Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) leaseholder-owned buildings and (b) buildings below 11 metres that were constructed since 1992 have (i) partial and (ii) no protection from a liability to pay costs arising from building safety defects under the provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government does not hold data regarding the number of buildings below 11m and collectively-owned buildings constructed since 1992 with partial or no protection from costs arising from building safety defects under the Building Safety Act 2022.
However, the risk to life from historic fire safety defects is lower in buildings under 11m and so works are required in only a very small number of these buildings. In the rare cases where cladding remediation work is required, the Department has engaged the relevant developers and is having constructive conversations about funding these works so that leaseholders are not required to pay those costs.
The leaseholder protections on service charge and remediation costs do not apply in collectively-owned buildings where for example some or all the leaseholders have acquired the freehold.
However, leaseholders in these buildings, either individually or collectively, can pursue developers – and their associated companies – via a remediation contribution order, for funds they have spent or will spend remediating their buildings for relevant defects.
Please be assured that we are committed to reviewing how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation across the country.
The Government is also unable to estimate or predict the number of residential leaseholders who may face forfeiture due to their inability to pay building safety costs, however, we are committed to removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture as a means of ensuring compliance with a lease agreement.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 residential leases that will be forfeited because of a leaseholder’s inability to pay costs arising from building safety defects in the next five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government does not hold data regarding the number of buildings below 11m and collectively-owned buildings constructed since 1992 with partial or no protection from costs arising from building safety defects under the Building Safety Act 2022.
However, the risk to life from historic fire safety defects is lower in buildings under 11m and so works are required in only a very small number of these buildings. In the rare cases where cladding remediation work is required, the Department has engaged the relevant developers and is having constructive conversations about funding these works so that leaseholders are not required to pay those costs.
The leaseholder protections on service charge and remediation costs do not apply in collectively-owned buildings where for example some or all the leaseholders have acquired the freehold.
However, leaseholders in these buildings, either individually or collectively, can pursue developers – and their associated companies – via a remediation contribution order, for funds they have spent or will spend remediating their buildings for relevant defects.
Please be assured that we are committed to reviewing how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation across the country.
The Government is also unable to estimate or predict the number of residential leaseholders who may face forfeiture due to their inability to pay building safety costs, however, we are committed to removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture as a means of ensuring compliance with a lease agreement.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in the number of leasehold flat forfeitures arising from a leaseholder’s inability to pay costs arising from building safety defects on the mortgage securitisation market.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government does not hold data regarding the number of buildings below 11m and collectively-owned buildings constructed since 1992 with partial or no protection from costs arising from building safety defects under the Building Safety Act 2022.
However, the risk to life from historic fire safety defects is lower in buildings under 11m and so works are required in only a very small number of these buildings. In the rare cases where cladding remediation work is required, the Department has engaged the relevant developers and is having constructive conversations about funding these works so that leaseholders are not required to pay those costs.
The leaseholder protections on service charge and remediation costs do not apply in collectively-owned buildings where for example some or all the leaseholders have acquired the freehold.
However, leaseholders in these buildings, either individually or collectively, can pursue developers – and their associated companies – via a remediation contribution order, for funds they have spent or will spend remediating their buildings for relevant defects.
Please be assured that we are committed to reviewing how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation across the country.
The Government is also unable to estimate or predict the number of residential leaseholders who may face forfeiture due to their inability to pay building safety costs, however, we are committed to removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture as a means of ensuring compliance with a lease agreement.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to require the removal of all combustible material from residential buildings over 18 metres in height.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 29 November 2018, the Government banned the use of combustible materials in the external walls of new high-rise residential buildings over 18 metres in height. The ban also applies to new hospitals, residential care premises, dormitories in boarding schools, and student accommodation over 18 metres.
All building safety defects must be assessed and regulators must have the power to enforce where the risks identified are not quickly and appropriately addressed. The Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP), which was announced on 2 December 2024, is focused on addressing the immediate life safety fire risks associated with cladding.
The publication of the RAP announced targets around the pace of remediation in England for the first time, such that, by the end of 2029, all 18m+ buildings with unsafe cladding in a government funded scheme should be remediated, every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or its landlords liable for penalties.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to allow the police to be (a) trained and (b) equipped to administer Naloxone.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is supportive of police carriage and administration of naloxone - a lifesaving medicine that reverses the effects of opioid overdose. As of February 2025, police officers in forces across the country are now trained to carry and administer naloxone. Through the cross-Government Synthetic Opioids Taskforce, we are continuing to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to support rollout of naloxone to police officers.
Ultimately, the provision of naloxone for police officers is an operational decision for Chief Constables and the Government expects individual police Chiefs’ to allocate resources appropriately with regard to the local area and need.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of leasehold flats containing combustible material with higher insurance costs that will be classified as permanently impaired under the Basel 3.1 requirements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has engaged with the Bank of England with a view to understanding the potential impact of implementing the Basel 3.1 standards on properties with extant building safety issues or those that have carried out remediation works recommended by a fire professional following the PAS 9980 guidance.
The Bank does not expect these changes to have a material impact on current industry practice for determining property valuations, including for properties with cladding.
Officials in my department are in regular contact with the lending and insurance industry on issues related to fire safety affected buildings and will continue to work with them to ensure leaseholders in buildings with cladding are able to re-mortgage and sell freely.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's joint publication Fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding of existing blocks of flats - Code of practice, published in January 2022, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Code of Practice.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG and Home Office have jointly commissioned the British Standards Institution (BSI), who developed the Fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding of existing blocks of flats - Code of practice (known as PAS 9980) to review it to make sure it still meets the needs of the market, captures any new best practice, and make revisions as required. BSI has commenced work and anticipate the review, including a 6-weeks public consultation, will be complete in early 2026.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of potential merits of (a) enforcement and (b) early intervention in the prevention of knife crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving national levels of knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to ensure the safety of our streets. Both early intervention and enforcement will be crucial in meeting this mission.
On enforcement, we have implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. The ban came in to force on 24 September 2024 and it is now illegal to sell or own these weapons.
We launched a consultation on 13 November 2024 seeking views on the legal description of a Ninja sword to help our plans for an effective ban.
We know that more needs to be done to tackle the sale of knives online which is why last October, the Home Secretary commissioned Commander Stephen Clayman, as the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime, to carry out a full review into the online sale and delivery of knives. The report was received at the end of January and once we have considered the review in full, the Government will set out its next steps for strengthening the controls and processes around the online sale and delivery of knives.
Ahead of this, the Home Secretary has already announced that the Government intends to strengthen age verification controls and checks for all online sellers of knives at the point of purchase and on delivery.
We have also consulted on introducing personal liability measures on senior executives of online platforms or marketplaces who fail to take action to remove illegal content relating to knives and offensive weapons. The consultation closed on 11 December 2024, and we are carefully considering the responses as we plan our next steps.
Additionally, the Home Secretary and Policing Minister have set up a new Knife-Enabled Robbery Taskforce, which brings together Chief Constables and other criminal justice partners to take immediate operational action to tackle the fastest rising type of knife crime. Working with the College of Policing, the Taskforce has completed a Call for Practice to establish what the evidence tells us works when tackling knife-enabled robbery.
On early intervention, a new Young Futures programme has been created, which will include the establishment of Young Futures Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most.
Independent evaluation found that Violent Reduction Units, in combination with additional hotspot police patrols, have delivered a statistically significant reduction in hospital admissions for violent injuries since funding began in 2019 (an estimated 3,220 admissions have been prevented in areas where the programmes operate).
We recognise the valuable work and significant progress VRUs have made in understanding and preventing serious violence. The proposed Police Funding Settlement for 2025/26 includes £49.7m for the continuation of work to prevent serious violence, delivered via the VRU programme.
The Youth Endowment Fund, was established to learn ‘what works’ in preventing children and young people becoming involved in violence and crime, as well as transforming the local and national response to serious violence through disseminating new knowledge and best practice. The Home Office works closely with the Youth Endowment Fund to ensure that their findings are carefully considered to positively influence services for young people.
The Government will continue to draw on the best available evidence on both prevention and enforcement and will closely monitor trends in national and local levels of knife crime.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing knife crime prevention programmes.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving national levels of knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to ensure the safety of our streets. Both early intervention and enforcement will be crucial in meeting this mission.
On enforcement, we have implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. The ban came in to force on 24 September 2024 and it is now illegal to sell or own these weapons.
We launched a consultation on 13 November 2024 seeking views on the legal description of a Ninja sword to help our plans for an effective ban.
We know that more needs to be done to tackle the sale of knives online which is why last October, the Home Secretary commissioned Commander Stephen Clayman, as the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime, to carry out a full review into the online sale and delivery of knives. The report was received at the end of January and once we have considered the review in full, the Government will set out its next steps for strengthening the controls and processes around the online sale and delivery of knives.
Ahead of this, the Home Secretary has already announced that the Government intends to strengthen age verification controls and checks for all online sellers of knives at the point of purchase and on delivery.
We have also consulted on introducing personal liability measures on senior executives of online platforms or marketplaces who fail to take action to remove illegal content relating to knives and offensive weapons. The consultation closed on 11 December 2024, and we are carefully considering the responses as we plan our next steps.
Additionally, the Home Secretary and Policing Minister have set up a new Knife-Enabled Robbery Taskforce, which brings together Chief Constables and other criminal justice partners to take immediate operational action to tackle the fastest rising type of knife crime. Working with the College of Policing, the Taskforce has completed a Call for Practice to establish what the evidence tells us works when tackling knife-enabled robbery.
On early intervention, a new Young Futures programme has been created, which will include the establishment of Young Futures Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most.
Independent evaluation found that Violent Reduction Units, in combination with additional hotspot police patrols, have delivered a statistically significant reduction in hospital admissions for violent injuries since funding began in 2019 (an estimated 3,220 admissions have been prevented in areas where the programmes operate).
We recognise the valuable work and significant progress VRUs have made in understanding and preventing serious violence. The proposed Police Funding Settlement for 2025/26 includes £49.7m for the continuation of work to prevent serious violence, delivered via the VRU programme.
The Youth Endowment Fund, was established to learn ‘what works’ in preventing children and young people becoming involved in violence and crime, as well as transforming the local and national response to serious violence through disseminating new knowledge and best practice. The Home Office works closely with the Youth Endowment Fund to ensure that their findings are carefully considered to positively influence services for young people.
The Government will continue to draw on the best available evidence on both prevention and enforcement and will closely monitor trends in national and local levels of knife crime.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce knife crime in Sutton.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission and we are taking a range of steps to realise this ambition.
We have implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. The ban came in to force on 24 September 2024 and it is now illegal to sell or own these weapons.
We launched a consultation on 13 November 2024 seeking views on the legal description of a Ninja sword to help our plans for an effective ban.
We know that more needs to be done to tackle the sale of knives online which is why last October, the Home Secretary commissioned Commander Stephen Clayman, as the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime, to carry out a full review into the online sale and delivery of knives. The report was received at the end of January and once we have considered the review in full, the Government will set out its next steps for strengthening the controls and processes around the online sale and delivery of knives.
Ahead of this, the Home Secretary has already announced that the Government intends to strengthen age verification controls and checks for all online sellers of knives at the point of purchase and on delivery.
We have also consulted on introducing personal liability measures on senior executives of online platforms or marketplaces who fail to take action to remove illegal content relating to knives and offensive weapons. The consultation closed on 11 December 2024, and we are carefully considering the responses as we plan our next steps.
Additionally, over £9.3m has been made available this financial year to the London Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). VRUs bring together police, local government, health, community leaders and other key partners to tackle violent crime and its underlying causes. London VRU is using this funding to deliver a range of interventions across all 32 boroughs to divert young people from a life of crime. This includes intensive mentoring by YOUthink for children and young people in Sutton to reduce re-offending.
We have also created a new Young Futures programme, which will include the establishment of Young Futures Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most.