Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many complaints the Independent Case Examiner has received in the last three years (1) in total and (2) regarding child maintenance; and of those, how many were found in favour of the complainant.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

ICE does not accept every case that it receives, for example, ICE cannot accept a case until it has exhausted DWP’s complaints process (premature referrals), nor can it accept those outside its jurisdiction.

ICE only considers complaints about maladministration or service failures and cannot deal with complaints about matters of law, that are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings, about how any of the businesses fulfil their responsibilities as an employer or any that involve the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman or the Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

Once a case has been accepted, if appropriate, ICE will attempt to broker a resolution with the customer before gathering all of the evidence relating to the case. Where resolution cannot be reached, evidence is collated, and an investigation is conducted. On the basis of findings made, the case may be upheld/partially upheld in favour of the customer or not upheld. The number of cases received, accepted, and upheld/partially upheld, is in the table below.

*ICE reviews complaints made by customers of the Department for Work and Pensions (which includes the Child Maintenance Service), Northern Ireland Department for Communities – benefits, pensions and child maintenance only, contracted DWP services and Pension Protection Fund.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the River Deben Action Plan.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Publicly launched in May 2024 the "Recovering the Deben - From Source to Sea" action plan developed by The East Suffolk Catchment Partnership (ESCP) continues to secure action in the catchment. Since the plan’s launch, the East Suffolk Catchment Partnership has been working with landowners to develop natural flood management schemes in the upper catchment, with the Forestry Commission to improve woodland connectivity, and with a wide range of stakeholders to improve riparian habitats. In addition, the partners have come together to share monitoring and evidence and are developing a State of the Deben Report. A successful bid on behalf of the partnership by the Rivers Trust into the Water Restoration Fund marks a major milestone in supporting the action plan ambitions. With funding in place, the Rivers Trust is recruiting a Programme Manager to work with partners, stakeholders, and local communities to secure further improvements such as addressing fish passage, installing buffer strips alongside the watercourse throughout the catchment, the use of nutrient attenuation ponds, and increasing the understanding of catchment water quality impacts on the Deben Estuary, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in need of recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 10 April (HL6223), whether they will answer the question put, namely, whether they have commissioned advice from the Office for Environmental Protection about the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

I refer the noble Lady to the answer given to Question UIN HL6223 on 10 April 2025.

The department has not commissioned advice from the Office for Environmental Protection on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill as they are an independent body and it is for them to decide whether to advise on proposed changes.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of the number of unoccupied dwellings in England.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

According to the latest published statistics, excluding second homes, there are 719, 470 vacant dwellings in England. Statistics on vacant dwellings in England as reported for the purposes of council tax are published in the Department’s live table 615 which is accessible on gov.uk.

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