Written questions by Hollinrake.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Downing Street press release entitled PM call with President Xi Jinping of China: 23 August 2024, what discussions the Prime Minister had with President Xi Jinping during the telephone call on the proposed Chinese Embassy in London.

During his phone call with President Xi on 23 August 2024, the Prime Minister set out his priorities for his government, including national security, secure borders and economic stability.The leaders discussed areas of shared collaboration, and potential areas of cooperation between the UK and China, including on trade, the economy and education.As permanent members of the UN Security Council, the leaders agreed on the importance of close working in areas such as climate change and global security.A readout of this discussion can be found on gov.uk.

What recent estimate he has made of the number of headcount members of the Government Communication Service; and what estimate he has made of the number of embedded communications across central government that are not included with the Government Communication Service.

Government Communications is made up of around 6,000 professional communicators from across the UK, supporting and promoting the work of 25 ministerial departments, 21 non-ministerial departments and over 300 agencies and other public bodies. The list provided for the response to IR2025/05101 breaks this down further, and will be submitted for entry into the House of Commons library. The Government Communication Service headcount can be found on Gov.uk at this link here.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has received representations from the Mayor of London on the provision in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to disqualify a person from being a mayor and a Member of Parliament simultaneously.

My department has engaged with Mayors and the local government sector ahead of publication of the English Devolution White Paper, where this policy was introduced. The post of mayor is a significant role at the forefront of delivering change and demands the full attention of any post holder. That is why the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will prohibit individuals from holding the office of Member of Parliament (or being a member of the devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and mayor simultaneously. This is already the case for Mayors who hold Police and Crime Commissioner responsibilities.

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, 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, with reference to the Government’s Elections Strategy, published on 17 July 2025, whether prepaid cards will be permitted as voter identification.

Prepaid cards will be accepted as voter ID if they are issued by a UK bank and display the elector’s name.We will be bringing forward the relevant legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

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.

With reference to the press release entitled Senior business leaders bolster Treasury board of 13 August 2025, whether the three new Board members had declarable political activity.

Appointments to the HMT Board are regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Sir Charlie Mayfield, Edward Twiddy and Jenny Scott have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

What meetings the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has had with business organisations arranged through the (a) Labour Infrastructure Forum and (b) Bradshaw Advisory since July 2024.

Departments publish a quarterly register detailing Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations. These returns will be made available on GOV.UK in line with the usual publication schedule.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has issued guidance to ambassadors on their participation in (a) fundraising and (b) other party political activity.

All members of the Senior Civil Service are subject to the Civil Service Management Code.

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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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.