Written questions by Maskell.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Value for Money Review of homelessness spending will include analysis of the cost-effectiveness of Housing First models.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what criteria will be used to allocate future Pride in Place grants; and if he will use the lower tier indices of deprivation to provide support to communities.

Our £5.8 billion Pride in Place programme is supporting 284 communities across the UK with up to £20 million in funding to address the local issues that matter most to them. The neighbourhoods have been selected using a robust methodology which identified...

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of Government funding to (a) local authorities in Yorkshire and (b) York Central constituency.

This Local Government Finance Settlement is our most significant move yet to make English local government more sustainable. The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade.The provisional Settlement 2026-27 will make available almost £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England, a 5.7% cash-terms increase compared to 2025-26. For York Council we are making available up to £198 million in 2028-29 in Core Spending Power, an increase of 7.7% compared to 2024-25. Core Spending Power allocations for individual local authorities through the provisional Local Government Financial Settlement 2026-27, including those in the Yorkshire region can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, whether she is ensuring that Fire and Rescue services have a statutory duty to support flood 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. However, we recognise the interest in creating a statutory duty for flood response and officials are working with DEFRA, as lead government department for flooding, to consider the wider implications of this. MHCLG supports Fire and Rescue Authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing 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, if she will make it her policy to publish a community safety strategy.

The Government’s Safer Streets Mission led by the Home and Plan for Change commitments set out a whole-system approach to reduce serious harm and restore public confidence in policing and the criminal justice system. Central to this is our ambitions to strengthen neighbourhood policing; tackling anti-social behaviour and making town centres safer and more secure; and halving violence against women and girls and knife crime within a decade.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential risks of the unauthorised placing of flags on lampposts; and whether she has issued guidance to local authorities on (a) their removal and (b) how to de-escalate community tensions.

The Government supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Guidance exists, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help support local authorities to (a) remove and (b) protect the safety of staff who are removing (i) graffiti and (ii) flags that have been placed without authorisation.

The Government supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Guidance exists, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation document Fair Funding Review 2.0 updated on 23 June 2025, what the funding formula used for the review is.

I refer the hon. Member to chapter 4 of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation which sets out the approach to assessing local authority demand through seven formulae. Government have also published detailed technical annexes for each formula. We will publish our response to the consultation in the autumn, which will be followed by the publication of the provisional multi-year Settlement.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of people in the private rented sector due to a lack of social housing.

According to the most recent data from the English Housing Survey from 2022/23, 6% (280,000) of Household Reference Persons in the private rented sector reported that someone in their home is on the waiting list for social housing.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on introducing rent controls at a local authority level.

The government has been clear it does not support rent controls and has not discussed their introduction at a local authority level. We believe that rent controls could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford. The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing rent controls; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on Local Housing Allowance expenditure on private rent.

The government has been clear it does not support rent controls and has not discussed their introduction at a local authority level. We believe that rent controls could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford. The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that annual increases in fees paid by leaseholders to management are capped in line with inflation.

The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease, and the age and condition of a building. As a result, the cost of repairs, maintenance of common areas, and management fees vary considerably. Placi...

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the (a) health and wellbeing and (b) housing needs of people experiencing homelessness.

The DPM is responsible for cross-governmental coordination of policy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping and will update in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to reduce levels of homelessness in winter 2024-25.

The Government will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness and rough sleeping once and for all.Whilst we develop our new strategy, the Rough Sleeping Init...

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a youth homeless strategy.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people. We will look at these issues carefully and will consider youth homelessness as we develop our long-term, ...

Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to help planning authorities prioritise reducing health inequalities.

As part of the current government consultation on reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, we are seeking views on proposed changes intended to ensure that the planning system supports the increased provision and modernisation of key public serv...

Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to create statutory standards for management agencies of leasehold properties.

The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights. This includes driving up the transparency of service charges and reducing barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlord. Over the course of this Parliament the Government will go further by enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations and tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges.The Government will take steps to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end and reinvigorate commonhold by modernising the legal framework. We will also ban the sale of new leasehold flats. The Government will consult on the best way to achieve this, so that generations to come will benefit from absolute homeownership.Our planned reforms to empower leaseholders and provide new and existing homeowners with greater security will help ensure landlords and managing agents are better held to account for management failures. It will also make it easier for leaseholders to take on management of their buildings themselves so they can directly appoint or replace agents.The Government intends to bring forward draft legislation so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional scrutiny by Parliament. It is only right that the Government takes its time when dealing with such a complex subject to make sure that any future legislation gets it right.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to end ground rent.

The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights. This includes driving up the transparency of service charges and reducing barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlord. Over the course of this Parliament the Government will go further by enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations and tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges.The Government will take steps to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end and reinvigorate commonhold by modernising the legal framework. We will also ban the sale of new leasehold flats. The Government will consult on the best way to achieve this, so that generations to come will benefit from absolute homeownership.Our planned reforms to empower leaseholders and provide new and existing homeowners with greater security will help ensure landlords and managing agents are better held to account for management failures. It will also make it easier for leaseholders to take on management of their buildings themselves so they can directly appoint or replace agents.The Government intends to bring forward draft legislation so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional scrutiny by Parliament. It is only right that the Government takes its time when dealing with such a complex subject to make sure that any future legislation gets it right.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to cap (a) management and (b) service costs to leaseholders.

The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights. This includes driving up the transparency of service charges and reducing barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlord. Over the course of this Parliament the Government will go further by enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations and tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges.The Government will take steps to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end and reinvigorate commonhold by modernising the legal framework. We will also ban the sale of new leasehold flats. The Government will consult on the best way to achieve this, so that generations to come will benefit from absolute homeownership.Our planned reforms to empower leaseholders and provide new and existing homeowners with greater security will help ensure landlords and managing agents are better held to account for management failures. It will also make it easier for leaseholders to take on management of their buildings themselves so they can directly appoint or replace agents.The Government intends to bring forward draft legislation so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional scrutiny by Parliament. It is only right that the Government takes its time when dealing with such a complex subject to make sure that any future legislation gets it right.

Communities and Local Government, whether it is her policy to bring forward legislative proposals to convert existing leasehold properties to commonhold.

The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights. This includes driving up the transparency of service charges and reducing barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlord. Over the course of this Parliament the Government will go further by enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations and tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges.The Government will take steps to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end and reinvigorate commonhold by modernising the legal framework. We will also ban the sale of new leasehold flats. The Government will consult on the best way to achieve this, so that generations to come will benefit from absolute homeownership.Our planned reforms to empower leaseholders and provide new and existing homeowners with greater security will help ensure landlords and managing agents are better held to account for management failures. It will also make it easier for leaseholders to take on management of their buildings themselves so they can directly appoint or replace agents.The Government intends to bring forward draft legislation so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional scrutiny by Parliament. It is only right that the Government takes its time when dealing with such a complex subject to make sure that any future legislation gets it right.