Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

Communities and Local Government, whether platform-owner amplification of political content during election periods constitutes a regulated campaign intervention.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the risk that foreign owners, foreign states and foreign-aligned actors may use digital platforms to influence UK elections without making formal donations.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Electoral Commission will have the power to investigate suspected platform-level manipulation of political content during a regulated election period.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what protection is available to those tenants that were issued with a Section 21 notice by their landlords just before the Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will provide support to tenants that received Section 21 notices from their landlords days before the Renters' Rights Act 2026 came into force.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds data on the number of tenants who received Section 21 notices to quit within 7 days of the Renters' Rights Act coming into law.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he made of the level of likelihood of landlords issuing Section 21 notices prior to the Renters' Rights Act coming into force.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the FBU on introducing national standards across fire and rescue services.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to help improve housing affordability in the private rented sector.

In addition to the steps the government is taking to increase the supply of homes of all tenures, our Renters’ Rights Act has empowered private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases, outlawed rental bidding and ended the practice of landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance from tenants looking to secure a tenancy.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to help increase the number of empty properties used to deliver social rent homes.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to support and increase the building of social homes by local authorities and housing associations.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771) and 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283) and the Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-2036 policy statement published on 7 November, which can be found on gov.uk here.

What plans she has for permitted development rights for cross pavement electric vehicle charging to be introduced in England.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty for firefighters in England to respond to flooding events.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Fire and Rescue Authorities already have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. We recognise the interest in creating a statutory duty for flood response and my officials are working with DEFRA, as lead government department for flooding, to consider this and any wider implications. MHCLG supports Fire and Rescue Authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing the sector with national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capabilities. These are available to be used by Fire & Rescue Services across the country during major flood incidents. Additionally, DEFRA hold the Flood Rescue National Asset Register, a list of teams or assets that voluntarily join the register and maintain availability for national deployment in England.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of maternity pay in fire and rescue services.

Setting fire pay and conditions, including setting a minimum national maternity entitlement, is the responsibility of employers and representative bodies, working through the National Joint Council. The Government plays no role in setting firefighter pay. I meet regularly with the Fire Brigades Union to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of firefighter numbers in (a) the UK and (b) Poole.

Decisions on how fire and rescue services are run, including the number and locations of fire stations and firefighter numbers, are for the local fire and rescue authority (FRA) and its Chief Fire Officer. FRAs are responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met. They are responsible for directing their resources where they are needed most and in accordance with their Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs). The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes statistics on fire and rescue service (FRS) workforce numbers, response times, and firefighter injuries. The full time equivalent (FTE) number of firefighters and the number of firefighter workplace injuries have both declined since 2010, whilst response times have increased. Correlations between statistics, either positive or negative, are not necessarily causal.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has had discussions with the Fire Brigades Union on maternity pay in the fire and rescue services.

Setting fire pay and conditions, including setting a minimum national maternity entitlement, is the responsibility of employers and representative bodies, working through the National Joint Council. The Government plays no role in setting firefighter pay. I meet regularly with the Fire Brigades Union to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of fire station closures on response times.

It is the responsibility of each Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) to decide how each authority’s resources, including staff, are best deployed to meet core functions, including appropriate targets for local response times. Decisions are based on analysis of risk and local circumstances within local Community Risk Management Plans. When considering proposals for changes to station provision, including potential closures, FRAs should assess the impact on response times as part of their overall assessment of community risk.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the FBU on introducing national standards across fire and rescue services.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact in changes in the number of firefighters since 2010 on a) response times and b) risk to firefighters.

Decisions on how fire and rescue services are run, including the number and locations of fire stations and firefighter numbers, are for the local fire and rescue authority (FRA) and its Chief Fire Officer. FRAs are responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met. They are responsible for directing their resources where they are needed most and in accordance with their Community Risk Management Plans (CRMPs). The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes statistics on fire and rescue service (FRS) workforce numbers, response times, and firefighter injuries. The full time equivalent (FTE) number of firefighters and the number of firefighter workplace injuries have both declined since 2010, whilst response times have increased. Correlations between statistics, either positive or negative, are not necessarily causal.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the FBU on funding for fire and rescue services.

I meet regularly with the Fire Brigades Union to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. The Government recognises that the current fire funding formula was designed over a decade ago. In line with responses to the principles of reform consultation in December 2024, the Government updated the fire and rescue relative needs formula by using the most up-to-date data available. We will work with the fire sector on a comprehensive review of the formula ahead of the next Spending Review and are currently engaging with the sector on this. The 2026-2027 Funding Settlement marks the first multi-year funding Settlement for local government in 10 years, making available almost £1.9 billion in core spending power (CSP) for fire and rescue authorities. Fire and Rescue Services have had an additional £15 million funding secured since the provisional settlement, which will provide a minimum 3.8% increase in CSP for all standalone services, with some services seeing increases of over 7% in CSP.