Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, by what dates her Department is required to (a) publish and (b) ratify the local government finance settlement for 2025-26; and what the deadlines are for local authorities to publish their (i) budget and (ii) council tax requirements for 2025-26.

Precepting authorities must set their council tax by 1 March each year and billing authorities must set their council tax by 11 March. Within 21 days of setting their council tax, billing authorities are required to publish details of the total council tax charges in their area. There are no set dates by which the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) must be published.To allow councils to set their budgets in good time, ahead of the 1 March deadline for setting council tax bills, the Department should publish and put before Parliament the final Local Government Finance Settlement 2025/26 before the end of February 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 8190 on Social Services: Finance, for what reason a decision on council tax (a) referendums and (b) associated thresholds will not be taken until the spending review, in the context of earlier timetabling requirements for the 2025-26 local government finance settlement.

The government has published the local government finance policy statement setting out referendum thresholds for 2025-26. This is available here.

Communities and Local Government, what her Department's practice is on ministerial attendance at (a) meetings and (b) conferences (i) sponsored and (ii) connected to firms associated with the Grenfell Tower fire.

The government has written to firms associated with the failing identified by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, as the first step to stopping them being awarded government contracts. While this process continues, Ministers within my department will avoid meetings and events associated with firms identified as contributing to these horrific failings through their systematic dishonesty and manipulative practices.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the early release of prisoners on levels of homelessness.

Prisons, probation and local authorities worked closely together to mitigate the risk of homelessness during the standard determinate sentence (SDS40) release scheme. MHCLG is working closely with the MoJ to build on lessons learned through SDS40.The MoJ is currently collating data relating to the September and October SDS release dates and this will be published.

Communities and Local Government, if she will provide details of (a) gifts, (b) donations, (c) donations in kind and (d) hospitality that Ministers in her Department have accepted that have since been paid back to the original donor by the relevant Minister; and under which declaration regime each of those were originally declared.

All gifts and donations are declared in line with the Ministerial Code and published on gov.uk in the usual way. No gifts or donations have been paid back by the department.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 October 2024 on Social and Affordable Housing: Next Steps, HCWS169, what the tenure mix will be for the 5,000 new social and affordable homes.

At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor announced a one year top up of £500 million to the Affordable Homes Programme. This is expected to deliver up to 5,000 additional homes under the programme. The delivery of the additional homes will follow the targets and parameters of the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme.I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 30 July 2024 (HCWS48), which announced flexibilities for affordable housing delivery in London including allowing some homes to complete by March 2030.The deadline for housing starts on site for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme is March 2026. The deadlines for completions can vary. For homes outside London, completion dates are set out in Homes England’s guidance for applicants here.The tenure mix will depend on the bids from local authorities and housing associations, to be assessed by Homes England and the Greater London Authority, and I have asked those organisations to prioritise Social Rent homes with this extra funding.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 October 2024 on Social and Affordable Housing: Next Steps, HCWS169, what the target date is for the 5,000 new homes to be (a) started and (b) completed.

At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor announced a one year top up of £500 million to the Affordable Homes Programme. This is expected to deliver up to 5,000 additional homes under the programme. The delivery of the additional homes will follow the targets and parameters of the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme.I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 30 July 2024 (HCWS48), which announced flexibilities for affordable housing delivery in London including allowing some homes to complete by March 2030.The deadline for housing starts on site for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme is March 2026. The deadlines for completions can vary. For homes outside London, completion dates are set out in Homes England’s guidance for applicants here.The tenure mix will depend on the bids from local authorities and housing associations, to be assessed by Homes England and the Greater London Authority, and I have asked those organisations to prioritise Social Rent homes with this extra funding.

Communities and Local Government, what the affordable housing grant funding rates are per unit in London under the Accelerated Funding Route by type of affordable housing tenure.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government delegates delivery of the government’s Affordable Homes Programme to Homes England (outside London) and to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in London.The government agrees budgets and targets with both agencies to deliver the programme’s overall targets for additional homes and specific types of tenure.In awarding contracts under the programme Homes England and the GLA assess the need for grant on a site-by-site basis.In agreeing how much grant a project requires they will take into account the costs for building out the site with how much grant is needed to make that project viable, and the overall value for money for the programme.

Communities and Local Government, what information (a) her Department and (b) Homes England holds on the average grant awarded per unit for new (i) affordable and (ii) social rent dwellings in (A) England, (B) London and (C) England outside London under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 to date.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government delegates delivery of the government’s Affordable Homes Programme to Homes England (outside London) and to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in London.The government agrees budgets and targets with both agencies to deliver the programme’s overall targets for additional homes and specific types of tenure.In awarding contracts under the programme Homes England and the GLA assess the need for grant on a site-by-site basis.In agreeing how much grant a project requires they will take into account the costs for building out the site with how much grant is needed to make that project viable, and the overall value for money for the programme.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 28 October 2024 on Social and Affordable Housing: Next Steps, HCWS169, if she will make an estimate of the (a) number of Right to Buy sales and (b) associated funding for replacement dwellings in each of the next four years.

The Review of the Increased Right to Buy Discounts introduced in 2012 includes figures on the impact of the new reduced maximum discounts.We estimate that an average of 1,700 sales will take place annually which will generate, on average, approximately £250 million of net receipts every year.Annex A of the Review outlines the assumptions about future sales and receipts on which the Right to Buy reforms are based.As confirmed at Budget, the government is allowing councils to retain the full capital receipt generated by a Right to Buy sale to support the delivery of replacement dwellings.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had meetings with representatives of the Chinese government since 4 July 2024.

Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency agenda.An independent Planning Inspector will hold a public inquiry at which interested parties will be able to put forward evidence and representations. These will be taken into account when a final decision is made.Following the inquiry, the Inspector’s report and recommendation will be sent to MHCLG, and Planning Ministers will then reach a decision on whether to grant planning permission.

Communities and Local Government, what information (a) her Department and (b) Homes England hold on the average grant awarded per unit for new affordable dwellings for homeownership in (A) England, (B) London and (C) England outside London under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 to date.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government delegates delivery of the government’s Affordable Homes Programme to Homes England (outside London) and to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in London.The government agrees budgets and targets with both agencies to deliver the programme’s overall targets for additional homes and specific types of tenure.In awarding contracts under the programme Homes England and the GLA assess the need for grant on a site-by-site basis.In agreeing how much grant a project requires they will take into account the costs for building out the site with how much grant is needed to make that project viable, and the overall value for money for the programme.

Communities and Local Government, what is the average grant awarded per unit for (a) London Living Rent and (b) London affordable rent under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021 to 2026.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government delegates delivery of the government’s Affordable Homes Programme to Homes England (outside London) and to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in London.The government agrees budgets and targets with both agencies to deliver the programme’s overall targets for additional homes and specific types of tenure.In awarding contracts under the programme Homes England and the GLA assess the need for grant on a site-by-site basis.In agreeing how much grant a project requires they will take into account the costs for building out the site with how much grant is needed to make that project viable, and the overall value for money for the programme.

Communities and Local Government, how many civil servants other than special advisers from his Department attended this year’s Labour Party Conference.

Guidance on Party Conferences is published on gov.uk and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-and-party-conferences-guidance(opens in a new tab).This is applied appropriately and robustly in MHCLG. There is no record of any breach of this policy.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has received representations from trade unions on introducing a four-day working week for civil servants working in her Department.

The department is aware of a campaign by members of the Public and Commercial Services trade union (PCS) on the introduction of a four-day week. No formal representations have been made to the department.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) interests and (b) political activities Mo Baines declared when she was appointed as Lead Non-Executive Director.

Relevant information will be published in due course as part of the annual publication of board members' interests.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 8688 on Affordable Housing: Construction, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) spending profile and (b) contractual commitment profile of the 2021-26 programme with the (i) 2011-15 and (ii) 2015-18 programme.

The National Audit Office’s report into the Affordable Homes Programme since 2015, which can be found here, assessed the programme’s management and whether it achieved the intended benefits. The report captured a range of helpful data and made a number of key findings.As we confirmed in July, the previous government agreed but did not publish a reduction in the 2021-26 programme's delivery targets from “up to 180,000 homes should economic conditions allow” to between 110,000-130,000.This government will seek to learn lessons from earlier affordable housing programmes as we work to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her speech at the Local Government Association Conference of 24 October 2024, whether she plans to end the allocation of funding to local government by bidding.

The government is committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to return the local government sector to a sustainable position. This will be done in partnership with local government and on the principle of giving forward notice and certainty to allow time for councils to plan.To further support the sector, we will end time-consuming competitive bidding processes and cut burdensome reporting requirements around government grants - allowing local authorities to focus on delivering services for their residents. We will also reduce the number of restrictive grants, and consolidate them into the Local Government Finance Settlement wherever possible.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the extent to which local authorities are meeting their obligations under the Local Government Transparency Code to publish up to date information.

The purpose of the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 (the Code) is to make it easier for the public to directly hold their councils to account, not as a means for central government to check up on local authorities. Therefore, the government does not monitor compliance with the Code.If there were concerns about a local authorities’ compliance with the Code, a complaint could be made to the local authority’s Monitoring Officer, or via their complaints procedure. It is possible to make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman where the usual complaints procedures have been exhausted, or to make a Freedom of Information request if local authorities continue to fail in fulfilling their duties under the Code.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 10435 on Government Departments: Trade Unions, what the check-off arrangements in her Department are.

The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government honours the historic contractual rights of employees to pay subscriptions via a check off arrangement. Existing payroll mechanisms are in place to facilitate this.