David Simmonds MP: written questions
363 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Housing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5687More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3252 on Housing: Construction, whether her target to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament will be measured by housing
Answer: The Government’s target of delivering 1.5 million new homes in this parliament applies to England only as housing is a devolved matter. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5686More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her target to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament applies only to England.
Answer: The Government’s target of delivering 1.5 million new homes in this parliament applies to England only as housing is a devolved matter. We will update Parliament on our progress in the usual manner.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBusiness Rates: Tax AllowancesTreasuryTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5685More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to (a) increase and (b) discontinue business rate reliefs in 2025-26.
Answer: The government is committed to delivering a fairer business rates system by levelling the playing field between the high street and online giants, better incentivising investment, tackling empty properties and supporting entrepreneurship. Any decisions on...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBusiness RatesTreasuryTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5684More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to (a) increase and (b) uprate the business rate multipliers for 2025-26.
Answer: The government is committed to delivering a fairer business rates system by levelling the playing field between the high street and online giants, better incentivising investment, tackling empty properties and supporting entrepreneurship. Any decisions on...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBuilding RegulationsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5683More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 1 August 2024 to Question 1525 on Building Regulations, whether she plans to make deregulatory changes in any policy areas to help increase housebuildin
Answer: When reviewing any regulatory changes to the built environment we will always consider safety and proportionality. We work closely with the Building Safety Regulator to ensure that the Building Regulations are under constant review and are delivering new ...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5682More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations her Department has received on the potential impact of (a) 50% new town and (b) 40% Green Belt affordable quotas on the viability of building 1.5 million hom
Answer: The Government has launched an independent New Towns Taskforce to identify and recommend locations for large-scale new communities containing at least 10,000 homes each. The Taskforce’s terms of reference include advising on a ‘New Towns Prospectus’ – sta...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBuilding RegulationsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5681More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to raise awareness of the new building regulations coming into effect from October 2024.
Answer: Legislation was laid in Parliament in May 2024 to update the Building Regulations 2010 by setting out toilet requirements in new non-domestic buildings in England. Statutory guidance supporting these changes was also published (Approved Document T). These...
Answered 9 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordSouth Cambridgeshire District Council: Working HoursMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5680More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the status of the best value intervention is in relation to South Cambridgeshire District Council on its plans for a four day week.
Answer: The Best Value Notice remains in place until such a time that ministers decide otherwise. Announcements will be made in the usual way.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordRight to Buy SchemeMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5679More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has received representations on abolishing the Right to Buy from (a) the Mayor of London, (b) London Boroughs, (c) the London Councils organisation and (d)
Answer: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has not, as far as it is aware, received any direct representations on abolishing the Right to Buy from the Mayor of London, London Boroughs, the London Councils organisation, or the Mayor of Great...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPedestrian Areas: SmokingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5678More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues on (a) smoking and non-smoking provisions in the model conditions and (b) other aspects of pavement licences.
Answer: Publicly available pavement licensing guidance provides details on the duration, application, determination, and enforcement of pavement licences granted under the Business and Planning Act 2020. It can be found on gov.uk here.Section 4.2 of the said guid...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHealthMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5677More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3109 on Health, whether she plans to use the planning system to regulate the (a) sale of hot food and (b) type of food offe
Answer: As part of the consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, the Government sought views on how the planning system could better support local authorities in promoting healthy communit...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: ProbateMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5676More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings claim the council tax exemption for probate in each local billing authority in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the estimated c
Answer: As of the most recent available data for September 2023, there were 135,698 dwellings exempt from council tax due to the dwelling being empty following the passing of the occupant (exemption class F). The Government does not collect data on the council ta...
Answered 9 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordRight to Buy SchemeMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5675More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many total Right to Buy sales there were in each local housing authority in each year since 2010-11; and what the average value of the discount was in each such authority in
Answer: The number of Right to Buy sales by local authority can be found in Live Table 691b_L. The associated discounts can be found in column b2ac of the Local Authority Housing Statistics open data published on GOV.UK.
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordNational SecurityMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5674More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3408 on National Security, what her Department's timetable is for developing proposals on (a) strengthening democracy and (
Answer: As set out in our manifesto, the Government is committed to strengthening our democracy, upholding the integrity of elections and widening participation in the democratic process.My department is currently working with key stakeholders to develop proposal...
Answered 9 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordNew Towns: Disclosure of InformationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5673More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2024, to Question 3008, on New Towns: Disclosure of Information, for what reason she has not provided the information requested.
Answer: The House was not sitting on 31 July when the New Towns Taskforce was announced. The Government published a written ministerial statement on new towns on 8 October (HCWS112). It can be found here.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: Single PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5423More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the value of the council tax single person discount on a Band D home is in each local billing authority in England in 2024-25; how many households claim that discount in eac
Answer: The annual aggregate cost of the single person discount is dependent on decisions taken by individual local authorities who set their council tax level having taken account of their tax base. Data on the number of households receiving the single person di...
Answered 9 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordElections: Proof of IdentityMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5422More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral answer of 2 September 2024 from the Minister for Democracy and Local Growth, Official Report, Column 24, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals
Answer: We will bring forward legislative proposals when parliamentary time allows.Electoral policy for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a separate regime for voter identification exists there.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordNight-time Economy: Greater LondonDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5421More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) officials, (b) Ministers and (c) special advisers in her Department have (a) met and (b) corresponded with the Mayor of London's Night Czar on the issue of London's night-time economy since
Answer: Since the General Election, officials, special advisors, or Ministers, in their Ministerial roles, have not as yet met or corresponded with the Mayor of London’s Night Czar, Amy Lamé.
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Pentland Communications and Sovereign StrategyMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5420More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2024 to Question 2973 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Pentland Communications and Sovereign Strategy, for what rea
Answer: Details of meetings between special advisers and external organisations are published on gov.uk in line with requirements set out in guidance here.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5419More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2451 on Housing: Construction, what recent estimate she has made of the number of new homes that will be needed each year t
Answer: Immigration is one of a number of factors that impacts on housing demand and future housing supply. We will continue to monitor both and update Parliament on our commitment to build 1.5 million homes over five years.
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: CouncillorsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5418More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Ministers in her Department have met with Conservative councillors since 4 July 2024.
Answer: Government is committed to resetting the relationship between local and central government and working in partnership in the interests of working people. I have regular engagement with local councillors and details of these meetings will be published on ...
Answered 17 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5417More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information (a) her Department and (b) the Planning Inspectorate holds on which local authorities have (i) slowed and (ii) stopped house building due to nutrient neutrality
Answer: At present, advice on the need to achieve nutrient neutrality applies to areas of land within approximately sixty local planning authorities. However, the provision of such advice does not mean that housebuilding in these areas is necessarily being stoppe...
Answered 9 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCivic Dignitaries and Members: AgeMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5416More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2313 on Members: Age, whether she plans to lower the candidacy age to 16 for (a) Members of Parliament, (b) elected Mayors,
Answer: As per the manifesto, the Government is committed to act during this Parliament to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections, strengthening our democracy, empowering young people to participate and building an informed and empowered ele...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHousing: Greater LondonMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5415More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on building new homes on land designated for strategic industrial locations.
Answer: Strategic Industrial Land is land designated in the London Plan as vital for industrial and related capacity.On 18 March 2024, the last Government directed the Mayor of London to complete a partial review of the London Plan including in relation to the us...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ElectionsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5414More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it remains her Department's policy that the mayoral elections for (a) Hull & East Yorkshire and (b) Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral Combined Authorities will take place in M
Answer: On 19 September we announced that the government would proceed with the devolution agreements for Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire. Legislation to implement these agreements will be laid before the House as Parliamentary time allows.
Answered 9 Oct 2024
Original Parliament record
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