Written questions by Morton.

Communities and Local Government, how many meetings her Department had with Unite between 11 March 2025 and when she decided to use the armed forces to help with waste collection in Birmingham.

The Secretary of State has engaged with Unite and Birmingham City Council to encourage them to get back around the negotiating table. She has not met with ACAS and the Department has not met with Unite. Any talks to settle the equal pay dispute are solely between the employer (Birmingham City Council) and trade union (Unite). The decision to allow a small number of military personnel to provide office based operational planning expertise for a short, time limited period to support the council with making sure its response to the ongoing public health risk is as swift as possible was taken in the first week of the major incident, and they were able to add value in that time which was appreciated by the council and the Department.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with (a) Unite, (b) Birmingham City Council and (c) ACAS to encourage parties to reach a negotiated settlement on the ongoing waste dispute in Birmingham.

The Secretary of State has engaged with Unite and Birmingham City Council to encourage them to get back around the negotiating table. She has not met with ACAS and the Department has not met with Unite. Any talks to settle the equal pay dispute are solely between the employer (Birmingham City Council) and trade union (Unite). The decision to allow a small number of military personnel to provide office based operational planning expertise for a short, time limited period to support the council with making sure its response to the ongoing public health risk is as swift as possible was taken in the first week of the major incident, and they were able to add value in that time which was appreciated by the council and the Department.

Communities and Local Government, which Departmental budget will cover the cost of the use of armed forces personnel to support waste collection in Birmingham.

This is a local issue and it is right that the response is led by the key public sector partners in Birmingham. We have been clear that if the local leaders on the ground in Birmingham feel tackling these issues goes beyond the resources available to them and they request national support, then we stand ready to consider any such ask. The Department is working with the Council on options to address further costs arising from industrial action. To date, additional support has included the three office-based military personnel with logistical expertise that were made available to the council to assist with planning. They have now returned to normal duties. We are grateful to our colleagues in the MOD for their support. More widely, the government is under no illusions about the scale of the wider financial challenge facing councils following more than a decade of cuts by successive Conservative governments. The government is therefore supporting the Leader and his team in Birmingham, directly and through the Commissioners, to move the council on from its historic issues. This includes providing an increase in Core Spending Power in Birmingham of up to 9.8%, or £131m for 2025-26, and £39.3 million of the new one-off Recovery Grant that illustrates this Government’s commitment to correcting unfairness in the funding system.

Communities and Local Government, whether costs incurred by neighbouring local authorities from assisting Birmingham City Council (BCC) with waste collection will be met by (a) BCC and (b) her Department.

This is a local issue and it is right that the response is led by the key public sector partners in Birmingham. We have been clear that if the local leaders on the ground in Birmingham feel tackling these issues goes beyond the resources available to them and they request national support, then we stand ready to consider any such ask. The Department is working with the Council on options to address further costs arising from industrial action. More widely, the government is under no illusions about the scale of the wider financial challenge facing councils following more than a decade of cuts by successive Conservative governments. The government is therefore supporting the Leader and his team in Birmingham, directly and through the Commissioners, to move the council on from its historic issues. This includes providing an increase in Core Spending Power in Birmingham of up to 9.8%, or £131m for 2025-26, and £39.3 million of the new one-off Recovery Grant that illustrates this Government’s commitment to correcting unfairness in the funding system.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has received recent representations from (a) Birmingham City Council and (b) the Commissioner on the provision of additional public funds to settle their dispute with striking bin collection workers.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to help support (a) Birmingham City Council and (b) other local authorities to resolve disputes with bin collection workers.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has provided additional (a) funding and (b) other resources to councils bordering Birmingham to help tackle additional fly-tipping resulting from bin strikes in Birmingham.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has provided additional (a) funding and (b) resources to Birmingham City Council to help tackle waste management issues resulting from the recent bin strikes.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to take steps to help support Birmingham City Council to ensure the long-term (a) sustainability and (b) resilience of the city’s waste management services.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with Birmingham City Council on the potential impact of the bin strikes on (a) public health and (b) the environment in affected areas.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March to Question 38609 on Local Government Pension Scheme, what her planned timeline is for the announcement of reforms as part of the Chancellor’s Pensions Review.

The Government consulted on a proposed set of reforms in our “Fit For the Future" Consultation, which closed on 16 January 2025. We are currently analysing responses and will publish a Government response to the consultation in due course.

Communities and Local Government, how much decision making authority local councillors will have over large-scale planning applications.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill does not change the consultation rules on local planning applications.Representations can be made by interested parties and these are considered by the relevant decision maker – whether that be a local planning officer or planning committee.The government intends to consult on the delegation of planning decisions in England alongside passage of the Bill.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will safeguard the call-in powers of local councillors.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill does not change the consultation rules on local planning applications.Representations can be made by interested parties and these are considered by the relevant decision maker – whether that be a local planning officer or planning committee.The government intends to consult on the delegation of planning decisions in England alongside passage of the Bill.

Communities and Local Government, what measures does the Planning and Infrastructure Bill contain to empower local councillors, outside formal committee settings, to effectively influence planning decisions and represent their constituents' interests.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill does not change the consultation rules on local planning applications.Representations can be made by interested parties and these are considered by the relevant decision maker – whether that be a local planning officer or planning committee.The government intends to consult on the delegation of planning decisions in England alongside passage of the Bill.

Communities and Local Government, in what month this year she will publish the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle the potential impact of poor behaviour from managing agents on leaseholders.

The government is committed to ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents. Property agents must belong to a government-approved redress scheme. This legislation is currently enforced by local authorities and by the National Trading Standards’ Lettings and Estate Agency Team, who have the power to issue warnings and banning orders to rogue estate and letting agents. The previous government committed to regulate the property agent sector in 2018 and asked a working group chaired by Lord Best to advise them on how best to do it. However, they failed to respond to the recommendations set out in the working group’s 2019 Regulation of Property Agents: working group report which can be found on gov.uk here. Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of multi-occupancy buildings and freehold estates, and their importance will only increase as we transition toward a commonhold future. As a result, we are looking again at the 2019 report. As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government has made clear it intends to strengthen regulation of managing agents to drive up the standard of their service. As a minimum, this should include mandatory professional qualifications which set a new basic standard that managing agents will be required to meet. We will consult on this matter this year. We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to strengthen protections for leaseholders in the commonhold tenure.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 3 March 2025 (HCWS488) and 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Communities and Local Government, what steps is she taking to support mortgage providers in lending to commonhold tenure holders.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 3 March 2025 (HCWS488) and 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37169 on Neighbourhood Boards, what steps her Department plans to take to allow (a) public scrutiny and (b) questions from communities.

Undertaking meaningful engagement with the local community is a central pillar of the Plan for Neighbourhoods. Building trust and empowering the local community requires consistency, dedication and time, and evidence that people’s priorities have been acted upon. Together the Neighbourhood Board and local authority should ensure that residents, businesses, and grassroots organisations are actively involved in programme design and decision-making to ensure delivery reflects the priorities of local people and helps build capacity within the community. In line with the principles of public life and to ensure the local community can hold the board to account, the board’s operations must be transparent. The board should publish membership and governance arrangements (including minutes of meetings and decision logs) on the lead council’s website. Boards should establish their own practices in line with the Nolan Principles and Managing Public Money principles.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on plans to reform the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) reforms are taking place as part of the Chancellor’s Pensions Review. As the Ministers responsible for the LGPS in England and Wales, the Deputy Prime Minister and I are working closely with the Minister for Pensions and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the reforms to the LGPS and our shared priorities in relation to the Pensions Review.