David Simmonds MP: written questions
457 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Public Houses: Business RatesTreasuryTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109262More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, published on 27 January 2026, whether a gastro-pub categorised by the Valuation Office Agency as a r
Answer: This relief will be awarded to pubs and live music venues at the discretion of Local Authorities, who will determine eligibility using guidance published by the Government and based on existing definitions.
Answered 5 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordLicensed Premises: Business RatesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109261More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, published on 27 January 2026, whether the new scheme disapplies
Answer: Properties eligible for the pub and live music venue relief scheme will benefit from a 15% relief in 2026/27. Thereafter they will see their rates bill frozen in real terms in 2027/28 and 2028/29 provided the pub remains occupied. Any improvements to the ...
Answered 5 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordPublic Houses: Business RatesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109260More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, published on 27 January 2026, for pubs eligible for the £800 Su
Answer: Properties eligible for the pub and live music venue relief scheme will benefit from a 15% relief in 2026/27. The 15% relief will be applied after the existing Supporting Small Business Relief scheme. The Treasury have published examples of how the pub an...
Answered 5 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ElectionsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109259More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 8777, on Local Government: Elections, whether local authorities which submitted bids to hold a May 2026 election pilot sche
Answer: In August 2025, local authorities were invited to apply to pilot a range of flexible voting methods at the May 2026 elections in England. A number of local authorities expressed interest in participating, and we are currently engaging with those local aut...
Answered 10 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordAngela RaynerMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109258More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Rt Hon Member for Ashton-under-Lyne has an official car provided.
Answer: The Rt Hon Member for Ashton-under-Lyne is not provided with an official government car.
Answered 13 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordChinese Embassy: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109257More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the telecommunication cables by the Royal Mint site will be amended or moved when the Chinese Embassy is built.
Answer: Details of the development for which planning permission has been granted in the case in question are set out in the relevant decision letter which can be found on gov.uk here.
Answered 6 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordRapid Transit Systems: West YorkshireDepartment for TransportTabled 28 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 109256More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure the review conducted by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority into the West Yorkshire Mass Transit Programme, issued to the West Yorkshire Combined Au
Answer: On 18 December, Mayor Brabin announced a revised plan for development and delivery of Mass Transit, following an independent peer review by NISTA in September 2025. The changes aim to strengthen delivery and reduce risk, and do not result from any delay b...
Answered 9 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordMembers: CorrespondenceDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107476More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, whether she plans to respond to the letter sent to her Department by the Leader of the Ro
Answer: A reply to the letter from the Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea will be sent in due course. The full methodology and data sources used to produce the ratings has been published online, at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-road...
Answered 25 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordRoads: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107475More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, whether the exercise carried out by her Department assessed physical road conditions.
Answer: This information, and the full methodology and data sources used to produce the ratings, has been published online, at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-road-maintenance-ratings/local-road-maintenance-ratings-2025-to-2026.
Answered 2 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordLocal roads and highwaysDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107474More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local G
Answer: Department for Transport ministers and officials regularly engage with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on a range of issues including in relation to local roads maintenance. At the Autumn Budget, the government confirmed a record...
Answered 10 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordRoads: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107473More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement on Local roads and highways, published on 12 January 2026, HCWS1232, when her Department told local authorities which data sets were to be used to complete th
Answer: The Prime Minister announced on 24 March 2025 that local highway authorities would be rated on their progress in maintaining local roads and highways. This was announced alongside the introduction of new reporting requirements for local highway authoritie...
Answered 30 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordRoads: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 107472More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Written Statement of 12 January 2026 on Local roads and highways, HCWS1232, whether it is her policy that local authorities that have spent all of their Highway Maintenance Grant allocations c
Answer: Local highway authorities that stated they had plans to spend 100% of their DfT capital grant for highways maintenance on this purpose in 2025/26 received an amber, not red, spend scorecard. The vast majority of local highway authorities stated they had p...
Answered 4 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordAsylum: HotelsHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104903More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 94192, on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of applying the levy to asylum seekers in hotel
Answer: The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide support to destitute asylum seekers and as such these are not discretionary overnight stays.The Government’s position remains that the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers is undesirable and uns...
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPublic Order Act 1936Home OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104902More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is issued guidance on the political uniform ban in the Public Order Act 1936 and the definition of a uniform.
Answer: The Public Order Act 1936 aimed to control and regulate the wearing of uniform in a public place or at a public meeting if that uniform signifies association with a political organisation or promotes a political object.The Home Office has not considered i...
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPolicing and Crime BoardsHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104901More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2025, to Question 96551, on Police: accountability, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding district-level licensing authorities in tw
Answer: The Government intends to legislate as soon as Parliamentary time allows to create Policing and Crime Boards to replace Police and Crime Commissioners where it is not possible for policing functions to be held by a Strategic Authority Mayor. These changes...
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordPolice: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104900More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the answer of 9 December 2025, to Question HL12288, on Council tax, what is the increase in police spending power on average across the Phase 2 settlement excluding the revenue raise
Answer: The provisional police funding settlement (18 December) published that total funding to Territorial Police Forces will be up to £18.3 billion, an increase of up to £746 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.2% cash...
Answered 27 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordMigrants: ReligionHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104899More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on the religion of migrants, other than through the Census.
Answer: UVKI do not request this information as part of the visa application process.Asylum claimants are asked for information about their religion as part of the asylum screening (registration) process, during the substantive asylum interview and when submittin...
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordWest Midlands PoliceHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104898More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on what intelligence was shared by West Midlands Police with (a) the UK Football Policing Unit, (b) the National Police Chiefs Council and (c) her Department.
Answer: The Home Affairs Select Committee held evidence sessions on 1 December and 6 January to examine West Midlands Police’s intelligence assessments underpinning the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters.As I committed to the House of Commons, I have provided det...
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordStrategic Migration Partnerships: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104897More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department provided to strategic migration partnership in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.
Answer: The Home Office does not currently publish funding levels to Strategic Migration Partnerships, previous years funding can be found here Government Grants Data and Statistics
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordAsylum: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104896More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2025, to Question 95340, on Asylum: Hillingdon, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of publishing grant payments made to local authorities; and if
Answer: The Home Office does not publicly publish grant payment levels by local authority, and we have no plans to do so. We do however publish the grant funding instructions, which can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unaccompanied-asylum...
Answered 16 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordElizabeth Line: Business RatesDepartment for TransportTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104895More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the higher Rateable Values in the 2026 business rate revaluation on revenue from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement; and whether the multiplier or thres
Answer: This is a matter for the Mayor of London.
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordBusiness Rates: ValuationTreasuryTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104894More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2025 to Question 95397 on Business Rates, if he will publish the change in rateable values by special category code by local authority.
Answer: The Valuation Office Agency currently have no plans to publish this information.
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordBusiness Rates and Council Tax: AppealsTreasuryTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104893More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the size of the Valuation Office Agency’s backlog in relation to (a) business rates and (b) council tax appeals.
Answer: The VOA works closely with government partners to ensure it is adequately resourced and to develop delivery plans which align with planned consultation and legislative timelines.
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordBusiness Rates: Tax AllowancesTreasuryTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104892More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the gross cost of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief was in 2025-26.
Answer: The information requested is available at this link.
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: SurchargesTreasuryTabled 12 Jan 2026AnsweredUIN 104891More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2025, to Question 95885, on Council tax, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the council tax surcharge on other tax receipts.
Answer: As set out in response to Question 95885 on 9th December 2025, the forecast impact on other tax receipts is set out in the published costings document here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costing...
Answered 20 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
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