Written questions by Bedford.

Communities and Local Government, how many major housing developments have been completed in Mid Leicestershire constituency in the last ten years.

Numbers of major and minor residential applications granted permission each quarter for each local planning authority are available here. As more than one planning application is often associated with a single residential development, the published figures should not be regarded as numbers of residential developments granted permission.Figures are not collected at parliamentary constituency level.The Department does not collect or publish numbers of completed major housing developments.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has plans to introduce legislation to enforce (a) developers and (b) local authorities to use section 106 contributions when local developments are being built.

It is the responsibility of local planning authorities to consider whether otherwise unacceptable development could be made acceptable through the use of conditions or planning obligations when determining applications.The government is committed to strengthening the developer contributions system and made progress through the new National Planning Policy Framework in December, including changes to support the increased provision of various types of public infrastructure, and social and affordable housing delivery.The government is also committed to updating the viability planning practice guidance to improve the operation of the developer contributions system. The government will set out further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will issue guidance to local authorities on allowing homeless people with pets into sheltered accommodation.

If a household is in Temporary Accommodation, local authorities must ensure it is suitable in relation to the applicant and to all members of their household who normally reside with them, or who might reasonably be expected to reside with them and there is a right of appeal. Although it will not always be possible to make provision for pets in temporary accommodation, housing authorities should give careful consideration to this aspect when making provision for applicants who wish to retain their pet. The Renters’ Rights Bill will overhaul the private rented sector, giving tenants the right to request a pet, which landlords must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. Landlords will be able to request insurance to cover potential damage from pets if needed.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to introduce local referenda on local government reorganisation in Leicestershire.

We do not have any plans to introduce local referenda as part of the local government reorganisation process. As per our invitation letter guidance we expect councils to engage locally when developing proposals. We expect local leaders to engage their MPs and to ensure there is wide engagement with local partners and stakeholders, residents and businesses. This engagement should both inform the development of robust proposals and build a shared understanding of the improvements they expect to deliver through reorganisation.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is using AI software in responding to written parliamentary questions.

No, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has not used AI software to respond to written parliamentary questions.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on councils.

Additional funding for employer NICs has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff. The grant distribution methodology has been published in an explanatory note on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-explanatory-note-on-the-employer-national-insurance-contribution-grant-2025-to-2026.We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. That is why the government is providing an additional £2 billion of grant funding through the Settlement, which includes £502 million of additional grant funding to manage the impact of employer National Insurance Contributions changes on council budgets, and £13 million for combined authorities, totalling £515 million. The final Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Leicestershire County Council on (a) local government reorganisation and (b) devolution.

Following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper on 16 December, Ministers and officials have engaged extensively with Local Authorities across England, including Leicestershire County Council, on what these ambitious agendas means for local areas. I met with the Leaders of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland on 9 January to further understand local positions on devolution and local government reorganisation.

Communities and Local Government, how many new homes have been built in (a) the UK, (b) Leicestershire and (c) Mid Leicestershire constituency since 5 July 2024.

The Department publishes a quarterly release entitled ‘Housing supply: Indicators of New Supply, England’, which includes estimates of new build starts and completions in England, Leicestershire and in each local authority district. Statistics to the quarter ending September 2024 can be found in Table 253a on gov.uk here.Estimates of new build starts and completions in the UK are collated and published by the Office for National Statistics and are available on its website here.Both of these datasets cover new build dwellings only and should be regarded as a leading indicator of overall housing supply.The Department publishes an annual release entitled ‘Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England’, which is the primary and most comprehensive measure of housing supply. This includes estimates of new homes delivered in each local authority, in each financial year, since 2001/02 to 2023-24 can be found in Live Table 122 on gov.uk here.Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of people who live in social housing in Mid Leicestershire constituency who were born in the UK.

The Department does not hold the required information. MHCLG publishes data on the number and proportion of people living in a new social housing letting issued in 2023/24 by local authority area, but this data does not cover all people living in the social rented sector.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has plans to introduce union representation onto freeport boards.

Freeports can play an important role in achieving our number one priority – economic growth – by attracting investment and creating jobs in former industrial heartlands across the UK. That is why the government confirmed it is backing the Freeports Programme in October 2024. We are, however, working closely with Freeports to review progress to date and how to best align the Programme with this government’s growth strategy. We will provide further details on these changes in due course.

Communities and Local Government, how many employee settlement agreements there were in her Department in each year since 2020; and what the total value of such agreements is.

The Department has not entered into any employee settlement agreements in any of the years since 2020.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of arrangements for standards enforcement in local government.

The Government is actively considering options to strengthen the standards regime for local government and provide councils with more effective means to address serious misconduct by elected members. We want to give local leaders the tools they need to establish and maintain a strong ethical culture within their authority, and give the people they serve the confidence that local democracy works for them.Our intention is to engage with local authorities, sector representative bodies, and other key stakeholders in due course to ensure a wide range of views are heard.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of people qualify for the single-person household council tax discount.

The latest available data for October 2023 shows there were approximately 8.6 million households in receipt of a single person discount, this represents approximately a third of all households liable for council tax in England. This data is available here: Council Taxbase 2023 in England.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that local authorities work collaboratively when preparing local plans.

Local authorities should already be working together when preparing development plans under the current plan making system as the Duty to Cooperate remains in place.The consultation on proposed reforms to the NPPF published on 31 July included proposals to strengthen co-operation between local authorities on the sharing of unmet housing need and other strategic issues.It also sought views on our proposed intention to introduce mandatory mechanisms for cross-boundary co-operation with a view to moving to a model of universal strategic planning coverage within the next five years.