Written questions by Holmes.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to obtain Legislative Consent from devolved Administrations in Wales and Scotland for the Representation of the People Bill.

As is usual, the government has written to counterparts in the devolved governments asking for their consent to the Bill where this interacts with devolved competence. The Secretary of State confirmed this at Second Reading of the Bill.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Representation of the People Bill, whether an election offence of intimidating council staff can apply after the close of poll, including to election counts.

Provisions in the Representation of the People Bill will empower courts to give tougher sentences to those who abuse candidates, campaigners, elected representatives and electoral staff by introducing a new statutory aggravating factor. The Bill will also extend the disqualification order regime, so that intimidatory offences against electoral staff can now lead to the application of a disqualification order. As drafted, a relevant offence committed after the close of poll would lead to the application of the aggravating factor and a disqualification order, as long as the offender can be shown to have been motivated by hostility towards electoral staff.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his press release of 16 December 2025 entitled Urgent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics, what is the evidential basis that political donations can currently be made to shell companies.

Currently, the legal test for permissible donations from companies is that they are registered under the Companies Act 2006, incorporated in the UK, and carrying on business in the UK. This last requirement is vague and easy to satisfy, even without having a genuine and strong connection to the UK. It means a newly created shell company with no trading history can legally donate. This is an unacceptably low threshold and a vulnerability in our system highlighted by many independent experts, including the Electoral Commission, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the National Crime Agency. That is why we have introduced reforms which will require companies (and limited liability partnerships) making donations to demonstrate a genuine and substantive connection to the UK or Ireland, preventing the use of shell companies to channel foreign or illicit money into UK politics. We are introducing new, stringent eligibility criteria for companies and limited liability partnerships wishing to make political donations. Companies/LLPs will have had to make sufficient revenue to cover their donation; be headquartered in the UK; and be majority owned or controlled by UK electors or UK citizens usually resident in the UK. These changes are to ensure that political donations reflect genuine UK-based interests and help prevent foreign interference in our democracy.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his polices of trends in the number of registered postal votes in the last six months.

Information relating to postal vote applications is held by independent Electoral Registration Officers rather than the UK Government and so it is not possible to provide more information about the number of postal vote applications that were not renewed during any period. The department does not actively track trends in the level of postal vote renewals, or the number and proportion of postal vote applications that were renewed, over any period.The Government will continue to work with the Electoral Commission and with local authorities to support independent Electoral Registration Officers with postal vote application activities.

Communities and Local Government, whether the full report by Philip Rycroft into foreign financial interference in UK politics will be laid before the House when it is completed.

In December, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced an independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The review findings will be delivered to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Security Minister by the end of March 2026. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will ensure Mr Rycroft’s report is made available to Parliament at the earliest opportunity after it is received.

Communities and Local Government, whether automatic electoral registration, following the proposed reduction in the voting age, will be used to add attainer voters under 16 to the electoral roll.

Should some form of automated registration be introduced using the powers set out in the Representation of the People Bill, this does not apply to attainers (those aged 14 or 15). The duty on Electoral Registration Officers would only apply where they become aware of a person who is of voting age (i.e. someone aged 16 or older). 14- and 15-year-olds will be able to submit their own applications to be attainers.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Braintree during the Oral Statement of 23 February 2026 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report, column 80, whether his (a) officials or (b) special advisers had oral discussions with local authorities that submitted requests to postpone their local elections in May 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 118044 on 10 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers have had discussions with representatives of (1) political parties and (2) political groups of the LGA on the provision of guidance to local authorities on requests to delay May 2026 local elections.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 118044 on 10 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance has been given to local authorities by his department on whether (a) churches, (b) synagogues and (c) mosques may be used as polling stations.

The independent Electoral Commission is responsible for providing guidance to Returning Officers, including on the booking of appropriate polling places. The Electoral Commission is also responsible for setting standards and monitoring the performance of Returning Officers.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has been made of the potential impact of adopting an opt-in approach to the open electoral register on the level of revenues to local authorities accrued from the sale of open electoral register data to third parties.

The primary purpose of the electoral register is to enable those who are eligible to vote, to register and ensure only people who are eligible to vote are permitted to do so. HMG has not made assessment of the impact on the level of revenue to LAs accrued from the sale of the open register. However, the Impact Assessment published alongside the Representation of the People Bill, did consider the potential impact on its commercial value.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025, to Question 90712, on Elections: Proof of Identity, whether prepaid bank cards offered by financial institutions registered outside the United Kingdom, including companies such as Suits Me, will be eligible as proof of identity.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 116475 on 9 March 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to prevent automatic electoral registration from adding European Union citizens to (a) the UK Parliamentary electoral roll and (b) the local electoral roll where they do not qualify because of their immigration status.

The government is committed to upholding the integrity of electoral registers. We are exploring a wide range of more automated approaches to enable improvements in both the completeness and accuracy of electoral registers, including making greater use of public sector data and digital services. Any new approaches to registration will be tested for their efficacy in improving the completeness and accuracy of the registers.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Representation of the People Bill will allow candidates and agents to use PO Box addresses.

Through the Representation of the People Bill we are removing the requirement for candidates who are acting as their own election agent to have their home address published on the notice of election agents, ensuring that those who partake in our democracy are safe and secure in their homes.Election agents (including candidates acting as their own agents) will still need to have an office address where legal papers could be served, therefore this cannot be a PO box. Furthermore candidates must provide their current home address on their nomination form, which therefore also cannot be a PO box. Candidates can already however request for their home address not to be published.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to hold a consultation to amend electoral law to ban imprinted (a) candidate and (b) political party electoral communications being published in foreign languages during the short campaign election period.

The government has no plans to regulate or consult on the use of foreign languages in campaign material.

Communities and Local Government, what is the timetable for a Government response to the working group on Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim hatred.

On 9 March 2026, government adopted a non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility. The definition was published on gov.uk.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made by (a) his Department and (b) the Defending Democracy Taskforce of sectarianism in election campaigning.

Harassment and intimidation of voters, electoral staff and campaigners, both online and in person, is totally unacceptable, whatever the driving cause, and has a profoundly detrimental impact on our democratic process. The Government has welcomed and responded to the report made by the Speakers Conference, which explored the broad factors influencing incidents of harassment and intimidation against candidates and MPs Before an election takes place, an ‘Election Cell’ is set up by the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit (JESP). This brings together government departments, the police, the intelligence agencies, the Devolved Governments, and external partners to monitor and respond to any emerging issues across physical, cyber and information security. MHCLG's Community Cohesion Unit is also a core part of JESP’s Election Cell; the Community Cohesion Unit works closely during election campaigns with local partners, including the police to monitor and address issues related to cohesion. Government is also working closely with the Electoral Commission to develop an updated Code of Conduct for campaigning to set clear expectations for behaviour during election campaigns.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered moving mayoral combined authority elections that were delayed from May 2026 to May 2028, to May 2027; and what representations he has received on this matter.

The government intends to hold inaugural mayoral elections for the four Devolution Priority Programme places that are also undertaking local government reorganisation in May 2028, so that areas can complete the reorganisation process before Mayors take office. Devolution is strongest when it is built on firm foundations, and this extra time will allow these four areas to establish robust institutions ahead of their Mayors taking office in 2028. With the consent of the constituent councils, the government will establish the institutions as soon as possible and provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to answer of 11 September 2025, to Question 74719, on Electoral Register, whether user research has now been commissioned or tendered.

The government is actively exploring a range of approaches to improve the completeness and accuracy of the register. User research is undertaken throughout the policy and digital service development process.

Communities and Local Government, whether local election pilots in May 2026 will take place in any of the localities which had their May 2026 local elections postponed and then reinstated.

In August 2025, local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England, with a deadline of 22 September 2025. In December 2025, council leaders in local government reorganisation areas were invited to make representations on the potential postponement of local elections and whether this would release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation, with a deadline of 15 January 2026. Three local authorities that had submitted applications to pilot flexible voting methods for the May 2026 elections subsequently requested that their May 2026 polls be postponed. These authorities were Tamworth Borough Council, Stevenage Borough Council, and Redditch Borough Council. These three authorities are not taking part in the pilot scheme in May 2026.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 11 November 2025 on Social and Affordable Housing Programme, HCWS1027, what estimate his Department has made of the level of subsidy per unit for a (a) social rent, (b) affordable rent and (c) affordable home ownership under the new scheme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60080 on 24 June 2025.