Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answers of 8 October 2024 to Questions 5762 and 5607 on Devolution: Norfolk and Devolution: Suffolk, what the evidential basis is for the Government's policy that a single local authority model of devolution would risk the optimal delivery of services.

This government strongly believes that the benefits of devolution are best achieved through the establishment of combined authorities or combined county authorities over sensible economic geographies and supported by a directly elected mayor. These institutions and mayors, with their regional economic competencies and status as members of the Council of Nations and Regions add the capacity and focus required to get the best from new devolved powers and funding. We have therefore decided that mayoral devolution will only be available to areas that come together to establish such institutions over a wider geography.The Government is committed to bringing meaningful devolution to Norfolk and Suffolk and stands ready to work with partners across the region on progressing a more ambitious devolution settlement, in a way that delivers the best outcomes possible the people of Norfolk and Suffolk, and which sees the right powers in the right places. We are pleased that discussions remain positive and look forward to making progress on devolution.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2820 on Private Education: Business Rates, whether business rates will be levied on (a) nurseries and (b) pre-school premises affiliated with an independent school.

The Non Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill will remove the eligibility for charitable rate relief from private schools that are charities in England. Standalone private nursery schools with their own rates bills are outside of the scope of the Bill and, where charities, will retain their relief. Private schools that provide education for pupils of compulsory school age but also have nursery classes within the school will lose their rate relief entirely unless the nursery classes are on separate premises with their own rates bill.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 28 November 2024 on Local Government Finance, HCWS265, and to the Answer of 28 November 2024 to Question 15204, if he will publish the council tax referendum principles for (a) the Greater London Authority and (b) Transport for London for the financial year 2025-26.

The local government finance policy statement 2025 to 2026 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-finance-policy-statement-2025-to-2026/local-government-finance-policy-statement-2025-to-2026), set out a proposed referendum principle of 3% for the Greater London Authority’s non police precept and a £14 flexibility for the police element. There is no separate council tax precept charged by Transport for London.

Communities and Local Government, what the average grant subsidy per unit to build an average affordable dwelling under the (a) social rent, (b) affordable rent and (c) affordable home ownership tenures was in the 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme.

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 Homes England press release of 15 October 2024, entitled Homes England invests in Schroders Capital’s Real Estate Impact Fund, whether the £50 million of funding is (a) capital spending, (b) revenue spending and (c) a financial transaction.

The Homes England investment into Schroders Capital’s Real Estate Impact Fund was announced following the government’s International Investment Summit. The investment of £50 million was a Financial Transaction from Capital Spending budgets (CDEL- FT) and sits alongside other capital from private sector investors with the aim of generating a financial return for shareholders. The commitment from Homes England will increase the ability of the fund to secure further allocations whilst also enabling the provision of new social and affordable homes and supporting town centre regeneration, key objectives of Homes England.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release of 15 October 2024 entitled Thousands of new homes to be built as government unlocks brownfield sites, what the target date is to complete the delivery of 5,200 homes; and whether 5,200 homes is the target for the whole of the 2022-25 Brownfield Land Release Fund 2.

Round three Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 land release milestones are set for 31 March 2028. Housing is then delivered up to three years after the land release milestone. The 5,200 homes forecast applies only to the Brownfield Land Release Fund 2, round three. The whole of the Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 is forecast to release land for 14,100 homes.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2024 to Question 5412 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Consultation, if she will list the consultation documents that closed between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024 that have not yet received a formal response.

This government is committed to using consultations and other forms of public engagement to support effective decision-making and delivery. We will respond to all consultations in a timely manner, in line with agreed deadlines.Within MHCLG, responsibility for managing consultations primarily sits with the relevant individual policy team. No staff are therefore specifically employed to work on consultations.Information relating to consultations under the previous administration cannot be provided, as it is not held centrally and collating it would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.

Communities and Local Government, what the (a) substantive information requested and (b) decision was for each (i) Freedom of Information Act and (ii) Environmental Information Regulation request received by her Department since the general election; and what exemption was used to (A) refuse and (B) part-refuse each request.

The Cabinet Office has responsibility for Freedom of Information policy in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and publishes information on the handling of requests at this link: Freedom of Information statistics - GOV.UK.Statistics for the period requested are attached. We have annexed the information you requested to this response.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) employer National Insurance contributions and (b) business rate relief on community pubs.

To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl Without any Government intervention, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) business rates relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier. By tapering RHL relief to 40%, rather than removing it entirely, the Government has saved the average pub, with a rateable value (RV) of £16,800, over £3,300 in 2025. The Chancellor also announced a duty cut on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint. This reduction increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6395 on MHCLG: departmental responsibilities, what the headcount number of staff is for the Policy and Strategy Unit by civil service grade.

The Deputy Prime Minister's Policy and Strategy Unit supports delivery of priorities across both her remit as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Deputy Prime Minister. The policy and strategy unit performs a similar role to equivalent units established under previous administrations.The Policy and Strategy Unit is comprised of two Deputy Directors, supported by policy advisors (at grade HEO/SEO) and senior policy advisors (at grade 7/6). The approach to recruitment and staffing levels is in line with the approach taken for these central functions under the previous administration.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2024 to Question 5412 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Consultation, how many officials in her Department are employed to work specifically on consultations.

This government is committed to using consultations and other forms of public engagement to support effective decision-making and delivery. We will respond to all consultations in a timely manner, in line with agreed deadlines.Within MHCLG, responsibility for managing consultations primarily sits with the relevant individual policy team. No staff are therefore specifically employed to work on consultations.Information relating to consultations under the previous administration cannot be provided, as it is not held centrally and collating it would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2014 to Question 5416 on Civil Dignitaries and Members: Age, for what reason the Government deems 16 and 17 year olds to be old enough to vote in (a) local and (b) Parliamentary elections but not stand in those elections.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2024, to Question 5416, the introduction of Votes at 16 is about building long lasting engagement with our democracy among young people. By engaging voters early, when they are young, we will build the foundations for their long-term participation in our electoral processes.That is why this government is rightly focused on delivering on the manifesto which it was elected on and the commitment to lower the voting age for all UK elections. As set out in the previous answer, the government has no plans to change the eligibility criteria of candidacy age for local and parliamentary elections.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6386 on Affordable Housing, whether the social rent homes target in the 2021-26 Affordable Housing Programme has increased since 9 September 2024.

As set out in the Deputy Prime Minister’s statement made on 30 July 2024 (HCSW48), we have asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise the number of Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding. The programme targets for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme remain as set out in our update on 30 July.At the Budget the Chancellor announced an immediate injection of £500 million into this Programme. This will support delivery of up to 5,000 additional homes and bidding is already open to local authorities and other social landlords. I have asked Homes England and the GLA to prioritise social rent homes in assessing those bids and allocating this funding.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7872 on Local Government: Elections, if she will update the list of years in which each council’s elections will be held with the (a) council and (b) combined authority mayoral elections expected to take place in (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.

The Government will update the list of local authority elections in England - which can be found here - to include elections for mayors for combined authorities and combined county authorities. The list already includes elections for councils and is easily found through an internet search without the need to submit a parliamentary question.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6395 MHCLG: departmental responsibilities, what work the Deputy Prime Minister's Policy and Strategy Unit does for her remit as Deputy Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister's Policy and Strategy Unit supports delivery of priorities across both her remit as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Deputy Prime Minister. The policy and strategy unit performs a similar role to equivalent units established under previous administrations.The Policy and Strategy Unit is comprised of two Deputy Directors, supported by policy advisors (at grade HEO/SEO) and senior policy advisors (at grade 7/6). The approach to recruitment and staffing levels is in line with the approach taken for these central functions under the previous administration.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2024 to Question 5420 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Pentland Communications and Sovereign Strategy, where on gov.uk details are published of meetings between special advisers and external organisations that are not senior media executives.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of external meetings held by Special Advisers are published in line with the requirements set out in guidance here.

Communities and Local Government, what her Department's policy is on (a) Ministerial and (b) official-level engagement with (i) the Muslim Association of Britain, (ii) Cage and (iii) MEND.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20228 on 24 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech entitled PM International Investment Summit Speech: 14 October 2024, whether she plans to remove (a) nutrient neutrality rules, (b) Environmental Information Assessments and (c) Strategic Environmental Assessments.

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 556 on 26 July 2024 and Question 1315 on 26 July 2024.

Communities and Local Government, whether any planning applications for national significant infrastructure development consent have been delayed from the original statutory deadline since 4 July 2024.

There has been a total of seven planning applications delayed from the original statutory deadline since 4 July 2024.They are as follows:Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant;Heckington Fen Solar;Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange;Luton Airport;Lower Thames Crossing;North Lincolnshire Green Energy Park; andWest Burton Solar.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish all correspondence between her Department and the Commissioner for Public Appointments in relation to the appointment of the MHCLG Lead Non-Executive Director on 21 October 2024.

I will place a copy of the department’s letter to the Commissioner for Public Appointments in the Library of the House in the coming days. The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments also publishes an annual list of direct appointments that the Commissioner has been consulted on.