Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Government calls ‘last orders’ on red tape choking pubs, clubs, and restaurants in major boost to the British night out, published on 4 April 2025, whether the pilot scheme for strategic licensing powers for the Mayor of London will require primary legislation.

The government will work with the Greater London Authority to review strategic licensing powers and explore a pilot scheme, providing the Mayor of London with new powers over strategic licensing. The government and the Greater London Authority will work closely with local stakeholders to design the pilot scheme.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41465 on Permitted Development Rights, whether local authorities are required to publish Article 4 Directions; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the absence of a central repository of Article 4 Directions on (a) householders and (b) developers.

An assessment of the potential impact of the absence of a central repository of Article 4 Directions has not been undertaken. Householders and developers should check with their local authority whether an Article 4 Direction applies in a specific area.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Government calls ‘last orders’ on red tape choking pubs, clubs, and restaurants in major boost to the British night out, published on 4 April 2025, whether the pilot scheme will apply to the application process for pavement licences.

The government will work with the Greater London Authority to review strategic licensing powers and explore a pilot scheme, providing the Mayor of London with new powers over strategic licensing. The government and the Greater London Authority will work closely with local stakeholders to design the pilot scheme.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to reform Homes England as an Arm’s Length Body.

On 7 April 2025, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster asked all Departments to review all arms length bodies to ensure there is the appropriate Ministerial oversight of delivery and that we are maximising the efficiency and effectiveness of all parts of Government. My department is actively engaging with this review and any reforms to our arms length bodies we choose to make will be announced in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to London Council's press release entitled London borough leaders make united call for ‘seat at the table’ in new devolution settlement, published on 3 April 2025, what her policy is on giving a greater role to London boroughs in pan-London governance.

The Government remains committed to engaging local authorities, including London Borough Councils, and the wider local government sector on the detail of our reforms set out in the English Devolution White Paper. As part of this process, it will be important to consider London’s unique devolution settlement, including drawing on existing ways of working between the Greater London Authority and London Boroughs.

Communities and Local Government, whether any elections scheduled for May 2026 will be postponed.

We have no plans to postpone elections scheduled for May 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants have had with the Welsh Government on council tax (i) revaluation and (ii) re-banding.

The government maintains regular engagement with the Welsh Government on a range of issues. Council tax is a devolved matter, but we are aware that the Welsh Government has set out its intention to introduce a revaluation of council tax bands from 2028 and has consulted on wider reforms.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of combined authority models of mayoral governance with council-led scrutiny on the Greater London Authority.

The Government remains committed to engaging local authorities, including London Borough Councils, and the wider local government sector on the detail of our reforms set out in the English Devolution White Paper. As part of this process, it will be important to consider London’s unique devolution settlement, including drawing on existing ways of working between the Greater London Authority and London Boroughs.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 41460 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Equality, how many (a) staff and (b) Ministers are members of the Inclusion Allies network.

MHCLG’s Inclusion Allies network is comprised of 73 (a) staff members and zero (b) ministers. All expenditure by core MHCLG with this supplier since July 2024, and the purpose of that expenditure, is set out in the answer to Question UIN 45669 on 29 April 2025. No ALB sponsored by the MHCLG has made any payments to this supplier since July 2024, except for Homes England who made one payment for a 12-month corporate membership to support their EDI ambitions.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed abolition of two-tier local government in Surrey on the debt held by Woking Borough Council.

On 5th February, I wrote to all councils in Surrey to formally invite proposals for unitary local government. As set out in the criteria in the statutory guidance accompanying that invitation, it is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area. For areas where there are exceptional circumstances where there has been failure linked to capital practices, such as in Woking Borough Council, proposals should reflect the extent to which the implications of this can be managed locally, including as part of efficiencies possible through reorganisation. We are working with Woking in the context of reorganisation in Surrey to understand what support may be required for the exceptional debt as part of the upcoming Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to give London boroughs a greater role in pan-London governance.

The Government remains committed to engaging local authorities, including London Borough Councils, and the wider local government sector on the detail of our reforms set out in the English Devolution White Paper. As part of this process, it will be important to consider London’s unique devolution settlement, including drawing on existing ways of working between the Greater London Authority and London Boroughs.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of dwellings were built on land designated as previously undeveloped Green Belt in England in each year since 1997 for which figures are held.

The Department publishes a statistical release entitled ‘Land use change statistics – new residential addresses’, which includes information on the proportion of dwellings built on land designated as previously undeveloped Green Belt in England. The live table P310 provides data from 2013-14 to 2021-22, and can be found here. The live tables P243 and P246 provide data from 1989 to 2011, and can be found here. Figures for 2022-23 will be published in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the gross cost of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions for fire and rescue services.

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 £65.5m 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, when her Department plans to issue updated land use in England statistics.

The Department will publish the updated land use statistics in due course. The publication date will be pre-announced on GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance the Government has provided to police forces on election purdah (a) rules and (b) restrictions on publicity during the pre-election period of local elections.

The government does not issue pre-election guidance to Police Forces.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2025 to Question 38618 on Freeports, whether trade unions participants in freeports governance will be subject to the same responsibilities and duties as ordinary board members.

The specific responsibilities and duties of Freeport board members are stipulated by the relevant articles of association/terms of reference for the Freeport Board and are for individual Freeports to define, giving due regard to relevant government guidance.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to p. 3 of the document entitled The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies: Guidance for Departments, last update 15 March 2018, whether she has had discussions with the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Team on the establishment of the Local Audit Office as a last resort.

The local audit system is broken, which is why we have a manifesto commitment to overhaul it. The strategy, including the establishment of the Local Audit Office, was based on considerable independent and parliamentary consideration of how to best tackle the issues. The specific proposal to establish a new body, the Local Audit Office, was first recommended in the independent 2018 Kingman Review and again two years later in the Redmond Review. Since those reviews, the problems in local audit have considerably worsened and the most recent Whole of Government Accounts have been disclaimed. My officials have been working with officials across Government including the Cabinet Office in recognition of the need for substantial reform. The Cabinet Office Public Bodies Team is aware of progress and will have final approval on the establishment and classification of the LAO, as required by the 2018 guidance.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish responses from local authorities to the Devolution Priority Programme consultation.

The consultations for the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme closed on 13 April 2025. The Government is now carefully considering all responses received, before taking a decision on whether to proceed. This decision, and a report on the consultation, will be published in due course.

Communities and Local Government, which organisation is paying for the provision of military aid to the civil authorities in Birmingham; and what the estimated cost is.

The government has been supporting Birmingham City Council in its efforts to address the backlog of waste that had been building up on the city’s streets, and significant progress has been made in the last fortnight. This support has included the three office-based military personnel with logistical expertise that were made available to the council to assist with planning. They have now returned to normal duties. We are grateful to our colleagues in the MoD for their support. We are working with the Council on options to address further costs arising from the industrial action

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press notice entitled Public land unlocked for the next generation of home owners, published on 27 March 2025, when she expects the housing developments at (a) Newcastle Forth Yards, (b) Manchester Mayfield, (c) Cambridge, (d) Nottingham, (e) Ripon, (f) Chilwell and (g) Wyton airfield in Cambridgeshire to (i) start and (ii) be completed.

The Secretary of State for Defence has identified the long-term opportunity to build over 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, improving opportunities for homeownership and creating jobs across the country. This includes a commitment to building and modernising family homes for the Armed Forces and Veterans, delivering on our commitments to British families and our Armed Forces. Work is underway with HM Treasury, the Ministry of Defence, and Homes England (HE) to establish opportunities to accelerate delivery with trailblazer sites at Ripon, Chilwell and Wyton. Deverell Barracks at Ripon has now transferred to HE with outline planning in place for 1,300 homes. Work will begin as soon as full planning approval has been received. We are not able to give start and finish dates for Chilwell and Wyton due to the preliminary stage of these projects. Network Rail has announced the establishment of a new property company to unlock up to 40,000 homes over the next decade, with the first homes set for development in Cambridge, Manchester, Nottingham and Newcastle: Manchester Mayfield: start on site expected in 2026 with completion of Phase 1 in 2030 and Phase 2 in 2034;Cambridge: start on site expected in summer 2026, with completion in spring 2029;Nottingham: start on site expected in summer 2027, with completion in 2029;Newcastle: it is not yet possible to provide clear start and finish dates, though Network Rail expect to release land for housing over the next 7 to 10 years.