My Department has published statutory guidance setting out how the national scheme of delegation will operate, including the arrangements for referral to planning committees and transparency and reporting requirements. This can be found on gov.uk here.

An updated impact assessment was reviewed by the Regulatory Policy Committee and published alongside the final Regulations (The Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026). This can be found on gov.uk here.

My Department already publishes data on applications which are delegated to planning officers. Once the Regulations in question come into force on 31st October 2026, we will collect data on applications referred to planning committees. This information will be published alongside other national planning statistics on gov.uk here.

The Government recognises that public confidence in policing is fundamental to the effectiveness of the police and to the principle of policing by consent.

I met the Acting Chief Constable, Scott Green, for West Midlands Police on 21 January. I was assured that appropriate steps are being taken to rebuild trust and confidence in the force and its leadership team, including with local communities.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation, using its power of initiative, into the role of West Midlands Police in the intelligence and decision‑making that led to the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

Accountability for the performance of West Midlands Police rests primarily with the directly elected West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, who is responsible for holding the Chief Constable to account on behalf of the public. The PCC has a range of statutory powers to scrutinise force performance and governance, and to ensure that public confidence is maintained.

From Local to National: A New Model for Policing” published on 26 January set out the Government’s proposals to reintroduce a power for the Home Secretary to remove a Chief Constable on performance grounds and reforming the appointment, suspension and dismissal of Chief Constables.

Through Home Office funding to the NPCC Artificial Intelligence (AI) portfolio, detailed guidance has been developed and published on the responsible use of AI in policing, including through the NPCC AI Playbook and the Covenant.

All Chief Constables have signed up to the Covenant, which establishes core principles for the transparent, responsible and accountable use of AI and generative technologies in UK policing. It also explicitly refers to the need for processes in place to ensure AI output is not accepted uncritically.

The Secretary of State has not met with Birmingham City Council or the Commissioners regarding the refuse workers’ strike. My department engages regularly with Birmingham City Council as is normal for all Councils under intervention. This matter, and the wider waste dispute, is a local issue and is rightly being dealt with by the Council.

Commissioners are experienced local government professionals and are appointed to Birmingham City Council to support its recovery and improvement journey. They have powers relating to governance, finance and recruitment which they can use according to their expert judgement and discretion.

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 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. From 2026-27, the government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, realigning funding with need and deprivation. The government already delivered an increase in Core Spending Power in Birmingham of up to 9.8% in 2025-26 and will further support councils through the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement in a decade.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided to her on 12 May in response to Question 49375.

Repealing the ban on establishing new local authority bus companies (LABCos) will give local leaders the freedom and flexibility to establish a bus company that matches the needs of their passengers, their aims and ambitions for the network, and the available funding.

The decision to establish a LABCo should be underpinned by a thorough assessment of value for money, and a rigorous approach to financial and resourcing planning. The responsibility for monitoring investments, expenditure, accounting and auditing lies with the parent authority. There should be ongoing assessment of risks relating to the business, supported by processes to ensure that risks are managed as part of the authority’s overall risk management approach, with appropriate escalation and reporting.

Local authorities cannot take on any borrowing unless it is affordable. This is a statutory requirement, and any local authority owned company should be self-financing at a minimum.

LABCo operations and financial management are underpinned by statutory guidance from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Detailed guidance on local authority company management and auditing is provided in the Local Authority Company Review Guidance, published by Government, and the Local Authority Good Practice Guide published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill includes a regulation-making power to issue statutory guidance on a national scheme of delegation.

The government intend to formally consult on proposals relating to the delegation of planning decisions in England alongside the Bill’s passage.

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.

The relevant local authority in each place will act as the accountable body for the funds with responsibility for ensuring that public funds are distributed fairly and effectively, and that funds have been managed in line with the Nolan Principles and Managing Public Money principles. They will also be responsible for compliance with legal responsibilities in relation to subsidy control, state aid and procurement.

The transparency and accountability of society lottery operators is a matter for the Gambling Commission through its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).

The Minister for Gambling has no current plans to take action in this area.

The Foreign Secretary has raised the need for accountability directly with Syrian interim Foreign Minister Shaibani. We continue to support partners who are playing a pivotal role in developing a credible evidence base to record atrocities committed by the former regime and others. This financial year, we have committed £1.15 million to accountability and documentation-related programmes. Following the collapse of the Assad regime, we announced a further £240,000 in funding to help secure and preserve vital evidence.