Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure the Warm Homes Plan (a) reduces bills, (b) improves health outcomes and (c) reduces levels of fuel poverty.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will help cut household bills for families and slash fuel poverty. The Government has committed £13.2 billion to upgrade millions of homes across the country.
The Government is working to ensure that homes are fit for the future and the Department has been carrying out research to respond to the relevant climate change adaptation risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment, including to health and wellbeing. This work is informing the development of the Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the Warm Homes Plan will offer households (a) financial support to upgrade homes according to income, (b) improved consumer protections and (c) free independent advice.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. Officials are exploring the role of incentives and private finance for households to support homeowners with the upfront costs.
The government is committed to protecting homeowners across the UK, further details for improved consumer protection will be set out in the Warm Homes Plan.
The government also recognises the importance of access to trusted and impartial information, the retrofitting tool ‘find ways to save energy in your home’ (https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency), provides tailored guidance to help consumers and is supported by a call centre.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential economic merits of upgrading the energy efficiency of homes.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower is one of the five Missions set out by the government: aiming for clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero. Delivering the Warm Homes Plan is central to the clean energy mission. Targeting decarbonisation of heat in buildings will account for around 75% of reduction in all building emissions as well as reducing demand.
Decarbonising buildings will support 175,000 jobs by 2030 and 240,000 by 2035 – resulting in £6 billion additional GVA by 2030. It is the only certain way to permanently lower bills (through energy efficiency), protecting the UK against price shocks, reducing demand and therefore preserving energy security and helping the UK become energy independent.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with local councils on (a) accessing the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and (b) using cross-pavement solutions for charging electric vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government has regular discussions with local authorities about accessing the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund and has appointed a support body to assist local authorities with pre and post-application support.
In December 2024, following significant engagement with local authorities, the Government published cross-pavement guidance to help local authorities understand what they need to consider for the roll-out of cross-pavement solutions. This includes relevant planning permissions, minimum existing standards, responsibilities and case studies of trials.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve passenger rail connectivity.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We continue to invest in improving connectivity for passengers on our railways. Major enhancements, such as Transpennine Route Upgrade and East West Rail, will provide new connections for passengers alongside wider investment in improvements that totals around £2bn each year. Increasingly our focus is on connectivity to places that have had less historic investment, and more than 75% of our forecast spend is proposed to be outside of London and the South East in the next Spending Review Period.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of Casework Officers employed in the Planning Inspectorate's Rights of Way and Common Land Decision Service in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate does not hold historical information on case officers broken down by casework. However, the tracking of this information has commenced from the start of the financial year 2025/26.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the size of the backlog of cases in front of the Planning Inspectorate's Rights of Way and Common Land Decision Service in each month since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Based on the targets described below, the number of open cases over non-statutory targets each month is as follows:
Month (end of) | Number of open cases over non-statutory target | |
| Rights of Way | Common Land |
Jan-20 | 46 | 3 |
Feb-20 | 48 | 5 |
Mar-20 | 52 | 4 |
Apr-20 | 57 | 4 |
May-20 | 69 | 6 |
Jun-20 | 71 | 9 |
Jul-20 | 76 | 7 |
Aug-20 | 78 | 6 |
Sep-20 | 76 | 13 |
Oct-20 | 90 | 11 |
Nov-20 | 93 | 11 |
Dec-20 | 91 | 12 |
Jan-21 | 97 | 12 |
Feb-21 | 93 | 7 |
Mar-21 | 108 | 8 |
Apr-21 | 102 | 10 |
May-21 | 107 | 12 |
Jun-21 | 113 | 11 |
Jul-21 | 119 | 9 |
Aug-21 | 122 | 11 |
Sep-21 | 116 | 10 |
Oct-21 | 106 | 6 |
Nov-21 | 100 | 7 |
Dec-21 | 94 | 4 |
Jan-22 | 97 | 6 |
Feb-22 | 95 | 8 |
Mar-22 | 108 | 9 |
Apr-22 | 116 | 8 |
May-22 | 125 | 10 |
Jun-22 | 133 | 9 |
Jul-22 | 124 | 8 |
Aug-22 | 117 | 5 |
Sep-22 | 115 | 9 |
Oct-22 | 116 | 10 |
Nov-22 | 121 | 8 |
Dec-22 | 128 | 9 |
Jan-23 | 128 | 11 |
Feb-23 | 128 | 12 |
Mar-23 | 144 | 14 |
Apr-23 | 150 | 15 |
May-23 | 144 | 13 |
Jun-23 | 139 | 14 |
Jul-23 | 134 | 11 |
Aug-23 | 143 | 9 |
Sep-23 | 147 | 12 |
Oct-23 | 154 | 12 |
Nov-23 | 150 | 13 |
Dec-23 | 159 | 10 |
Jan-24 | 148 | 12 |
Feb-24 | 149 | 10 |
Mar-24 | 133 | 17 |
Apr-24 | 132 | 22 |
May-24 | 136 | 20 |
Jun-24 | 132 | 23 |
Jul-24 | 133 | 24 |
Aug-24 | 134 | 23 |
Sep-24 | 128 | 23 |
Oct-24 | 124 | 26 |
Nov-24 | 132 | 33 |
Dec-24 | 131 | 31 |
Jan-25 | 127 | 35 |
Feb-25 | 137 | 33 |
Mar-25 | 154 | 34 |
Apr-25 | 159 | 35 |
“Backlog” in this context is usually understood to refer to the number of cases which are over statutory deadlines. There are no statutory targets for Rights of Way and Common Land decisions.
However, non-statutory targets are as follows:
| Non-statutory targets for Rights of Way decision | ||
Procedure | Opposed orders | Schedule 14 appeals | Schedule 14 directions |
Written representations | 37 weeks | 30 weeks | 21 weeks |
Hearings | 39 weeks | 39 weeks | N/A |
Inquiries | 45 weeks | 45 weeks | N/A |
Procedure | Non-statutory targets for Common Land decision |
Written representations | In-house (no Inspector) no objections - 18 weeks In-house objections - 26 weeks Inspector cases - 40 weeks |
Hearings | 40 weeks |
Inquiries | 40 weeks |
Due to limitations in the data storage, the inspector cases target (40 weeks) has been applied to all Common Land decisions by Written representation for the purposes of this answer.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that carers in the adult social care sector (a) are adequately trained for the range of tasks they undertake, (b) spend the requisite amount of time with each client and (c) adhere to guidance relating to time sensitive medicines.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to a well-supported adult social care workforce who are recognised as the professionals they are. We have expanded the Care Workforce Pathway and are continuing to fund the Learning Development Support Scheme to help care workers build their skills and careers in care. The scheme is backed by up to £12 million this financial year. Medication handling and administration are among the topics covered by the list of over 200 training courses and qualifications eligible for funding.
In addition, the sector is being supported to move from analogue to digital, through our digital skills offer. With the necessary skills, capability, and confidence, carers can adopt technologies such as Digital Social Care Records, which have been shown to release at least 20 minutes per care worker, per shift, to give staff more time interacting with people.
The Care Quality Commission monitors, inspects, and regulates adult social care services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. As per Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, providers must deploy “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to enable them to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times”.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Transport & Environment, publication entitled Palm Oil?, published on 9 April 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the potential disruption to the transport fuel supply.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We take the concerns raised in Transport & Environment’s publication relating to the biofuel feedstock Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) seriously.
Fuel supplied in the UK under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) is subject to robust checks as required by legislation. If evidence of fraud or non-compliance is found we have powers to withhold or revoke certificates, issue civil penalties and, where appropriate, refer the matter to the relevant authorities.
The Department does not expect the concerns raised to result in disruption to the overall supply of transport fuel.
Asked by: Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) prolonged waiting times and (b) lack of clarity regarding the application process on people with disabilities who are attempting to make use of the Access to Work scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work has a significant backlog of applications, with 62,000 outstanding applications in February 2025. This has resulted in significant delays and we are considering changes within the existing policy framework to reduce this.
To support customers with the application process, we have streamlined our delivery process and made all core parts of the Scheme, such as applying and requesting payment, fully digital. We recognise that significant delays can have adverse effects on customers, our Case Managers receive training in how to identify and support vulnerable customers during their application process and can provide advanced support to those whose wellbeing is affected during the application process.