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 she is taking steps to (a) simplify the process and (b) reduce the costs of extending the lease period for existing leaseholders.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. The Act will introduce an amended valuation scheme that leaseholders must follow to calculate how much they should pay to enfranchise. The method set by the Act for the valuation process removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value and allows Government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium. Rates will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation.
The Act also includes a new statutory right to a 990-year lease extension for leaseholders of both houses and flats and makes extending a lease cheaper for leaseholders by requiring each side to pay their own process costs, such as valuation and solicitor's fees.
The implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will require an extensive programme of secondary legislation and we will set out the details in due course.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he would make an assessment of the potential impact of removing social care charging on working-aged disabled adults.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service that tackles the challenges working age disabled adults currently face, and that is shaped for those who will have support needs in the future. The Government will set out next steps for a process that engages with adult social care stakeholders, including people with lived experience, in due course.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of uprating the minimum income guarantee in line with inflation each year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The social care allowance rates, which include the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), are reviewed each year. The MIG rates were uprated in line with inflation for the previous three financial years, and the rates for the 2025/26 financial year will be published in early 2025.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) business case status and (b) RIBA stage is for the scheme to (i) rebuild and (ii) modernise Charing Cross Hospital as part of the New Hospital Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard process confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. The New Hospital Programme had confirmed £3.7 billion in funding up to the end of 2024/25.
Up to the end of 2023/24, the total amount received by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in funding for their new hospital schemes is £13 million. The trust has two schemes in the New Hospital Programme, for the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, as well as the scheme for St Mary’s Hospital. Up to the end of 2023/24 funding allocated to the trust was not separated by the individual schemes.
The breakdown of how much the trust received for their new hospital scheme is published annually as part of the Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts, with Public Dividend Capital to individual trusts included in the Financial Assistance Report under section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006. The 2022/23 report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023
The trust is currently developing their Strategic Outline Case for the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital scheme, and is at Royal Institute of British Architects Stage 0.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding had been allocated for (a) the scheme to (i) rebuild and (ii) modernise Charing Cross Hospital and (b) the New Hospital Programme by 2 July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard process confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. The New Hospital Programme had confirmed £3.7 billion in funding up to the end of 2024/25.
Up to the end of 2023/24, the total amount received by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in funding for their new hospital schemes is £13 million. The trust has two schemes in the New Hospital Programme, for the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, as well as the scheme for St Mary’s Hospital. Up to the end of 2023/24 funding allocated to the trust was not separated by the individual schemes.
The breakdown of how much the trust received for their new hospital scheme is published annually as part of the Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts, with Public Dividend Capital to individual trusts included in the Financial Assistance Report under section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006. The 2022/23 report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023
The trust is currently developing their Strategic Outline Case for the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital scheme, and is at Royal Institute of British Architects Stage 0.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department provided for the rebuild and modernisation of Charing Cross Hospital by the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard process confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support planning, however these are commercially sensitive. The New Hospital Programme had confirmed £3.7 billion in funding up to the end of 2024/25.
Up to the end of 2023/24, the total amount received by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in funding for their new hospital schemes is £13 million. The trust has two schemes in the New Hospital Programme, for the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, as well as the scheme for St Mary’s Hospital. Up to the end of 2023/24 funding allocated to the trust was not separated by the individual schemes.
The breakdown of how much the trust received for their new hospital scheme is published annually as part of the Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts, with Public Dividend Capital to individual trusts included in the Financial Assistance Report under section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006. The 2022/23 report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023
The trust is currently developing their Strategic Outline Case for the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital scheme, and is at Royal Institute of British Architects Stage 0.