Written questions by Morton.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of a by-election for the office of Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether the provisions of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 relating to the reintroduction of the Supplementary Vote system for mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections are currently in force; whether any further commencement regulations or secondary legislation are required before those provisions take effect; what guidance her Department has issued to returning officers and combined authorities on the electoral system to be used for any mayoral by-election held before the next scheduled local elections; and whether the Government intends those provisions to apply to all mayoral by-elections held following Royal Assent.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the parliamentary by-election in Makerfield; what proportion of that cost will be met by (a) central Government, (b) the relevant local authority and (c) any other public body; and whether he plans to provide additional financial support to the local authority to cover the costs associated with administering the by-election.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposals by combined authority mayors for further fiscal devolution powers, including powers over council tax precepts, local business taxation and infrastructure levies on local government finance.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of whether the National Planning Policy Framework adequately reflects the housing and planning needs of residential boaters; and whether he plans to issue guidance to local planning authorities on making provision for residential boating communities in local plans.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of social housing allocations made to households where the lead tenant is not a UK national in each of the last five years; what assessment he has made of the potential impact of those allocations on waiting lists for UK citizens; and whether he plans to review eligibility criteria for access to social housing and other publicly funded housing support.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people living permanently on residential boats in England; and what assessment he has made of the availability of suitable residential moorings.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend the National Planning Policy Framework to make explicit reference to residential boat communities and their accommodation needs.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what consideration he has given to whether residential boaters constitute a distinct housing group for the purposes of national planning policy.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on safeguarding and expanding residential mooring provision as part of Development Plans.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, what consultation his Department has undertaken with representatives of residential boat communities on the development of national planning policy.

Awaiting answer.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Finance Statement made on 23 February 2026, what the estimated annual operating cost of the proposed Local Audit Office will be; how it will be funded; how its powers and remit will differ from the existing audit framework; and what timetable has been set for clearing the backlog of outstanding local authority audits prior to its establishment in autumn 2026.

The Local Audit Office will take on a remit and powers currently fragmented across the existing system with its statutory objectives and functions detailed in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We will confirm the estimated cost and funding mechanisms later in the year, ensuring that it provides greater value for money than the current failed system. Following the introduction of statutory local audit backstop dates in autumn 2024, the backlog of unaudited accounts has been cleared. The vast majority of opinions for financial years up to and including 2024/25 have been published. The government continues to engage with local bodies and audit firms to ensure that issues preventing the issuance of audit opinions are resolved, and that remaining opinions are published as soon as practicable.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Finance Statement made on 23 February 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of writing off 90% of Dedicated Schools Grant high needs deficits accrued to the end of 2025-26 on the economy; what the estimated value of write-off is by local authority; what steps he is taking to prevent deficits re-accumulating; and whether councils impacted by the write-off will face (a) borrowing restrictions and (b) additional oversight.

The government has set out details of a reformed SEND system which meets needs earlier, before challenges escalate. All local authorities with a SEND deficit are eligible for a grant to resolve 90% of their historic deficits up to 2025‑26— projected to be worth over £5 billion nationally—protecting their ability to support children and young people with SEND in local schools while sustaining wider services and tackling deprivation. Addressing deficits accrued to 2025‑26 could reduce financing costs by an estimated £300 million by 2027‑28. Each local authority’s grant allocation will be determined by reviewing all available sources on local authority expenditure to establish the eligible SEND deficit. This will include comparing Section 251 data, draft and published Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) notes, DSG s151 assurance, Revenue Outturn data and published accounts. Grant eligibility is conditional on securing Department for Education approval of a Local SEND Reform Plan, which will also be used to assess ongoing performance and delivery to target support and challenge throughout the reform period. Local authorities will continue to operate under existing prudential financial management frameworks.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Finance Statement made on 23 February 2026, what estimate he has made of the aggregate level of debt held by local authorities in relation to commercial property acquisition; how many councils hold commercial property investments exceeding 100% of their annual core spending power; what exposure the Public Works Loan Board has to such investments; and whether he plans to use statutory capital powers to prevent debt-financed commercial activity.

The government does not collect data specifically on debt incurred to finance commercial property. However, authorities are required to submit data on borrowing, capital spend and asset holdings to government as part of quarterly and annual returns. Borrowing and investment data for each authority is shown by quarter on gov.uk here. This includes detail on the value of outstanding borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board.Capital expenditure, receipts and financing data is published on gov.uk here.Data on assets held by authorities is published on gov.uk here.Core Spending Power for each authority is published on gov.uk here The government is taking forward work to implement the capital powers introduced into the Local Government Act 2003 in 2023, which provide powers for government to take action where an authority is exposed to excessive risk from borrowing and investment practices. The government will consult on use of these powers later this year.The government’s objective is to safeguard the existing framework so that it continues to support essential investment—such as for housing and regeneration—while preventing practices such as taking on excessive debt for novel and risky investments. We will work closely with the sector to ensure that the powers are effective and avoid unintended consequences.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statement of 9 March 2026 entitled Social Cohesion Action Plan, what indicators he will include in the proposed Social Cohesion Measurement Framework; how frequently those indicators will be reported; whether the framework will include metrics relating to migration levels, language proficiency and community participation; and whether local authorities will be required to report against those measures as part of their statutory duties.

The social cohesion action plan published last week, set out the steps that Government is taking to improve social cohesion. This includes the development of a social cohesion measurement framework and a social cohesion risk tool. Both of these are needed to enable central and local government and relevant partners to assess cohesion in a robust and comparable way. The Framework will be available to local government, civil society and impact investors across England, to help them identify emerging tensions. The cohesion risk tool will create a clear information-sharing link between local and central government – including Prevent and other relevant partners. Work on the social cohesion measurement framework and cohesion risk tool is underway. We will publish fuller details of this work, including the purpose and content of the framework, and findings in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Finance Statement made on 23 February 2026, when he plans to publish the consultation on strengthening safeguards over local government borrowing; whether statutory limits on debt-to-revenue ratios are under consideration; what assessment he has made of the potential impact of such restrictions on housing and regeneration delivery; and whether modelling of the effect on future capital investment will be published.

Local authorities are responsible for their own borrowing and investment decisions, within a statutory framework intended to ensure borrowing is prudent, affordable and sustainable.The government recognises the importance of local investment, including for housing and growth. Under the previous government, however, weaknesses in the system allowed a minority of authorities to take on excessive debt for high-risk investment that have not represented value for money. In some cases, this has led to serious failures requiring government intervention and significant cost to taxpayers.The government is therefore bringing into effect the capital risk powers added to the Local Government Act 2003 in 2023. The aim is to safeguard the system to support essential investment while giving government the tools to address instances of excessive borrowing and investment risk before failure occurs.The government will work with the sector in developing use of the powers to ensure they are effective and to avoid unintended consequences. We will consult later this year.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Finance Statement made on 23 February 2026, what changes have been made to the assessment of relative need within the Settlement; whether independent validation has been undertaken to test the updated needs formula; what weightings have been applied to deprivation, rurality, population growth and service demand; and if he will publish any technical modelling and equality impact assessment.

The recent Local Government Finance Settlement is our most significant step yet to make English local government more sustainable. For the first time since 2013-14, the government is updating the relative needs formulas that form a key part of how local authorities' funding allocations are calculated, using more up-to-date data. This includes using the recently published 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation, an official Statistic produced by MHCLG. Each relative needs formula has been constructed using consistent principles, applying statistical techniques to weight variables according to their influence on service demand. An overview of the weightings applied to the formulas within the assessment of relative need can be found within the Fair Funding Share Calculator on gov.uk here. For further detail on the weightings and technical modelling underpinning the relative needs assessment, please refer to the relevant technical annex published on gov.uk here. The methodology proposed by the government was subject to a technical peer review by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which can be found here. An assessment of the equalities impacts of our proposals was published as part of the government’s response to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, which can be found on gov.uk here Overall, the government assessed that the changes delivered through the Settlement would have positive equalities impacts.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the statement of 9 March 2026 on Protecting What Matters, what criteria he will use to determine the allocation of the £5.8 billion Pride in Place funding; which local authorities will receive the additional £800 million allocated on social cohesion; what metrics he will use to determine whether cohesion is under pressure; and what proportion of that funding will be new money.

On Friday 20 March we announced a major expansion of the landmark Pride in Place programme. This follows the government’s action plan for social cohesion, “Protecting What Matters” which confirmed a further £800 million over ten years to 40 more areas where social cohesion is under pressure. Full details of the methodology used to select places is published on gov.uk.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the consistency of Planning Inspectorate decisions where local plans are absent, emerging or under review; how often inspectors have cited housing land supply shortfalls to justify approving development on protected land; and whether he will review the weighting given to local democratic decisions versus national housing targets in such cases.

My Department has made no such assessment. The Planning Inspectorate does not compile data on the number of instances Inspectors have cited Housing Land Supply shortfalls to allow an appeal on designated land, such as a protected site.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the extent to which housing delivery shortfalls are being used to justify development on protected land; how many homes approved on appeal in the last 12 months were on land previously designated as green belt; and what proportion of those approvals were opposed by the relevant local planning authority and ward councillors.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out clear safeguards for land which is designated for its environmental or amenity value. While a poor score on the Housing Delivery Test (HDT) is a strong indicator of housing need in an area not being met sufficiently, HDT failure does not mean that planning permission for housing will be automatically granted. In 2025, the Planning Inspectorate approved approximately 3,000 homes on Green Belt land, of which 88% had been originally refused by the relevant Local Planning Authority. My Department does not hold information in relation to opposition to specific applications by individual ward councillors.