Written questions by Hollinrake.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Green Belt, updated on 27 February 2025, how she classifies (a) towns and (b) villages.

The definition of grey belt, for the purposes of plan-making and decision-making, is provided in the glossary of the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024. Grey belt is land in the Green Belt that is previously developed land or other land that does not make a strong contribution to the following Green Belt purposes (a) checking the sprawl of large built-up areas, (b) preventing the merging of neighbouring towns, and (d) preserving the setting and special character of historic towns. It is for individual local planning authorities to decide if land is grey belt and to determine whether and how to amend Green Belt boundaries through the preparation or updating of plans, including neighbourhood plans where appropriate. It is also for each local planning authority to assess, as a material consideration when writing Local Plan policies or determining planning applications, what environmental impacts could occur. National planning policy and our recently published guidance on Green Belt assessment are clear that release of, or development on, Green Belt land should not fundamentally undermine the ability of the remaining Green Belt across the area of the plan from serving all five of the Green Belt purposes. The definition of grey belt, and the revised Framework more widely, were determined following extensive consultation, including with relevant public bodies. For further detail, I refer the hon. Member to the government response to the proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system consultation which can be found on gov.uk here. Our guidance introduces new criteria to drive a more consistent approach to the identification of grey belt land, and to inform Green Belt assessments. It is for these Green Belt assessments to consider if any particular features act to preserve visual separation. Green Belt guidance is clear that assessing the contribution land makes to Green Belt purposes (a), (b) and (d) relates to large built-up areas, towns, and historic towns respectively, rather than villages. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that villages can be included in the Green Belt where it is necessary to restrict development because of the contribution the village makes to the Green Belt. If the character of the village should be protected for other reasons, other means should be used, such as conservation area or normal development management policies. The National Planning Policy Framework and the Green Belt guidance do not introduce a definition of historic town, town, or village. The responsibilities of local planning authorities to recognise and protect their historic assets, making use of built heritage and conservation expertise as necessary, remain unaltered. Local planning authorities continue to have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, which they can use to tackle all types of unauthorised development.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36095 on HM Land Registry: Buildings, if he will provide equivalent figures for each week expressed as the total number of employees in the Croydon HQ building during the working week divided by the number of days during the working week.

WeekCroydon office daily average attendance by week04/11/2024 - 08/11/2024200.611/11/2024 - 15/11/202420618/11/2024 - 22/11/2024199.225/11/2024 - 29/11/2024190.4 These figures do not include staff on short term leave. Staff are asked to manage their attendance over the course of a month, so there will be some natural variance on a weekly level.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 33487on Democracy and Elections, when she expects political parties to be consulted.

The government is currently in the process of consulting with various stakeholders, ahead of setting out our approach to elections and electoral reform for this Parliament.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 34860 on MHCLG: Greenpeace, and of 11 March 2025 to Question HL5100 on Community Relations, whether her Department’s decision not to engage with (a) Greenpeace, (b) XR and (c) Just Stop Oil is due to (i) her Department’s engagement principles or (b) other reasons.

Decisions concerning who we engage with are carefully considered by government departments on a case by case basis. The government will only engage with organisations when it is in the public interest.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 34616 on Voting Rights: Foreign Nationals, what checks are undertaken to ensure that Commonwealth citizens seeking to sign up to an electoral roll are qualifying Commonwealth citizens.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are responsible for maintaining accurate electoral registers. EROs hold legal powers which allow them to request documentary evidence to confirm an applicant’s nationality, if they are not satisfied as to any applicant's nationality. The application form to register to vote is clear about the possibility of applicants being required to provide additional evidence about their nationality, and that their nationality or immigration status may be checked against government records. The Electoral Commission has also published guidance for EROs on the types of evidence they may request, and advice on how to check immigration records held by the Home Office.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the written statement of 3 March 2025 on Anti-Muslim Hate/Islamophobia Definition Working Group, HCWS487, to which Minister that group will report; and if the report will be laid before the House.

The Terms of Reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group have now been published. The group will report to the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and provide advice to Ministers on appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. Once the Government has reviewed this advice, it will consider its next steps.

What information her Department holds on the number of sharia courts in the UK.

I refer the Honourable Member for Thirsk and Malton to my answer given on 18 December to Question 18879: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-12-10/18879.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for publication of Environmental Delivery Plans; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that timetable on developments paused due to nutrient neutrality.

The government will work with Natural England to put the first Environmental Delivery Plans in place as soon as possible following Royal Assent of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Given the impact nutrient neutrality has had on development in some locations, we will be looking to use Environmental Delivery Plans to quickly unlock growth in these areas.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 34284 on Empty Property: Shops, how many programmes in addition to the High Street Rental Auction fund are operating bidding schemes for local authorities to receive funding.

The design of the High Street Rental Auction Fund was set by the previous administration. This Government was elected on a manifesto that stressed a partnership approach with local authorities and an intention to stabilise the funding system by providing multi-year funding settlements and ending competitive bidding.We will set out a refreshed approach to local growth funding at the multi-year Spending Review in the Spring. An approach that includes more integrated settlements, over longer term, with less central direction, more local choice and no competitive bidding.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 34283 on Freeports: Trade Unions, whether freeport boards members are subject to a similar fiduciary duty.

Freeport boards have a clear and specific remit for delivering the public policy objectives of the Freeports Programme and the resultant responsibilities of individual board members (both full members and observers) are defined in articles of association, where the Freeport is incorporated, or terms of reference for the board, where it is not.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 33490 on Tower Hamlets Council, if she will take steps to ensure that the Conservative group is represented on the Board.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 33490 on 5 March 2025 and UIN 30642 on 19 February 2025. The Deputy Prime Minister has set clear expectations for local opposition party involvement in Tower Hamlets Council’s Transformation and Assurance Board but does not intend to dictate its membership. In the spirit of partnership, the Board’s membership is a matter for the Council to agree locally rather than for Ministers to direct. We expect the Transformation and Assurance Board to play a critical role in the Council’s recovery by providing robust external assurance on its compliance with the Best Value Duty and to have strong local buy-in.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, if she will make it her policy to allow a representative from foundation strategic authorities that will not have a Mayor to have a seat on the Council of Nations and Regions.

As set out in its Terms of Reference, membership of the Council of the Nations and Regions consists of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, the Mayor of London, the Mayors of Combined Authorities, and the Mayors of Combined County Authorities. The English Devolution White Paper sets out that a representative at the Council of Nations and Regions is reserved for those areas with a Mayoral or Established Mayoral Strategic Authority. The government will consider proposals for future devolution agreements against the criteria set out in the White Paper, and new mayors established through this process will be eligible to attend the Council of the Nations and Regions.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 34287 on Unitary Councils, what criteria she plans to use to decide whether to request a formal review by the Local Government Boundary Commission England, following the receipt of restructuring proposals by local authorities of the unitary wards and boundaries in a proposed new unitary council.

As previously set out, my department is liaising closely with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England so that they are involved at the appropriate time to ensure fair electoral arrangements across the area of any new unitary local authorities. The process set out in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 allows the Secretary of State to seek the advice of the LGBCE on any matter relating to a proposal that has been submitted in response to an invitation. No criteria have been set for seeking advice, which will depend on the proposals received, as appropriate at the time.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 34874 on Combined Authorities, for what reason that consultation asks respondents for their gender rather than their sex; and what her Department's policy is on the use of the phrase gender, as opposed to the phrase sex.

Collecting demographic information as part of conducting consultations helps us to understand whether the responses we receive are representative of those who live and work in the areas involved in the consultations. This will also help MHCLG conduct an equality impact assessment to ensure compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty. We are not asking for information that identifies individuals in consultation responses, and the demographic information provided is anonymous. We followed agreed guidance on how demographic questions are phrased, as laid down by the GOV.UK Design System for all government consultations.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her polices of the affordability of the average band D Council Tax bill, in the context of recent increases.

Local authorities are responsible for setting council tax levels, taking account of local circumstances. The government continues to set referendum principles to give taxpayers a final say over excessive increases. The council tax system contains a range of discounts and exemptions to reflect personal circumstances. Furthermore, every council is required to put in place a Local Council Tax Support scheme which reduces the bill of low-income households.

If he will make an assessment with local authorities of the potential merits of introducing a unified regime for the (a) licences, (b) permits and (c) certificates needed to operate (i) restaurants and (ii) pubs.

Pubs and hospitality businesses are at the heart of our communities and play a vital role in supporting economic growth across the UK. We are constantly testing our planning, regulatory and licensing regimes to ensure they remain proportionate and don’t unnecessarily burden hospitality businesses. Our forthcoming Small Business Strategy will set out our plan for further supporting small businesses on the high street and beyond.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 34877 on Local Government: Reorganisation, for what reason Surrey’s unitary reorganisation has been placed on a quicker timetable than other two-tier areas.

As set out in the letter sent to Surrey leaders inviting them to develop proposals for local government reorganisation, given the urgency of creating sustainable unitary local government for Surrey, the decision was taken to work towards reorganisation to the most ambitious timeframe possible. This will also enable Surrey to benefit from devolution as quickly as possible once new unitary local government is in place.

Communities and Local Government, whether she consulted with external organisations on the content of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill before it was published.

Various government departments, including the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, have engaged with external organisations during the development of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Furthermore, specific measures have been subject to dedicated public consultation and calls for evidence. These include, but are not limited to, local fee reforms, compulsory purchase order reforms, and judicial review reforms. Stakeholder feedback was also sought through a series of published working papers concerning planning committees, nature recovery, and critical infrastructure reforms, alongside the English Devolution White Paper and the Clean Power Action Plan.

With reference to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question HL5013 Islam, what is the Government’s working definition of Islamism as it relates to (a) extremism, (b) violence or (c). terrorism.

I refer the Hon. Member to Question UIN 19354 answered on 27 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of her Department’s (a) staff and (b) outsourced contractors are paid (i) below, (ii) at and (iii) above the London Living Wage.

The department engages a small number of Interns each year whose full-time equivalent rate of pay is less than the London Living Wage (LLW) rate. Salaries for these roles are set centrally by Cabinet Office with contracts typically lasting up to 12 weeks. There were fewer than five internships as of 17 March. All other permanent and fixed-term staff are paid a full-time equivalent rate which is above the LLW.The department engages a small number of contractors who are currently below the LLW rate, for data protection purposes exact numbers are not released as they number fewer than five, all other engagements are above the LLW rate.