Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of building an additional 1 million homes for social rent in the next 10 years; and whether he has had discussions with the private sector on building homes for social rent.

Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.

The Levelling Up White Paper committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes and a large number of the new homes delivered through our Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.

Since 2010, we have delivered over 696,100 new affordable homes, including over 482,000 affordable homes for rent, of which over 172,600 homes for social rent.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of consolatory payments issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the last 12 months.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency publishes the cost of consolatory payments it makes as part of its Annual Report and Accounts. In the last published report for 2022-23 the information can be found under ex-gratia payments on page 66 using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dvla-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the average processing time of applications submitted to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Applications sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are being processed within published turnaround times.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if the Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific will declare the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Bill in Hong Kong to be a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration following its first application in the case of Ma Chun-man in March 2024.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Following a series of breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration by China, including the imposition of the 2020 National Security Law (NSL) under which Ma Chun Man was originally prosecuted, the then Foreign Secretary declared China to be in continuous breach of the Joint Declaration. That view has not changed. The Foreign Secretary called for the NSL to be repealed and an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it on 17 December. The new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was enacted by the Hong Kong government under Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law. As The Foreign Secretary said on 19 March, its overall impact will be to further damage the rights and freedoms enjoyed in the city. It undermines Hong Kong's implementation of binding international obligations including the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are monitoring its implementation closely, including its swift application in this case.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether the Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific raised human rights concerns relating to the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Bill and the 2020 National Security Law while meeting the (a) Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and (b) Treasury Christopher Hui in Hong Kong.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

On 24 April I met with Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui during my six-day visit to China and Hong Kong. I raised concerns over the deterioration of rights and freedoms in the city precipitated by the 2020 National Security Law and the recent passage of legislation under Article 23. We will continue to raise areas of disagreement or concern, including human rights in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.

Found: Rushcliffe ); Laura Farris MP (Conservative, Newbury ); Andrew Gwynne MP (Labour, Denton and Reddish ); Holly