30 May 2025, if he will list the suppliers and the individual amounts of expenditure that related to the £4,853 of expenditure on (a) Black History Month events and (b) Inclusion Allies event.

Expenditure of £4,853 was approved by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 29 October 2024 in line with Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance.A sum of £4,184 was paid to Inclusive Employers Ltd for the training of Inclusion Allies.A sum of £669 was paid to Diversify World Ltd for delivering of a training seminar and support materials.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the specific goods or services commissioned from MANNING GOTTLIEB OMD were entitled (a) Social housing- Traditional broadcast ra and (b) StreetLink Rough sleeping campaign.

The Department engages Manning Gottlieb OMD as the government's mandated media buying agency in line with Crown Commercial Service agreements.The 'Social housing- Traditional broadcast ra' expenditure covered commercial radio advertisements on stations including Capital FM and Kiss. These advertisements were part of our Make Things Right campaign, which encourages social housing tenants experiencing issues with their accommodation to engage effectively with the complaints process. Radio advertising effectively reaches tenants at scale and directs them to our campaign website for comprehensive support on gov.uk here.The 'StreetLink Rough sleeping campaign' expenditure funded print advertisements in the Metro newspaper alongside digital advertising across multiple social media platforms including Meta, Reddit, WeAre8 and LinkedIn. This campaign promoted the StreetLink service and educated the public about essential information needed when reporting people sleeping rough, to improve the quality of referrals through the service.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding she plans to provide to each nation of the UK through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in each year of the Spending Review period.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will not continue beyond the 2025-26 transition year. As announced at the recent Spending Review, the government is introducing a new, targeted approach to support growth, tackle deprivation, and restore pride to communities.UKSPF allocations for local authorities are published on gov.uk here. An annual breakdown of 2022-25 allocations are also published on gov.uk here.The Greater London Authority spent its entire UKSPF allocation of £144,444,970 for the 2022-25 period, and has been allocated £62,981,782 for 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53914 on Islam, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of Islamist sectarianism in England since 4 July 2024.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 53914 on 5 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether district councils with borough status that are abolished will be able to maintain their borough status through Charter Trustees under her local government restructuring plans.

The Government will ensure that the ceremonial rights and privileges of an area will be maintained after any reorganisation of local government and will work with local leaders to ensure that areas retain these, following the submission of proposals from local councils, and a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement.Where specific provision is needed in legislation to maintain ceremonial privileges, such as the establishment of Charter Trustees, then this will be considered, as necessary, reflecting the circumstances in each area, as has previously been done for other areas undergoing local government reorganisation.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 54880 on Council tax: billing, whether local billing authorities are able to require the individual residents of a dwelling to declare whether the property is their (a) primary and (b) secondary residence.

The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 requires billing authorities to take reasonable steps to determine whether any discounts or premiums are applicable. This includes a power to require information to be provided about the persons liable for the bill on a dwelling. It is for each authority to decide when to use these powers.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, April 2025, published on 30 May 2025, if she will publish the research commissioned from the Greater London Authority.

This funding was to cover legal and administrative costs incurred by the Greater London Authority in setting up the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the document entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what consultancy services were commissioned from UBDS IT Consulting Limited.

MHCLG’s March 2025 listing of spending over £25,000 include three entries for UBDS. This spend relates to the provision of specific technical services to deliver a range of improvements to the Department’s data tools and technologies. They are augmenting internal teams.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with the Mayor of London on whether funding for green belt reviews will be used to review the use of Metropolitan Open Land.

The government has awarded the Greater London Authority £770,000 to undertake a Green Belt review in conjunction with 11 London boroughs. A further six London boroughs have also each received £70,000 to undertake Green Belt reviews. The precise use of this funding is at the discretion of the recipient authority.Metropolitan Open Land is a local designation used by the Mayor of London in his London Plan. Policy relating to the designation, as well as the current extent of Metropolitan Open Land, is entirely a matter for the Mayor.