Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to introduce legislation to establish local versions of the Public Accounts Committee.

The government remains committed to enhancing accountability and scrutiny of local public spending in Strategic Authorities.The English Devolution White Paper outlines the government’s ambition to go further in this area, including exploring a Local Public Accounts Committee model. It remains our ambition to do this. We are developing policy options on this, working with Mayoral Combined Authorities to test our thinking. The Government will confirm its policy approach and any supporting legislation that may be required to advance these in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has had discussions with local authorities on twinning with locations in the Occupied Territories.

Local authority twinning arrangements are matters for those authorities. The department does not routinely discuss such arrangements with local authorities.

Whether she plans to seek Parliamentary approval for the revised Airports National Policy Statement before submitting the infrastructure planning application for Heathrow Airport expansion.

The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the Government will review the Airports National Policy Statement. When conducting the review, the Secretary of State will comply with the requirements in the Planning Act 2008, including consultation, publicity and parliamentary requirements. When the ANPS has been reviewed, and depending on the outcome of the review, it will be for scheme promoters to submit a Development Consent Order application for a third runway scheme.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 57653 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Islamophobia, what the cost was of the Islamophobia training.

DESNZ is committed to creating a culture where all colleagues feel valued and supported, in line with our ‘Inclusive’ value. DESNZ follows cross-Government guidance for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion expenditure, including reporting on all external spend. The training delivered by the Anti-Islamophobia Working Group cost £350.

Communities and Local Government, how many new build homes were given an Energy Performance Certificate in 2024-25.

This data is publicly available here: Check how this service is performing – GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54885 on Private Rented Housing: Energy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the increased Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards on private sector rents.

I refer the member to the answer I gave to him on 9 June to Question UIN 54885.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the introduction of RdSAP 10 on the unit cost of an Energy Performance Certificate.

The Introduction of RdSAP 10 improves the accuracy of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assessments, helping households better understand their energy use. The fees charged are not set by government and reflect the commercial decisions of individual assessors or their employers. RdSAP 10 delivers more accurate assessments and clearer recommendations for property owners. This supports better outcomes for consumers and enhances the credibility of EPCs.

Communities and Local Government, on what date she resigned from Unite.

The list of Ministers’ Interests will be updated, and published, in the usual way.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the goods or services commissioned from HM Treasury entitled subscription were.

The Department employs a number of analysts and some are members of the Government Economic Service and Government Social Research professions. The HMT subscription line covers payment of a range of membership costs for both these professions.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department made of the implications for her policies of the Molior London Quarterly Report published in April 2025.

The government is acutely aware of the housing delivery challenge in London. We are committed to working in partnership with the Mayor of London, London Boroughs, and other partners to significantly increase rates of housebuilding in the capital as part of our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 5.1 of the report of the Ministerial Envoys to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to Ministers, published on 9 July 2025, if she will make it her policy to ask the Mayor to renew the long-term lease for Mudchute Farm.

The statutory intervention in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets put in place a team of Ministerial Envoys to work comprehensively within the Council to oversee and support its work to improve. This includes supporting the Council’s work to improve the openness and transparency of its decision making. The Ministerial Envoys do not take or assess the impact of decisions relating to specific cases; the responsibility for which remains with the Council.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 5.1 of the report of the Ministerial Envoys to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to Ministers, published on 9 July 2025, what assessment the Ministerial Envoys have made of the potential impact of the council not renewing long-term leases for community groups in relation to (a) The Old Ship pub in Limehouse, (b) the Bethnal Green Boxing Club, (c) Millwall Rugby Club, (d) Mudchute Farm, (e) Stifford Centre, (f) Glamis Hall and (g) the Attlee Centre on community relations.

The statutory intervention in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets put in place a team of Ministerial Envoys to work comprehensively within the Council to oversee and support its work to improve. This includes supporting the Council’s work to improve the openness and transparency of its decision making. The Ministerial Envoys do not take or assess the impact of decisions relating to specific cases; the responsibility for which remains with the Council.

Communities and Local Government, whether the (a) Local Government Association and (b) Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London statutory joint committee is subject to the (a) Freedom of Information Act 2000 and (b) Environmental Information Regulations.

My understanding is that both the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London statutory joint committee (PATROL) are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the publication MHCLG: spending over £25,000, May 2025, published on 30 June 2025, what the purpose was of the ZenCity Polling; and which policy areas it related to.

MHCLG is utilising ZenCity’s tools to conduct pulse surveys across the 75 communities that are part of the Plan for Neighbourhoods programme. Polling data will be used to help Plan for Neighbourhood Boards understand local priorities.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60597 on Neighbourhood Plans, for what reason her Department is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.

Following the Spending Review, my Department announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.After more than a decade of taxpayer support, we believe that support for neighbourhood planning groups should be possible without further government funding.Parish and Town Councils have access to their own resources which they can choose to use for neighbourhood planning if they wish.With the end to the national structure for support, planning consultants should be able to innovate and offer groups lower cost support more targeted at their particular ambitions and needs.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 60843 on Civil Service: Equality, if she will place in the Library a copy of the (a) training and (b) support materials provided to civil servants for the training events held by (i) Inclusive Employers and (ii) Diversify World.

Materials associated with the Inclusive Employers training are the intellectual property of the provider and cannot be published by the Department for contractual reasons.The Diversify World Black History Month event was a presentation without support materials.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish her Department's response to the Environmental Information Regulations request reference IR2025/10529, of 2 April 2025.

The Department's response has already been provided to the applicant who requested the information in question. The government does not routinely publish responses to information requests.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 60044 on Cities and Local Growth Unit; why the unit was closed; and whether for what policy reason the joint unit has its functions have been reassigned.

The decision to close the Cities and Local Growth Unit was taken jointly by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and Department for Business and Trade to focus resources on the ambitious agendas of both Departments. The Departments continue to work closely on all matters of shared interest.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's transparency data, MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025 published on 28 April 2025, what was the full specification of the research undertaken by the Faith & Belief Forum on on inter faith.

The Department provided funding to the Faith & Belief Forum to lead a national consultation and analysis exercise on Inter Faith Week 2024 and the wider inter faith landscape, to inform the development of future policy and delivery. I will arrange for the full research specification to be deposited in the House of Commons Library.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the her Department's transparency data, MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what was the full specification of the research commissioned from Manning Gottlieb OMD on research services.

The referenced expenditure in the Department’s transparency data was incorrectly categorised as 'research services'. This spending did not relate to research activities commissioned from Manning Gottlieb OMD. The invoices related to paid media spending for our Make Things Right social housing campaign on digital channels including paid search through Google and paid social media advertising on Reddit and Facebook. The Department is reviewing its processes to ensure accurate categorisation of expenditure in future transparency publications.