theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department holds information on the cost of two zones (1+2) Manchester Metrolink adult annual travelcards in 2010. \p Simon Lightwood: Light rail, including the Manchester Metrolink, is devolved in England where local authorities, such as Greater Manchester Combined Authority, own and are responsible for the operations and financial sustainability of their own systems. This includes setting the costs for their own ticketing and annual fares.

As such, the Department does not hold such records information on the cost of two zones (1+2) Manchester Metrolink adult annual travelcards in 2010.

The honourable member may wish to contact Transport for Greater Manchester who are better placed to provide such information.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what proportion of food procured by the Houses of Parliament is sourced in the UK. \p Nick Smith: The Commission is unable to give the exact proportion of procured food that is sourced in the UK due to the size and volume of goods procured. However, when contracts are put out to tender, they stipulate that preference will be given to bidders with robust environmental and local sourcing policies, and those with strong links to British farming organisations such as the English Farming and Food Partnership, and the Red Tractor scheme.

The vast majority of fresh products, such as meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, bread, ice cream, and most fruit and vegetables when in season are sourced from within the UK. This includes a commitment to ensure that menus showcase seasonal variation and that in-season produce be highlighted to customers, as well as championing local producers.
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Dave Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the obligation on (a) sellers, (b) estate agents and (c) solicitors to ensure that property is transferred to buyers in home sales in a clean and tidy state. \p Rushanara Ali: The government has published consumer guidance on how to sell a home which sets out that sellers should leave their property in the condition they wish to find their next home.

We know that the overall process of buying and selling a home is far too time consuming and costly for consumers. On 9 February we announced action to help modernise the way our home buying and selling system works. We want to see consumers at the heart of a system that is faster, more certain and less stressful, resulting in significant savings to consumers and industry.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to increase funding support for towns and coastal communities. \p Alex Norris: The Government will set out a refreshed approach to local growth funding at the multi-year Spending Review in the Spring. An approach that includes more integrated settlements, over longer term, with less central direction and more local choice.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the latest timetable is for the Grenfell memorial. \p Alex Norris: The government is fully committed to supporting the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission in the creation of a fitting and lasting memorial, determined by the community, to honour those who lost their lives, and those whose lives were forever changed, by the tragedy.

In July 2024, the Commission, supported by the government and the Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA), launched the process to select a team to work with the community to design a future memorial on the Grenfell Tower site. Five teams were shortlisted in January and asked to further develop their design approach.

The chosen design team will work with bereaved families, survivors and local residents, throughout 2026 to develop a detailed design for the memorial, with the community closely involved through-out.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Public and Commercial Services Union on industrial action in her Department; and whether a formal notice of industrial action has been issued. \p Alex Norris: The Public and Commercial Services Union has declared a Trade Dispute with the Department and is balloting members on industrial action. Discussions with Trade Union representatives on a range of issues continue to take place.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question 31044 on Planning: Reform, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of listing the names of the organisational respondents to a consultation in its summary of consultation responses. \p Alex Norris: The Department does not routinely publish a list of organisations responding to public consultations. Many organisations choose to publish their responses on their websites.
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Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of their Department's officials have been seconded from (a) the Institute for Economic Affairs, (b) the Policy Exchange, (c) the Adam Smith Institute and (d) Labour Together since July 2024. \p Alex Norris: Secondments is one way of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and has been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and data is held at Business Unit Level.

There have been no secondments from any of the quoted organisations into the Department since July 2024.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support young people onto the housing ladder in North Cornwall constituency. \p Rushanara Ali: The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of home ownership. This government is determined to change that, ensuring that young families and hardworking renters can buy a home of their own.

The most sustainable long-term method to improve housing affordability and help people into home ownership is to increase the supply of housing. That is why the Government committed to deliver 1.5 million homes over the Parliament in the Plan for Change.

In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, we are committed to introducing a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme meaning first-time buyers in North Cornwall and across the country will be able to take their crucial first step on to the property ladder with only a small deposit.
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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to increase funding to (a) Shelter and (b) other charities to support their work in (i) South West Norfolk constituency, (ii) Norfolk and (iii) England. \p Rushanara Ali: Funding for homelessness and rough sleeping in England will increase by £233 million in 2025/26. Allocations of funding in 2025/26 can be found here and future funding will be subject to the Spending Review. Through our grant programmes, we will continue to support charities, such as Shelter, who provide vital workforce skills and capacity support to frontline homeless organisations. Allocations to shelter can be found here.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support open data across-council look up database for (a) councillor contact details and (b) polling station addresses. \p Rushanara Ali: The Electoral Commission provide a comprehensive tool to support electors in finding their local polling station address at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/your-election-information. Electors enter their postcode, and the tool shows them where their nearest polling station is. Polling station details are also included on poll cards sent to every elector ahead of relevant electoral events.

The Department does not currently provide open data across-council look up database for councillor contact details. A tool on gov.uk exists to find your local council https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the provisions in the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, on (a) localism and (b) communities. \p Jim McMahon: The government sees the policies set out in the English Devolution White Paper as supportive of communities and the localism agenda. The White Paper is clear that we cannot deliver the change the public expect, whether more growth, more homes, more joined-up services, or restored trust, without more empowered communities and local government. Its approach to community empowerment focuses on putting people in control of their own lives, alongside devolving power away from Westminster.

That is why alongside committing to greater devolution of powers to area it commits to measures such as replacing the community ‘Right to Bid’ with a strengthened ‘Right to Buy’ Assets of Community Value, creating a more robust pathway to community asset ownership. It’s also why we have recognised the importance of a thriving local media sector that can continue to play an invaluable role by reporting on the issues that matter to communities and, in the context of local government reorganisation, want to see stronger community arrangements when reorganisation happens in the way councils engage at a neighbourhood or area level. Together we have assessed this provides a positive impact on localism and communities.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her policy is on doughnut-sized unitary local authorities. \p Jim McMahon: The English Devolution White Paper announced a programme of local government reorganisation for two-tier areas, and set out that Government will also facilitate reorganisation for those unitary councils where there is evidence of failure or where their size or boundaries are impacting on their responsibilities. Some of these councils are included in the invitations to develop proposals for reorganisation that were sent to all councils in two-tier areas and neighbouring small unitaries on the 5th February.

Following submission, we will consider any and all proposals carefully before taking decisions on how to proceed. We will evaluate each case on its own merits against the criteria set out in the letter which includes that proposals should be for a “sensible geography”.

The Government is open to discussions with all areas where structural change will help them get onto a more sustainable footing.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 30736 on Local Government: Employers' Contributions and with reference to paragraph 5.48 of Bedford Borough Council Executive's report entitled General Fund Revenue Budget 2025/2026, dated 22 January 2025, and paragraph 1.5.3 of Central Bedfordshire Council's report entitled Budget Report 2025/26 to 2028/29, dated December 2024, for what reasons the additional funding for employer National Insurance contributions paid to (a) Bedford Borough Council is £500,000 less than the estimated total cost for directly employed employees and (b) Central Bedfordshire Council is £1.2m less than the estimated additional cost for Central Bedfordshire Council staff. \p Jim McMahon: Additional funding for employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff. The grant distribution methodology has been published in an explanatory note on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-explanatory-note-on-the-employer-national-insurance-contribution-grant-2025-to-2026.

We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. That is why the government is providing an additional £2 billion of grant funding through the Settlement, which includes £502 million of additional grant funding to manage the impact of employer NICs changes on council budgets, and £13 million for combined authorities, totalling £515 million. The final Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on whether byelaws can be applied to regulate inside (a) the curtilage of private property, (b) a dwelling and (c) a business premises where there is no effect on local amenity outside the curtilage. \p Jim McMahon: MHCLG and other government departments publish guidance for local authorities on the process they should follow when making byelaws and also publish model byelaw sets which councils can adopt. Local authorities are required to seek legal advice on their proposed byelaws before applying for Secretary of State confirmation. The department has not provided specific guidance on regulating inside (a) the curtilage of private property, (b) a dwelling and (c) a business premises where there is no effect on local amenity outside the curtilage.
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Tom Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing Mayoral Strategic Authorities with statutory duties on play via the proposed English Devolution Bill. \p Jim McMahon: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that formal play spaces and recreational areas should not be built on unless they are no longer needed, equivalent or better alternatives are provided, or the new development is for alternative sports or recreational provision which offers greater benefits.

The Government believes that individual local authorities are best placed to make local planning decisions. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will introduce powers for strategic authorities to produce strategic spatial plans for their area. These powers are about planning for growth across a larger than local area, and do not include specific duties in relation to play. Local planning authorities will still be responsible for developing and agreeing a Local Plan in line with the strategic spatial plan and it is at this level that specific decisions about issues like playgrounds would be made.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether investment in local swimming facilities is accommodated in the pre-approved interventions for the Plan for Neighbourhoods. \p Alex Norris: The new £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods will deliver up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade into 75 communities across the UK, laying the foundations to kickstart local growth and drive-up living standards.

We are putting power in the hands of local people to address deprivation and regenerate their local area and unleashing the full potential of places that have for too long been overlooked.

The 75 communities will set up Neighbourhood Boards bringing together residents, businesses, and grassroots campaigners to draw up and implement Plans for how they will spend the up to £20 million of funding, whether that is repairing pavements and high streets, setting up community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, or neighbourhood watches to keep people safe.

We have doubled the number of interventions that communities can spend the money on and we are focusing on three long-term aims - building thriving places, strengthening communities and empowering people to taking back control instead of sticking plaster policies. We are giving local people their say by strengthening our consultations to make sure local people have a voice on how the funding is spent.

The pre-approved interventions have been drafted broadly to give flexibility to boards as to how and what they can deliver, providing examples where possible to indicate ideas for spend, but it is not exhaustive. Investment in local swimming facilities would fall under the category of ‘Funding for local sport and activity facilities, events, teams and leagues, to foster community engagement and connection’.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 30659 on Conditions of Employment: Departmental Responsibilities, how many headcount staff in her Department are assigned to work on matters relating to (a) employment law, (b) industrial and trade union relations and (c) the Future of Work Cabinet Committee. \p Alex Norris: Strengthening employment rights is a key priority across Government. The Deputy Prime Minister is supported in her role as the Chair of the Future of Work Cabinet Committee, alongside the delivery of other cross-cutting priorities on Make Work Pay, by a Deputy Director and five FTE policy advisors.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her plans are for the future of the UK Levelling Up Fund. \p Alex Norris: The Levelling Up Fund is now fully committed. We (MHCLG and DfT) have awarded £4.8 billion across three rounds of the Levelling Up Fund to 271 projects across the UK. We are working with the successful applicants to help deliver the benefits of these projects to communities across the UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the level of duplication of regulation on fire matters in (a) building regulation and (b) planning consent processes. \p Alex Norris: Fire safety regulations in building regulation and planning permission processes serve distinct purposes and are not duplicated. Planning addresses fire safety in relation to land-use planning matters, such site layout, and access for emergency services. Building regulations focus on detailed technical standards for construction, including fire resistance of materials, means of escape, and fire detection systems. These regulations are tested at different gateways, each serving distinct purposes to ensure comprehensive fire safety measures are in place. Together, these elements contribute to a robust fire safety regime that delivers safe buildings and protects occupants.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making building regulation M4(2) Category 2 accessible and adaptable standards mandatory for new homes. \p Alex Norris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 12990 provided on 25 November 2024.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of National Insurance contribution increases on (a) council budgets and (b) the financial sustainability of council spending. \p Jim McMahon: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Question UIN 33203 and Question UIN 33258 on 3 March 2025.

The government is committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to return the local government sector to a sustainable position. This will be done in partnership with local government and on the principle of giving forward notice and certainty to allow time for councils to plan.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons she appointed Dominic Grieve as the Chair of the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia working group. \p Alex Norris: The Anti-Muslim Hate/Islamophobia Definition Working Group has been established to provide government with a non-statutory definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, supporting a wider stream of work to tackle the unacceptable incidents of anti-Muslim hatred. The Rt Hon Dominic Grieve KC has a strong legal background and experience of working with Muslim communities. This technical expertise will be invaluable to meeting the group’s objective to advise His Majesty’s Government on the appropriate and sensitive language to describe, understand and define unacceptable treatment, prejudice, discrimination and hate targeting Muslims.
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Imran Hussain:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on trends in the number of people who have been evicted from their homes following rent increases in each of the last five years. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 34191 on 10 March 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 23144 on Housing: Migrants, whether her Department holds information on the potential impact of immigration on housing costs. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 23144 on 18 February 2025.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average time was between completion of a development in areas at risk of flooding and installation of flood defences agreed at planning stage since 2019; and how many developments built since 2019 in areas at risk of flooding do not have flood defences required at planning stage completed. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government does not monitor the status of individual planning conditions. Local planning authorities are responsible for ensuring compliance with planning permissions and conditions, including monitoring and taking enforcement action if necessary.

National planning guidance makes clear that where flood risk management infrastructure such as flood defences form part of the strategy for addressing flood risk, strategic and site-specific flood risk assessments should identify how this infrastructure will be operated, funded and maintained.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 182c of the National Planning Policy Framework, how she defines the lifetime of the development. \p Matthew Pennycook: Paragraph 182(c) of the revised National Planning Policy Framework sets out that all major development should have maintenance arrangements for sustainable drainage systems in place to ensure an acceptable standard of operation for the lifetime of the development.

National planning guidance states that residential development can be assumed to have a lifetime of development of at least 100 years, unless there is specific justification for considering a different period. For non-residential development, the lifetime will depend on its characteristics, but 75 years is likely to form a starting point for assessment. Development such as some major infrastructure projects or new settlements may have a lifetime significantly beyond 100 years.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 25703 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Consultants, what changes she has made to the neighbourhood planning contract. \p Matthew Pennycook: The current neighbourhood planning support contract was last changed in May 2024.The government launched the procurement for the neighbourhood planning support contract on 1 October 2024 and we will announce the outcome of that exercise in due course.
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Alex Sobel:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for (a) restructuring HM Land Registry fees, (b) tabling secondary legislation to restructure fees, prioritising free access to data and (c) ensuring HM Land Registry makes rapid progress towards enabling others to map land ownership data by linking title numbers with INSPIRE IDs. \p Matthew Pennycook: HM Land Registry (HMLR) is reviewing how fees can be made simpler, fairer and enable better access to data.

HMLR intends to launch a public consultation on the design of a new fees and charging structure and to bring forward the necessary secondary legislation to effect changes with the aim of implementing the new structure in 2026.

HMLR is currently exploring how best to make the data it holds more accessible, interoperable and geospatially enabled, in line with the priorities set out in my recent letter to the HMLR Board Chair as well as the government’s blueprint for a modern digital government. This includes reviewing and improving the interoperability of published datasets, for example, adding INSPIRE IDs where appropriate.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure council spending is (a) efficient and (b) value for money for taxpayers. \p Jim McMahon: Local authorities are independent of central government. Councils are responsible for managing their own financial positions and services, including ensuring that their spending is efficient and delivers value for money for taxpayers; the department is not involved in local decisions.

Statutory best value guidance clarifies the government’s expectations of how local authorities must make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which their functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness (the Best Value Duty). In the event of failure to uphold these standards, the Secretary of State has powers of intervention to ensure an authority’s compliance with that Duty.

In December the government launched a strategy to overhaul the broken local audit system in England and embed transparency and value for money across local government.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Information Unit's report entitled 2025 State of Local Government Finance in England, published in March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of forecasts that 6% of councils will face effective bankruptcy in the next financial year. \p Jim McMahon: We have delivered a Settlement that has begun to fix the foundations of local government by providing significant investment and redirecting funding towards the services and places that need it most. The Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.

We are committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to fix the foundations of local government, in partnership with the sector and on the principle of giving councils early certainty. The government has committed to a multi-year Spending Review later this year, and we will therefore provide a multi-year funding settlement alongside much needed funding reform in 2026-27.

We are however, under no illusion about the fragile state of the sector and the pressures that some councils are facing and recognise the potential for continued instability as we work to fix the foundations of local government. That is why we have a framework in place to support councils in the most difficult financial positions and will continue work on a collaborative basis to help them manage financial challenges.

As always, the department stands ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its finances and we will treat all discussions in confidence, with respect and determination to find a solution together.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 182c of the National Planning Policy Framework, what penalties can be imposed on developers that do not comply with agreed maintenance arrangements once the development is built. \p Matthew Pennycook: Local planning authorities already have a wide range of planning enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.

The government is clear that effective enforcement is important to tackle breaches of planning control, including enforcing SuDS maintenance arrangements which do not conform to the planning permission.

Where the local planning authority thinks that a condition imposed on a planning permission has not been met, they can serve a breach of condition notice, which requires the recipient to remedy the breach within a specified time. There is no appeal against such a notice and failure to comply with it is an offence punishable by an unlimited fine.

We have published guidance on the enforcement powers available to local planning authorities. I do not have plans to publish further guidance on enforcement at this time.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to section 4.4 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, issued on 27 August 2024, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a group of statutory consultees that planning officers should consult when considering planning applications that impact ancient woodlands. \p Matthew Pennycook: The report in question confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework contains a high level of protection for ancient woodland.

The Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons, and a suitable compensation strategy exists. These protections are strengthened further by the Town and Country Planning (Consultation) (England) Direction 2024 which requires local planning authorities to consult the Secretary of State where they have resolved to grant planning permission for development affecting ancient woodland.

Local planning authorities have the principal responsibility for applying these protections effectively, and we do not consider it necessary to standardise the assessment of ancient woodland impacts or mandate arboricultural reports. The Ancient Woodland Inventory, updated Planning Practice Guidance and the Standing Advice on ancient woodlands and ancient and veteran trees are in place to support local decision makers make informed decisions about planning applications near these habitats.

With regard to statutory consultees, I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

We keep policy in this and other areas under review, working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_149

Paulette Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to support renters. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Renters’ Rights Bill delivers our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including by ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

The Bill will improve the current system for the 11 million private renters and 2.3 million landlords in England. It will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.

The Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 11 September 2024 and is now progressing through the House of Lords. Further detail on the measures in the Bill can be found in the relevant guidance on gov.uk here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-bill/guide-to-the-renters-rights-bill#prohibiting-rental-discrimination.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_150

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of use of management agencies to complete repairs by housing associations. \p Matthew Pennycook: All registered providers of social housing are required to ensure they meet regulatory standards and legal duties relating to repairs, regardless of whether they use a management agency to oversee their repairs services.

Under the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing, all registered providers must provide an effective, efficient, and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible.

Social landlords are obliged by law to maintain the structure and exterior of their properties, and to keep in repair and proper working order the sanitation, water, gas, and electricity installations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_151

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 31491 on Housing: Windows, whether her Department holds records of which local authorities have issued Article 4 directions for removing permitted development rights. \p Matthew Pennycook: A local planning authority must, as soon as practicable after confirming an article 4 direction, inform the Secretary of State. Records of Article 4 Directions made by local authorities dating back to April 2018 are held.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_152

Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to improve (a) transparency and (b) professionalism in the leasehold sector in Somerset. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_153

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Government unveils plans for next generation of new towns, published on 13 February 2025, how the £20 million to help transform neglected small-scale council-owned sites into new homes for areas most in need will be distributed. \p Matthew Pennycook: This funding will be made available through the next round of the Brownfield Land Release Fund. Further details on the application process and funding criteria will be announced in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_154

Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to continue to provide support for the building of shared ownership properties. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_155

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 33841 on Mentally Disordered Offenders: Crimes of Violence, what (a) practical and (b) legal issues there are with linking medical records with justice datasets. \p Karin Smyth: Effectively and securely linking health and non-health data is critical to delivering the Government’s health and wider missions.

Health and justice data can be linked in specific circumstances; the National Health Service already shares some data with the Ministry of Justice as part of the latter’s Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme. The programme uses de-identified data held in a Secure Data Environment. More information on BOLD is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-justice-better-outcomes-through-linked-data-bold/ministry-of-justice-better-outcomes-through-linked-data-bold

Practical issues to sharing health data include how patient information can be stored and accessed safely. The Department of Health and Social Care and the National Health Service in England is moving to a system of ‘data access as default’ for secondary data uses, through the implementation of Secure Data Environments. These platforms allow approved users to analyse data without it having to leave the environment.

The chief legal issue is usually the absence of an appropriate basis for sharing: the main ones are explicit consent, a statutory requirement, or an overriding public interest. The Department of Health and Social Care is shortly to review the legislation relating to the sharing of patient data for research and planning and other secondary purposes, to ensure it supports sharing and access, where appropriate safeguards are in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_156

Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to patients where tapering off of Mirtazapine has been unsuccessful and subsequently they find themselves taking a drug that they know is causing them harm. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England encourages integrated care boards (ICBs) to address inappropriate antidepressant prescribing and to consider commissioning services for patients wishing to reduce or stop prescribed medicines that can cause dependence and withdrawal.

In March 2023, NHS England published Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: Framework for action for ICBs and primary care. The framework includes actions, resources and case studies to help systems develop plans that can support people who are taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/optimising-personalised-care-for-adults-prescribed-medicines-associated-with-dependence-or-withdrawal-symptoms/

ICBs are responsible for planning health services for their local population. This includes consideration of services for patients taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms based on local population needs.

An increasing number of non-pharmacological alternatives have become available on the National Health Service, including significant investment in NHS Talking Therapies for common conditions like anxiety and depression, with 1.26 million referrals starting a course of treatment in 2023/24. There has also been considerable investment in social prescribing, which can help people with mental health problems, and there are now over 3700 full-time equivalent trained social prescribing link workers, and over 2.5 million people have been referred to a social prescribing link worker.

Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidelines, Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG215

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is currently leading a project to improve the information supplied with dependency-forming medicines. The project aims to improve risk minimisation measures and better inform and educate healthcare professionals and patients about the risk of dependence, addiction, tolerance and withdrawal related to a wide range of medicines including antidepressants in the United Kingdom.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_157

Monica Harding:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve treatment outcomes for people with Huntington’s Disease; and what research his Department is supporting into that disease. \p Ashley Dalton: Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Huntington’s Disease. One of the priorities of the Framework is improving access to specialist care, treatment and drugs. In England, we published the 2025 Rare Diseases Action Plan on 28 February 2025, which provides further information.

The Department funds research into Huntington’s disease via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Huntington’s disease. For example, the NIHR’s UCL Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) supported the TRACK-HD study. This identified biomarkers for Huntington’s disease and generated a database of brain scans available to scientists and led to the development of a rating scale to measure disease progression. BRC-funded researchers have also developed the first human test for the protein, which has now been validated and used as an endpoint in clinical trials.