Written questions by Hollinrake.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what discussions the Electoral Commission has had with Lancashire Police on electoral law matters relating to Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency during the 2024 General Election campaign.

Lancashire Police have confirmed they are investigating a complaint regarding a candidate's election expenses. As part of its work to support the police, the Commission has respondeded to requests for advice from Lancashire Police in relation to this matter.Candidate election offences are enforced by the police, and the Commission has no powers to investigate in this area.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answers of 23 January 2025 to Questions 25270 and 25269 on Candidates: Expenditure, if he will publish any (a) guidance and (b) advice provided by the Electoral Commission on (i) notional invoices and (ii) declarations of value of notional spending.

No invoice is required for notional spending; the legal requirement is to make a declaration of the value of the notional spending in the return. To avoid confusion, the Commission does not refer to "notional invoices" in its guidance , and this term does not appear in legislation.The Commission has published guidance on valuing notional spending. This states that candidates should make an honest and reasonable assessment of the value of the goods or services they are receiving. In practice, most parties and candidates include additional information about the nature of the spending, in case it is queried following the election. The Commission offers advice to all parties and candidates in response to their queries, in line with its published guidance.

Whether the Government plans to establish an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 19 November 2024, Official Report, PQ 11597.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25696 on Public Appointments: Political Activities, at what point in the appointment process should the public disclosure on political activity be made for a regulated public appointment.

The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires that any political activity, as defined within the Code, by successful candidates should be publicly disclosed. Generally, this is done within the wider declarations of interest process for Non-Executive Board Members, published guidance for which is set out on Gov.uk,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) end of life and (b) other palliative care services provided by the NHS on patient quality of life; and whether the new 10-year health plan for the NHS will include measures on ensuring equal access to palliative care.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including those in the hospice sector.Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. We have established 11 working groups to take forward policy development that will feed into the plan. This includes working groups focused on how care should be designed and delivered to improve healthcare equity, alongside ensuring that access to healthcare services is effective and responsive.We have launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in palliative and end of life care to take part in that process so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This public engagement process is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025, to Question 28146 on Asylum: Local Government, what the estimated aggregate budget is for (a) Grant 6 and (b) Grant 7 funding to local authorities in (i) England and (ii) the United Kingdom in the 2024-25 financial year.

I refer the Honourable Member to the Answer he received on 10 February 2025 to UIN 28146.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 26040 on Councillors and Mayors: Workplace Pensions, whether the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution has had discussions with representatives of local government on this issue since 5 July 2024.

As the Responsible Authority for the Local Government Pension Scheme, MHCLG keeps access to the scheme under regular review. As part of this regular review, the Minister for Local Government has been approached by representatives of local government about this issue.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter of 16 December 2024 to council leaders from the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, whether her Department has undertaken an equality impact assessment in relation to its decision to postpone local elections in certain areas undergoing local government reorganisation.

I can confirm that my Department has undertaken analysis fulfilling the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, in relation to the postponement for one year of the May 2025 elections to the councils specified in the Local Authorities (Changes of Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) businesses and (b) hereditaments eligible for Retail Hospitality and Leisure business rate relief which are subject to the £110,000 cap.

The Government does not collect business-level data regarding recipients of business rate reliefs. All available hereditament-level data is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils. This data does not contain specific estimates concerning hereditaments which are subject to the £110,000 cap on retail, hospitality and leisure business rate relief.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to her oral statement of 5 February 2025 on English Devolution and Local Government, Official Report, Column 766, whether she plans to follow article five of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the context of her consultation on local government restructuring.

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, sets out the process we will follow in undertaking local government reorganisation. The undertakings in the Act are consistent with the UK’s commitments under the European Charter of Local Self Government and we will continue to fully comply with all our obligations under the Charter. In formulating proposals for local government reorganisation we expect local leaders to ensure there is wide engagement with their Members of Parliament, local partners and stakeholders, residents, workforce and their representatives, and businesses in working up their proposals. Once a proposal has been submitted it will be for the Government to decide on taking a proposal forward and to consult as required by statute. Once established, the new unitarities will determine the structure of their own administrative services and terms of employment.

Communities and Local Government, how many homes for (a) social rent, (b) affordable rent and (c) low-cost ownership she expects to be built under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021 to 2026.

My department published an update on targets in respect of the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme on 30 July 2024. It can be found on gov.uk here.In October 2024, the government announced £500 million in new in-year funding for the Affordable Homes Programme. As a result of significant demand from housing providers across the country, that additional funding is already oversubscribed.In February 2025, the government announced a further allocation of £300 million to the Affordable Homes Programme. This will support the near-term delivery of more social and affordable housing, delivering up to 2,800 new homes with more than half being Social Rent homes.At the multi-year Spending Review later this year, the government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 24239 on Local Government: Constituencies, whether he plans to review the (a) size, (b) boundaries, (c) names and (d) number of ceremonial counties.

Ceremonial counties are an important element of local traditions which support the identity and cultures of many of our local communities, giving people a sense of belonging, pride and community spirit, and are defined by historical borders and areas that exist primarily for ceremonial purposes. There are no intentions to realign or alter these boundaries.

Communities and Local Government, what funding is being provided to support more localities to (a) produce and (b) update neighbourhood plans.

There is no requirement to update a neighbourhood plan. However, we recognise some communities may wish to update their plans in response to changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.Groups continue to receive the financial and technical support they have been awarded for both the production and updating of neighbourhood plans.We will make announcements in due course regarding the new support contract for 2025-26 and beyond, but intend to open for new applications from Summer 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 23350 on Council Tax, whether her estimate of the (a) total level and (b) annual increase in average Band D council tax in England including parish precepts has changed since the publication of the final local government finance settlement on 3 February 2025.

Council tax levels are decided by local authorities, taking account of their local circumstances. The Government will publish data on the council tax levels set by all authorities and the average Band D bill for 2025-26, in England, in March.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that proposed larger local authorities do not impact economies of scale.

The government’s long-term vision is for simpler structures which put the right powers at the right scale. On the 5 February, I formally invited proposals for local government reorganisation from all the councils in two tier areas and their neighbouring unitary councils.The invitation letter sets out the criteria against which proposals will be assessed in coming to a decision on implementation. These include the criteria that new unitary structures must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks; reflect local identity considerations; and enable stronger community engagement and genuine opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment. As set out in the published criteria for proposals, proposals should be for sensible economic areas, with an appropriate tax base which does not create an undue advantage or disadvantage for one part of the area.It is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of their whole area.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21621 on Unitary Councils, whether her Department has issued guidance on the (a) number of electoral wards, (b) total number of councillors and (c) residents per councillor in each new unitary council.

My department is working closely with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) so that they are involved at the appropriate time to ensure fair electoral arrangements across the area of any new unitary local authorities.The LGBCE’s approach during electoral reviews is that there are no set ratios of the number of electors each councillor should represent. The ratio flows from the number of councillors an authority should have. An authority has a unique set of characteristics which determines this and the LGBCE’s approach is outlined in its electoral review guidance.

Whether the forthcoming NHS 10-year plan will include commitments to reform funding for (a) palliative and (b) end-of-life care.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including those in the hospice sector.Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. We have established 11 working groups to take forward policy development that will feed into the plan. This includes working groups focused on how care should be designed and delivered to improve healthcare equity, alongside ensuring that access to healthcare services is effective and responsive.We have launched a significant public engagement process, and we would encourage all those with an interest in palliative and end of life care to take part in that process so that we can fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. This public engagement process is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the reliability of the Pedestrian Comfort Assessment prepared by Arup used by the Metropolitan Police to withdraw their objection.

An appointed Inspector held a public inquiry which heard a range of evidence for and against the proposals in question.As this case will come before ministers in MHCLG to determine, it would not be appropriate to comment further.Decisions on planning applications are based on material planning considerations.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what guidance the Electoral Commission has issued to political (a) parties, (b) agents and (c) candidates on the (i) use of battlebuses in regulated election period and (ii) circumstances in which their use should be declared as a local candidate expense.

The Commission has published guidance for parties and candidates and agents on spending by the party to promote a candidate during the candidate regulated period.The guidance sets out how to identify whether an activity promotes a candidate, and if so, how this should be reported. In most cases, activity promoting a candidate must be reported on the candidate return, either as notional spending or as spending authorised by the candidate. In the case of a battlebus visit, this will depend on the content of the event and the role of the candidate or agent in directing, encouraging, or authorising the spending.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to local government on the number of people standing for election to local councils.

Local government reorganisation, can help strengthen local leadership, improve services, save taxpayers’ money, and improve local accountability.The department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of reorganisation on the number of people standing for election in local councils. We recognise that Councillors at all levels of local government do a tremendous job in serving their communities day-in and day-out, helping deliver for their local area. All councillors are frontline councillors.We know people value the role of governance at the community scale and that can be a concern when local government is reorganised. The letter that I sent on 5 February to all councils in two-tier areas and neighbouring unitaries inviting proposals for reorganisation set out that “New unitary structures should enable stronger community level governance and deliver genuine opportunity for neighbourhood empowerment”.