theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislation to allow wheelchair users who have been (a) trapped insider their homes or (b) left outside to claim compensation from freeholders for lift malfunction. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recognises the importance to wheelchair users of having properly functioning lifts in residential blocks.

Landlords are responsible for maintaining lifts and for carrying out periodic thorough inspections to ensure those lifts operate safely.

Landlords who breach the terms of their lease may be challenged by leaseholders in the courts.

Leaseholders may also challenge the reasonableness of service charges where work is carried out to a poor standard and can apply to the First-tier Tribunal to appoint a manager in cases of serious management failure.

The government has no plans to introduce a statutory compensation scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues on embodied carbon as a material consideration in the planning process when assessing planning applications for the (a) replacement of existing buildings and (b) construction of new buildings. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government provides guidance on how carbon impacts can be taken into account in the planning process through its Planning Practice Guidance on Climate Change, the National Design Guide and the National Model Design Code.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change should be considered in preparing and assessing planning applications.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 19066 on Housing: Construction, whether she plans for housebuilding to reach above 300,000 net dwellings a year to meet shortfalls earlier in the Parliament. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has not set interim annual targets in respect of its ambitious Plan for Change milestone of delivering 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.

However, due to the reduced levels of housing supply that we inherited, the government has been clear that rates of housebuilding will have to increase significantly in the later years of the Parliament to meet that milestone.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 22720 on Housing: Foreign Nationals, in what circumstances are (a) unaccompanied child and (b) other (i) asylum seekers and (ii) refugees allocated free housing by the Government; and in what circumstances the provision of such accommodation is provided by (A) local authorities and (B) housing associations. \p Rushanara Ali: Local authorities have a statutory duty under S20 of the Children Act 1989 to look after children in need in their area. This includes unaccompanied asylum seeking (UAS) children who either arrive in a local authority area or are transferred there under the mandated National Transfer Scheme (NTS). The NTS provides a mechanism for the statutory responsibility for an UAS child to be transferred from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support whilst their application for asylum is being considered.

Individuals granted refugee status are eligible for assistance from their local authority in finding accommodation, if homeless, as well as temporary accommodation if they have a priority need. The Homelessness Code of Guidance sets out the framework which local authorities must follow when carrying out their homelessness duties. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 20655 on Housing: Migrants, what information her Department holds on the potential impact of immigration on housing costs. \p Matthew Pennycook: We do not routinely publish analysis on factors affecting housing costs.

The government is determined to address the dire inheritance left by its predecessor and restore order to the asylum and immigration systems, delivering lower net migration.

Boosting the supply of homes of all tenures must be at the heart of any strategy to improve housing affordability which is why the government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to ensure that town and parish councils are in place prior to the abolition of district and borough councils. \p Jim McMahon: The English Devolution White Paper was clear that we know people value the role of governance at the community scale. All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through reorganisation. We will therefore want to see stronger community arrangements when reorganisation happens in the way councils engage at a neighbourhood or area level.

The power to create and restructure town and parish councils is devolved to principal local authorities, which can review and make changes to local governance arrangements through Community Governance Reviews. In doing so, they are expected to take the views of local people into account.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Sammy Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated to the fire service for each of the last ten years. \p Jim McMahon: Details of funding for fire authorities made available through Local Government Finance Settlements are set out in the Core Spending Power tables. The most recent Core Spending Power allocations table published as part of the final 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement can be found at the following link and includes tabs for each year since 2015/16: Core Spending Power table: final local government finance settlement 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK.
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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will commission a review into the adequacy of housing bands used to calculate council tax bands. \p Jim McMahon: The government has no plans to commission a review of council tax bands. The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question HL4145, on Local Government: Elections, if he will make it his policy to ensure that plans for local government reorganisation to (a) replace the two-tier system of local government and (b) reorganise existing unitary councils are put out for public consultation in line with the (i) Gunning Principles and (ii) Cabinet Office’s “Consultation principles: guidance”. \p Jim McMahon: As set out in statutory invitation issued on 5 February, we expect local leaders to engage their Members of Parliament, and to ensure there is wide engagement with local partners and stakeholders, residents, workforce and their representatives, and businesses in working up their proposals. The engagement that is undertaken should both inform the development of robust proposals and should also build a shared understanding of the improvements areas expect to deliver through reorganisation.

The views of other public sector providers will be crucial to understanding the best way to structure local government in an area. This will include the relevant Mayor, Integrated Care Board, Police (Fire) and Crime Commissioner, Fire and Rescue Authority, local Higher Education and Further Education providers, National Park Authorities, and the voluntary and third sector.

Once a proposal has been submitted it will be for the Government to decide on taking a proposal forward and to consult as required by statute.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the (a) total amount of people who are exempted from paying council tax for religious reasons and (b) estimated total value of council tax exemptions for religious reasons in each local authority in the last financial year. \p Jim McMahon: It is not true to say that individuals can be exempt from council tax for religious reasons. A dwelling may be exempt from council tax where it is unoccupied but is held for the purposes of being occupied by a minister, of any religious denomination, in order for them to perform their duties.

Based on the latest available data 1,203 dwellings were in receipt of this exemption in England in 2024. The Government does not collect data on the council tax revenue foregone in providing this exemption.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Mr Richard Quigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Isle of Wight will retain it’s own council as part of the Hampshire and Solent Mayoral authority under devolution. \p Jim McMahon: The Devolution Priority Programme aims to see a new wave of mayors elected in May 2026, including for Hampshire and the Solent. This will see local authorities in the area join up with their neighbours to form a new Combined Authority over a sensible geography, and will include Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and Isle of Wight Council as constituent members of the new proposed Combined Authority.

Separately, all councils across Hampshire and the Solent have received an invitation to work together to develop new unitary proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area. All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through any necessary reorganisation. Government is open to hearing from councils their views on reorganisation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 27485, tabled on 29 January 2025 on Parking: Private Sector, if she will issue revised guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities to private car park companies operating at (a) airports, (b) local authority car parks, (c) NHS sites, (d) supermarkets, (e) rail companies, (f) universities and (g) private residential areas. \p Alex Norris: The Government is aware of the concerns about the poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators and is determined to drive up standards.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.

This Code will contain guidance for all off-street privately managed car parking facilities.

This government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector and will announce its plans for the new Code in due course.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 22646 on MHCLG: Religion, if she will list each of the individual faith days or faith events recognised by her Department since 5 July 2024. \p Alex Norris: This department recognises that there are many different religious days and festivals throughout the year, and these can have different levels of significance for people of faith. For major religious festivals, the government aims to mark these appropriately through ministerial attendance at events, receptions or through the department’s social media channels.

This department also recognises the importance of meaningful engagement as an opportunity to reach out to our faith communities and celebrate their invaluable contribution to life in our country. My ministerial colleague, Lord Khan of Burnley, in his first six months as Faith Minister, was proud to have engaged with all faith groups in the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the conversations and negotiations which she had in order to determine which elections were to be postponed. \p Jim McMahon: The Secretary of State will not publish these details. I wrote to councils who requested for their local elections to be postponed from May 2025 to May 2026 to inform them of the outcome of the government's decision. The bar for postponement was high and requests were only granted where this supports delivery of both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the prospective unitary authorities will prioritise housing provision. \p Jim McMahon: This Government has recommitted to delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament in our Plan for Change. These targets still apply to councils throughout the process of reorganisation.

The potential impact of local government reorganisation on individual areas will be a matter for local councils to consider as they develop their proposals for reorganisation. As set out in the published criteria for proposals, unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens; proposals should show how new structures will improve local government and service delivery and should avoid unnecessary fragmentation of services.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024. \p Alex Norris: The total cost of centrally-funded EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) courses for MHCLG from January to December 2024 was £47,272.

The figure above covers costs relating to centrally-funded L&D activity where training includes the awareness of diversity, equality or inclusion as the main theme of the training.

This response covers all centrally funded activity that meets this definition. We do not have a central record of any training covered by this definition that may have been undertaken more locally by business areas; this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the department.
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Helena Dollimore:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers between (a) 4 July 2022 and (b) 4 July 2024. \p Alex Norris: The Department organised no (i) media or (ii) voice training for Ministers during this period, and therefore the estimated cost to the public purse is none.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12343 on Foreign Companies: Property, when she plans to publish his response to the consultation. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government will publish a response to the public consultation on the Transparency of Land Ownership Involving Trusts in due course.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for hate crime in the last 12 months. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a large range of offences at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Convictions for selected racial and religiously aggravated crimes can be identified by filtering on the HO offence code. Other offences contained within the Outcomes by Offences data tool may be related to hate crimes, including different strands of hate crimes, but are not identifiable from data held centrally.

Crown Prosecution Service performance data which includes convictions data pertaining to hate crime flagged offences is available here: CPS data summary Quarter 2 2024-2025 | The Crown Prosecution Service.

The published offence-level data reflects the offence wording as set out in legislation. The published volumes will not include all racially or religiously motivated offences. In addition, other aggravating factors which contribute to the commissioning of an offence are not identifiable from the published Ministry of Justice convictions data.
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Helen Grant:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Q3 of the oral evidence given by the Lady Chief Justice of England to the Justice Select Committee on 26 November 2024, HC 421, what estimate she has made of the total cost of sitting the extra 6,500 court sitting days to reach the maximum 113,000 days available. \p Sarah Sackman: 113,000 sitting days are a theoretical maximum of judicial sitting days in the Crown Court. It is not clear whether other parts of the system – for example the availability of counsel - could sustain that level of sitting, and therefore it is not correct to say that number of sitting days was 'available' for FY24/25.

In June the previous Lord Chancellor reached agreement with the Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals to sit 106,000 days in the Crown Court in FY24/25 within a total budget of £275 million. In September, the current Lord Chancellor increased the allocation of sitting days for the Crown Court by 500 additional days and then again in December by 2,000, meaning that the total allocation for FY 24/25 is now 108,500, the highest number in nearly a decade.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judicial reviews of (a) major infrastructure projects and (b) planning applications and (c) other issues have taken place in each of the last five years. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on judicial review cases in England and Wales as part of the Civil Justice statistics quarterly bulletin (Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK). The consolidated figures for all judicial review cases since 2000 are available at the “Civil Justice and Judicial Review data (zip file)” link.

The table below sets out the number of judicial review cases categorised as (a) significant planning court claims, (b) other planning cases, and (c) all judicial reviews. Significant planning court claims include but are not limited to judicial reviews of nationally significant infrastructure projects provided for by the Planning Act 2008.

Year

(a) Significant planning court claims*

(b) Other planning cases*

(c) All judicial reviews*

2019

40

150

3,385

2020

38

150

2,836

2021

62

176

2,332

2022

37

156

2,450

2023

31

170

2,536

2024 (to September)

30

127

2,255

*Includes Regional Offices of the Administrative Court, although most cases received were issued in London.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of times courts have cited (a) the UN Global Compact for Migration and (b) other non-binding international agreements in rulings on asylum and immigration cases in the last three years. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice does not have policies in relation to asylum and immigration, responsibility for which sits with the Home Secretary. Nor does the Ministry of Justice consider or hold any data on the number of times in which the UN Global Compact for Migration or other non-binding international agreements have been cited in court rulings.
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Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the number of people eligible for housing legal aid. \p Sarah Sackman: Legal aid is available for possession, evictions, homelessness and housing disrepair claims (when there is a serious risk of illness or injury) subject to a financial means test. Anyone in this situation should contact the Civil Legal Aid telephone helpline or use the ‘Find a legal advisor’ tool on Gov.UK.

Legal aid is available for people facing the loss of their home through the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) and the Civil Legal Aid Helpline. HLPAS provides free early legal advice, on a non-means tested basis, on housing, debt, welfare benefits and council tax reduction scheme problems from the moment someone receives notice possession is being sought or to those facing eviction. HLPAS also offers free representation at court from a duty solicitor on the day of their court hearing.

In 2023-24 over 28,000 legal advice cases were started and over 5,000 court cases were given representation, in addition to over 29,000 people getting advice from the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service.

The Government is currently consulting on uplifts to legal aid fees for housing. Subject to consultation, an additional £20 million will be invested into the legal aid sector every year: this would increase overall spend by 24% for housing.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what purposes the Legal Aid Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Sarah Sackman: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

Staff within the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) are part of a wider Ministry of Justice project testing the use of Microsoft Copilot. The purpose of this work is to understand the opportunities, risks and benefits of using Microsoft Copilot to improve productivity, efficiency and quality in administrative processes. The LAA does not use AI in its decision-making processes.

All use of artificial intelligence in the Ministry of Justice is undertaken in line with the Ministry’s AI Ethics Framework and aligned with the Generative AI Framework for government and the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard.
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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on intellectual property rights in the creative industries. \p Chris Bryant: Both artificial intelligence (AI) and the creative industries are central to this government’s driving mission on economic growth. AI may foster innovation and efficiency but may also risk creators losing a portion of their existing income due to AI's substitutional impact on human-created works. In relation to intellectual property rights, rights holders are finding it difficult to control the use of their works in training AI models and to be remunerated for its use.

Our 10-week consultation, published on Tuesday 17 December and closing 25 February, engages AI and creative industries stakeholders widely on the impact of AI on the copyright regime. The aims of the consultation are to seek views on how the copyright framework should apply in the context of AI. Key topics under review include text and data mining, transparency and labelling, computer generated works and digital replicas.

The consultation was published alongside an accompanying options assessment. The consultation seeks to gather further evidence on the potential impact on the creative industries of any change to the copyright regime in the context of AI training. Following the consultation, if legislative changes are needed, a full economic impact assessment will be undertaken.
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Mary Kelly Foy:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support public libraries in City of Durham constituency. \p Chris Bryant: Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to “superintend and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities in England”. To assist this function the department regularly monitors and reviews changes to local authority library service provision, and engages with local authorities to discuss issues related to their respective library service.

I understand that as of 31 December 2023 the statutory library provision delivered by Durham County Council was 39 local authority-run static libraries and a mobile library service. Seven of these static libraries are located in the City of Durham constituency.

The government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024-25.
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Mark Sewards:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that football stadiums are accessible to fans with disabilities. \p Stephanie Peacock: The government recognises the great importance of sport and physical activity for disabled people at both the grassroots and elite levels.

The Government recently ratified the St Denis Convention. In doing so, we committed to providing an integrated safety, security and service approach at football matches and other sports events. The Sports Ground Safety Authority, one of DCMS’s arm's-length bodies, has begun a partnership with the Council of Europe to better understand and promote the ‘safety’ and ‘service’ element of the convention to the benefit of all fans.

We recognise there are barriers which exist and prevent some people from taking part and spectating. We expect all sports and all clubs to take the necessary action to fulfil their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 so that disabled people are not placed “at a substantial disadvantage” when accessing sports venues.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to UK Music’s blog post entitled UK Music & Tik Tok Party at Labour Conference 2024, published in 2024, whether her attendance at the UK Music and Tik Tok party will be declared in her Department’s Ministerial hospitality reporting. \p Stephanie Peacock: In accordance with the Ministers’ Transparency Guidance, Departments should not include hospitality received by ministers in their capacity as an MP in a constituency or party- political capacity in Ministers’ declarations.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to support national sports governing bodies to ensure that women’s sports categories remain reserved for biological females. \p Stephanie Peacock: Sporting bodies have a responsibility to protect the integrity and fairness of women's sport and the safety of all participants, particularly when it is not possible to balance those factors with inclusion.

National Governing Bodies set their own policies for who can participate in their sports in domestic competitions. Our UK sports councils have produced guidance to help domestic sports bodies determine the right position for their sport. The guidance covers transgender participation in sport, and makes clear that fairness and safety cannot be balanced with inclusion in gender-affected sport.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to increase youth services provision in Epsom and Ewell constituency. \p Stephanie Peacock: Local authorities hold the statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. In September 2023 DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. Alongside this, DCMS funds a Peer Review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision.

This government has also committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy, which is an opportunity to move away from one-size-fits all approaches from central government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector. We plan to publish the strategy in the summer.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to (a) promote and (b) support the participation of young people in (i) youth charities and (ii) the voluntary sector in Devon. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government is committed to enabling effective youth participation in decision making at all levels. DCMS funded programmes such as the #iwill Fund, the UK Youth Parliament, the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Uniformed Youth Fund support youth voice and youth social action in communities across the country.

Youth participation is at the heart of the recently announced National Youth Strategy, which will be co-produced with young people and published in the summer. It will better coordinate youth services, as well as move away from one-size-fits all approaches from central government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector.
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Brian Mathew:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure social media companies are accountable for content on their sites that may be harmful to children. \p Feryal Clark: Our priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act so that children benefit from its wide-reaching protections.

The Act requires all services in scope to protect all users, including children, from illegal content and criminal behaviour. Services likely to be accessed by children will also need to provide additional safety measures to protect them from harmful and age-inappropriate content.

Services will need to start complying with their illegal content duties from March and the child safety duties by the summer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_269

Peter Fortune:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the total amount of Government investment into cholesteatoma research was in 2023-24; and which public bodies provided that investment. \p Feryal Clark: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) invests £1.5 billion per year on health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). We are committed to funding timely research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including those who experience hearing problems and tinnitus

Over the past five financial years (2019/20 – 2023/24), the NIHR has invested £3.3 million across 14 studies on these research topics directly through NIHR research programmes, with a further £1.1 million invested in career development and capacity for new hearing loss researchers. NIHR allocated £47,943 for research concerning otitis media and otitis media with effusion research in the financial year 2023-24.

UKRI delivers a substantial portfolio of researcher-led projects. This includes biological, physiological, and mechanistic aspects that are applicable to many ear conditions. UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) also plays a key role in funding underpinning research which may not be attributable to a specific condition but will benefit medical research more generally.

MRC funds Doctoral Training Partnerships, a range of postgraduate training, in 2017-2024, MRC awarded £106, 564 for injury in blast-induced hearing loss and tinnitus research. In 2022 MRC also committed £1,014,670 for age-related hearing loss research, this project is active until 2025.

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, supports two programmes of work that investigate the neural and cognitive mechanisms of hearing and speech (https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MC_UU_00030%2F4 and https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MC_UU_00030%2F6), as well as providing funding in 2023/24 for research into the different types of hearing loss https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FX019217%2F1.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_270

Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to reduce spam telephone calls linked to fraudulent activity; and what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential penalties for this. \p Chris Bryant: The Government takes fraud seriously. DSIT works closely with Ofcom, who have a duty to ensure UK numbers are not misused including by requiring telecoms operators to block spoofing calls from abroad imitating UK landline numbers in order to help protect consumers from scam calls.

DSIT is also working closely with the Home Office, who lead on fraud policy, and other government departments to tackle telecoms fraud. Together, we are working with industry to develop a second Telecoms Fraud Charter, going further in identifying, preventing and disrupting telecoms fraud.

We will continue to work with industry and government departments to ensure that as threats evolve so too does the response.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_271

Alberto Costa:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to maintain 2024-25 funding levels for research to (a) replace, (b) reduce and (c) refine the use of animal testing. \p Feryal Clark: The Government is committed to supporting the development and uptake of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. A significant amount of UK research funding UK goes to underpinning technologies (e.g. cell-based assays and computer modelling) that have the potential to deliver 3Rs advances in the use of animals in science and other money supports research relevant to reducing animal use.

The Government invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). The NC3Rs is currently undergoing a five year funding review that will determine future allocation of resources.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_272

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of rolling out Project Gigabit in Bedfordshire on local economic growth. \p Chris Bryant: CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, targeted at bringing fast, reliable broadband to premises in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.

Digital infrastructure is a powerful driver of economic growth. The telecoms services industry contributed around 2.5% to UK real GVA in 2023, up from 0.3% in 2010.

Evidence from Building Digital UK’s earlier Superfast programme showed for every £1 spent on connections to premises left behind by the market, up to £4.57 was generated in economic and social benefits, including economic growth. We expect Project Gigabit to continue to drive local economic growth in areas which stand to benefit from the programme, including Bedfordshire.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_273

Pippa Heylings:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s proposed revisions to its Code of Practice on the Equality Act in relation to single-sex spaces; and if she will hold discussions with representatives of the transgender community on this matter. \p Anneliese Dodds: The EHRC recently concluded their consultation on the draft updated Code of Practice where they sought a wide range of views. The Government will consider the EHRC's final draft Code once submitted, ensuring that it clarifies the Equality Act’s single-sex exceptions which we have committed to uphold. The Office for Equality and Opportunity listens to a wide range of stakeholders’ diverse perspectives as it carries out its policy work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_274

Olly Glover:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring companies to record age-related data in their recruitment practices as means of ensuring compliance with the 2010 Equalities Act. \p Anneliese Dodds: Recruitment practices are a matter for individual employers, provided that they comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, including the age discrimination provisions. We would encourage larger employers to monitor their recruitment patterns in the context of relevant protected characteristics, as a useful indicator of the strength of their compliance with the 2010 Act. There are currently no plans to make such data collection a requirement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_275

James McMurdock:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the medical assessment required for an individual to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. \p Anneliese Dodds: All medical reports submitted to the Gender Recognition Panel must be supplied by a doctor or a registered psychologist, registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) or the Health and Care Professions Council. The doctor must be both registered with the GMC and also hold a licence to practise. All medical evidence is reviewed by members of the Gender Recognition Panel to ensure its validity.

Each application for a Gender Recognition Certificate is considered on its own merits by the Gender Recognition Panel, informed by the evidence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_276

Mrs Sharon Hodgson:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when the Period Poverty Taskforce (a) last met and (b) next plans to meet. \p Anneliese Dodds: The Period Poverty Taskforce was an initiative under a previous government, and last met in 2020. I thank them for their hard work.

Rather than re-launch a standalone initiative, this Government's approach is to resolve the issue at the source by tackling the reasons women and girls are pushed into period poverty to start with. We are protecting women’s living standards, alongside the public services they rely on, so that no one has to go without life's essentials.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_277

James McMurdock:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department plans to issue updated guidance to service providers on rights under the Equality Act 2010 to lawfully exclude biological males from single-sex spaces. \p Anneliese Dodds: It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out next steps on this work in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_278

Mark Pritchard:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if her Department will take steps to promote positive male role models. \p Anneliese Dodds: We recognise that strong role models can be key in inspiring others, and in challenging harmful stereotypes.

My officials work closely with male business leaders and campaigners to help make the case that steps to improve equality benefit everyone. They also support work going on across government aimed at tackling gendered stereotypes.

In addition to this work, the Department of Health and Social Care is developing a Men's Health Strategy to address the leading health issues that affect men. The strategy will be part of the government's 10 Year Health Plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-18 conversation_279

Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department has taken to (a) communicate how his Department's policies will help to lower energy bills in 2025 and (b) maintain the level of energy bills during fluctuations in the energy market. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Energy bills remain high for too many households. The government’s clean energy mission is the only route to protecting billpayers from the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets in the long-term, which is why we are sprinting to clean, homegrown energy through the Clean Power Action Plan.

We have also taken urgent action to improve energy efficiency in British homes and protect households’ energy bills. On 21 November 2024, we announced how our Warm Homes Plan will support households to take up measures that can help save money on their bills and deliver cleaner heating, with up to 300,000 homes to benefit from upgrades in the next financial year. We also announced proposals on 7 February 2025 for private landlords to meet higher energy performance standards in their properties by 2030, which could save private renters £240 per year off their energy bills. These policies have been communicated across media and digital channels, including ministerial media interviews, GOV.UK publications, graphics and videos on social media. They have been further amplified through work with our partners to reach wider audiences who follow their channels.

This is alongside our support for the ‘Speak, Seek, Save’ campaign run by Citizens Advice, providing advice to consumers on how to save energy and reduce their bills, which includes publishing and amplifying content on social media.