Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, how many local authority officers are seconded to her Department.

Fewer than or equal to five staff are currently engaged by this department in a secondment capacity from a local authority.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes were (a) started and (b) completed in England between 2010-11 and 2023-24.

The number of affordable housing starts and completions is available in live table 1000 here Live tables on affordable housing supply - GOV.UK.The number of completions is available since 1991-92. The department started publishing the number of starts in 2015-16. However, starts not reported via Homes England or the Greater London Authority only started being collected in 2016-17 and are collected on a voluntary basis. This means 2015-16 data does not include these data and subsequent years may still be under reporting it.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of appeal hearings considered by the Planning Inspectorate were conducted virtually in 2024.

The Planning Inspectorate undertakes public hearings and inquiries across all its casework services. Most take place in person, but some are held wholly or partly virtually.Reliable data on the number and proportion of virtually held events is not available.

Communities and Local Government, what her Department's timetable is for responding to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation that ended on 24 September 2024.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 7852 on 14 October 2024.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish the provisional local government finance settlement for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will publish the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement in December where we will consult on allocations for 2025-26, alongside launching a consultation on the objectives and principles of local government funding reform.

Communities and Local Government, what formula her Department plans to use to determine (a) which local authorities will receive funding from the Recovery Grant and (b) the amount of such funding allocated to each local authority.

The Recovery Grant, worth £600 million, will be distributed using a formula that is based on deprivation and council tax base, using the most recently available public data. The grant will go to places where, weighted by population, deprivation outweighs council tax raising ability. The grant is intended to be highly targeted, meaning that not all authorities will receive an allocation.We will set out more detail on the formula and consult on allocations at the provisional Settlement in December.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase scrutiny arrangements in mayoral combined authorities.

There is an existing system of accountability and scrutiny arrangements for Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) to ensure that public spending is achieving value for money with an array of monitoring and reporting processes for MCAs. The government is committed to strengthening the accountability and scrutiny arrangements that will enable central government, mayors, combined authorities and combined county authorities to shift gear into a new mode of genuine partnership. This will be set out in the upcoming English Devolution White Paper.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact the planned increase in employer National Insurance contributions on external services commissioned by local government.

The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs. This applies to those directly employed by the public sector, including local government. We will set out further details at the provisional Settlement in December.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on Local Government Finance, HCWS265, whether her Department has carried out an equality impact assessment on repurposing the Rural Services Delivery Grant.

The Government took into consideration the Public Sector Equality Duty when making decisions regarding the Rural Services Delivery Grant.This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.The Government will set out more detail on all measures set out at the provisional Settlement in December where we will consult on allocations for 2025-26, alongside launching a consultation on the objectives and principles of local government funding reform. The Settlement consultation will request views on the approach to changing how we deliver grant funding through the Settlement, and on equalities impacts. The Government welcomes views of rural councils in response to each of these consultations.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) (England) Order 2024 on levels of home ownership.

The Government’s review of Right to Buy discounts was published alongside the Budget on 30th October, and new maximum cash discounts came into force via the Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) (England) Order 2024 on 21 November. As set out in the review, our modelling suggests a long-run average of c. 1,700 sales annually under the new maximum discounts.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish guidance for local authorities on four day working weeks and annualised hours.

The government recognises that local authorities are independent employers who are responsible for decisions such as these around the management of their workforces, however, it is not government policy to support a four-day working week in local authorities.Local authorities are encouraged to consult their workforce and trade unions before considering changes to their local working arrangements.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Enabling remote attendance and proxy voting at local authority meetings, published on 24 October 2024, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness of in-person debate and (b) potential impact of in-person debate on decision making.

The attendance of elected members at local authority meetings is a core part of the democratic process at the local level, and is integral to members carrying out their functions effectively. At the same time, the Government recognises that there are circumstances in which it may not always be possible for members to attend meetings in person. We will consider all responses to the consultation before deciding on a course of action.

Communities and Local Government, how the planning application for the proposed Chinese Embassy near the Tower of London differs from the previous planning application for the Embassy turned down by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The application in question is identical to the application submitted for the proposed scheme in June 2021. It was refused (against officer recommendation) in February 2023. The applicant chose not to appeal that decision.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential impact of calling in the planning application for the proposed Chinese Embassy in Tower Hamlets on (a) diplomatic, (b) economic and (c) political relations with the People’s Republic of China.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 17140 on 18 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, (a) when and (b) how her Department became aware of the new planning application for the proposed new Chinese Embassy near the Tower of London.

Decisions on whether to call in a planning application routinely arise following a representation or notification from a third party. In this instance, the Department were notified of the new planning application by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the debate on the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill of 25 November 2024, Official Report, column 594, whether the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multipliers from 2026 will (a) be in addition to and (b) replace the small business rate relief multipliers.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties, including those on the high-street, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from 2026-27 - those with Rateable Values of £500,000 and above.The government has no plans to abolish small business rates relief which is a permanent relief set down in legislation. In our paper 'Transforming Business Rates' we have committed to exploring whether and how small business rates relief can be improved to better support business investment and expansion.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 58 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of local government restructuring on social care (a) delivery and (b) economies of scale.

The upcoming English Devolution White Paper will set out more detail on the government’s devolution plans, including on working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas, with efficiency savings from council reorganisation helping to meet the needs of local people.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues on whether a planning application previously been rejected by a planning authority can be resubmitted without substantive changes.

Planning Practice Guidance found on gov.uk here, sets out the position on this matter. The guidance makes clear that section 70A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows local planning authorities to decline planning applications for recently refused proposals and sets out the circumstances in which this applies.

Communities and Local Government, what the material considerations were that satisfied the call-in criteria for the proposed Chinese Embassy near the Tower of London.

Call-in decisions are inherently about process and not the merits of any given planning application.I refer the hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 26 March 2019 (HCWS1452) which outlines the broad criteria for calling-in planning applications, but makes clear it is not restrictive in its application.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans not to commence provisions of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

Following Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) in October 2023, a small number of provisions were commenced by the previous government, for example relating to pavement licensing, planning enforcement and certain reforms to the compulsory purchase process.Building on these measures, in September last year, a power enabling local authorities to bring forward affordable housing, national health or educational facilities through the use of compulsory purchase without paying ‘hope value’ compensation was fully commenced.We have also made clear that we intend to commence powers contained in the LURA to improve the transparency of build out rates for residential development, including the introduction of commencement notices and progress reports. This was announced alongside the government’s response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, published on 12 December.We do not intend to commence provisions from the LURA that would cut across our commitments to streamline the planning process and unlock development, such as the Infrastructure Levy.