theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate mental health support is provided to Physician Associates following the publication of the Leng Review. \p Karin Smyth: The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is hugely important. Following the publication of the Leng Review, NHS England has written to NHS trusts, integrated care boards, and primary care networks reiterating their responsibilities to their staff as employers, including treating them with compassion and providing pastoral support where required. Importantly, it has also written directly to the staff most affected by the recommendations, setting out where they can find support if required.

Employers across the NHS have their own arrangements in place in line with their duty of care for supporting their staff, including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and board level scrutiny through health and wellbeing guardians.
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Dan Aldridge:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve catering policies in health services to ensure are they are (a) patient-centred and (b) nutritious. \p Karin Smyth: Access to good quality, nutritious and attractively presented hospital food can improve patient morale and contribute to recovery.

All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow the NHS National Standards for Healthcare Food and Drink. There are eight mandatory standards all trusts are required to meet. This includes having a food and drink strategy and demonstrating that they have suitable food service provision 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is appropriate for their demographic.

The guidance requires that NHS organisations must show they comply with the British Dietetic Association’s Nutrition and Hydration Digest which identifies actions to be taken in relation to the provision of nutritional food. Further, a key part of the specific standards for retail, staff and visitors in healthcare settings is the need to comply with the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services mandatory nutrition standards.
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John McDonnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide information on the (a) new Public Private Partnerships and (b) in what way they differ from Private Finance Initiatives. \p Karin Smyth: The Government announced, in the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy document on the 19 June 2025 and the 10-Year Health plan published on 3 July 2025, that it will explore the feasibility of using new Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deliver certain types of primary and community health infrastructure.

A decision whether to use PPPs in these circumstances will be taken by the 2025 Autumn Budget, based on the co-development of a model and business case between the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority and the Department.

The Department conducted a successful preliminary market engagement exercise over the summer, and this is feeding into the business case, which is still in development.

Any new PPP models will be subject to further market-testing and will build on lessons learned from past experience, models currently in use, and the March 2025 National Audit Office report Lessons Learned: private finance for infrastructure.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) safeguard and (b) improve hospital helipad access at all major trauma centres. \p Karin Smyth: Air ambulances form a vital part of the emergency response to patients in critical need. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely with NHS England and the Department for Transport to ensure that there is appropriate helipad accessibility available for air ambulances across the country.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support and promote the interests of the health and care system throughout the planning process, including improving the participation of all relevant health stakeholders in the creation of local plans to ensure that necessary service provision is maintained.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department has made an assessment on the potential impact of the planned re-organisation of the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB with Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on the provision of GP services in rural communities. \p Karin Smyth: As part of cluster preparation arrangements, every integrated care board (ICB) will complete an Equality Impact Assessment, which will consider the footprint population and the impact of the changes to ICB working arrangements.

ICBs have a crucial role as strategic commissioners of local healthcare services. This includes the commissioning of GP services. In Schedule 3, Part 1 of the NHS Health and Care Act 2022, duty 82B (1) states that each integrated care board must exercise its powers so as to secure the provision of primary medical services to such extent as it considers necessary to meet the reasonable requirements of the persons for whom it has responsibility.

The planned reorganisation of Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB will not remove the statutory responsibility for ICBs to commission GP services for all of its residents, including those from small and rural communities.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the new specialist gender centre for children and young people in the East of England will open. \p Karin Smyth: A Children and Young People’s Gender Service is anticipated to open in the East of England later in the year.

NHS England is making progress towards its ambition to open a gender service in each region of England by 2026. Three new services have opened in the North West, London, and the South West that offer a fundamentally different clinical model, embedding multi-disciplinary teams in specialist children’s hospitals.
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Mims Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the recruitment and training of midwives. \p Karin Smyth: To break down financial barriers to training, eligible midwifery students receive a non-repayable grant of £5,000 per year via the NHS Learning Support Fund. Further financial support is available for childcare, dual accommodation costs and travel. Apprenticeship routes are also available to those for whom a full-time university route is not practical or preferred.

On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and further ease the recruitment strain.

Later this year, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the difference is between per-patient spend in (a) each hospital, (b) the average per-patient spend of hospitals in the top quarter of efficiency and (c) the average per-patient spend of hospitals in the bottom quarter of efficiency. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England collects information on the costs of NHS trusts delivering services to patients, the detail of which is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/.

Comparing the average cost per patient per hospital is not meaningful, because to ensure fair comparisons, differences in service mix and patient complexity must be taken into account and this varies significantly across hospitals. The costing data does however enable comparisons of the costs of certain activities, or episodes of care, across different providers.

The National Cost Collection Index (NCCI) compares a trust’s average cost with the national average cost for that service across all the services it delivers. An NCCI value of 110, for example, means that the trust has costs that are 10% more expensive than the national average (adjusted for its mix of services and patient complexity).
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 45986 on Events Industry, what plans her Department has to change the (a) number and (b) grade of civil servants working on supporting the business events sector. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government recognises the significant contribution that business events make to the UK economy, supporting jobs, driving regional growth, and showcasing the UK’s strengths on the global stage. Officials in DCMS continue to engage regularly with industry stakeholders to ensure that government policy reflects the needs of the sector.

The Department keeps its resourcing under review to ensure it can deliver against its priorities effectively, but there are no current plans to change the number or grade of civil servants specifically allocated to supporting the business events sector.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Director General of the BBC on increasing locally (a) produced and (b) sourced (i) radio and (ii) television output. \p Ian Murray: Under its current Charter, the BBC has an obligation to ‘reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions’. Ofcom sets specific obligations for the BBC on programme making in the nations and regions including requiring that at least 50% of network TV programme hours and production spend must be made outside the M25, and 30% of relevant radio spend outside the M25. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government in determining how it meets its obligations, and it is subsequently for the independent regulator Ofcom to hold the BBC to account in meeting those obligations. BBC reporting shows it is consistently meeting or exceeding these quotas.

The Secretary of State does not have specific plans to discuss this issue with the Director General. However, as part of the next Charter Review, the Government will engage with the BBC and others to consider how to ensure the BBC truly represents and delivers for every person in this country including to be more ambitious in growing our world-leading TV sector outside of London and the South East, and to commission content in every part of the country.
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David Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to address regulatory failings highlighted in the independent review by Malcolm Sheehan KC concerning the collapse of football index. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Independent Review announced by the previous Government and conducted by Malcom Sheehan KC made a number of recommendations for the Gambling Commission and Financial Conduct Authority, both of which are independent of Government. All recommendations of the report have since been implemented.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with (a) public landowners, (b) the National Trust and (c) Forestry England on the potential impact of cashless-only car parking systems on (i) older people and (ii) people without mobile phones. \p Ian Murray: No such discussions have taken place. Car parking charges for publicly-owned car parks are primarily a matter for local authorities.
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Dame Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether cultural access to science falls within the remit of her Department, in the context of the UK's obligations under (a) Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and (b) Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. \p Ian Murray: The UK's obligations under Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concern cultural participation, science, and intellectual property, and are the responsibility of a number of Government departments. Obligations relating to science fall within the remit of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to provide financial support to maintain long wave radio services. \p Ian Murray: The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and the Government cannot intervene in the BBC’s day-to-day operations. The decision on transmissions and distribution of BBC radio services, including for how much longer the BBC maintains Radio 4 long wave, is wholly a matter for the BBC.

The Government understands how important it is that citizens can access information in times of national emergency. Radio plays an important role in providing such access in a range of different emergency scenarios, including scenarios where other communications may be disrupted. The BBC has specific requirements under its Framework Agreement in relation to broadcast security and resilience, and works closely with DCMS in ensuring its networks are able to support emergency communications.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67391 on Building: Safety, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential regulatory cost of London having different building safety standards to the rest of England. \p Samantha Dixon: The Department has not made a specific estimate of the potential regulatory cost of London having different building safety standards to the rest of England.

Building regulations are set nationally under the Building Act 1984 and apply uniformly across England. Local authorities, including those in London, may apply additional planning or enforcement measures.

Where regulatory changes are proposed, the Department undertakes an Impact Assessment in accordance with HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance. These assessments consider the costs and benefits of regulatory proposals, including regional impacts where relevant, for example recognising the higher prevalence of high-rise buildings in London. To date, no Impact Assessment has been undertaken specifically to quantify the cost implications of London diverging from national building safety standards.

The Department continues to work closely with the Greater London Authority and other stakeholders to ensure building safety reforms are implemented consistently and proportionately across all regions. We keep regional impacts under review as part of our ongoing engagement with the Building Safety Regulator and future updates to guidance.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding model for fire and rescue services. \p Samantha Dixon: On 3 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities.

These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Overall, fire and rescue authorities received around £2.87 billion in 2024/25.

In addition to settlement funding, the Government has provided Fire and Rescue Authorities with several grants intended for specific purposes, such as the Fire Pensions Grant and Protection Uplift Grant.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62017 on Housing, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential impact of Part O on internal temperatures. \p Samantha Dixon: Part O of the Building Regulations, which aims to address the risk of overheating in new residential buildings, came into force in June 2022. A transition period was put in place to minimise disruption to projects that were already underway and to allow industry time to adapt to the new Part O requirement. As a result, not all developments were immediately subject to the Part O requirement and the Department’s understanding of the impact of Part O is still developing.

However, as part of the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation, we sought evidence on whether Part O is appropriate or whether it requires amendment. As mentioned in response to Question 62017, the Government will set out the evidence it received on Part O during this consultation and its response to this later this year, when the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation response will be published.
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Phil Brickell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of existing levels of central government funding for fire and rescue services. \p Samantha Dixon: On 3 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities.

These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Overall, fire and rescue authorities received around £2.87 billion in 2024/25.

In addition to settlement funding, the Government has provided Fire and Rescue Authorities with several grants intended for specific purposes, such as the Fire Pensions Grant and Protection Uplift Grant.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to address leasehold issues arising from probate sales of properties which did not qualify for cladding remediation support under the Building Safety Act (2022). \p Samantha Dixon: There is a range of support in place for leaseholders, even those whose lease does not qualify for protection under Part 5 of the Building Safety Act 2022.

All leaseholders are also protected from cladding remediation and benefit from qualifying status on their main home. All leaseholders are protected from paying towards safety defects associated with the developer or through the developer remediation contract.
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Darren Paffey:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the (a) results of the Remediation Programme Insurance Survey and (b) Government response to that survey will be published. \p Samantha Dixon: The Remediation Programme Insurance Survey closed on 31 July. We are using the data collected to test the feasibility and scope of any future possible government intervention to reduce high insurance bills for some leaseholders while their building undergoes remediation for fire related defects. Due to the commercial sensitivity of the data, we will not be making the results public.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to Sections 79-81 of the Building Safety Act 2022, how many buildings the Building Safety Regulator has (a) invited to submit a building assessment certificate application, (b) received a building assessment certificate application from, (c) granted a building assessment certificate to and (d) rejected a building assessment certificate application for. \p Samantha Dixon: On 4th August 2025, the BSR launched the new Fast Track Innovation Unit. This will accelerate the determination of building control approval applications initially for new Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs).

Early indications suggest the new model is working effectively. I expect the model to start to deliver improvements in processing times in the coming months.

Work has begun to provide a dedicated focus to building safety by moving the BSR from within the HSE to a new body as the first step towards the establishment of a new single regulator for construction, a recommendation of the Grenfell Inquiry Report.

This is subject to secondary legislation. The BSR and MHCLG are working closely together to ensure that the transition does not impact day to day delivery.

BSR officials have provided the requested building assessment certificate stats below:

(a) Invited to submit a building assessment certificate application, 1,609.

(b) Received a building assessment certificate application from, 1,402.

(c) Granted a building assessment certificate to 79.

(d) Rejected a building assessment certificate application 273.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of regulations for ensuring developers adhere to basic building regulations. \p Samantha Dixon: The Government recognises the critical importance of ensuring developers comply with building regulations, especially those relating to safety and accessibility. Under the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended), it is the legal responsibility of those undertaking building work, including the construction of new homes, to ensure all relevant requirements are met.

Developers must demonstrate compliance with the building regulations to a Registered Building Inspector, who is responsible for verifying that the work meets the necessary standards.

The Government continues to keep the regulatory framework under review to ensure it remains robust, proportionate, and fit for purpose. Recent reforms to the building control system, including the introduction of a new regulatory regime under the Building Safety Act, are designed to strengthen oversight and improve accountability across the sector.
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Alice Macdonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a statutory duty for fire and rescue services in England to respond to flooding incidents. \p Samantha Dixon: Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Fire and Rescue Authorities already have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to prepare for emergencies, including major flooding. However, we recognise the interest in creating a statutory duty for flood rescue and officials are working with DEFRA, as lead government department for flooding, to consider the wider implications of this.

MHCLG supports Fire and Rescue Authorities in responding to flood incidents by providing national resilience High Volume Pump (HVP) capabilities. These are available to be used by Fire & Rescue Services across the country during major flood incidents. Additionally, DEFRA hold the Flood Rescue National Asset Register, a list of teams or assets that voluntarily join the register and maintain availability for national deployment in England.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 121 of the policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025, what criteria her Department plans use to determine the certain political entities that will be required to include (a) information about party affiliation or (b) a statement of independence in their campaigning materials. \p Samantha Dixon: Under the current imprint regime, campaigners are required to include an imprint with their name and address on printed and digital campaigning material.

While these rules have improved transparency, there remain cases both in digital and print formats where campaigning material has been designed to mislead, such as by mimicking local newspapers or using branding designed to obscure a candidate’s true party affiliation. In such cases, the current rules have not always provided voters with sufficient clarity about who is behind the material or the purpose it serves.

We intend to address this by requiring campaigning material promoted by or on behalf of candidates and elected office holders to include information about party affiliation – or a statement of independence where applicable. This additional transparency will help voters better understand the origin and intent of the material they see, enabling them to make political choices with greater confidence.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help increase participation among the 18 – 25 age group in forthcoming elections. \p Samantha Dixon: The government is committed to encouraging participation in our democracy, as set out in our manifesto. We recognise the importance of engaging young people in the democratic process and are taking active steps to address this.

We are actively developing proposals to deliver this manifesto commitment, and are collaborating closely with the Electoral Commission, local authorities, think tanks, academics, and civil society organisations. Our work is focused on identifying the attitudinal barriers that prevent young people from participating in elections, and exploring effective interventions to overcome these challenges.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what additional resources have been allocated to Cleveland Fire Brigade in the last three financial years. \p Samantha Dixon: On 3 February, the Ministry published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. to support their operational and capital needs.

These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities including Cleveland Fire Brigade receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

For 2025/26, Cleveland Fire Brigade will have a core spending power of £36.1 million, an increase of £1.2 million (3.4%) compared to 2024/25.

In addition to the annual funding Settlement, the Government has allocated a number of extra resources to Cleveland Fire Brigade including the Fire Pensions Grant, the Protection Grant and the Fire New Dimension Grant.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there is a budget for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. \p Samantha Dixon: Expenditure for the former Deputy Prime Minister was part of MHCLG budgets, which will be reported and published in the normal way.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the steps necessary to protect communities from any potential increase in the likelihood of wildfires taking place in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England as a result of a warming planet. \p Samantha Dixon: The Government recognises that the impact of climate change is likely to increase and intensify fire incidents in England and Wales - further impacting fire and rescue service’s (FRS) resources, capacity, and strategical response.

As the lead government department for wildfire, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) maintains regular engagement with other government departments including the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Cabinet Office on this national risk. This is alongside the department’s work with national bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements and mitigations.

Since 2024 we have also funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of staff in her Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions her Department issues to staff who do not meet this target. \p Samantha Dixon: For the latest period published, May 2025, the occupancy of the Department’s Headquarters (as against available capacity) ranged between 71% to 78%. The Department’s expectation on Office Attendance is consistent with the general approach across the Civil Service i.e. that individuals will attend an office 60% of the time over the long term. If an individual employee does not meet the agreed expectation for Office Attendance it will be dealt with via existing management processes and, ultimately, with disciplinary action should there be a sustained failure to comply.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections, published on 17 July 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) EU nationals and (b) Commonwealth citizens who do not qualify as electors are not automatically included on the electoral roll. \p Samantha Dixon: The Government is committed to upholding the integrity of electoral registers. We are exploring a wide range of more automated approaches to enable improvements in both the completeness and accuracy of electoral registers, including making greater use of public sector data and digital services. Any new approaches to registration will be tested to ensure they make improvements and do not undermine the existing system, including the rules about who is eligible to register.
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Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for introducing the technical consultation on the M4(2) requirement in building regulations. \p Samantha Dixon: Housing is one of this Government’s top priorities. Everyone deserves to live in a decent home that is suitable for them and meets their needs. The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published on 12 December 2024, requires local planning authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those of older and disabled people, and to reflect this in planning policies. Where an identified need exists, plans are expected to help bring forward an adequate supply of accessible housing. The Government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what are the delivery rates of M4(2) accessible and adaptable homes. \p Samantha Dixon: The data requested is not held centrally although the English Housing Survey does collect data on accessibility and adaptations within the home.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_157

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the former Minister for Homelessness and Democracy has been given a Ministerial severance payment. \p Samantha Dixon: The former Minister has chosen not to accept the ministerial severance pay.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_158

Gregor Poynton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the effective enforcement of The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024 in relation to imported construction products. \p Samantha Dixon: The Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations provide for continued recognition of certain EU requirements for a range of products, but do not apply to construction products.

The Construction Products Regulation 2011 (as amended) governs the placing on the market of construction products. This includes enabling the European ‘CE’ mark to be used as an alternative to the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking when placing a product on the market.

The National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP) and Local Authority Trading Standards (LATS) have regulatory powers to carry out market surveillance and enforcement to remove non-compliant products from the UK market.

In September 2024 the government announced its intention to continue to recognise the CE mark for construction products, conditional on system wide reform of the construction products regime. This was followed by the publication of a green paper in February 2025, which set out comprehensive proposals, including a range of measures to improve the enforcement regime.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_159

Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential risk of political donations being made via UK-registered companies controlled by individuals who are not registered electors in the UK. \p Samantha Dixon: Stakeholders have raised concerns for more than a decade that our legal framework regulating political donations makes it too easy for determined actors to facilitate illegal donations, allowing foreign states to influence politics and decision-making in the UK. That is why, as pledged in our manifesto, we are strengthening the rules around donations to political parties.

In July, we published our Strategy for Modern Elections which set out a number of reforms to political donations rules. These changes will mean greater transparency in political funding, stronger protections against foreign or illicit influence, and increased public confidence in the integrity of our democratic institutions. This includes a measure which will ensure that in future, ‘shell companies’ will not be permitted to make political donations to UK political parties.

In the development of these reforms we have worked and continue to work closely with the Electoral Commission, and considered relevant analysis. We will legislate to bring forward these reforms as soon as parliamentary time allows.
wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_160
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_160

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has spent money on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024. \p Samantha Dixon: The Department has not spent money on social media influencers since July 2024. Influencers can be effective in reaching audiences that the government and traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.
wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_161
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_161

Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) local authorities on providing support to help tackle reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in residential buildings. \p Samantha Dixon: The issues with RAAC are longstanding and well known. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) estimate the prevalence in housing and the risk of injuries due to RAAC are low relative to other risks in the built environment.

All building owners are responsible for managing building safety and performance risks in their buildings. Guidance has been published by the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) on managing the risks of RAAC.

Ministers and Officials in my department and across Government engage regularly with representatives from the insurance and lending industries on issues affecting these markets, including those related to building safety.

Both, building safety and local government finance are devolved. The Scottish Government are receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. Where remediation or maintenance works are required for RAAC or any other issues, local authorities should do so within existing budgets.

Although building safety and local government finance are devolved, I and my officials continue to engage with our Scottish Government counterparts on this and other important building safety and performance issues.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_162

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of funding for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. \p Samantha Dixon: On 3 February, the Ministry published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue to support their operational and capital needs.

These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

For 2025/26, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Authority will have a core spending power of £40.7 million, an increase of £1.6 million (4.0%) compared to 2024/25.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_163

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 59984 on Fire Prevention, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the response to wildfires during summer 2025. \p Samantha Dixon: Each fire and rescue authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in its local area (including wildfire), through the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) - having regard to the views of other key local responders.

As the lead government department for wildfire, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) maintains regular engagement with other government departments including the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Cabinet Office on this national risk. This is alongside the department’s work with national bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements and mitigations.

Since 2024 the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_164

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 70001 on Voting Rights: Cambridgeshire, whether the Impact Assessment to be published alongside forthcoming legislation will be published before the introduction of new unitary authorities in Cambridgeshire. \p Samantha Dixon: An Impact Assessment will be published alongside forthcoming legislation in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_165

Darren Paffey:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with insurance companies on costs for (a) residents and (b) leaseholders in buildings with (i) cladding and (ii) fire safety defects. \p Samantha Dixon: As set out in the Remediation Acceleration Plan published in July 2025, the department has been regularly engaging with the insurance industry to test the feasibility and scope of any potential options to reduce high insurance bills for some leaseholders while their building undergoes remediation for fire related defects.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-11 conversation_166

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of additional electors who will be added to the electoral roll following the franchise being extended to 16 and 17 year olds in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire. \p Samantha Dixon: As outlined in the recently published ‘Restoring trust in our democracy: Our strategy for modern and secure elections’, the Government believes that enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections will foster early and sustained participation in civic life and enhance engagement in our democratic processes. By delivering this manifesto commitment, we want young people to find their voice and exercise their right to vote.

In June 2025, the House of Commons Library published constituency-level estimates of the number of 16- and 17-year-olds across the UK, based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data from 2022 for Great Britain and 2023 for Northern Ireland. These figures provide indicative estimates of the population and should be treated as approximations rather than precise counts.

The Government recognises the importance of understanding the implications of this policy change. Accordingly, an Impact Assessment will be published alongside forthcoming legislation in due course. Legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.