theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of withdrawing the UK from the Aarhus Convention to enable damages to be sought from people who bring frivolous judicial reviews relating to road infrastructure projects. \p Mike Kane: The Government remains committed to protecting access to justice in environmental cases, while supporting the timely delivery of infrastructure projects under the Government’s Growth Mission.

The issue of cost caps relating to Judicial Review in the planning context was considered by Lord Banner in his independent review published in October 2024. He did not recommend any change to the default cost caps in Aarhus cases. Judges already have the power to vary costs caps upwards or downwards according to the particular circumstances in a case. The MoJ published a call for evidence on Lord Banner’s recommendations on 28 October 2024, alongside the publication of his report by MHCLG. The call for evidence closed on 30 December.

Some of Lord Banner’s recommendations have been taken into the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and will tighten the judicial review process to cut delays for major infrastructure projects and look to strike the right balance between improving efficiency and ensuring access to justice. The change will only allow one attempt at legal challenge, instead of three, for meritless claims and two for other claims. These changes will prevent meritless claims from holding up projects by exhausting the appeals process and will ensure legitimate legal challenges are heard promptly.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which third party companies based on the Isle of Wight her Department has awarded funding to in the last three years; and which projects they have supported. \p Mike Kane: In the last three years the Department has provided maritime funding, via the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE), five Isle of Wight based companies.

Ad Hoc Marine Designs Ltd for the project “Marine to Electric Power – SeNZe-Tech™ the Smart Way to Clear The Hurdles”

Aluminium Marine Consultants Limited for the projects “HyCap Drive” and “Safer, Smarter Ships – Strategies and innovations for vessels using low flash point fuels”

Carisbrooke Shipping Limited for the projects “Double efficient pilot fuel free ceramic hydrogen combustion engine technology for marine applications”, “Carnot High Efficiency Hydrogen Combustion Engine Demonstrator”, “Shoreside Power from Optimised Hydrogen Lifecycle”, “Novel High-Efficiency Ammonia engine Technology for Heavy Duty marine applications”, “AirWing Maximised Thrust Wind Propulsion Demonstration” and “Self-Learning Wing Trim Optimisation for AirWing Wind Propulsion System”

Cowes Harbour Commission for the project “Clean Hybrid Alternative Marine Powertrain 2” and

Wight Shipyard Company Limited for the projects “Zero Emission Cross River Ferry” and “Zero-emission Electric Freight Vessel & Charging Infrastructure”

This is separate to any funding provided directly to the Isle of Wight, by the Department, for other transport related matters.
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Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the cost of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations on public transport providers. \p Simon Lightwood: I am not aware of any such estimates being made of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations on public transport providers.
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Mr Calvin Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the costs of implementing the EHRC’s proposed Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations for railway stations. \p Simon Lightwood: I am not aware of any such estimates being made of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations for railway stations.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are eligible for free travel under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme due to disability in Fylde constituency. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of people eligible for free travel under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme due to disability at any geographic level.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 55226 on Electric Bicycles: Road Traffic Offences, whether her Department is taking steps with (a) the Home Office and (b) other agencies on implementing a consistent approach to (i) enforcement and (ii) public safety. \p Simon Lightwood: While enforcement of road traffic offences concerning e-cycles is a matter for the police, the Department is working with the Home Office on new offences intended to tackle those rare instances where a cyclist’s behaviour is dangerous or careless, and results in the death or serious injury of another road user.

This is in addition to the new powers for the police to seize any vehicle, including e-cycles, being used in an anti-social manner and without first being required to give a warning.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 55226 on Electric Bicycles: Road Traffic Offences, whether her Department plans to amend the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 to reflect (a) modern technologies and (b) usage patterns. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department consulted on potential changes to regulations on e-cycles in 2024. The Government’s response to that consultation was published in January 2025 and can be viewed here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/smarter-regulation-proposed-changes-to-legislation-for-electrically-assisted-pedal-cycles/smarter-regulation-proposed-changes-to-legislation-for-electrically-assisted-pedal-cycles

In summary, the Government concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to take forward any changes to regulations at this stage, but we may consider this again in the future and, for example, as part of any broader review on micromobility.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54084 on Roads: Fylde, whether funding has been allocated for new road investment projects in 2025-26 in Fylde constituency. \p Lilian Greenwood: The previous Answer set out the maximum 2025 to 2026 highway maintenance funding allocation from the government to Lancashire County Council as the local highway authority for the honourable member’s constituency. Grant funds provided by DfT for highways maintenance are not ringfenced, meaning that Lancashire County Council can choose how to spend this, including on road schemes within the Fylde constituency if they wish.

In addition, Lancashire Combined County Authority (the non-mayoral combined authority consisting of Lancashire County Council, Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council, and Blackpool Council) has been allocated over £9 million in 2025/26 of Integrated Transport Block (ITB) funding to support local transport maintenance and enhancements. For 2025/26 the government will top up ITB funding through the Local Transport Grant (LTG), a one-year capital grant. Lancashire Combined County Authority has been allocated nearly £35m through the LTG.

Beyond that, there are no schemes for investment in the local road network put forward by the local highway authority for support from my Department through relevant road investment funding programmes for 2025/26.

National Highways is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the sections of strategic road network in the honourable member’s constituency. The Strategic Road Network: interim settlement 2025 to 2026 published in March set out government’s investment and management of the strategic road network for 2025/26. Following the opening of the A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool project last August, there are no new strategic road projects in Fylde in 2025/26.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54086 on Active Travel: Lancashire, if she will provide additional (a) funding and (b) resources to improve walking infrastructure in Fylde. \p Simon Lightwood: Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Department will publish a third cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS3). This will set out the long-term funding for active travel including infrastructure and programmes such as Bikeability.

Since 2020 Lancashire County Council has been awarded over £10.5 million of funding to improve the safety and accessibility of infrastructure through the Active Travel Fund. While it is for local authorities to decide where investment is prioritised in their local transport networks, Active Travel England (ATE) works with them through the Design Assurance Process which uses tools, checks and other processes to ensure quality and safety are designed into new and existing infrastructure.

ATE is regularly engaged with the Council through our regional engagement managers. Earlier this year ATE published best practice guidance for authorities on how to engage communities on the prioritisation and delivery of schemes. Guidance on monitoring and evaluation has been provided to support authorities in transparently tracking the impact of their funding.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the legalisation of self-driving vehicles on people whose jobs require driving. \p Lilian Greenwood: The development of self-driving vehicle technology has the potential to support our Plan for Growth, creating up to 38,000 high-quality jobs, and unlocking £42 billion for the UK economy by 2035. Additional benefits will include reducing human error – which causes nearly 9 in 10 road collisions – and offering new, flexible transport options, particularly for those with limited mobility.

We expect that the introduction of self-driving vehicles will be gradual, given the current readiness of the technology. We are committed to continued engagement with affected groups, including representatives for taxi, bus and private hire vehicle drivers, as we develop and implement the secondary legislation underpinning the Act.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department holds on the proportion of people reliant on public transport in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) the East Midlands, (d) England and (e) the UK. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department for Transport holds no direct data or estimates of reliance on public transport.

The National Travel Survey (NTS), overseen by the Department, collects data on the proportion of households who have no access to a car or van for England (22% in 2023) and East Midlands (21% in 2023). NTS data is not available at constituency, county or UK level.

The 2021 Census for England and Wales, overseen by the Office for National Statistics, also collected data on the proportion of households with no cars or vans, as shown in the table below.

Area

Proportion of households with no cars or vans

Ashfield

20.6%

Nottinghamshire

18.3%

East Midlands

19.1%

England

23.5%
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) discount schemes and (b) subsidies for aviation travel to the Isles of Scilly. \p Mike Kane: Route subsidies for aviation in the UK are provided through Public Service Obligations (PSOs) which enable the protection of existing domestic routes that are in danger of being lost. It is the responsibility of the relevant Local Authority to submit an application for a PSO to the department for consideration.

The Department currently has no plans to introduce a discount scheme for aviation travel to the Isles of Scilly.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has for the funding of staffing for future council-run bus services. \p Simon Lightwood: The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. As part of the £955 million, each local transport authority (LTA) will receive funding specifically to support their capacity and capability, providing them with sufficient funding to employ at least one additional bus officer. Future funding for buses will be announced following the conclusion of the multi-year spending review.

In addition to funding, the Department is engaging with LTAs to understand what further support they need to deliver effective bus improvements, improving an established programme of support. For example, the Department is working to actively support to local authorities who may, following Royal Assent of the Bus Services No.2 Bill, wish to explore the option of establishing a bus company. We will work with local leaders to ensure this support reflects their needs and priorities.
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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with Transport for London on taxi and private hire driver licence renewals. \p Simon Lightwood: Transport for London is the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authority for London and is responsible for administering the licensing regime in London. The Department discusses a range of licensing matters with them.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the number of new vehicles manufactured (a) in the UK and (b) elsewhere that will be commissioned following the announcement of the allocations for the Transport for City Regions settlements between the 2027-28 and 2031-32 financial years. \p Simon Lightwood: The Chancellor announced the £15.6 billion Transport for City Regions settlements for 9 eligible mayoral strategic authorities on 4 June 2025. As a devolved funding programme, it is for local areas to decide how to allocate this funding to address their local transport priorities. The longer-term funding certainty provided by this announcement will enable city regions to develop project pipelines, supporting market engagement.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure improved integration between (a) bus and (b) rail services through the Integrated National Transport Strategy. \p Simon Lightwood: The government knows that a modern, integrated public transport network is vital to providing access to services and opportunities for all users of the system and keeping communities connected. Later this year, the Department will publish its Integrated National Transport Strategy and set the long-term vision for transport in England, placing people at the heart of how transport is designed, built and operated. Although the Strategy is still in development, it will aim to create a transport system where people can easily, reliably and safely carry out the journeys they want to make, including those across multiple modes.

We are working to improve both bus and rail services to support greater integration between transport modes. The Bus Services (No.2) Bill will place power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders, and the Public Ownership Act and Railways Bill will ensure the railways are delivering once again for passengers across the country.
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Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any of the regional transport infrastructure projects announced on 4 June 2025 will be classified as England and Wales projects. \p Simon Lightwood: The Chancellor announced the £15.6 billion Transport for City Regions settlements on 4 June 2025 for investment in the local transport networks of 9 eligible mayoral strategic authorities in England. Local transport is devolved to the Welsh government.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for an older person's bus pass to include people over the age of 60 in England. \p Simon Lightwood: The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.

However, local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, such as lowering the age of eligibility. Additional local concessions are provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.

The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority have been allocated £10.5 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services for passengers can be used in whichever way they wish. This could include extending the discretionary concessions available.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Midlands Rail Hub on (a) journey times, (b) capacity, (c) frequency of services and (d) reliability of services for West Midlands passengers. \p Simon Lightwood: Midlands Rail Hub is designed to kickstart economic growth and breakdown barriers to opportunity. It could speed up journey times, provide capacity for hundreds of additional trains into central Birmingham, improve frequency by 50-100% on many corridors, and reliability on trains through New Street, improving journeys across the Midlands and beyond. We are assessing all our investment plans as part of the ongoing Spending Review.
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Navendu Mishra:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will publish the average response time for British Transport Police at Stockport station in each of the last five financial years. \p Simon Lightwood: British Transport Police (BTP) response times are dependent on the severity of the incident.

BTP have provided the following figures for incidents at Stockport railway station over the last 5 financial years:

Financial year

Immediate* grade incident BTP response time

(20 minute target)

Priorityˤ grade incident BTP response time

(60 minute target)

2024/25

19 minutes

25 minutes

2023/24

17 minutes

19 minutes

2022/23

15 minutes

32 minutes

2021/22

16 minutes

29 minutes

2020/21

13 minutes

20 minutes

* incidents where there is, or is likely to be, a danger of death, the use of violence, or a serious injury to a person or serious damage to property.

ˤ urgent initial police action is required, but the incident does not meet the threshold for immediate response

Home Office forces will also attend if they are available and are able to arrive at the scene before BTP.

Please note that reduced rail travel in 2020/21 and 2021/22 due to COVID-19, and therefore also reduced numbers of incidents, may have contributed to the reduced response times for those years.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Pursuant to the answer to question 54450 of 3 May 2025, how many people in the Fylde constituency are currently eligible for free travel under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme due to disability. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number of people eligible for free travel under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme due to disability at any geographic level.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department holds on the proportion of learners who pass a full category (a) AM and (b) A motorcycle test after completing compulsory basic training on a moped in the last five years. \p Lilian Greenwood: All riders who want to take a practical motorcycle test must hold a valid compulsory basic training (CBT) certificate. The type of licence held by the rider and the machine used for the training course is noted on the CBT certificate issued to the rider. The information on the proportion of learners who pass a full category (a) AM and (b) A motorcycle test after completing compulsory basic training on a moped is not recorded or held by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

The attached Excel document shows the number of module two motorcycle tests that have been conducted in categories A, A1, A2 and Moped AM for the last five financial years. DVSA can currently only publish the data included in the attached Excel document up to the end of September 2024.

Motorcycle Module 2 Volume & Pass Rate (xlsx, 17.2KB)
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of trains were delayed between London Waterloo and Eastleigh in each financial year between 2015 and 2025. \p Simon Lightwood: The number and proportion of services between London Waterloo and Eastleigh which arrived within 15 minutes of the timetabled arrival for each year between 2020-21 and 2024-25 is set out in the table below. The year to date position is given for 2025-26. Data from before 2020-21 is stored in a legacy system and is not readily accessible.

Eastleigh to Waterloo

Waterloo to Eastleigh

On Time to 15 (Number)

On Time to 15 (Percentage)

On Time to 15 (Number)

On Time to 15 (Percentage)

2020-21

7224

98.84%

6899

98.53%

2021-22

7435

97.95%

7418

97.17%

2022-23

7129

97.46%

6947

95.82%

2023-24

7174

97.13%

6717

94.50%

2024-25

7356

96.47%

6956

93.17%

2025-26 year to date

1446

97.75%

1351

98.04%
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Jacob Collier:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the cost to Great British Railways of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations. \p Simon Lightwood: Work is underway to design the form and functions of Great British Railways. Set up costs and future budgets will be confirmed in due course.
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Mike Reader:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to local authorities of implementing the Equality and Human Rights Commission's revised code of practice for services, public functions and associations. \p Jim McMahon: We have not yet made an assessment of the cost and impact on local authorities of implementing the proposed updates to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, which is still open for consultation.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many approvals of applications were received by the Building Safety Regulator (a) within and (b) after the statutory timeframe of eight weeks in each month between October 2023 and April 2025 under regulation 44 of the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023. \p Alex Norris: The Department and the Building Safety Regulator recognise the value to the sector in providing performance data. From this quarter, the BSR will be publishing quarterly data demonstrating the volumes of applications received, recorded outcomes and decision times for determination.

Table 1 shows:

Table 2 shows:

Table 1 Approval Within 8 weeks SLA

Year / Month

No

Yes

Total Approvals

2023

28

3

31

October

6

0

6

November

8

1

9

December

14

2

16

2024

301

49

350

January

23

5

28

February

30

8

38

March

35

6

41

April

22

5

27

May

34

4

38

June

30

3

33

July

30

6

36

August

32

5

37

September

30

5

35

October

14

2

16

November

10

0

10

December

11

0

11

2025

8

0

8

January

6

0

6

February

2

0

2

March

0

0

0

April

0

0

0

Total

337

52

389

Table 2- Approval within 12 weeks SLA

Year / Month

No

Yes

Total approvals

2023

0

0

0

October

0

0

0

November

0

0

0

December

0

0

0

2024

14

1

15

January

1

0

1

February

0

0

0

March

0

0

0

April

1

0

1

May

7

0

7

June

3

1

4

July

0

0

0

August

2

0

2

September

0

0

0

October

0

0

0

November

0

0

0

December

0

0

0

2025

0

1

3

January

0

1

1

February

0

0

2

March

0

0

0

April

0

0

0

Total

14

2

18
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David Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to (a) measure and (b) report on progress on reducing youth homelessness through the forthcoming homelessness strategy. \p Rushanara Ali: Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people.

We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.

We continue to measure the number of young people owed a homelessness duty through the quarterly and annual accredited homelessness statistics, which remain our official and most robust statistics on youth homelessness.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what the purpose was of the payment to the Science Museum on Recruitment. \p Alex Norris: The payment to the Science Museum was for the National Railway Museum Levelling Up Culture capital project announced at the Spring Budget 2024. It has been incorrectly categorised on the document published on 28 April 2025. Officials will seek to correct this error.
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Tom Rutland:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Building Safety Regulator is reviewing proposals for new schemes in a timely fashion. \p Alex Norris: We recognise that there are delays to the Gateways process and that processing times need to improve. MHCLG officials continue to work closely with the BSR to understand their resource requirements, technical capacity and how processes can be improved. This includes ministerial level involvement. We have provided funding to the BSR to recruit an extra 30 frontline staff to bolster its capacity. On 14 May, BSR also launched a campaign to directly recruit Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs), with further recruitment planned in June 2025. We expect the impact of these new recruits on processing times to scale up in the coming months.

BSR continues to carry out extensive stakeholder engagement to support applicants to better understand and meet the new requirements. Since July 2024, BSR has held weekly meetings with the Construction Leadership Council and other industry bodies including the Home Builders Federation to address knowledge gaps and share lessons learned. BSR also issued new guidance in collaboration with the sector in March 2025 based on the findings of research with organisations submitting building control applications.

BSR has taken several further measures including implementing early-stage validation checks to improve efficiency, reduce incomplete submissions, and free up resources for compliant applications.

Whilst BSR and MHCLG are exploring all possible opportunities to strengthen the new Gateway process and guidance to industry, it is important to recognise that a significant volume of applications continue to be invalidated or rejected for not meeting the legislative requirements. These are buildings that, had they been constructed, might have placed residents at risk and/or living in housing that did not meet long-standing requirements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_243

Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the installation of wood burning stoves in newbuild homes on levels of public health. \p Alex Norris: The government recognises that the use of solid fuel appliances in domestic settings is a major source of air pollution and is committed to cleaning up our air and protecting public health by developing a series of interventions to reduce emissions so everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced. That is why the government has launched a rapid review of the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) to make sure it is fit for purpose to deliver legally binding targets to improve air quality. We published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025, to be followed by publication of a revised EIP later this year. As part of the EIP, we are developing a series of intervention to reduce emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including from domestic combustion.

Legislation is currently in place to restrict the sale of the most polluting fuels used in domestic burning. This includes restrictions on the sale of small volumes of wet wood for domestic burning; limits on the emission of sulphur and smoke from manufactured solid fuels; and phasing out the sale of bituminous coal (traditional house coal). These regulations aim to move people to cleaner fuels: from wet wood to dry wood, and from traditional house coal to smokeless coal and low sulphur manufactured solid fuels, resulting in lower particulate matter emissions.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_244
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_244

Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with representative bodies of small businesses on the impact of commercial lease conditions in high street premises on the financial viability of those businesses. \p Alex Norris: The government recognises that both landlords and tenants have raised concerns about the commercial leasehold framework. That is why the government supports the Law Commission's ongoing review of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, which aims to modernise the commercial leasehold framework, ensuring it is fit for today’s market. The Department has sought views on leasing issues from business representative organisations, including those representing small businesses, and is committed to supporting thriving high streets.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_245
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_245

Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support housing associations with increases in costs for (a) materials, (b) staffing and (c) regulatory compliance. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing.

Details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme will be set out at the Spending Review.

The Government intends to publish a long-term housing strategy later this year.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_246
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_246

Henry Tufnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make the British standard entitled BS EN 13724:2013 Postal services: apertures of private letter boxes and letter plates mandatory for all new (a) builds and (b) front door replacements. \p Alex Norris: Guidance on letterplate specifications for developers are referenced in Approved Document Q (ADQ), but the Government has recently published a Frequently Asked Question alongside ADQ on gov.uk here, providing developers with further guidance on letterbox and letterplate positioning. When reviewing the Approved Documents, the Building Safety Regulator engages with the Building Advisory Committee, an independent board of industry representatives, including developers.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_247
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_247

Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of pausing the proposed move from the British fire door safety testing standard to the European Standard until the review of that standard has been completed. \p Alex Norris: The withdrawal of National Classes fire testing standards (BS 476) from Approved Document B in favour of the European Standard (BS EN 13501) aimed to enhance fire protection by simplifying compliance routes within the guidance. This change makes it easier and clearer to ensure products meet required standards and enables simpler performance comparison.

The suitability of BS 476 and the transition to the EN standard was scrutinised during the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The EN suite of standards, unlike the BS 476 series, is constantly reviewed, periodically updated, and does not rely on withdrawn standards. The EN suite of standards is therefore seen as more suitable in the long term. The consultation response published alongside the Written Statement on 2 September 2024 shows a majority of respondents were in support of moving to the European Standard.

We recognised the potential economic impact of this transition, particularly for sectors such as bespoke timber fire doors, cavity barriers, and smoke vents, through the consultation response impact analysis. In response, a five-year transition period was introduced for fire resistance classifications, running from 2 September 2024 to 2 September 2029. This extended period was developed in consultation with industry to allow sufficient time for retesting and certification under the new standard.

While concerns have been raised about the timing of the transition, we remain committed to the planned timeline. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will continue to monitor the impact of the change and support industry through the transition. BSR will keep these standards under review as part of their continuous review of Approved Document B, in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act to keep the safety and standards of building under review in England.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_248
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_248

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many regularisation of unauthorised building work applications the Building Safety Regulator rejected in each month between October 2023 and April 2025 under regulation 47 paragraph 5 of the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023. \p Alex Norris: The Department and the Building Safety Regulator recognise the value to the sector in providing performance data. From this quarter, BSR will be publishing quarterly data demonstrating the volumes of applications received, recorded outcomes and decision times for determination.

The table below shows:

Year / Month

Rejection

Withdrawn

Total received

2023

0

0

1

October

0

0

0

November

0

0

0

December

0

0

1

2024

10

10

81

January

0

0

3

February

1

0

2

March

1

1

8

April

3

2

6

May

0

0

1

June

1

2

4

July

2

0

11

August

0

0

3

September

2

3

13

October

0

2

6

November

0

0

14

December

0

0

10

2025

0

0

18

January

0

0

9

February

0

0

3

March

0

0

3

April

0

0

3

Total

10

10

100
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_249
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_249

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households have used Government-funded home ownership schemes in England in each of the last 30 years. \p Matthew Pennycook: Over the past 30 years, various government-funded home ownership schemes have supported first-time buyers in England.

As these schemes were administered by different organisations, some of which no longer exist, there is no single, centralised, and comprehensive data source capturing the total number of households assisted over the full period in question.

The number of households helped between April 2013 and 31 May 2023, using a Help to Buy: Equity Loan and between March 2012 and 8 September 2015 using Help to Buy: NewBuy scheme can be found on gov.uk here.

There is also sales data available on gov.uk on Right to Buy from 1980-81, Right to Acquire from 1998-99, and Social HomeBuy from 2006-07 in Live Tables 678, 677 and 683 respectively which are published here.

Although data on sales through individual affordable home ownership schemes such as First Homes, Affordable Home Ownership, and Shared Ownership is not available, the number of new delivered homes under these tenures, which can be used as a proxy, is available in Live Table 1000 here.

These have been delivered using a mix of funding sources, including government funding and developer contributions.

Data on the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme since launching in April 2021 is available here.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_250
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_250

Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 51319 on Mayors: North of England, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) her Department's funding for devolved services and (b) other forms of Government support for local mayors to reduce (i) economic and (ii) health inequalities in the North West. \p Jim McMahon: We are giving local leaders, including mayors in the North West, the tools they need to deliver growth and raise living standards in their areas by devolving power and money from central government.

This includes strong new powers over housing, planning, transport, energy, employment support and a stronger role in joining up public services locally, backed up with integrated and consolidated funding.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_251
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_251

Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with the Electoral Commission on automatic voter registration since 5 July 2024. \p Rushanara Ali: Government officials are in regular contact with the Electoral Commission on a range of electoral matters including registration topics.

The government is committed to improving electoral registration. We are exploring a wide range of options to deliver on this manifesto commitment, including making greater use of public sector data and digital services. Any changes will be based on robust evidence and user research.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_252
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_252

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Electoral Commission on accounting for the fluctuating value of cryptocurrencies. \p Rushanara Ali: The rules around political donations must be abided by regardless of the type of donation made, which includes donations made using cryptocurrency.

Political donations can only be accepted from permissible sources, and the recipients of donations must make an honest assessment of the value of the donation at the time they receive it. The Electoral Commission provides guidance on donations, including for non-standard donations such as those made in cryptocurrencies.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_253
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_253

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes were built in England in each of the last 30 years; and what type of affordable tenure those homes were. \p Matthew Pennycook: The amount of new build affordable housing by tenure is available since 1991-92 in Live Table 1009 here.

The data is presented separately for new builds and acquisitions.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_254
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_254

Marsha De Cordova:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure Homes England allocate appropriate funding for developments that provide new wheelchair accessible homes. \p Matthew Pennycook: Capital funding guidance for the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 sets out that certain categories of supported housing for older and disabled people should be built to be wheelchair accessible.

In July 2024, the government published targets for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme which confirmed that 5% of homes delivered in the programme will be for supported housing.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_255
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_255

Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing rent controls; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on Local Housing Allowance expenditure on private rent. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has been clear it does not support rent controls and has not discussed their introduction at a local authority level.

We believe that rent controls could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_256
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_256

Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of people in the private rented sector due to a lack of social housing. \p Matthew Pennycook: According to the most recent data from the English Housing Survey from 2022/23, 6% (280,000) of Household Reference Persons in the private rented sector reported that someone in their home is on the waiting list for social housing.