Written questions by Hollinrake.

Whether her Department has had discussions with Oxfordshire County Council on its planned introduction of traffic filters by Oxford in 2026.

The Department has not had discussions with Oxfordshire County Council on its planned introduction of traffic filters by Oxford in 2026. Local authorities are responsible for managing their roads and are accountable to their communities.

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

Deputy Prime Ministers are rightly supported in their role to deliver the additional responsibilities.The Deputy Prime Minister’s responsibilities are set out on Gov.uk and any such plans would be set out in the usual way.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether water companies are permitted to fund social tariffs by passing costs to other residential customers.

Social Tariffs are voluntary schemes designed and administered by water companies to provide a discounted water bill to qualifying customers who are unable to pay their water bill in full. These schemes are permitted to be funded through cross subsidies from customers under s44 Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 57460 on Policy, what her planned timetable is for the revision of the National Policy Statement on airport expansion.

The government supports airport expansion and has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow. It expects any proposals to be brought forward by the summer and is clear that any scheme must be delivered in line with the UK’s legal, climate and environmental obligations.Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.The Secretary of State will determine the scope of a review of the ANPS and we cannot speculate on the scope nor the timings of the review at this stage.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56482 on Civil Service: London allowances, if she will take steps to ensure that the London weighted salaries for civil servants only apply to employees that work in London.

MHCLG has separate National pay ranges and London pay ranges. The MHCLG London pay range is only applicable to colleagues formally assigned to 2 Marsham St and MHCLG’s Hemel Hempstead office.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, what assumptions have been made on the level of the (a) shire district, (b) police precept, (c) parish precept, (d) combined authority mayoral precept and (e) fire precept council tax referendum principles in each year of the Spending Review from 2026-27.

For the shire district and fire precept, the Spending Review assumes that precept levels increase in line with those in 2025/26 over the coming SR period (3%/£5, and £5 respectively). The SR assumes a fire precept level of £5. No assumptions were made in relation to mayoral combined authorities and parishes, as these have not historically been subject to referendum principles. The police council tax precept remains subject to final decision on precept levels which will be set out in the annual police funding settlement in the usual way. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 62597 on 2 July 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Rough sleeping to be decriminalised after 200 years, published on 10 June 2025, how the approach to a replacement regime differs to that of the previous Government.

As we work to fulfil our manifesto commitment to get the country back on track to ending homelessness, one principle must be clear – no one should be criminalised for simply sleeping rough. We will be the government that repeals the Vagrancy Act 1824.This government does not wish to target or criminalise individuals who are begging to sustain themselves or who are sleeping rough because they have nowhere else to go. This is why this government is introducing new specific offences which deal with specific risks. These targeted replacement measures include a new offence of facilitating begging for gain, and an offence of trespassing with the intention of committing a crime, both of which were previously provided for under the 1824 Act.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 56711 on Council tax: valuation, how many complaints have been made to (a) Tier 1 complaints process, (b) Tier 2 complaints process and (c) the Adjudicator's Office in relation delays in council tax banding appeals by the Valuation Office Agency in the last 12 months.

Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, the VOA received the following number of complaints about delays: Tier 1 – 677Tier 2 - 103Adjudicator’s Office (Council Tax complaints)– 9 For context, on average the VOA deals with around 60,000 cases each year in England and Wales where customers wish to challenge their council tax band.

For what reason council tax is not included in the measure of consumer price inflation.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 1st July is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57280 on Local Government: Reorganisation, what estimate she has made of the change in public sector net borrowing from local government reorganisation in each of the next four financial years; and whether she plans to limit the levels of that reorganisation.

HM Treasury has not undertaken an assessment of the impact of local government reorganisation on local authority borrowing nor the impact on public sector net borrowing. The OBR will continue to update its forecast for overall local government borrowing at each fiscal event, in line with standard practice. The government announced its plans for local government reorganisation in the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December 2024. The ambition is to replace two-tier authorities with suitably sized unitary councils to create simpler structures, strengthen disjointed services and help councils pursue efficiencies. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government received interim plan responses from all areas in March. Surrey councils submitted their final proposals on 9 May 2025, and all other areas invited will be submitting their final proposals later this year. The government will set out next steps in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54866 on Alcoholic Drinks, if she will remove the exclusion of the direct manufacture of alcoholic beverages from paragraph 2.12 of the UK Government Green Financing Framework.

The Green Financing Framework, published in 2021, explains how proceeds from green gilts and NS&I’s retail Green Savings Bonds will finance public expenditures that demonstrate a direct and positive environmental impact. The Framework includes guidelines on the types of expenditures that can be included in the Programme. Eligible expenditures are drawn from departments’ confirmed Spending Review settlements and assessed on the basis of their contribution to the government’s climate and environmental objectives. The Framework excludes financing of the direct manufacture of alcoholic beverages, alongside other named exclusions, in line with international convention and investor expectations for green bond frameworks. This approach enables the UK’s green gilts to be accessible to the greatest possible pool of investors, improving value-for-money.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 12 June 2025 on Local Government Best Value, HCWS697, which (a) external individuals, (b) external organisations, (c) hon. Members and (d) councillors requested escalating the statutory intervention to a Commissioner-led model before 12 June 2025.

On 12 June I announced that I was minded to exercise powers of direction under section 15(5) and 15(6) of the Local Government Act 1999 to ensure London Borough of Croydon’s compliance with the Best Value Duty. As I told the House, before making this announcement I carefully considered all relevant material including the Improvement and Assurance Panel’s latest report and the Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer Challenge. I sought representation from the London Borough of Croydon and any interested parties on my proposals by 25 June. I am now carefully considering all representations received before making my final decision.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 55222 on Film: Business Rates, how many film studios in England will be subject to the higher multiplier on Rateable Values above £500,000, from April 2026.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced an intention to introduce a higher business rates multiplier on the most valuable properties – those with Rateable Values (RVs) of £500,000 and above – from April 2026 to fund permanently lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with RVs below £500,000. The next revaluation will take effect from April 2026. The VOA are required to publish a draft of all properties’ new RVs this year, at which point it will be clear how many film studios will be in scope of the new higher multiplier. Eligible film studios in England benefit from 40 per cent business rates relief on their total liability. Business rates bills are calculated by applying the relevant multiplier first and so film studios will receive 40 per cent relief on their total liability.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May 2025 to Question 52627 on Night Time Industries Association, what correspondence her Department has received from the Night Time Industries Association since 4 July 2024.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Night Time Industries Association wrote to the Department on 29 October 2024. Their letter was passed to the Department for Business and Trade for a response.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 57269 on Planning Permission, if she will introduce a policy requiring plain English in planning documents produced by her Department.

The government has no plans to introduce a specific policy related to the use of plain English in planning documents. We would expect local planning authorities to ensure that planning documents are clear and easy to understand.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59321 on Police: Finance, what the grant funding to police is in cash terms in each financial year between 2024-25 and 2028-29.

The police settlement is an annual process and allocations will be confirmed for 2026-27 later this year.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58054 on Fast Food, whether local authority powers under the National Planning Policy Framework to block new fast-food outlets near schools applies to sandwich shops.

It is for local planning authorities, when receiving a planning application, to consider whether, given the type of food and service to be provided at the location proposed, they consider the outlet to be either a hot food takeaway or a fast food outlet.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has published guidance to local authorities on transferring internal council (a) personal data and (b) papers to political parties where such information is not already available in the public domain.

MHCLG has not published guidance of this nature. Local authorities must comply with the FOI Act in relation to access to information held by public bodies, with GDPR guidelines in relation to personal data, and with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) statutory codes and guidance.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59314 on Local Government Finance, what the grant funding to local government is in cash terms in each financial year between 2024-25 and 2028-29.

The Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) for 2024-25 made available £64.7 billion for local government, a cash increase in core spending power of 7.5% compared with 2023-24. The LGFS for 2025-26 made available over £69 billion, a cash increase in core spending power of 6.8% compared with 2024-25. This year’s Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the LGFS within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29, an average overall cash increase in local authority core spending power of 4.5% per year. Further information will be made available as part of the provisional LGFS later this year, which will provide the first multi-year settlement for local government in a decade.

Communities and Local Government, how many Homes England staff are undergoing redeployment.

Homes England have no staff currently undergoing redeployment.