Written questions by Slade.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help local authorities with the costs for the provision of temporary accommodation.

The Government has invested £1 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping services in 2025/26, a £233 million increase on the previous year. The 2025 Spending Review has protected this record level of investment. Where families do end up in temporary accommodation, it should be high quality and affordable for local authorities. The Government is providing £950 million of investment for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund – the largest investment in the fund to date - to support local authorities to increase the supply of good quality temporary accommodation and drive down the use of inappropriate and costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to include youth homelessness in the cross-government homelessness strategy.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question 52307 on 14 May 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, which local authorities will be allocated additional funding for the Affordable Homes Programme; and how much each of those local authorities will receive.

As under the existing Affordable Homes Programme, registered providers will need to bid for the grant funding announced at the Spending Review. The government will confirm further details, including the timing and process for bids to the new fund, in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with the Electoral Commission on potential provisions for the planned elections bill.

The Government has engaged with, and continues to engage with, various stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission, ahead of the publication of the Government's Strategy for Elections. As the independent regulator, the Electoral Commission offers valuable insight, and its contributions are helping to inform policy development in a number of areas.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned transition period for moving from the fire door safety testing standard BS 476-22 to standard EN 1634-1 on timber fire door manufacturers.

The government recognised the potential economic impact that could result from the withdrawal of testing standard BS 476-22 and the transition to the European Standard (BS EN 13501), including on timber fire door manufacturers, through the consultation response impact analysis. In response, an extended five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard. While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standard of building under review in England.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of pausing the proposed move from the British fire door safety testing standard to the European Standard until the review of that standard has been completed.

The withdrawal of National Classes fire testing standards (BS 476) from Approved Document B in favour of the European Standard (BS EN 13501) aimed to enhance fire protection by simplifying compliance routes within the guidance. This change makes it easier and clearer to ensure products meet required standards and enables simpler performance comparison. The suitability of BS 476 and the transition to the EN standard was scrutinised during the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The EN suite of standards, unlike the BS 476 series, is constantly reviewed, periodically updated, and does not rely on withdrawn standards. The EN suite of standards is therefore seen as more suitable in the long term. The consultation response published alongside the Written Statement on 2 September 2024 shows a majority of respondents were in support of moving to the European Standard. We recognised the potential economic impact of this transition, particularly for sectors such as bespoke timber fire doors, cavity barriers, and smoke vents, through the consultation response impact analysis. In response, a five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard. While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standards of building under review in England.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department holds up-to-date data on the number of fires linked to (a) disposable and (b) single-use barbecues.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available on gov.uk here.Data collected through the Incident Recording System (IRS) does include data on whether primary fire incidents attended were caused by barbecues. However, it does not include data on the type of barbecue, for example if it was disposable or single-use.In the latest statistics published on cause of fire, for year ending March 2024, of 46,135 accidental primary fires, 242 were started by barbecues.We are reviewing the IRS, and the data it collects, and considering what categories to record in the future.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with the Electoral Commission on automatic voter registration since 5 July 2024.

Government officials are in regular contact with the Electoral Commission on a range of electoral matters including registration topics. The government is committed to improving electoral registration. We are exploring a wide range of options to deliver on this manifesto commitment, including making greater use of public sector data and digital services. Any changes will be based on robust evidence and user research.

Communities and Local Government, what the evidential basis is for removing the national BS 476-22 classification for fire door resistance from Approved Document B.

The withdrawal of National Classes fire testing standards (BS 476) from Approved Document B in favour of the European Standard (BS EN 13501) aimed to enhance fire protection by simplifying compliance routes within the guidance. This change makes it easier and clearer to ensure products meet required standards and enables simpler performance comparison. The suitability of BS 476 and the transition to the EN standard was scrutinised during the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The EN suite of standards, unlike the BS 476 series, is constantly reviewed, periodically updated, and does not rely on withdrawn standards. The EN suite of standards is therefore seen as more suitable in the long term. The consultation response published alongside the Written Statement on 2 September 2024 shows a majority of respondents were in support of moving to the European Standard. We recognised the potential economic impact of this transition, particularly for sectors such as bespoke timber fire doors, cavity barriers, and smoke vents, through the consultation response impact analysis. In response, a five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard. While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standards of building under review in England.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has plans to extend Section 5 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to apply to housing associations undertaking public sector contracts; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of this on the (a) (i) accountability and (ii) transparency of these contracts and (ii) accessibility of information relating to social housing.

The government is committed to increasing accountability and transparency in the social rented sector.We will direct the Regulator of Social Housing (‘the regulator’) to introduce new Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) for private providers of social housing, including housing associations, to enable residents to request information about their housing management.All registered providers of social housing are already required to deliver the outcomes of the regulator’s Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard, which requires registered providers to ensure that communication with and information for tenants is clear, accessible, relevant, timely and appropriate to the diverse needs of tenants.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of methodological changes to the classification of certain types of accommodation between the 2011 and 2021 censuses by the Office for National Statistics on local authorities' Housing Delivery Test results.

The established methodology for official statistics on housing supply utilises the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) census to improve the quality and reliability of these statistics. The census dwelling count is subject to intensive validation processes and address matching and provides the baseline for the net additional dwellings statistics. A comparison of total dwelling stock counts between the 2021 and 2011 censuses led to adjustments to some of the net additional dwellings figures, which are used as the basis for the Housing Delivery Test (HDT). This only affected the 2020/21 delivery year in the latest HDT 2023 statistics. Following discussions with the ONS and with some relevant local authorities, we believe that in limited and specific cases these census adjusted figures are not appropriate to use for the purposes of the HDT. We are therefore in contact with relevant local authorities and have issued recalculations where needed.

Communities and Local Government, when her Department will publish the response to the consultation entitled Enabling remote attendance and proxy voting at local authority meetings, which closed on 19 December 2024.

Our consultation on remote attendance and proxy voting closed on 19 December, and results will be published in due course. The consultation aimed to consider how to support the local government sector to modernise democratic engagement and remove unnecessary barriers to participation.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the benefit of including the Garden Trust as a statutory consultee to planning decisions.

The Gardens Trust is currently a statutory consultee on “development likely to affect all registered gardens or parks”. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) increasing protections for sellers in conveyancing processes, in the context of levels of protections in (i) Scotland and (ii) Australia where bids to buy houses are binding once accepted and (b) requiring sellers to provide a full legal pack.

I refer the Hon Member to (a) the answer given to Question UIN PQ 32038 on 28 February 2025, and (b) the answer given to Question UIN PQ 18947 on 20 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing local authorities with the ability to use automatic number-plate recognition in car parks to help (a) increase the efficiency of payment collection, (b) improve enforcement and (c) reduce risks to civil enforcement officers.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 17350 on 12 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to announce the allocation by local authority of the £5 million Internal Drainage Board support grant for 2025/26.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 43491 on 10 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a long-term funding strategy for Internal Drainage Boards.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 43491 on 10 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recommendations of the National Audit Office's report entitled Local Government Financial Sustainability, published on 28 February 2025.

The government recognises many of the themes identified by the National Audit Office in their recently published report entitled Local Government Financial Sustainability.I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by my rt. hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne on 3 February 2025 (HCWS413), which sets out the action the government is taking through the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement to bring long-term stability and certainty to the local government sector.

Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to implement the recommendations of the report by the Electoral Commission entitled Voter ID at the 2024 UK general election, published on 10 September 2024, prior to the May 2025 local elections.

The government has recently published our response to the Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 General Election, and this is available here: Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 elections: government response - GOV.UK.As set out in that response, we will not be making any further changes to the voter identification policy ahead of the May 2025 local elections.

Communities and Local Government, when local elections will be held for (a) areas submitting reorganisation proposals by May 2025, (b) Devolution Priority Programme areas (DPP) submitting proposals by September 2025, (c) postponed shadow unitary elections and (d) postponed mayoral elections.

For both (a) and (b) the postponed May 2025 elections will take place in May 2026 alongside the scheduled district councils in the area. In addition, (a) For areas submitting reorganisation proposals by May 2025, the most ambitious timeline is likely to lead to shadow elections in 2026; (b) for Devolution Priority Programme areas (DPP) submitting proposals by September 2025, we anticipate mayoral elections in 2026. (c) no shadow unitary elections have yet been scheduled; (d) no mayoral elections have been postponed.