Every parliamentary written question tabled by Kevin Hollinrake this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1,261–1,280 of 2,926 · this parliament
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the guidance entitled Guidance for the management of Private Office information and records, published on 29 December 2023, whether her Department is archiving Ministers' official diaries; and whether official diaries include a record of a Minister's location.
The Department keeps, and archives, Ministerial diaries in line with the published guidance.
Pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48449 on Financial Services: Environment Protection, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of investing in municipal green investment (a) bonds and (b) loans being offered by local authorities on customers.
The Government recognises the significant progress made through the use of local municipal green bonds. So far fourteen councils have launched these bonds, mobilising over £11.5 million and giving thousands of investors the opportunity to invest in improvements to their local communities. We acknowledge that local authorities are free to determine their own investment strategies. In doing so they must, however, have regard to statutory guidance that sets out best practice to ensure decisions are prudent, affordable and sustainable, and comply with their Best Value Duty. Investments should represent value for money and not place tax payers’ money at excessive risk.
Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with the Mayor of London on the green belt review being undertaken by the Greater London Authority.
The Secretary of State meets with the Mayor of London regularly to discuss a range of matters.The government has awarded the Greater London Authority £770,000 to undertake a Green Belt review in conjunction with 11 London boroughs. A further six London boroughs have also each received £70,000 to undertake Green Belt reviews.The Green Belt Planning Practice Guidance issued on 27 February 2025 will assist Mayors and local planning authorities considering reviews of their Green Belt.
Whether the Bank of England has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed Chinese Embassy on security in the City of London.
It is not the Bank of England’s role to undertake this sort of impact assessment. National security is the first duty of Government and has been HM Government’s core priority throughout this process. A final decision on the application for the new Chinese embassy in Tower Hamlets will be made in due course by ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
What data HM Revenue and Customs holds on the house prices of second homes.
The VOA has a statutory duty to maintain the Council Tax lists in England and Wales by assessing the value of a domestic property and placing them in a Council Tax band. Whether a domestic property is a taxpayer’s second home is not considered during this process. The VOA obtains sales data to assist in their functions, but this data does not distinguish between whether a purchase is of a second home or not.
What information the Valuation Office Agency holds on the number of (a) private sector and (b) municipal public conveniences there are in each local authority in (i) England and (ii) Wales.
The VOA assess public conveniences for business rates purposes but they do not consider whether they are owned by a local authority or the private sector. The number of public conveniences is published in the VOA’s Non- Domestic Rating stock of properties. The most recent release is at 31 March 2024 and can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-2024 The number of public conveniences assessed by the VOA in each local authority can be found by clicking ‘Stock SCat Tables by region, county, local authority district and rateable value band, 2024 (CSV)’ and viewing column ‘KY’ in the file named ‘SOP_SCAT_LA_counts_all’.
Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review of her plans to close regional offices, in the context of her Department's press release entitled Thousands of Civil Service roles moved out of London in latest reform to the state, published on 14 May 2025.
There are no plans to review the decision to close six MHCLG offices by the end of 2026. The Department will continue to progress toward having 50% of staff based outside of London by 2030 compared to 23% in 2020. In doing so MHCLG will maintain at least one office in every English region and in each nation of the United Kingdom.
Pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48452 on Housing: Valuation, where the Valuation Office Agency obtains scaled (a) plans and (b) maps to determine plot size.
In addition to plans derived from the direct measurement of the property, the VOA uses plans and maps from online digital mapping platforms, ONS surveys, planning portals, property developers, estate agents and other data within the public domain.
Pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 50518 on Government Departments: Legal Opinion, if she will publish a copy of the 2022 version of the guidance.
I will ensure that a copy of the 2022 version of the legal risk guidance is placed in the library shortly.
Communities and Local Government, how much her Department has spent on (a) taxis and (b) other private hire vehicles since 5 July 2024.
MHCLG has spent £69,021.26 on taxis and private hire vehicles since 5th July 2024. We are unable to report separately on private hire vehicles and taxis.
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of joining up Heathrow Airport’s railway lines with the South West Rail network to facilitate Heathrow 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. The Department would expect promoters of Heathrow expansion to develop surface access proposals and work closely with local stakeholders to develop masterplans and surface access strategies.
What steps she is taking to upgrade rail transport provision to Gatwick Airport to facilitate the airport expansion.
The Secretary of State’s letter of 27 February 2025 set out her initial views and that she was ‘minded to approve’ but has not yet taken a final decision on Gatwick Airport’s planning application. As this is live planning application that is yet to be decided, unfortunately I cannot comment in detail at this time.
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) collating and (b) publishing how much Vehicle Excise Duty is collected by local authority area.
Information on how much Vehicle Excise Duty is collected by local authority area, is not held. Significant technical changes would be needed to capture and maintain such data and there are no plans to do so.
Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49772 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if she will publish the (a) State of Conservation Report and (b) Historic England advice.
The Executive Summary of the State of Conservation Report is published on UNESCO’s website: https://whc.unesco.org/document/218772. There are no plans to publish the full State of Conservation Report at the current time.Historic England’s advice is published on Tower Hamlets’ planning website: https://development.towerhamlets.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=DCAPR_145208
Communities and Local Government, if she will publish a list of the local authorities which will levy a second homes premium on council tax in 2025-26; and what estimate she has made of the number of homes liable to that premium.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 51402 on 20 May. This data will be provided in November.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47263 on Returning Officers, whether she provides guidance to local authorities on whether Electoral (a) Returning Officers and (b) Registration Officers are considered to be part of local authorities in relation to the rights to access public sector information.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 41457 on 3 April 2025.
Communities and Local Government, what the average cost to a local authority is of holding a (a) Parliamentary and (b) local authority by-election; and whether information is held by type of local authority ward.
The cost of UK Parliamentary elections is met directly by the Consolidated Fund. The estimated cost of a Parliamentary by-election is stated in the relevant Charges Order. The latest order can be found here. The Department does not hold any data on the costs of local authority elections and by-elections.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to tackle Islamist sectarianism.
Government policy plays a key role in supporting thriving and resilient communities. We are committed to bridging divisions between communities, challenging hatred and promoting good inter and intra faith relations. We continue to work closely with community groups, faith and belief groups, charities, and public sector partners to achieve this.
Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of local authority-owned homes that are empty in each local authority in England.
The number of local authority owned homes that are empty in each local authority in England can be found in Live Table 615 here on vacant dwellings in England at local authority district level. Figures in this table show vacant dwellings owned by local authorities within each local authority area in England.The latest published statistics refer to vacant dwellings owned by local authorities in England on 31 March 2024, including homes earmarked for sale or demolition, or awaiting or undergoing major repairs.
Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued guidance to relevant authorities on whether the use of a hotel as asylum hostel accommodation constitutes a material change of use.
My Department has not issued any such guidance.