Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, how many applications for a selective licensing designation were approved between 4 July 2024 and 23 December 2024.

My Department approved applications for Selective Licensing submitted by Waltham Forest and Blackpool in November 2024. Between July 2024 and the introduction of the 2024 General Approval on 23 December 2024, Burnley, Barking and Dagenham, and Lambeth submitted applications to introduce or expand large schemes. These were superseded by the 2024 General Approval which enables local authorities to introduce selective licensing schemes of any size without seeking approval from the Secretary of State. These applications therefore did not require approval from my Department.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with (a) Camden Council and (b) Southwark Council on (i) regulation of landlords and (ii) selective licensing since 4 July 2024.

My Department engages regularly with a broad range of local authorities on matters including the regulation of landlords and selective licensing.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local billing authorities on (a) the length of time that council taxpayers should be given to pay and (b) when council tax bills are considered to be in arrears.

This government has recently consulted on modernising and improving the administration of council tax. This included seeking views on the current processes in place to recover council tax. We are currently reviewing all responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course. A person is considered to be in arrears from the day they have missed a payment. Councils cannot carry out formal enforcement action until after they have issued a reminder and then acquired a liability order confirming the amount owed.

Communities and Local Government, which Levelling Up culture projects that were announced under the previous Government have since been (a) cancelled and (b) amended.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78670 on 21 October 2025. Worcester received £2.3 million funding for only some of the activity within its original programme. This amendment was determined on the basis of representations received to the consultation. Prioritisation of funding considered a series of factors including: significant progress of work to date, imminent delivery, and/or the wider strategic impact of withdrawing funding on local regeneration efforts, as well as potential to boost economic growth.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 70571 on Elections: Campaigns, whether the new imprint requirements will apply outside candidate-specific regulated election periods.

Imprint requirements play an important role in upholding trust in our democratic process by ensuring voters can see clearly who is behind printed and digital campaigning material. The period for which the print and digital imprint rules apply will remain the same. As digital campaigning is not confined to election periods, the UK-wide digital imprint regime, for the most part, applies all-year round. Whereas the print regime applies during regulated periods for candidates.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department held discussions with representatives of political parties prior to the publication of the policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025.

The Government has worked closely with its partners in local and devolved government, with the electoral sector, with education providers and civil society, and with citizens themselves in the development of the strategy for modern and secure elections. We will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders, including with political parties and sector representative organisations such as the Association of Electoral Administrators, to ensure these changes are delivered successfully.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 August 2025 to Question 68415 on Political Parties: Finance, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals relating to donors raising funds from abroad.

While it is clear that foreign donations to political parties are not permitted, the Government recognises the risk posed by malign actors who seek to interfere with and undermine our democratic processes. As pledged in our manifesto, we are strengthening the rules around donations to political parties. We have published our ‘Strategy for Modern and Secure Elections’ which sets out a number of reforms we are making to strengthen rules on political donations, responding to the threat of foreign interference. These include “Know Your Donor” requirements for recipients of donations and tighter controls on unincorporated association donations. We are also tightening the rules to ensure greater scrutiny of the origin and nature of political donations. Donors will be required to declare any benefits or sources of funding associated with their donation. In addition, companies making donations will be required to demonstrate a genuine and substantive connection to the UK or Ireland, preventing the use of shell companies to channel foreign or illicit money into UK politics.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the Manifesto Club entitled Gatekeepers: How councils are controlling access to the public square, published in October 2025.

The provision and administration of street trading and highways licences are the responsibility of Local Authorities under either the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 or the London Local Authorities Act 1990, depending on their location.

Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the letter sent to the Rule 6 participants on 16 October 2025 announcing the delay in the target date for the Chinese Embassy decision.

We do not routinely publish correspondence to parties on live cases. Letters to the Rule 6 participants will be listed in the final decision letter, and will be available on request when the decision is published.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the reasons for which some people put flags on lampposts in the summer.

At this time, no assessment has been made. My department is co-ordinating cross-Government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with local government, communities and local stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address the deep-seated issues. Where the subject has been raised, we have been clear that everyone can make their own decisions, including local councils, on flying flags and that guidance exists to support them, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.

Communities and Local Government, how many hereditaments claimed Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief in each local authority in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Data on the number of hereditaments that claimed Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief are collected annually as part of National Non-Domestic Rates collected by councils in England. The latest data available is for 31 December 2024 collected via the 2025-26 data collection. They are published as supplementary tables.Data as at 31 December 2023 can be found herehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/663b98e474933dccbbb6c431/NNDR1_2024-25_Supplementary_table.xlsx Data as at 31 December 2024 can be found herehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d2c9c4814acba3755e97c1/NNDR1_2025-26_Supplementary_table__ecomms_.xlsx.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 69291 on Members: Correspondence, if he will (a) assign the correspondence letter to an incumbent Minister and (b) provide a substantive reply.

The former Deputy Prime Minister is no longer in post. The questions raised in the hon. Member’s correspondence have already been addressed via parliamentary questions from the hon. Member and his colleagues. I specifically refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 52866 on 27 May 2025, 74185 on 2 September 2025, 84951 on 10 November 2025, 85494 on 5 November 2025, 85495 on 5 November 2025, 88674 on 17 November 2025, and HL10730 on 13 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Chief Fire Adviser on the potential impact of the (a) ban on controlled heather burning on and (b) definition of deep peat on the risk of wildfires.

While the regulation of controlled heather burning and the definition of deep peat fall within the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which addressed a similar question from the Hon. Member on 11 September 2025 (UIN 76603), the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the lead government department for wildfire (from 1 April 2025). The Chief Fire Adviser post ceased with the introduction of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) in 2017. As did my predecessor, I meet regularly with Phil Garrigan, Chair of the NFCC, to discuss a range of issues in fire and resilience, including wildfire. I also understand that NFCC provided input to Defra’s consultation on the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations in 2025. In December 2021 the Home Office, as the former lead government department for wildfire, published the Wildfire Framework for England.  The framework identifies responsibilities, clarifies relationships, and facilitates coordination at the government level and between key wildfire stakeholders in England. MHCLG continues to work with Defra and other partners to ensure that land management and environmental policies are aligned with effective wildfire resilience.

Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter of 14 July 2025 from the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton on publication of councillors’ home addresses.

A response was sent to the hon. Member on 27 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, how many civil servants from his Department went on strike on 1 September 2025.

431 individuals are recorded as having taken part in strike action on 1 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, on average how many hours are spent reviewing (a) a successful and (b) an unsuccessful application for Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator.

The Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) handling time for each application is dependent on a range of factors, primarily the quality of the application and the additional information submitted by the applicant. As can be seen in the table below, the average handling time by hour varies.Average Assessment HoursCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-Categorised01/10/2024 to 01/09/2025371911817617 BSR officials have provided the table below which demonstrates the average number of days taken to approve a Gateway 2 (GW2) application. Average of Decision (Days) Month BeginningCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-CategorisedGrand Total01/10/2024132132 152 13401/11/2024153159 15501/12/202415712376127 15001/01/2025179171 17801/02/2025165147 20435818101/03/2025225179 15821701/04/2025229239211 11422301/05/2025193194 36726221501/06/2025213236 35325823601/07/2025212270 32540022801/08/2025195122 27334820901/09/2025200178184338420223Grand Total193174173284272202 Information on the length of documents submitted as part of applications is not something the BSR actively collects data for. The length and number of documents required to support a GW2 application varies, and there is no correlation between page length and achievement of a GW2 determination as the size and complexity of projects varies considerably. The BSR is actively supporting the Construction Leadership Council to develop and publish a further suite of industry guidance on the statutory documents accompanying building control approval applications, staged approvals for single tower HRBs and construction phase and gateway three (completion certificate stage). This is expected in November. The BSR has also published four new pieces of guidance, including:Building control approval for higher-risk buildings - GOV.UKMaking changes to a higher-risk building project - GOV.UKPreparing information for a building control approval application - GOV.UKApplying for a completion certificate - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on clearing the backlog caused by the Building Safety Regulator since 30 June 2025.

We recognise that delays to the assessment of applications have been unacceptable, which is why we announced reforms to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) on 30 June, including plans to establish the BSR as a separate body. The BSR is already making operational and policy changes to speed up decision making, particularly on building control approval, including through the introduction of an Innovation Unit. Early signs are positive with all applications in the Innovation Unit so far on track to exceed or meet the 12-week SLA as they progress through the application process. To support transparency and accountability, the BSR published performance data on 16 October and will continue to do so monthly to track progress against this commitment. Gateway 2 decisions in July-September 2025 doubled to over 500 compared to around 250 in January-March 2025. In addition, the backlog of new-build applications has reduced from 134 on 30th June 2025 to 102 on 15th October 2025. The BSR has provided the sum of residential units that were without a decision covering these timeframes as of the 1st of each month spanning over 6 months: May -25Jun- 25Jul-25Aug-25Sep-25Oct-2512-25 weeks3,4172,2312,4122,0111,221026-51 weeks4,6033,9093,6932,9232,9152,01052+ weeks3086484836066060

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to developers on the level of information required to satisfy Gateway 2 approval for an application to the Building Safety Regulator.

The Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) handling time for each application is dependent on a range of factors, primarily the quality of the application and the additional information submitted by the applicant. As can be seen in the table below, the average handling time by hour varies.Average Assessment HoursCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-Categorised01/10/2024 to 01/09/2025371911817617 BSR officials have provided the table below which demonstrates the average number of days taken to approve a Gateway 2 (GW2) application. Average of Decision (Days) Month BeginningCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-CategorisedGrand Total01/10/2024132132 152 13401/11/2024153159 15501/12/202415712376127 15001/01/2025179171 17801/02/2025165147 20435818101/03/2025225179 15821701/04/2025229239211 11422301/05/2025193194 36726221501/06/2025213236 35325823601/07/2025212270 32540022801/08/2025195122 27334820901/09/2025200178184338420223Grand Total193174173284272202 Information on the length of documents submitted as part of applications is not something the BSR actively collects data for. The length and number of documents required to support a GW2 application varies, and there is no correlation between page length and achievement of a GW2 determination as the size and complexity of projects varies considerably. The BSR is actively supporting the Construction Leadership Council to develop and publish a further suite of industry guidance on the statutory documents accompanying building control approval applications, staged approvals for single tower HRBs and construction phase and gateway three (completion certificate stage). This is expected in November. The BSR has also published four new pieces of guidance, including:Building control approval for higher-risk buildings - GOV.UKMaking changes to a higher-risk building project - GOV.UKPreparing information for a building control approval application - GOV.UKApplying for a completion certificate - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, on average how many days it takes for the Building Safety Regulator to approve a successful Gateway 2 application.

The Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) handling time for each application is dependent on a range of factors, primarily the quality of the application and the additional information submitted by the applicant. As can be seen in the table below, the average handling time by hour varies.Average Assessment HoursCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-Categorised01/10/2024 to 01/09/2025371911817617 BSR officials have provided the table below which demonstrates the average number of days taken to approve a Gateway 2 (GW2) application. Average of Decision (Days) Month BeginningCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-CategorisedGrand Total01/10/2024132132 152 13401/11/2024153159 15501/12/202415712376127 15001/01/2025179171 17801/02/2025165147 20435818101/03/2025225179 15821701/04/2025229239211 11422301/05/2025193194 36726221501/06/2025213236 35325823601/07/2025212270 32540022801/08/2025195122 27334820901/09/2025200178184338420223Grand Total193174173284272202 Information on the length of documents submitted as part of applications is not something the BSR actively collects data for. The length and number of documents required to support a GW2 application varies, and there is no correlation between page length and achievement of a GW2 determination as the size and complexity of projects varies considerably. The BSR is actively supporting the Construction Leadership Council to develop and publish a further suite of industry guidance on the statutory documents accompanying building control approval applications, staged approvals for single tower HRBs and construction phase and gateway three (completion certificate stage). This is expected in November. The BSR has also published four new pieces of guidance, including:Building control approval for higher-risk buildings - GOV.UKMaking changes to a higher-risk building project - GOV.UKPreparing information for a building control approval application - GOV.UKApplying for a completion certificate - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, what the average number of pages is that an applicant submits to achieve Gateway 2 clearance from the Building Safety Regulator.

The Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) handling time for each application is dependent on a range of factors, primarily the quality of the application and the additional information submitted by the applicant. As can be seen in the table below, the average handling time by hour varies.Average Assessment HoursCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-Categorised01/10/2024 to 01/09/2025371911817617 BSR officials have provided the table below which demonstrates the average number of days taken to approve a Gateway 2 (GW2) application. Average of Decision (Days) Month BeginningCategory ACategory BConversion from Non-HRB to HRBNew BuildUn-CategorisedGrand Total01/10/2024132132 152 13401/11/2024153159 15501/12/202415712376127 15001/01/2025179171 17801/02/2025165147 20435818101/03/2025225179 15821701/04/2025229239211 11422301/05/2025193194 36726221501/06/2025213236 35325823601/07/2025212270 32540022801/08/2025195122 27334820901/09/2025200178184338420223Grand Total193174173284272202 Information on the length of documents submitted as part of applications is not something the BSR actively collects data for. The length and number of documents required to support a GW2 application varies, and there is no correlation between page length and achievement of a GW2 determination as the size and complexity of projects varies considerably. The BSR is actively supporting the Construction Leadership Council to develop and publish a further suite of industry guidance on the statutory documents accompanying building control approval applications, staged approvals for single tower HRBs and construction phase and gateway three (completion certificate stage). This is expected in November. The BSR has also published four new pieces of guidance, including:Building control approval for higher-risk buildings - GOV.UKMaking changes to a higher-risk building project - GOV.UKPreparing information for a building control approval application - GOV.UKApplying for a completion certificate - GOV.UK