Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to take steps to protect tenants who will be served a Section 21 notice prior to the provisions of the Renters' Rights Act coming into effect in May 2026.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters' Rights Act delivers the government's manifesto commitment to overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector, including by abolishing Section 21 'no fault' evictions. We want to see tenants benefit from these reforms as quickly as possible.
From 1 May 2026, the new tenancy system provided for by the Act will apply to all private tenancies – existing tenancies will become periodic, and any new tenancies will be governed by the new rules. We will work closely with tenants groups and the landlord and lettings sector to ensure a smooth implementation.
The government has no plans to introduce additional protections before 1 May 2026. Tenants at risk of eviction can seek advice from specialist providers such as Shelter and Citizens Advice.
£644.17 million in funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant has been made available to local authorities in 2025/26 to support them to deliver services to prevent and respond to homelessness. This includes an uplift of £203.8 million compared to 2024 to 2025.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the current fee levels for family legal aid on the retention and recruitment of legal practitioners undertaking work in private law (a) children and (b) domestic abuse cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that those who need legal aid – including some of the most vulnerable people in society - can access it wherever they live.
Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA) to identify issues facing the system and improve its sustainability. The review has concluded, and all reports are available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-legal-aid-review, this includes a deep dive on legal aid in family law cases.
According to the RoCLA Provider Survey, a higher proportion of family legal aid providers reported being profitable compared to providers in all other categories of law. Family legal aid providers were also significantly less likely to report that they would leave the sector in the next five years. On the other hand, the evidence from the review also indicated that the housing and debt, and immigration and asylum sectors face particularly more acute challenges with service provision and high demand. Therefore, following a consultation, we announced uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented. This investment will help the Government to reduce the asylum backlog, end hotel use, increase returns and ensure the most vulnerable can access justice. The evidence gathered by RoCLA informed this consultation and the review will continue to shape future policy direction.
The Ministry of Justice is looking at other potential changes that could support providers and aid recruitment and retention. This includes, (civil) contractual requirements regarding provider offices and limits to the provision of remote legal aid that providers say are burdensome. Any changes would aim to give providers more autonomy in meeting client need, while maintaining effective in-person provision for clients who need this. We are committed to supporting the recruitment and retention of legal aid practitioners and have provided up to £1.4 million in 2024 and up to a further £1.7 million in 2025 to meet the costs of accrediting and reaccrediting caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work, and we have provided £1.5 million in grant funding for the recruitment of trainee housing solicitors.
The Legal Aid Agency regularly reviews available supply to make sure there is adequate provision for legal aid, in all categories of law, and works with the Ministry of Justice to take operational action where it can respond to market pressures that may arise.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that fee levels for family legal aid are sufficient to maintain a (a) sustainable and (b) geographically accessible network of providers.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that those who need legal aid – including some of the most vulnerable people in society - can access it wherever they live.
Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA) to identify issues facing the system and improve its sustainability. The review has concluded, and all reports are available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-legal-aid-review, this includes a deep dive on legal aid in family law cases.
According to the RoCLA Provider Survey, a higher proportion of family legal aid providers reported being profitable compared to providers in all other categories of law. Family legal aid providers were also significantly less likely to report that they would leave the sector in the next five years. On the other hand, the evidence from the review also indicated that the housing and debt, and immigration and asylum sectors face particularly more acute challenges with service provision and high demand. Therefore, following a consultation, we announced uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented. This investment will help the Government to reduce the asylum backlog, end hotel use, increase returns and ensure the most vulnerable can access justice. The evidence gathered by RoCLA informed this consultation and the review will continue to shape future policy direction.
The Ministry of Justice is looking at other potential changes that could support providers and aid recruitment and retention. This includes, (civil) contractual requirements regarding provider offices and limits to the provision of remote legal aid that providers say are burdensome. Any changes would aim to give providers more autonomy in meeting client need, while maintaining effective in-person provision for clients who need this. We are committed to supporting the recruitment and retention of legal aid practitioners and have provided up to £1.4 million in 2024 and up to a further £1.7 million in 2025 to meet the costs of accrediting and reaccrediting caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work, and we have provided £1.5 million in grant funding for the recruitment of trainee housing solicitors.
The Legal Aid Agency regularly reviews available supply to make sure there is adequate provision for legal aid, in all categories of law, and works with the Ministry of Justice to take operational action where it can respond to market pressures that may arise.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people living with a (a) form of arthritis and (b) musculoskeletal condition are waiting for a decision on their Access to Work claim.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold data on the number of individuals living with (a) a form of arthritis or (b) a musculoskeletal condition who are currently awaiting a decision on their Access to Work claim. Health conditions are only identified once an application has been allocated for assessment.