Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many property sales in London, broken down by borough, have been subject to stamp duty since July 2024.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below contains the number of completed residential and non-residential property purchases by London borough that were subject to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) with a chargeable consideration over £40,000 from 1 July 2024 to 3 October 2025.
London Borough | Number of transactions with an SDLT liability | Total number of transactions |
Barking and Dagenham | 1,820 | 3,560 |
Barnet | 5,750 | 7,750 |
Bexley | 3,770 | 5,450 |
Brent | 3,910 | 5,300 |
Bromley | 5,930 | 7,950 |
Camden | 4,780 | 5,750 |
City of London | 1,740 | 1,990 |
Croydon | 5,330 | 8,310 |
Ealing | 5,000 | 6,890 |
Enfield | 4,070 | 5,850 |
Greenwich | 3,890 | 5,830 |
Hackney | 3,950 | 5,230 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 4,430 | 5,170 |
Haringey | 3,810 | 5,300 |
Harrow | 2,950 | 4,170 |
Havering | 4,260 | 6,160 |
Hillingdon | 4,110 | 5,880 |
Hounslow | 3,390 | 4,890 |
Islington | 3,870 | 4,980 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 3,940 | 4,440 |
Kingston upon Thames | 2,940 | 3,810 |
Lambeth | 5,660 | 7,320 |
Lewisham | 4,100 | 6,200 |
Merton | 3,610 | 4,660 |
Newham | 3,580 | 5,400 |
Redbridge | 3,440 | 4,830 |
Richmond upon Thames | 4,210 | 4,910 |
Southwark | 5,060 | 6,660 |
Sutton | 3,130 | 4,500 |
Tower Hamlets | 4,880 | 6,870 |
Waltham Forest | 4,250 | 5,940 |
Wandsworth | 7,920 | 9,670 |
Westminster | 7,050 | 8,190 |
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (HL10676), how and why they reached the conclusion that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 was "unworkable for public transport when it was passed".
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) legislation was brought in under the last Government. While many public transport employers had the opportunity to use MSLs, none chose to as they deemed it either unworkable or unnecessary. This legislation does not support a positive and productive relationship between employers, employees, and their trade unions. The legislation would have also been unable to deal with the need for individual or small numbers of staff at critical operational locations. For these reasons, this Government is repealing the legislation.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of enabling councils and local authorities in England to require businesses to pay all business rates in advance.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has not assessed the merits of requiring businesses to pay in advance. Typically, councils will bill in ten monthly instalments, but ratepayers can request to make twelve monthly payments to help businesses spread the cost. Ratepayers can also choose to pay their bill annually, should they wish to. This supports the flow of funding to local government and contributes towards the cost of local services.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 applies to Transport for London, and what discussions they have had with Transport for London about the use of the powers in that Act.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 would apply to Transport for London. However, the Government announced on 6 August that it will repeal the Act as part of the Employment Rights Bill which is currently at Final Stages in the Lords. The Act was unworkable for public transport when it was passed.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they collect data about suicides and attempted suicides by police members across England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently collect data centrally on suicides or attempted suicides by police workers.
Data on suicides by occupation have previously been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
A National Action Plan for Suicide Prevention and Postvention in policing has been launched, which aims to reduce rates among the police workforce as well as enhancing data recording. The plan, which includes ensuring adequate training for the police workforce, emphasises a supportive environment that promotes mental health and combats stigma to ensure that those affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts can access appropriate and timely support.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the enforcement of their proposed "respect orders" by police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is crucial that police have the powers they need to tackle anti-social behaviour.
New Respect Orders, introduced through the Crime and Policing Bill, will give police stronger powers to enforce against the most persistent adult offenders.
Respect Orders will be behavioural orders, issued by the civil courts. They will enable courts to ban offenders from engaging in harmful anti-social behaviours and can also require perpetrators to take action to address the root cause of their behaviour.
Failure to comply with a Respect Order will be a criminal offence, enforceable by arrest and tried in the criminal court. Penalty for breach will include community sentences, unlimited fines, and prison time for the most serious breaches.
Updated statutory guidance will be provided to forces on Respect Orders, to ensure they are being used as effectively as possible.
We are also delivering on our commitment to restore and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers are out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make our streets safer.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will consider reducing National Insurance thresholds for employers.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous government.
One of the toughest decisions we made was to raise the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%, whilst reducing the per-employee threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance (the Secondary Threshold) from £9,100 to £5,000.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change this year.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether London is on track to deliver its share of the target to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has set a target of 88,000 new homes per year in London through the new standard method and remains committed to working in partnership with the London Mayor, boroughs, and wider stakeholders to achieve a step change in building in the capital.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that their intention to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 by spring 2026 does not cause an increase in homelessness and rough sleeping; and what plans they have to offer additional financial support to local authorities in England to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Vagrancy Act 1824 does nothing to tackle the root causes of homelessness, which is why we will be the government which repeals this punitive legislation.
At the same time, homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.
The government have already taken the first steps to getting back on track to ending homelessness, including making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £233 million increase on the previous year.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the leasehold property system and what plans they have to reform it; and what assessment they have made of the case for making commonhold the primary model of ownership for flats in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024, for far too many leaseholders, the reality of home ownership has fallen woefully short of the dream. As set out in our manifesto, we are determined to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end, reinvigorate commonhold and take the first steps towards making it the default tenure by the end of this Parliament.
Draft legislation and a consultation on the best approach to banning new leasehold flats will be published later this year.