Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of private rented sector reforms on the number of landlords requesting guarantors for new tenancies.

According to the latest English Private Landlord Survey, 21% of landlords required a guarantor for their most recent letting. The government recognises that blanket requirements for a guarantor could act as a barrier to renting for some tenants and expects landlords and agents to consider tenants’ individual circumstances when negotiating rental conditions. We are committed to monitoring the use of guarantors as part of our wider evaluation of the impact of our reforms on the private rented sector.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's correspondence entitled Local government reorganisation: invitation to local authorities in two-tier areas, published on 6 February 2025, if she will place in the House of Commons Library a copy of each individual council response to her Department's interim plan invitation letters.

The Government has no plans to place interim plans received from councils in the House of Commons Library. Interim plans are not a decision-making point but are designed to enable areas to set out their progress on developing proposals in line with the criteria and guidance, and receive feedback to support them to develop final proposals. A number of councils have published their interim plans on their websites, which is a matter for local decision.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 35254 on MHCLG: Wolverhampton, for what reason the Deputy Prime Minister does not regularly work from those offices.

The Deputy Prime Minister and ministerial team work from a number of locations and offices across the country. Since coming into office, the Deputy Prime Minister has led an ambitious legislative agenda in Parliament to boost renters' rights, fix the planning system to support growth, and make work pay, alongside engagements across the UK on the Government's plan for change. Where the pressures of these commitments allow, the Deputy Prime Minister will visit and work from locations across the UK.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to re-introduce pensions for councillors.

MHCLG keeps access to the Local Government Pension Scheme under regular review.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's Working Group on Anti Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition, on what date the six month appointment period commenced.

The appointment period for the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group commenced on 24 March 2025, following the publication of the Working Group Terms of Reference. It is important that government is transparent in the actions it takes to address all forms of hatred, however any independent work should also have the space to consider sensitive and complex issues in private. This is the approach the Working Group will take when considering the appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. The advice the group produces will be private initially, giving the Government the time and space to consider recommendations, including what a proposed definition/s should be and the merits for adopting a definition. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance entitled Green Belt, published on 27 February 2025, whether a regulatory impact assessment was prepared in relation to the new guidance.

No. Regulatory impact assessments are prepared to support the appraisals of new primary or secondary legislation.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 32217 on Homes England: Consultants, if she will provide a breakdown of that spending by (a) firm, (b) value and (c) topic.

Homes England’s spending on consultants since 5th July 2024 can be broken down as £1,877,010 to Deloitte & Touche for external advice and support on the Agency’s organisational change, £18,894 to CSL – KPMG LLP to provide third party assurance at key stages of digital transformation projects to ensure robust decision making and budget allocation, and £344,416 to Deloitte & Touche for external advice on transforming the management and administration of Help to Buy.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to help increase (a) registration and (b) participation in elections by overseas British electors.

The Government is committed to improving electoral registration. We are exploring a wide range of options to deliver on this manifesto commitment. As set out in our response to the Electoral Commission’s evaluation of the 2024 general election, published last month (Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 elections: government response - GOV.UK), the Government recognises the Commission’s findings with regards to the difficulties faced by British citizens living overseas when trying to participate in UK elections. As part of our review of electoral registration and conduct, the Government, in partnership with electoral practitioners and the Electoral Commission, is examining several aspects of the system for overseas electors, with a view to identifying practical solutions to some of the challenges faced.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued on whether a flag flown outside at ground level requires planning permission, where it does not have deemed consent.

Relevant government guidance available on gov.uk sets out the planning rules for the display of flags.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the terms of reference of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition for what reasons the recommendations of the Group to the Minister will not be made public.

The appointment period for the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group commenced on 24 March 2025, following the publication of the Working Group Terms of Reference. It is important that government is transparent in the actions it takes to address all forms of hatred, however any independent work should also have the space to consider sensitive and complex issues in private. This is the approach the Working Group will take when considering the appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. The advice the group produces will be private initially, giving the Government the time and space to consider recommendations, including what a proposed definition/s should be and the merits for adopting a definition. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to conduct electoral pilots under the Representation of the People Act 2000.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has no plans at present to conduct electoral pilots under the powers in the Representation of the People Act 2000 in England.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37220 on Admiralty House, how many civil servants provided support to the Deputy Prime Minister for the move.

As this support was provided in relation to the move to an official residence it is not possible to identify a specific number of staff.Professional removal and cleaning services were hired and paid for personally by the Deputy Prime Minister and at no cost to the Department.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 16572 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if she will publish the information disclosed under the Environmental Information Regulations with reference EIR2024/31081 of 3 March 2025.

A further call-in request was received from Innovate UK on 16 October 2024, after the planning application had been called in on 14 October 2024. We do not routinely publish planning representations seeking call in of applications.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31949 on Temporary Accommodation: Construction, what proportion of new homes built under that scheme will be for social rent.

All homes delivered through the Local Authority Housing Fund must be affordable/low-cost. It is up to local planning authorities to determine the precise rent level and tenure of homes delivered in line with the scheme objectives. This could include social rent, affordable rent, or a temporary accommodation rent.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance entitled Plan for Neighbourhoods: prospectus, published on 12 March 2025, if she will publish the evaluation reports on the New Deal for Communities.

The Plan for Neighbourhoods prospectus was published on 4 March, and the Plan for Neighbourhoods: governance and boundary guidance was published on 12 March. The prospectus drew from the publicly available evaluation and analysis of the New Deal for Communities and where analysis is referenced or cited, there is a link to the source material in the prospectus.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance entitled Green Belt, published on 27 February 2025, for what reason she has issued the guidance in paragraph 005 on villages and the Green Belt.

The definition of grey belt, for the purposes of plan-making and decision-making, is provided in the glossary of the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024. Grey belt is land in the Green Belt that is previously developed land or other land that does not make a strong contribution to the following Green Belt purposes (a) checking the sprawl of large built-up areas, (b) preventing the merging of neighbouring towns, and (d) preserving the setting and special character of historic towns. It is for individual local planning authorities to decide if land is grey belt and to determine whether and how to amend Green Belt boundaries through the preparation or updating of plans, including neighbourhood plans where appropriate. It is also for each local planning authority to assess, as a material consideration when writing Local Plan policies or determining planning applications, what environmental impacts could occur. National planning policy and our recently published guidance on Green Belt assessment are clear that release of, or development on, Green Belt land should not fundamentally undermine the ability of the remaining Green Belt across the area of the plan from serving all five of the Green Belt purposes. The definition of grey belt, and the revised Framework more widely, were determined following extensive consultation, including with relevant public bodies. For further detail, I refer the hon. Member to the government response to the proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation which can be found on gov.uk here. Our guidance introduces new criteria to drive a more consistent approach to the identification of grey belt land, and to inform Green Belt assessments. It is for these Green Belt assessments to consider if any particular features act to preserve visual separation. Green Belt guidance is clear that assessing the contribution land makes to Green Belt purposes (a), (b) and (d) relates to large built-up areas, towns, and historic towns respectively, rather than villages. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that villages can be included in the Green Belt where it is necessary to restrict development because of the contribution the village makes to the Green Belt. If the character of the village should be protected for other reasons, other means should be used, such as conservation area or normal development management policies. The National Planning Policy Framework and the Green Belt guidance do not introduce a definition of historic town, town, or village. The responsibilities of local planning authorities to recognise and protect their historic assets, making use of built heritage and conservation expertise as necessary, remain unaltered. Local planning authorities continue to have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, which they can use to tackle all types of unauthorised development.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter to her department from Innovate UK on the Chinese Embassy call-in request, disclosed under EIR reference EIR2024/31081 on 3 March 2025, whether Innovate UK re-submitted their 2022 call-in request when the current planning application was re-submitted by the Chinese Government.

A further call-in request was received from Innovate UK on 16 October 2024, after the planning application had been called in on 14 October 2024. We do not routinely publish planning representations seeking call in of applications.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to (a) paragraph 5.140 of the Spring Budget 2024 and (b) her Department's press release entitled £1.5 billion to restore pride in Britain's neighbourhoods, published on 4 March 2025, whether the funding awarded on 4 March 2025 differs from that announced in the Spring Budget; and whether there has been changes to (a) locations covered and (b) the total endowment funding.

The Long-Term Plan for Towns programme was launched in 55 towns in September 2023 by the previous administration and expanded to an additional 20 places in March 2024, as confirmed in paragraph 5.410 of the Spring Budget 2024.This programme was an unfunded commitment for which the previous administration had no plan as to how that promise would be delivered.All 75 towns across the UK that were originally selected to receive Long-Term Plan for Towns funding will receive the funding under the Plan for Neighbourhoods package, the funding for which was announced at Autumn Budget 2024, and further policy detail published on 4 March. We are making good on those commitments, giving each of the 75 places the certainty that they will receive up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade.The Long-Term Plan for Towns: Technical Q&A, published 28 March 2024, outlined that the total funding and support offered to local authorities would be up to £20 million. The Plan for Neighbourhoods prospectus, published 4 March, outlines that the total funding and support offered to local authorities will be up to £20 million.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) capital and (b) resource funding was allocated to the Future High Streets Fund in 2024-25 by the previous Government; and what funding is now allocated.

The Future High Streets Fund was originally intended to run up until the end of financial year 23/24. In August 2023 MHCLG was granted approval from the HM Treasury to extend the Future High Streets Fund and rollover any remaining payments into financial year 24/25. The below allocation was forecast in March 2024 under the previous government based on remaining payments due. This has now been paid in full. FY 24/25: (Previous Government Forecast)FY 24/25 (Current Government Actual) Capital£78,750,470£78,750,470Resource£0£0

Communities and Local Government, whether pubs which are reclassified by their owners as restaurants are deemed to be pubs for change of use applications.

Planning permission is always required for the material change of use of a pub, including to a restaurant. It is for the local planning authority to determine whether there has been a material change of use for which a planning application was required.