Lewis Cocking MP: written questions
151 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Local Government: ElectionsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69638More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65428 on Local Government: Elections, if he will list the councils which could have their elections replaced with elections to
Answer: Government is working with local leaders in Surrey to facilitate reorganisation to the most ambitious timeframe possible, meaning that Surrey could have elections to new unitary councils in May 2026, in advance of those councils going live in April 2027.E...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAffordable HousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69637More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63255 on Property Development: Repairs and Maintenance, whether the 2026-36 Affordable Homes Programme will allow a proportion o
Answer: The government’s new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will not have numerical targets for particular types of homes other than Social Rent nor will it have ringfenced budgets for particular regions or types of home beyond the portion allocated to the...
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: ConstructionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69636More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62977 on Housing Construction, what financial guarantees for housing will be provided by her Department for 2025-26.
Answer: As of 30 June 2025, MHCLG has provided £270 million of financial guarantees for housing in the 2025-26 financial year.My Department’s guarantees schemes are demand-led and it is therefore not possible to estimate the total guarantees the Department will p...
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordParish and Town Councils: Council TaxMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69635More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) town and (b) parish councils have Band D council tax precepts above £100.
Answer: The Department publishes data on council tax for all local precepting authorities (parish and town councils, charter trustees and the Temples of London) which can be found on gov.uk here Of the 8,911 local precepting authorities that set a precept for 202...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSwifts: BricksDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69634More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether swift bricks count towards biodiversity net gain.
Answer: No, expenditure on swift bricks cannot be counted towards biodiversity net gain (BNG) units which must be calculated using the main Statutory Biodiversity Net Gain metric or the small sites version of it.
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordElections: Public ConsultationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69633More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will undertake a public consultation on proposed changes to election law.
Answer: The government has worked closely with its partners in local and devolved government, with the electoral sector, with education providers and civil society, and with citizens themselves in the development of the strategy for modern and secure elections. W...
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPolitical Parties: RegistrationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69632More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 63 of her Department's policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL9888 on 4 August 2025.With regards to the impact on election spending limits, we continue to work through the detail on the application of this measure.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPolitical Parties: RegistrationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69631More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 63 of her Department's policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL9888 on 4 August 2025.With regards to the impact on election spending limits, we continue to work through the detail on the application of this measure.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordElectionsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69630More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025, whether the co
Answer: As set out in our strategy, we will work with the Speaker’s Conference and the Electoral Commission to consult with political parties to develop a code of conduct which is fit for purpose. This code will be non-statutory.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAnti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working GroupMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69629More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will hold discussions with the Chair of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition on the potential merits of publishing all responses to the call for
Answer: As noted in the Terms of Reference, the advice provided to government by the independent Working Group will be private. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDeputy Prime Minister: StaffMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69628More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff assigned to work for the Deputy Prime Minister are based in (a) 70 Whitehall and (b) 26 Whitehall.
Answer: The Deputy Prime Minister works from multiple locations, including an office in 70 Whitehall. The office in 70 Whitehall can accommodate up to 30 staff. No staff assigned to the Deputy Prime Minister are based in 26 Whitehall.
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning PermissionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69627More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to ensure that Ministers who make decisions on (a) called-in planning applications, (b) recovered planning appeals and (c) Special Development Orde
Answer: On 28 May 2025, my Department published a technical consultation on proposals for reform of planning committees. It can be found on gov.uk here. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and will set out further details, including in relation to ma...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: ResettlementMinistry of DefenceTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68514More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the data breach relating to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy on military spending.
Answer: There has been no direct impact on military spending. Additional ringfenced funding was identified, initially from the Reserve and then funded as part of the Spending Review plans we set out in June.
Answered 25 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCitizenship: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68473More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish revised guidance for schools on promoting British values.
Answer: Schools already embed British values through their statutory duty to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development. This is supported by statutory curriculum content, notably in citizenship and relationships education. The de...
Answered 25 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordOffenders: DeportationHome OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67547More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders are living in the UK and have received deportation orders.
Answer: The Home Office routinely publishes the number of FNOs subject to deportation proceedings and living in the community within its Immigration Enforcement quarterly transparency release. The latest release can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV....
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordImmigrationHome OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67546More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review (a) citizenship and (b) settlement criteria to place greater emphasis on (i) cultural integration and (ii) long-term contribution to the UK.
Answer: We set out our plans to reform the settlement and citizenship rules in the white paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”. We will be consulting on the settlement and citizenship schemes later this year, and further details will be provided a...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCarbon EmissionsDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67545More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of net zero policies on (a) energy security and (b) industrial competitiveness.
Answer: The transition to net zero will support both energy security and industrial competitiveness. Switching to homegrown clean energy, including renewables and other clean technologies, offers security that fossil fuels simply cannot provide. And our Clean Pow...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBBC: Political ImpartialityDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67544More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of political impartiality in the BBC’s news and current affairs output.
Answer: Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government expects the BBC to uphold these standards. However, the government has not made an assessment of BBC impartiality as it is for Ofco...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented MigrantsHome OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67543More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) economic and (b) social impact of uncontrolled migration on communities.
Answer: The Home Office’s Immigration White paper, published on 12 May, sets out proposed reforms in a wide range of areas to restore control to the immigration system, after the chaos inherited from the previous government, when the level of net migration rose t...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCouncil Housing: Foreign NationalsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67542More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authority housing allocations were made to households where the primary applicant was not a UK national in the last 12 months.
Answer: People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds. The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.On...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented MigrantsHome OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67541More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK are in receipt of (a) accommodation and (b) subsistence.
Answer: The latest data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of asylum support can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: Asylum and Foreign NationalsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67540More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of (a) emergency and (b) long-term accommodation has been allocated to (i) asylum seekers and (ii) foreign nationals in the last 12 months.
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on individuals placed in accommodation in the gov.uk ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support, individuals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and those resettled via th...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCourts and Prisons: Translation ServicesMinistry of JusticeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67539More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the (i) courts and (ii) prison system in the last financial year.
Answer: The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act. Langua...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: Translation ServicesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67538More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much she spent on providing (a) translation and (b) interpretation services for benefit claimants in the last year.
Answer: The spend in the period of January 2024 – December 2024: a) Translation: £882,118 b) Interpreting: £6,774,336
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Works: Fees and ChargesDepartment for TransportTabled 11 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67170More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to respond to the consultation on Lane rental scheme approval.
Answer: The Department for Transport consulted with stakeholders on lane rental scheme approval. This consultation concluded in January 2025. We plan to publish the response to this consultation in due course.
Answered 18 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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