Every parliamentary written question tabled by Vikki Slade this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 70 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact for his policies of (a) expanding permitted development rights or (b) amending guidance to simplify planning applications for antenna installation for amateur radio broadcasters.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 124803 on 10 April 2026.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework on the number of intensive livestock farms.
The government has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework on the number of intensive livestock farms.
Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that local councils in England do not count Universal Credit Transitional Protection as income when calculating council tax payment in cases prior to 10 November 2025.
Councils are responsible for designing local council tax support schemes for working age people in consultation with their residents. The Government is aware of the variations in the way schemes assess legacy benefits, Universal Credit and transitional protection payments. The Government has recently written to billing authorities on this issue, encouraging them to reflect on the impact of their approach on low-income households. The letter can be found here. Councils also have discretion, under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, to provide council tax discounts where they consider this appropriate.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 103108 on Supported Housing, what estimate he has made of the number of people with additional needs awaiting a Specialised Supported Housing home, rather than people in the Supported Housing band more broadly.
The response to Question UIN 103108 gave details of the government’s estimate of unmet need in the supported housing sector. Local authorities have now received new burdens funding, and guidance has been published, to support the development of their local supported housing strategies. The strategies require local authorities to make an assessment of current supply, unmet need and future demand in their local area and will allow for more informed, data-driven decisions about supported housing.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 24 July 2025 to Question 69040 on Park Homes: Sales, what his proposed timeline is for reviewing the 10% commission on the sale of park homes.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 69040 on 24 July 2025.
Communities and Local Government, whether his Department's upcoming leasehold reforms will include changes that will impact those living in (a) park homes and (b) accommodation purchased under the Mobile Homes Act 2013.
The reforms to the leasehold system already in statute which the government is bringing into force, as well as the wider set of reforms necessary to end the feudal leasehold system for good, including measures contained in the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, apply to residential leasehold properties.The changes will not apply to park homes because they are caravans and the owners occupy their pitches under licence arrangements. The rights and obligations of park home residents are set out in the Mobile Homes Act 1983.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changing the rules which prevent families from bidding for social houses that have too few bedrooms on waiting times for social housing.
The government expects registered providers of social housing to develop solutions that make best use of their stock.When framing the rules which determine the size of property to allocate to different households and in different circumstances, local housing authorities are free to set their own criteria, provided they do not result in a household being statutorily overcrowded.As announced in our National Plan to End Homelessness in December last year, we will work with stakeholders to review and update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and effectively support vulnerable households.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January to Question 103107 on Monuments, whether he is taking steps to ensure that scheduled monuments will (a) continue to be protected under planning rules and (b) not be considered as Grey Belt land.
Scheduled Monuments continue to be protected as designated heritage assets of the highest significance under both the current National Planning Policy Framework and the draft revised Framework which is currently out for consultation.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of extending the statutory override for local authorities until the end of 2027/28 on the financial security of those local authorities.
The government recognises that local authorities are continuing to face significant pressure from Dedicated Schools Grant deficits on their accounts. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engages regularly with local authorities and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy on the impact of the Dedicated Schools Grant deficits, and in June 2025, we announced a two-year extension to the Dedicated Schools Grant Statutory Override to support local authorities to manage these impacts. We recognise that the size of deficits that some councils may accrue while the Dedicated Schools Grant Statutory Override is in place may not be manageable with local resources alone. We will provide further detail on our plans to support local authorities with historic and accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later in the Local Government Finance Settlement process.
Communities and Local Government, whether he will take steps to allow non-Mayoral authorities to access proposals for a Tourism Levy.
We are consulting whether the visitor levy should be extended to Foundation Strategic Authorities, which can be accessed on gov.uk.
Communities and Local Government, what data his Department holds on the number of (a) town and (b) parish councils that do not have a neighbourhood plan.
My Department does not collect information on which Town or Parish Councils in England do not currently have a neighbourhood plan. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of funding for the neighbourhood planning support programme on (a) town and (b) parish councils who will need to update their Neighbourhood Plan following the development of a new Local Plan.
My Department does not collect information on which Town or Parish Councils in England do not currently have a neighbourhood plan. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.
Communities and Local Government, in the context of his Department’s open consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system, whether he will consider the potential merits of legislation providing that Sport England is notified for any loss of land but retained as a statutory consultee where a significant loss is proposed.
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 103087 on 13 January 2026.
Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the level of public toilets on the public.
In keeping with our commitment to funding simplification, the Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory duty or ringfenced funding relating to toilet provision.Local authorities are responsible for assessing and managing toilet provision and are best placed to do so due to their ability to account for local needs. However, we recognise the importance of toilet provision and have taken steps to support local leaders. At the 2025 Spending Review, we committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services such as toilets. In addition, we continue to provide 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets. No specific assessment on the level of provision of public toilets has been made.
Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential benefits of providing funding through councils' public health grants for public toilet provision.
In keeping with our commitment to funding simplification, the Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory duty or ringfenced funding relating to toilet provision.Local authorities are responsible for assessing and managing toilet provision and are best placed to do so due to their ability to account for local needs. However, we recognise the importance of toilet provision and have taken steps to support local leaders. At the 2025 Spending Review, we committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services such as toilets. In addition, we continue to provide 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets. No specific assessment on the level of provision of public toilets has been made.
Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to create and implement a duty on every council to develop a public toilet strategy.
In keeping with our commitment to funding simplification, the Government has no current plans to introduce a statutory duty or ringfenced funding relating to toilet provision.Local authorities are responsible for assessing and managing toilet provision and are best placed to do so due to their ability to account for local needs. However, we recognise the importance of toilet provision and have taken steps to support local leaders. At the 2025 Spending Review, we committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services such as toilets. In addition, we continue to provide 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets. No specific assessment on the level of provision of public toilets has been made.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of (a) the number of people with additional needs awaiting a Specialised Supported Housing home and (b) the estimated cost r of housing people with additional needs in unsuitable accommodation.
In November 2024, my department published independent research on supported housing supply, demand, funding and commissioning across Great Britain – which can be found here. The published research report included coverage of working-age adults with learning disabilities, autistic people, and people with mental health needs. The research estimated that in 2023 there were 53,000 units of supported housing serving working-age adults with a learning disability and/or autism in England, and 19,000 units for working-age adults with mental health needs. The report noted that half of local commissioners surveyed who responded said that there was a lot of or some unmet demand for working-age adults with a learning disability and/or autism, and that almost two-thirds of commissioners thought there was some or a lot of unmet need for supported housing for working-age adults with mental health needs.
Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to (a) review and (b) update the Mobile Homes Act 2013.
A review of the effectiveness of the Mobile Homes Act 2013 was undertaken in 2017 and it made a number of recommendations. Most have been implemented, such as the introduction of a fit and proper person test and changes to the pitch fee review inflationary index from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index. The government has no plans to undertake a further review.
Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of mobile home occupants on their host community where the former do not have a legal obligation to pay (a) Community Infrastructure Levy or (b) a Section 106 contributions.
My Department has made no such assessment.
Communities and Local Government, what his planned timeline for progression is for areas of England not included in the devolution priority programme.
Decisions on future devolution areas beyond those in the Devolution Priority Programme have not yet been taken, but the Department will continue to engage with local authorities, including any new unitary authorities following local government reorganisation, about possible future devolution agreements. We want to see devolution that is built on strong foundations, with strong unitary structures in place before areas access mayoral devolution. The Government recognises that Mayoral Strategic Authorities are most successful when they are built on a strong history of partnership and joint delivery. Moving forward, we will therefore seek to facilitate the establishment of Foundation Strategic Authorities in areas without a significant history of collaboration, to build local capacity ahead of areas accessing mayoral powers.