Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on offering loans to property (a) companies and (b) developers.

It is for local authorities to determine their own capital strategies given they are best placed to understand local needs and are accountable to the local electorate.In doing so, local authorities have a duty to comply with the Prudential Framework and must have regard to statutory guidance to ensure plans are prudent, affordable, and sustainable. Guidance for local authorities on investments was published under the previous government. A copy can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025to Question 54202 on Historic Environment Records, which sections of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 her Department (a) intends, (b) does not intend and (c) is still reviewing whether to commence any remaining provisions that have not yet been commenced.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 17127 on 7 January 2025. We are giving consideration to how we implement those LURA provisions which support our growth objectives and will provide updates in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54896 on Civil Service: Recruitment, what the expected level of office attendance is in each of her Department’s offices outside London; and whether civil servants recruited under location-neutral positions have the same expectation of workplace attendance.

In line with this department’s policy, civil servants in offices outside London are generally expected to attend the office for 50% of their working time over a three-month period. Some exceptions apply where specific circumstances limit attendance to less than 50%. Senior Civil Servants are expected to attend an MHCLG office or external location for 60% of their time, regardless of their location. Colleagues who have home-working contracts account for less than 1% of the department’s workforce and do not have the same office attendance expectations. All other staff are contracted to fixed MHCLG locations where the same expectations on office attendance apply. MHCLG maintains an ambition to move to 60% attendance for all staff in future.

When the Cabinet Secretary plans to respond to the correspondence of 15 May 2025 from the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton on the Prime Minister’s and Home Secretary’s visit to Cambridgeshire.

The Cabinet Office responded to this letter on 23rd June.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the spending to AtkinsRéalis UK Limited, reference Consultancy was for.

The contract with AtkinsRéalis UK Limited is for the audit of the government approved accreditation schemes who have the responsibility for maintaining the quality of energy performance certificates. This contract provides assurance that the requirements of section 22 of the Energy Performance of the Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 are being met.

Communities and Local Government, what role the Government plays in the setting of municipal parking fines for (a) off-street and (b) on-street parking in England outside London.

Local authorities are empowered by law to decide on appropriate parking arrangements, within the legal framework provided by the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA). In England (excluding Greater London), penalty charges are set by enforcement authorities under the TMA. They must accord with guidelines set by the Secretary of State for Transport in schedule 3 of the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022. Guidelines on Levels of Charges set out in the 2022 Regulations provide two different penalty bands for Local Authorities to choose from, and requires Local Authorities under each band to issue penalties at different rates depending on the seriousness of the contravention. These are: Band 1 (£60 for higher contraventions and £40 for lower contraventions) and Band 2 (£70 for higher contraventions and £50 for lower contraventions).

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the spending to ATKINSRÉALIS PPS LIMITED reference CSSP - F&G was for.

£99,053.21 was paid in March for works completed in February 2025 for professional services rendered in connection to the Client Side Support provision for the Building Safety Fund and ACM programmes. CSSPs support applicants by providing technical advice and overseeing remediation work so the projects deliver quality and timely remediation.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton of 21 May 2025.

The department aims to respond to correspondence within 20 working days.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37222 on Parking: Regulation, for what reason her Department's consultation entitled Private parking code of practice: call for evidence, published in July 2023 was insufficient.

Following Judicial Review challenges form the parking industry in 2022, former Government temporarily withdrew the Private Parking Code of Practice to review the levels of private parking charges and additional fee caps. As part of that review my department launched a Call for Evidence in July 2023. The purpose of the Call for Evidence was to gather information and expertise from various source to inform the review and determine what the appropriate levels of these caps should be. The purpose of the forthcoming consultation will be to consult on the policy proposals for these elements of the Code. As was stated in the 2023 Call for Evidence, it was always the department’s intention to consult on options for private parking charges and debt recovery fees after the Call for Evidence.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 55308 on Council Tax: Second Homes, what the reference numbers are for each of the Valuation Tribunal cases relating to (a) council tax liability, (b) the second homes council tax premium and (c) other issues relating to second homes.

The Valuation Tribunal Service offer an online search engine which the hon Member may use to search any appeals relating to council tax liability, the second homes premium or second homes more broadly. This is available on gov.uk here.

Whether the Attorney General has appointed a special advocate in relation to the Chinese Embassy called-in planning application and public inquiry.

The Attorney General has not been asked to appoint a special advocate.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has received representations from London Councils on the shortfall in compensatory funding to London boroughs for the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.

The department actively encouraged representations from stakeholder bodies, including London Councils, as part of the provisional 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement consultation in December last year. The department has continued to engage with stakeholder bodies on issues related to the 2025–26 Local Government Finance Settlement, including on the rise in employer National Insurance contributions following the government’s decision to provide £515 million in support for the increased costs faced by local authorities in England.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, April 2025, published on 30 May 2025, if she will publish the research commissioned from the Centre for Homelessness.

The Centre for Homelessness were commissioned to undertake a programme of ‘Test and Learn’ trials and a systems-wide evaluation of homelessness and rough sleeping.The principles guiding the government’s publication and release of social research can be found on gov.uk here. An interim report was published in February this year, available on gov.uk here.

With reference to the policy paper entitled The plan for drivers, published on 2 October 2023, whether she plans to publish a consultation on revising guidance on the public’s right to challenge local authority parking policies.

Local traffic authorities in England are responsible for providing on-street parking facilities ensuring that their parking strategy takes account of transport and planning policies to meet the needs of various road users. They have an explicit duty under section 16 of the Traffic Management Act (TMA) 2004, to manage their road network to reduce traffic congestion and disruption. To help them achieve this, in 2015 the Government published statutory guidance to local authorities. This was to ensure that local businesses, the residential community and other road users have a recognised voice, in the exercise of the Network Management Duty in relation to parking. That guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-challenge-parking-policies.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 52812 on Affordable Housing, what her definition of a generation is.

In line with common usage, a generation is taken to mean around 25 years.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May 2025 to Question 52712 on Local Government: Elections, whether the proposed abolition of a council would meet the criteria.

If the Secretary of State decides to implement a council’s proposal for unitary local government, secondary legislation, which will be subject to Parliamentary approval, will be required to abolish existing councils, establish new structures and make transitional arrangements. Those transitional arrangements, consistent with precedent, would include replacing scheduled local elections with elections for the new councils. Those councils will operate initially as new unitary authorities, before going live the following April.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 51874 on Planning Permissions: Impact Assessment, if she will publish the equality impact assessment produced for each of the changes listed.

There is no legal duty to publish equality impact assessments. The impact assessments relating to revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024 can be found here. The Secretary of State complied with her public sector equality duty (PSED) under s149 of the Equality Act 2010 in issuing the planning practice guidance updates.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 97 of the National Planning Policy Framework, published on 7 February 2025, what criteria are used to designate a town centre.

Town centres are defined in the National Planning Policy Framework Annex 2: Glossary.

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

Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Ltd is providing technical planning advice relating to a small number of planning decisions to be taken by the Department.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to support the freedom to pray.

Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right, and one which underpins many of the others.  Any individual or group is free to express and practice religion, views and beliefs, but they have a duty to behave responsibly and to respect other people’s rights.