Written questions by Hollinrake.

Whether her Department has had discussions with the Bank of England on the proposed Chinese Embassy in London.

Treasury officials hold regular discussions with the Bank of England across various financial and economic matters. A final decision on the application for the new Chinese embassy in Tower Hamlets will be made in due course by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government in her independent, quasi-judicial role. As such, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the case.

What assessment she has made of the potential security impact of the proposed Chinese Embassy development on nearby underground communications cables.

National security is the first duty of Government. As set out in a joint letter by the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary to the Planning Inspector on 14 January, the Home Office has considered the full breadth of national security issues in relation to the planning application. It would not be appropriate to comment further on specific matters relating to national security.The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, in her independent, quasi-judicial role, will make the final decision on the Chinese Embassy planning application in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 46892 on Asylum: Housing, how many dwellings have been procured by (a) Serco, (b) Mears, (c) Clearspring Homes and (d) Corporate Travel Management.

The Home Office continues to work closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while seeking to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.The Home Office does not publish detailed information on the location of asylum accommodation sites for safety and security reasons. Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15200 on Council Tax: Wales, when the Valuation Office Agency will publish this information.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) published the information on gov.uk on 31 March 2025: How model assisted valuation delivers large-scale property valuations - GOV.UK – A high level overview of how the VOA uses model assisted valuation and mass appraisal to support large-scale valuation. This links through to further information:External assurance of the VOA automated valuation model (AVM): VOA response - GOV.UK - This page sets out the VOA response to external review and assurance of the VOA AVM developed to support Wales Council Tax reform. More_information_on_mass_appraisal_and_AVM.pdf - More information on how the VOA is using mass appraisal to support Council Tax reform in Wales and on the AVM. Model_specification_document.pdf – A document setting out the data utilised in development of the AVM for a future revaluation of Council Tax in Wales, as well as the core spatial regression model specification and an overview of the comparables model.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the future of the chalk stream recovery pack programme.

Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our overall programme of reforms for the water sector.Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. Through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), over 1000 improvement projects are planned within chalk stream catchments between 2024-2029.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the absence of a cash cap on the cost of retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) rate relief in 2026-27; and what estimate she has made of the gross revenue required from the multiplier surcharge on hereditaments with a Rateable Value above £500,000 to fund the new RHL multiplier in 2026-27.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief has been extended year-by-year by previous governments since the pandemic – creating uncertainty for businesses and an unsustainable fiscal pressure for the Government. Without any government intervention, RHL relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26, ahead of introducing permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties from 2026-27. Like all business rates multipliers, these lower RHL multipliers will not be subject to a cash cap. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to apply a higher rate from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties – those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 45678 on Licensing Laws, who the members of the taskforce are; and how they were selected.

The Taskforce Terms of Reference and membership is published Terms of Reference and taskforce member list - GOV.UKMembers were selected by Department for Business and Trade, Home Office, Ministry of Housing Communities Local Government and Department for Culture Media and Sport officials. The Taskforce brings together representatives from government, industry, police and local government, including mayoral areas.

With reference to her Department's news story entitled Statement on Serco asylum accommodation list, published on 27 April 2025, which local authorities in Serco provides asylum accommodation to in (a) the North West, (b) the Midlands, (c) the East of England and (d) the rest of the country; and how many individual properties are managed in each local authority area.

The Home Office continues to work closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while seeking to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.The Home Office does not publish detailed information on the location of asylum accommodation sites for safety and security reasons. Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 46900 on Asylum: Housing, whether any asylum accommodation is provided directly by local authorities.

The Home Office continues to work closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while seeking to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.The Home Office does not publish detailed information on the location of asylum accommodation sites for safety and security reasons. Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 46893 on Asylum: Local Government, what the names of those grants are.

Details of the grant names are accessible through the following links:Government grants statistics 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e56dd1bb6002588a90d662/2025-03-24_Government_Grants_Register_2023_to_2024.ods.

With reference to her Department's news story entitled Statement on Serco asylum accommodation list, published on 27 April 2025, whether her Department asked Serco to remove the list from its website.

The Home Office continues to work closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while seeking to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.The Home Office does not publish detailed information on the location of asylum accommodation sites for safety and security reasons. Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48443 on Water Charges, if he will publish representations received on (a) progressive and (b) seasonal water metering tariffs since 4 July 2024.

This Government supports the innovative approaches being taken to trial new charges aiming to make bills fairer and more affordable. All companies plan to trial new charging structures by 2030 and some of them plan to introduce them more widely for additional customers if the trials are successful. Companies can design their charges to provide benefits and incentives in a range of ways. As the water regulator, Ofwat regulates the charging trials by issuing rules that require companies to set fair charges for all customers, and to ensure all trials are consistent with good practice principles. Information on Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the total staff exit costs incurred in each instance of local government reorganisation since 2009.

No estimate has been made of total staff exit costs as a result of previous local government reorganisation.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of local government reorganisation since 2009.

As set out in the answer to Question UIN 32149 on 3 March 2025, we set out in the English Devolution White Paper that we will learn from the experience and successes of others who have been through the local government reorganisation process. We welcome the partnership approach that is being taken across the sector to respond to the ambitious plans set out in the White Paper, including sharing expertise on delivering reorganisation effectively given each area’s unique circumstances. For example, unitarisation has helped North Yorkshire Council, established in April 2023 to manage financial pressures through structural changes and service transformation which are expected to achieve more than £40 million in savings by March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what criteria will be used to allocate the £7.6 million capacity funding for local government reorganisation to local authorities.

The £7.6 million will be made available in the form of local government reorganisation proposal development contributions, to be split across the 21 areas that have been invited to submit proposals for unitary local government. This is the first time that capacity funding has been made available for reorganisation proposals, recognising the priority that this government attaches to this. Further information will be provided on how this will be allocated soon, and we intend to make payments as soon as possible. As set out in the invitation to areas, considering the efficiencies that are possible through reorganisation, we expect that areas will be able to meet transition costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects. We asked areas to include indicative costs in their interim plans.

Communities and Local Government, how her Department plans to allocate the capacity funding for local government reorganisation; and when she plans to make that funding available to recipients.

The £7.6 million will be made available in the form of local government reorganisation proposal development contributions, to be split across the 21 areas that have been invited to submit proposals for unitary local government. This is the first time that capacity funding has been made available for reorganisation proposals, recognising the priority that this government attaches to this. Further information will be provided on how this will be allocated soon, and we intend to make payments as soon as possible. As set out in the invitation to areas, considering the efficiencies that are possible through reorganisation, we expect that areas will be able to meet transition costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects. We asked areas to include indicative costs in their interim plans.

Communities and Local Government, what criteria she plans to use to assess local government reorganisation proposals which fall below the 500,000 population threshold.

The English Devolution White Paper, and the Statutory Invitation set a guiding principle that new unitary councils should have a population size of 500,000 or more. This is not a hard target and it is recognised that there should be flexibility, especially given our ambition to build out devolution and take account of housing growth, alongside local government reorganisation. All proposals, whether they are at the guided level, above it, or below it should clearly set out the rationale for the proposed approach. Decisions on the most appropriate option for each area will be judgements in the round, having regard to the guidance and the available evidence.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025 to Question 46788 on Waste Disposal: Birmingham, if he will publish the Military Aid to the Civil Authorities request from the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government.

It is not standard practice to publish MACA requests as the hon. Gentleman will know from his time in Government.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to provide transitional funding to support local authorities undergoing reorganisation.

The £7.6 million will be made available in the form of local government reorganisation proposal development contributions, to be split across the 21 areas that have been invited to submit proposals for unitary local government. This is the first time that capacity funding has been made available for reorganisation proposals, recognising the priority that this government attaches to this. Further information will be provided on how this will be allocated soon, and we intend to make payments as soon as possible. As set out in the invitation to areas, considering the efficiencies that are possible through reorganisation, we expect that areas will be able to meet transition costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects. We asked areas to include indicative costs in their interim plans.

Whether the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team has issued guidance on the council tax second homes premium for ministerial residences.

Ministers who are allocated an official residence are reminded of their responsibility for all personal tax liabilities, including council tax. The Propriety and Ethics team does not provide advice on personal tax arrangements.