Written questions by Hudson.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the level of proposed development on Green Belt land in the Epping Forest District, and what steps his Department is taking to protect the Green Belt.

The government is committed to preserving Green Belts, which have served England’s towns and cities well over many decades. We have not changed the five purposes of the Green Belt set out in paragraph 143 of the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework still contains strong protections for the Green Belt, making it clear that inappropriate development should not be approved unless justified by very special circumstances. It is for local planning authorities themselves, including Epping Forest District Council, to determine whether exceptional circumstances exist that justify the release of Green Belt, and we expect them to first demonstrate that they have examined fully all other reasonable options for meeting identified need for development – including making as much use as possible of suitable brownfield sites and underutilised land, optimising the density of development, and working with neighbouring authorities to assess whether identified need might be sensibly accommodated.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of approved planning permissions in England that have not yet been built out.

My Department does not collect data on the number of approved planning permissions that have not yet been built out. In May 2025, we published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built. It can be found on gov.uk here. The working paper drew on a range of independent research and market studies, including the Letwin Review and the Competition and Markets Authority’s October 2024 market study into housebuilding, exploring stalled sites and build out rates. Alongside the working paper, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential developments, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. That consultation can be found on gov.uk here. We will set out our next steps in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has had discussions with the National Fire Chiefs Council on the potential risk of wildfires crossing into urban areas.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) works closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) on the full range of wildfire risks to strengthen preparedness and improve response, including potential impacts on urban areas. We also continue to work closely with partners across government, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and wider stakeholders, to identify policy options for addressing wildfire risk at the national level. Since 2024, the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help stop wildfires setting homes on fire.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) works closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), fire and rescue services and local resilience partners to strengthen preparedness and improve response to wildfires. Since 2024, the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that the planning system should take full account of the full range of potential climate change impacts, and that it should shape places in ways that improve resilience and minimise vulnerability. Such impacts can include wildfires. It requires local plan policies to support appropriate measures to ensure the resilience of communities and infrastructure to climate change impacts, such as providing space for physical protection measures. The National Design Guide and National Model Design Code emphasise the importance of design in response to environmental change and challenges. It provides guidance for well-designed places that address climate change mitigation and resilience. The department intends to publish updates to the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code in due course, and we are considering the inclusion of further guidance on wildfire risk. We continue to work closely with partners across government, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the fire sector, and with wider stakeholders to identify policy options for addressing wildfire risk at the national level.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to (a) prevent and (b) reduce the risk of building fires caused by batteries from (i) ebikes and (ii) escooters.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is working closely with representatives and officials from across Government to build an evidence base, share intelligence and develop mitigations to tackle the fire risks linked to lithium-ion batteries, e-bikes and e-scooters. A key element of this work is raising public awareness of safe use, storage and charging of e-bikes and e-scooters within residential buildings. MHCLG has developed educational resources in partnership with the National Fire Chiefs Council and local Fire and Rescue Services, as part of its national Fire Kills campaign.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the Renters Rights Bill on the number of renters who will not be able to request a pet.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will give all private rented sector tenants the right to request a pet, which landlords will not be able to unreasonably refuse.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment on the potential impact of the removal of the Funding Guarantee Scheme on the Fire and Rescue Service.

We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. That is why in the provisional Settlement for 2025-26 we have made available £69 billion for local government including a £5 referendum principle for Fire and Rescue Authorities. Together with central government grant and locally retained business rates, the proposed principles provide a real-terms increase in core spending power of 3.5% on 2024-25. The government also announced an additional £515 million of unringfenced funding for local government, including Fire and Rescue Authorities, specifically to manage the impact of changes to employer NICs announced at the Autumn Budget. Allocations for individual Fire and Rescue Authorities will be confirmed at the final Settlement.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support the Hindu community in the UK; and what steps she is taking to promote community cohesion.

The Minister for Faith regularly engages with faith groups, including representatives from the Hindu community. On 16 December, he had the great pleasure of visiting Neasden temple to show the government’s support for Britain’s Hindu community and to thank them for everything they do locally.On community cohesion, no one should be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this. We are fully committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion and we will not tolerate anti-Hindu hatred, or any form of religious hatred.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on activating the Bellwin Scheme in response to (a) Storm Bert and (b) other storms.

The impact of flooding, wherever it occurs, is traumatic for the communities impacted and I have great sympathy for all those affected. The government is ready to consider local authority requests for Bellwin Scheme support which can help with the reimbursement of immediate eligible costs for the local authorities affected by the recent storms, including Storm Bert.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support councils to reduce social housing waiting lists.

The government has committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.On 30 July we announced a number of changes in planning policy designed to support the delivery of affordable homes. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts, and a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to grow their housing stock.At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes. This comes ahead of the multi-year Spending Review next spring, where the Government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme.The Chancellor also confirmed that we will reduce Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels and allow councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales.In addition, the government will consult on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to provide the sector with the certainty it needs to invest in new social housing.