David Simmonds MP: written questions
363 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Asylum: HotelsHome OfficeTabled 22 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46890More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Terms of reference for VfM Study on procuring short-term residential accommodation, published on 11 March 2025, how much the Home Office spent on h
Answer: The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
Answered 1 May 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 22 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46889More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to replace the Exceptional Financial Support regime with long term debt-restructuring.
Answer: We are under no illusion about the fragile state of the sector and the pressures that some councils are facing, and recognise the potential for continued instability as we work to fix the foundations of local government. That is why we have a framework in...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial SecurityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45954More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of welfare reforms announced in the Spring Statement 2025 on local authority finances.
Answer: No assessment has been made. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45953More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to account for housing costs when measuring deprivation as part of local government funding reform.
Answer: The English Indices for Deprivation are a designated National Statistic. They have demonstrated, through assessment, that they meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value, set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics by the Office for Stati...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDeprivation IndicatorsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45952More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of reliability of the Index of Multiple Deprivation to accurately reflect levels of deprivation and need.
Answer: The English Indices for Deprivation are a designated National Statistic. They have demonstrated, through assessment, that they meet the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value, set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics by the Office for Stati...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordHomelessness: FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45951More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of introducing a separate needs formula for homelessness.
Answer: The previous government committed to improving and updating the way in which local authorities are funded through the “fair funding review” - but this was not delivered. We will make good on this commitment and implement long-awaited reforms through a mul...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government Finance: Greater LondonMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45950More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authority finances in London.
Answer: The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available up to £13.35 billion for London, including the GLA. This is a £726 million increase on 2024-25, representing a 5.8% cash terms increase. The Department works closely with local government...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45949More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the exceptional financial support regime for local authorities.
Answer: The government is under no illusion about the fragile state of the sector and the pressures that some councils are facing to deliver for residents. We also recognise the potential for continued instability as we work to fix the foundations of local govern...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordTemporary Accommodation: CostsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45948More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the cap on the amount councils can claim to meet temporary accommodation costs on local authority finances.
Answer: We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and are working closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to explore the impacts of subsidy rates on local authorities.Any future decis...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGreater London AuthorityMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45947More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on the role of councils in London in integrated settlements for the Greater London Authority.
Answer: At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. T...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGreater London AuthorityMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45946More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with (a) London Councils and (b) individual councils in London on a joint decision-making role in integrated settlements for the Greater London Au
Answer: At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. T...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGreater London AuthorityMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45945More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to give local authorities in London a joint decision-making role in integrated settlements for the Greater London Authority.
Answer: At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government committed to exploring how the Integrated Settlement policy could be applied for the Greater London Authority from the 2026-27 financial year onwards, taking into account the capital’s unique devolution arrangements. T...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: Local GovernmentHome OfficeTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43109More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with local authorities on the potential impact of the costs of supporting asylum seekers on the financial sustainability of local authorities.
Answer: This Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 4...
Answered 14 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: Greater LondonHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42879More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on supporting London boroughs to house asylum seekers.
Answer: The Home Office is working closely with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its statutory obligations, while seeking to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation for the taxpayer.
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: CostsHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42878More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish representations received from (a) Hillingdon council, (b) Harrow council and (c) other local authorities on the cost of supporting asylum seekers.
Answer: The Home Office is in regular contact with local authorities throughout the country in relation to the accommodation and other support provided to asylum seekers in each area.
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42876More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities in (a) London and (b) England on the adequacy of funding to support asylum seekers.
Answer: The Home Office is in regular contact with local authorities throughout the country in relation to the accommodation and other support provided to asylum seekers in each area.
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42875More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of people of Chagossian descent who have arrived at Heathrow Airport since 1 July 2024.
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42874More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people of Chagossian descent who are planning to move to the UK are offered help with finding permanent accommodation.
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42873More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37161 on Resettlement: Chagossians, whether Hillingdon Council has claimed costs for the statutory provision of support for Chagossians who have rec
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42872More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37161 on Resettlement: Chagossians, if she will publish the costs for the provision of statutory support claimed by each local authority as of 31 Ma
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42871More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37161 on Resettlement: Chagossians, what information her Department holds on the costs incurred by local authorities for the provision of statutory
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42870More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with local authorities on the potential impact of migrants from the Chagos Islands on levels of service provision.
Answer: The Home Office has made funding available to support local authorities in meeting their statutory duties in relation to Chagossian British citizens arriving in the UK. Alongside other responsible departments, the Home Office continues to engage in discus...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordResettlement: ChagossiansHome OfficeTabled 31 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42869More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support people of Chagossian descent who arrive in the UK.
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 18 March to Question 37161.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordCommunity Development: IsraelDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32006More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will require that organisations in receipt of funding from (a) her Department and (b) its arms-length bodies should not participate in boycotts against (i) Israel and (ii) the participatio
Answer: Sports, arts, and culture are powerful ways to bring communities together. As such, we do not support sports or cultural boycotts in principle, including in relation to Israel. The Secretary of State recently met with a delegation led by the Board of Depu...
Answered 7 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordHeathrow Airport: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32005More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to request an indicative vote from this House on the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Answer: The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the Government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on ...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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