Every parliamentary written question tabled by Lee Anderson this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 92 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of immigration on housing availability.
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Question UIN 62663 on 22 July 2025 and to Question UIN 51990 on 19 May 2025.
Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the cost of the local government reorganisation programme.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77631 on 13 October 2025.
Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support non-metropolitan area towns.
Economic growth is the number one mission of this government. Across the country growth has stagnated, leading our towns and cities to underperform and living standards to fall. This government will drive growth and unlock investment across the country by giving local leaders the tools they need to maximise their unique strengths and opportunities. On 25 September 2025, the Government announced its flagship Pride in Place Programme, which will provide up to £20 million in flexible funding and support over the next decade to 244 of the UK’s most in-need neighbourhoods, including a number of non-metropolitan area towns such as Kirkby-in-Ashfield in the Honourable Member’s constituency. This programme will serve as the cornerstone of the Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods areas announced in March 2025, including places in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered the potential impact of delaying local elections in 2026 on levels of public trust in (a) the Government and (b) the UK’s democratic system.
This government takes democracy very seriously. In the spirit of devolution and trusting local leaders we have listened to councils telling us about the capacity constraints they are operating within and the work that reorganisation introduces on top of existing challenges. On 18 December I invited councils undergoing local government reorganisation with local elections in May 2026 to set out their views on the postponement of their local election and if they consider this could release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation. We have been transparent about this process and will consider all the representations we receive. The Secretary of State will consider the position of each council individually, weighing up the evidence received.
Communities and Local Government, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Total spend with our media buying agency for the last three financial years is as follows: 22/2323/2424/25£2,915,716£3,564,486£1,847,200
Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with (a) police forces and (b) Jewish community leaders about trends in levels of antisemitism.
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms. Police recorded 2,873 antisemitic hate crimes in 2024–25, accounting for 29% of all religious hate crimes. We work closely with partners to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities. The Community Security Trust has been allocated £28 million in 2025/26 through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant. This includes additional emergency funding of £10 million. On 17 December we published a summary of recent Government action on Antisemitism - Antisemitism: recent government actions and next steps - GOV.UK
Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help tackle the root causes of antisemitism.
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms. Police recorded 2,873 antisemitic hate crimes in 2024–25, accounting for 29% of all religious hate crimes. We work closely with partners to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities. The Community Security Trust has been allocated £28 million in 2025/26 through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant. This includes additional emergency funding of £10 million. On 17 December we published a summary of recent Government action on Antisemitism - Antisemitism: recent government actions and next steps - GOV.UK
to ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of trends in the level of antisemitism on the Jewish community.
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms. Police recorded 2,873 antisemitic hate crimes in 2024–25, accounting for 29% of all religious hate crimes. We work closely with partners to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities. The Community Security Trust has been allocated £28 million in 2025/26 through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant. This includes additional emergency funding of £10 million. On 17 December we published a summary of recent Government action on Antisemitism - Antisemitism: recent government actions and next steps - GOV.UK
Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure people with visual impairments can access necessary home adaptations.
The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is there to enable all eligible disabled people, including those with visual impairments, to access vital home adaptations, subject to a needs assessment and means test. This Government has increased funding for the DFG by £86 million, bringing the total to £711 million per year in 2025-26.
Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that newly constructed buildings have good disability access.
The government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is a capital grant administered by local authorities in England that can help meet the cost of adaptations for people of all ages and tenures to make their home safe and suitable for their needs. This government has boosted funding for the DFG to £711 million for both 2024-25 and 2025-26. Accessibility standards for homes are governed by Part M of the Building Regulations 2010. The Building Regulations apply to new homes, or those undergoing a material change of use. There are three standards of accessibility prescribed in the Building Regulations: M4(1); M4(2) and M4(3).
Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the adaptation of existing buildings to support better disability access.
The government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is a capital grant administered by local authorities in England that can help meet the cost of adaptations for people of all ages and tenures to make their home safe and suitable for their needs. This government has boosted funding for the DFG to £711 million for both 2024-25 and 2025-26. Accessibility standards for homes are governed by Part M of the Building Regulations 2010. The Building Regulations apply to new homes, or those undergoing a material change of use. There are three standards of accessibility prescribed in the Building Regulations: M4(1); M4(2) and M4(3).
Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for the processing of Disabled Facilities Grants applications for people with motor neurone disease.
The government recognises the importance of timely and efficient delivery of home adaptations including through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) to help enable people with progressive conditions such as motor neurone disease (MND) to live independently in a safe and suitable environment.Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test, and have powers to agree a more generous local policy. To support this duty, government have boosted funding for the DFG to £711 million for both 2024-25 and 2025-26.Local authorities have discretion in managing their DFG funding, and can publish a local housing assistance policy including detail on how they will respond to rapidly progressing conditions such as MND. For example, they can waive the means test or fast track the DFG process for people with MND.This is clearly set out in government guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-facilities-grant-dfg-delivery-guidance-for-local-authorities-in-england) which encourages local authorities to streamline the application process to improve the delivery of adaptations, including for people living with MND. While it is for local authorities to determine the flexibilities that best meet the needs of their residents, the guidance also encourages them to prioritise urgent cases and work towards good practice timescales.
Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to enforce time limits for development companies of newbuild housing estates to have roads adopted by local authorities.
I refer the hon. and Rt Hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 80700 on 20 October 2025.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October to Question 80700 on Property Management Companies: Repairs and Maintenance, whether newbuild housing estate developers can apply for County Court action against estate management companies that fail to meet agreed maintenance standards.
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80700 on 20 October 2025.
Communities and Local Government, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.
RecruitmentAs set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, MHCLG are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010 which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition Going Forward into Employment (GFiE, pronounced gif-ee) accredits life chance recruitment pathways across government. GFiE pathways recruit people from a wide range of backgrounds into the Civil Service, including people from low socio-economic backgrounds, prison leavers, veterans, carers and care leavers. People recruited by GFiE develop skills, gain experience and build a career, contributing to the Opportunity Mission and to the wider economy.MHCLG participated last year in the Care Leavers GFiE scheme, offering work experience in government to those entitled to a leaving care package.In February 2025, MHCLG also gained accreditation to deliver Civil Service Masterclasses as a new life-chance pathway. This is a unique two-week face to face programme designed to support candidates aged 19+ from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The programme breaks down barriers and helps participants in a practical learning setting to develop skills and knowledge to access Civil Service roles at AO or EO level. The scheme is available to all departments and supporting bodies based in the Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, and County Durham/Darlington areas.InternshipsIn this period, MHCLG participated in the following internship schemes with a focus on increasing representation of under-represented groups: The Autism Exchange Internship Programme, recruited by Cabinet Office in partnership with Ambitious about Autism, which aims to support young autistic people by providing work experience opportunities that help prepare them to enter the workplace. Change 100, recruited by Leonard Cheshire, which offers professional development and mentoring for talented students and graduates with a disability or long-term condition. The Summer Internship Programme, recruited by Cabinet Office, which provides work placements for individuals in their final two years at university.
Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that new housing estates are adopted by local authorities in a timely manner.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80700 on 20 October 2025.
Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered introducing a statutory timeframe within which housing developers must (a) complete and (b) handover infrastructure to local authorities for adoption.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80700 on 20 October 2025.
Communities and Local Government, if he make it his policy to issue guidance to local planning authorities on potential enforcement action when housing developers fail to complete infrastructure projects.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80700 on 20 October 2025.
Communities and Local Government, how he plans to determine which proposed sites for new towns will go ahead.
On 28 September 2025, the government published the independent New Towns Taskforce report as well as its initial response to that report. Both can be found on gov.uk here.As set out in the initial government response, we warmly welcome all 12 of the locations it has recommend. Prima facie, each has the clear potential to deliver on the government’s objectives, with Tempsford, Crews Hill and Leeds South Bank looking particularly promising as sites that might make significant contributions to unlocking economic growth and accelerating housing delivery.On 28 September 2025 we commenced a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to understand the environmental implications of new towns development. This will support final decisions on precisely which locations we take forward. No final decisions on locations will be made until that SEA concludes and preferred locations could change as a result of the process.Ministers and officials will now begin work with local partners to develop detailed proposals and enhance our understanding of how different locations might meet the government’s expectations of what a future New Towns Programme can deliver, with all promising sites and reasonable alternatives assessed and considered through the SEA process. Appropriate assessment under the Habitats Regulations will also be undertaken when required.We are determined to get spades in the ground on at least three new towns in this Parliament and the government is prepared to progress work on a far larger range of locations if it proves possible.The post-war new towns programme was the most ambitious town-building effort ever undertaken in the UK. The next generation of new towns must match that post-war vision. The government will be looking for assurance that any location can be effectively and efficiently delivered in partnership with local communities, has a clear economic purpose, and will support national economic growth. We will also seek to test different delivery vehicles to learn lessons for how future large settlements are delivered and to contribute to a wider transformation of housing supply.The government will publish the draft proposals and final SEA for consultation early next year, before confirming the locations that will be progressed as new towns later in the Spring alongside a full response to the New Towns Taskforce’s report.
Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the number of housing estates that are currently unadopted and (b) the length of time they have been unadopted.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80700 on 20 October 2025.