Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62882 on Elections: Essex, for what reason Castle Point district council is listed as having elections in May 2026.

Since responding to Question UIN 62882 on 30 June 2025, it has been drawn to our attention that Castle Point Borough Council has resolved to change from electing by thirds to holding whole council elections every four years and is not therefore due to hold elections in May 2026. There is no duty on councils to inform government when they change their scheme of elections and I am grateful for the opportunity to correct the record.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question HL9888 on Elections: Political Parties, which smaller political parties or third parties have been restricted from dual registering as both a political party and a third party.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 69631 on 3 September 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what her policy is on the sale of allotments.

There are strict criteria in place to protect statutory allotments – these are sites covered by the Allotment Act 1925. A local authority cannot sell or dispose of statutory allotment land without the consent of the Secretary of State, who will only grant it if they are satisfied that either adequate alternative provision is made for displaced plot holders, or that such provision is unnecessary or not reasonably practicable.The rules on sales of assets have also been in place since 2016 and they have not changed. In fact, ministerial approval for sales of allotments were lower in 2024/25 than the average for previous years.The information regarding the number of people on waiting lists for an allotment is held by individual Local Authorities, not MHCLG, as they have the responsibility for the running, management and organisation of allotments.Government has made no formal assessment on the merits of selling statutory allotment sites in rural or smaller communities. The protections under the Allotment Act 1925, and the requirements under the Small Holdings and Allotment Act 1908 for local authorities to provide allotments where there is demand, provides the framework to ensure allotments are available to all communities.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 121 of the policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025, what criteria her Department plans use to determine the certain political entities that will be required to include (a) information about party affiliation or (b) a statement of independence in their campaigning materials.

Under the current imprint regime, campaigners are required to include an imprint with their name and address on printed and digital campaigning material. While these rules have improved transparency, there remain cases both in digital and print formats where campaigning material has been designed to mislead, such as by mimicking local newspapers or using branding designed to obscure a candidate’s true party affiliation. In such cases, the current rules have not always provided voters with sufficient clarity about who is behind the material or the purpose it serves. We intend to address this by requiring campaigning material promoted by or on behalf of candidates and elected office holders to include information about party affiliation – or a statement of independence where applicable. This additional transparency will help voters better understand the origin and intent of the material they see, enabling them to make political choices with greater confidence.

Communities and Local Government, whether there is a budget for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Expenditure for the former Deputy Prime Minister was part of MHCLG budgets, which will be reported and published in the normal way.

Communities and Local Government, whether the former Minister for Homelessness and Democracy has been given a Ministerial severance payment.

The former Minister has chosen not to accept the ministerial severance pay.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) EU nationals and (b) Commonwealth citizens who do not qualify as electors are not automatically included on the electoral roll.

The Government is committed to upholding the integrity of electoral registers. We are exploring a wide range of more automated approaches to enable improvements in both the completeness and accuracy of electoral registers, including making greater use of public sector data and digital services. Any new approaches to registration will be tested to ensure they make improvements and do not undermine the existing system, including the rules about who is eligible to register.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 July 2025 to Question 68785, on Greater Manchester Combined Authority: Housing Investment Programmes, whether Homes England has been involved in the (a) land transaction and (b) loan facility in relation to the Manchester Life joint venture between Manchester City Council and Abu Dhabi United Group.

Homes England are not involved in the joint venture in question. The Agency has not entered into any land transactions directly with Manchester Life and does not have any open loan facilities with them.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the (a) erection and (b) removal of (i) UK national and (ii) foreign flags on lampposts.

The government supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Guidance exists, 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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62596 on Greater Manchester Combined Authority: Property Development, how many affordable homes have been built in developments that received funding from the Great Manchester Housing Investment Loans fund in each of the last ten years.

The Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loan Fund is operated by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). MHCLG and Homes England do not hold information in individual developments in this programme. GMCA is therefore best placed to respond to this question.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has declared any property loan under the Ministerial interests regime.

The former Deputy Prime Minister declared her interests in line with the procedure outlined in the Ministerial Code.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish all correspondence between her Department and (a) DP9 and (b) Rule 6 parties relating to the Chinese Embassy subsequent to the ending of the planning inquiry.

Parties' responses to the reference back letter will be listed in the final decision letter and will be publicly available when that letter is published.

Communities and Local Government, further to the letter to the Hon Member for Thirsk and Malton, from the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, of 15 August 2025, when the Minister of State for Housing and Planning first became aware that the applicant had not provided unredacted drawings to the planning application.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not comment on live planning cases.

Communities and Local Government, whether the QE2 Conference Centre has made representations to Westminster City Council on the operation of the Westminster Arms pub.

The QE2 Conference Centre has not made representations to Westminster City Council on the operation of the Westminster Arms pub.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Oxfordshire on traffic filters restrictions.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their local transport networks. The Department has not had discussions with Oxfordshire County Council on its planned introduction of traffic filters in Oxford.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62604 on Planning: Disclosure of Information, whether information on the internal layout of Embassy developments can be redacted by a planning applicant, before it is submitted to a local planning authority.

The submission of application documents is a matter for applicants themselves.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London Adjudication Joint Committee on automatic number plate recognition powers for off-street car parks.

Whilst the Secretary of State has held no meetings with the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London Adjudication Joint Committee, the government is committed to raising standards for off-street private parking operators.On 11 July, the government published a consultation document setting out its proposals for raising standards across the private parking industry ahead of preparing a code of practice and an accompanying compliance framework for private parking operators. The consultation document can be found on gov.uk here. The consultation closes on 5 September.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has produced guidance on the political restrictions of the deputy mayors of the (a) Greater London Authority and (b) combined authority mayors.

The department has not published guidance on the political restrictions of the deputy mayors of the Greater London Authority, or the deputy mayors appointed by combined authority mayors.Officers working in local government are subject to the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990, which sets out the political restrictions they are subject to. For the deputy mayors of combined authorities it would not be necessary to publish guidance because the postholders are not officers. The deputy mayors appointed under 67(1)(b) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 are subject to political restriction, and the Greater London Authority published guidance on politically restricted posts.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 24 June 2025 on Simplified Local Leadership Structures, HCWS736, through what legislative means the committee system will be abolished.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, introduced to the House of Commons on 10 July 2025, makes provision to change the available governance arrangements for councils in England, by amending the Local Government Act 2000 to remove the committee system and require those currently operating the committee system to move to the leader and cabinet model.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question 64625 on Electoral Register: Young People, whether political parties were consulted.

Pursuant to the answer given to Question UIN 64625 on 8 July 2025, the government was elected on a manifesto commitment to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections. We are committed to act during this Parliament to do so – in turn strengthening our democracy, empowering young people to participate and building an informed and engaged electorate.We will take time to engage with stakeholders in the electoral sector, devolved and local government, education, civil society - and importantly, with young people themselves - to ensure the change is implemented successfully.