Written questions by Jermy.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's blog post entitled Coverage of our over £1 billion investment to support victims of domestic abuse, published on 15 December 2025, how much and what proportion of the additional funding for the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Duty will be allocated to local authorities in Norfolk.

The government is committed to ensuring that victims of domestic abuse have access to the support they need within safe accommodation. On 20 November, the government announced at least £480 million to support delivery of the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Duty, followed by an announcement on 15 December of a £19 million uplift. This is part of the government’s action to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls with better support for victims, as set out in the Strategy (Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy - GOV.UK ) published on 18 December. Provisional allocations for all relevant local authorities, including those in Norfolk, can be found in the government’s published allocation table for the provisional local government finance settlement on gov.uk here. These figures represent minimum allocations for the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Duty, based on the flat cash value of £480 million. Final allocations, including the £19 million uplift, will be confirmed in the final Local Government Finance Settlement in February.

Communities and Local Government, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025 Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

The government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas. Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed. Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses. Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes. Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and is focussed on building good homes, creating strong communities, and ensuring the proceeds of growth can be felt across every part of the country. Local leadership is at the heart of this, which is why we are giving local leaders more tools to deliver for their areas and targeting funding where it is needed most.

Communities and Local Government, how many short-term rental properties have been converted to private rental properties in each of the last three years for which records exist.

My Department does not hold the requested information.We intend to introduce a registration scheme for short-term lets in England, one of the benefits of which will be to give local authorities access to valuable data at a local level.

Communities and Local Government, what the average number of days was that short-term rental properties were occupied between 1 October and 30 April in each of the last three years for which records exits.

My Department does not hold the requested information.We intend to introduce a registration scheme for short-term lets in England, one of the benefits of which will be to give local authorities access to valuable data at a local level.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2025 to Question 43491 on Internal Drainage Boards: Finance, what steps she has taken to allocate funding to councils.

The government announced at the final 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement that it will provide £5 million in funding for the local authorities most impacted by Internal Drainage Board levies. Allocations for the 2025-26 IDB levy support grant will be announced in due course.

Communities and Local Government, how many people have received funding from the Disabled Facilities Grant in (a) South West Norfolk constituency, (b) Norfolk and (c) East Anglia in each of the last 14 years.

The Disabled Facilities Grant allocation to South West Norfolk constituency, Norfolk and East Anglia for the last ten years is shown below. This information is not available prior to 2015-16: YearKings Lynn and West Norfolk Norfolk County Council East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) 2015-16 £759,000£3,753,000£9,210,0002016-17 £1,248,225£6,367,664£16,194,6922017-18 £1,352,170£6,923,659£17,680,0012018-19 £1,456,115£7,479,654£19,165,3082019-20 £1,571,235£8,070,995£20,680,5142020-21 £1,782,807£9,157,782£23,465,2172021-22 £1,782,807£9,157,782£23,465,2172022-23 £1,782,807£9,157,782£23,465,2172023-24 £1,938,375£9,956,890£25,512,7922024-25 £2,212,175£11,363,321£29,116,526 This information is also available through the website of Foundations, the National Body for DFGs and Home Improvement Agencies here: Disabled Facilities Grant Annual Allocations. It is for local authorities to decide how to spend their allocation and deliver adaptations to eligible disabled and older people. Government does not hold data on how many people have received Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding. This Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why government awarded an £86 million in-year uplift to the DFG for 2024-25, bringing the total funding for 2024-25 to £711 million. The Government has also confirmed £711 million for the DFG for 2025-26. We are also reviewing the allocations formula for the DFG to ensure the funding is aligned with local needs and will consult on a new approach during 2025. Any changes in policy that require additional funding would be subject to the Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to increase funding to (a) Shelter and (b) other charities to support their work in (i) South West Norfolk constituency, (ii) Norfolk and (iii) England.

Funding for homelessness and rough sleeping in England will increase by £233 million in 2025/26. Allocations of funding in 2025/26 can be found here and future funding will be subject to the Spending Review. Through our grant programmes, we will continue to support charities, such as Shelter, who provide vital workforce skills and capacity support to frontline homeless organisations. Allocations to shelter can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Housing Ombudsman suggesting in January 2025 that there should be a pilot study to test and sample properties for levels of lead.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Question UIN 27855 on 6 February.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure national scale cavity nesting habitat is (a) preserved and (b) created to stabilise populations of red listed birds reliant on buildings to breed.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25th February to Question 31290 on Housing: Standards, whether levels of lead standardisation will be be included in the Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.

The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.The existing Decent Homes Standard, which applies to social housing, makes clear that a home is not decent if it contains category 1 (serious) hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).Tenants who believe their rented home is in a seriously dangerous condition can inform their local authority. Local authorities must take enforcement action under the Housing Act 2004 if they find category 1 hazards assessed using the HHSRS. These include those relating to the presence of lead.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 27855, when the consultation for a reformed decent homes standard will be published and; what its scope will be.

The government will bring forward a consultation this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help remove lead paint in older homes.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Questions UIN 27855 on 6 February 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to remove toxic lead pipes in housing in (a) England, (b) East Anglia and (c) South West Norfolk constituency.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Questions UIN 27855 on 6 February 2025.