Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she will take to tackle the impact of furniture poverty on children in low-income families; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of furnished tenancies in social housing on reducing the impact of furniture poverty.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing furnished tenancies in social housing on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the new Decent Homes Standard will include a requirement that at least 10% of social homes are let as furnished.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 2 July, the government opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It seeks views on a range of issues including whether landlords should provide suitable floor coverings in all rooms at the start of every tenancy. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with representative bodies of non-medical aesthetic practitioners on regulatory proposals for that sector.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In exploring options for the regulation of cosmetic procedures, the Department has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives from the British Beauty Council and the Beauty Industry Group. The Department will continue to engage with a broad range of stakeholders in addressing concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector, and will notify them of any upcoming consultations on this area to which they can contribute.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 experienced non-medical aesthetic practitioners are included in (a) consultations and (b) policy development on the regulation of cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In exploring options for the regulation of cosmetic procedures, the Department has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives from the British Beauty Council and the Beauty Industry Group. The Department will continue to engage with a broad range of stakeholders in addressing concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector, and will notify them of any upcoming consultations on this area to which they can contribute.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's changes to drug appraisal methods on access to new treatments for people with secondary breast cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.
NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. Since the introduction of the severity modifier in December 2022, the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, at 81.1% compared to 69%.
Since January 2022, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed. These treatments are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.
NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 review severity modifiers used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to assess treatments for incurable secondary breast cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.
NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. Since the introduction of the severity modifier in December 2022, the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, at 81.1% compared to 69%.
Since January 2022, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed. These treatments are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.
NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future method reviews.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to question 57351 on Students: Loans; what assessment her Department has made on the reason for the gender difference in the number of borrowers whose loans have increased despite making regular payments.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The previous government considered gender differences in lifetime repayments, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments, when introducing Plan 5. The full equality impact assessment was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Student loans are not like commercial loans and carry significant protections for borrowers. Borrowers will be liable to repay after leaving study only when earning over the relevant student loan repayment threshold.
The system is designed to ensure that those who benefit financially from higher education contribute towards the cost of it. This is why repayments are linked to income and not the loan balance, with regular repayments increasing with borrower income. Those earning below the student loan repayment threshold repay nothing.
Crucially, at the end of the loan term, any outstanding loan balance, including interest built up, is written off after the loan term ends, or in case of death or disability, at no detriment to the borrower. This subsidy is a conscious investment in the skills capacity, people and economy of this country.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with (a) local authorities and (b) police to (i) prevent repeat offences and (ii) ensure effective safeguarding measures are in place to protect communities from sexual (A) violence and (B) harassment.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We expect sexual violence to be treated seriously by all police forces from the point of disclosure, every victim to be treated with dignity and every investigation and prosecution to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.
Baroness Casey’s 2023 review of culture and standards in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) highlighted a number of areas for improvement, including the MPS’s handling of VAWG. Since the review’s publication, the MPS commissioner has set out his ‘New Met for London’ plan to improve confidence in the force and address the concerns raised in Baroness Casey’s review and other cases of failing in the MPS. The Home Secretary will continue to work with the MPS Commissioner and Mayor for London as they take action to deliver those improvements.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that survivors of sexual assault are (a) kept informed of the progress of cases and (b) provided with appropriate (i) safeguarding and (ii) support.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We expect sexual violence to be treated seriously by all police forces from the point of disclosure, every victim to be treated with dignity and every investigation and prosecution to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.
Baroness Casey’s 2023 review of culture and standards in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) highlighted a number of areas for improvement, including the MPS’s handling of VAWG. Since the review’s publication, the MPS commissioner has set out his ‘New Met for London’ plan to improve confidence in the force and address the concerns raised in Baroness Casey’s review and other cases of failing in the MPS. The Home Secretary will continue to work with the MPS Commissioner and Mayor for London as they take action to deliver those improvements.