Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking any steps to (a) identify and (b) tackle fraudulent activity by (i) landlords and (ii) freeholders.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The reforms introduced in the Renters’ Rights Bill will be underpinned by an effective, consistent and proportionate enforcement framework.
We are extending councils’ powers to collect and retain revenue for future enforcement work from financial penalties against landlords in the private rented sector who flout the rules. Initial or minor non-compliance will incur a civil penalty of up to £7,000 and serious, persistent or repeat non-compliance a civil penalty of up to £40,000, with the alternative of a criminal prosecution.
We are also providing local authorities with a range of new investigatory powers which will allow them to enforce our new reforms, including powers to require information from relevant persons and any persons and powers of entry to business and residential premises.
The Remediation Acceleration Plan published in December 2024 committed the government to supporting regulators to hold bad actors – whether freeholders or landlords – to account in relation to fixing dangerous buildings, including via robust new powers to enforce remediation.
Freeholders who breach the terms of their lease, or fail to hold service charge monies in a trust fund, may be challenged by leaseholders in the courts.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
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 adequacy of access to NHS dental services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to rebuild dentistry for the long term.
We will deliver an additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments; reform the dental contract; and introduce supervised toothbrushing for three- to five-year-olds in the most deprived communities.
We are working with the dental sector, including the British Dental Association, to deliver these shared ambitions.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has received representations from Macquarie Group on increasing the number of flights (a) to and (b) from UK airports.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State for Transport has not received representations from Macquarie Group relating to increasing the number of flights to and from UK airports.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
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 merits of amending planning permission regulations to make the local water supplier a statutory consultees in applications to build data centres.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 15758 on 3 December 2024.
The hon. Member may also wish to know that we will be introducing secondary legislation later this year to prescribe data centres, gigafactories and laboratories as types of business or commercial development capable (on request) of being directed into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects consenting regime.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the methodology for engaging with children and families living in poverty under the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Child Poverty Taskforce has prioritised hearing directly from children and families in the development of the child poverty strategy.
Ministers, special advisors and government officials have taken part in several sessions with children and families to inform the strategy. This has been supported by a number of partners, including the Changing Realities project and Save the Children, and has included discussion of a wide range of issues, including the effects of poverty on single parents, and the experience of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The details of the Taskforce’s engagement and supporting research with children and families will be published in the strategy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings the Child Poverty Taskforce has had with children and families living in poverty.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Child Poverty Taskforce has prioritised hearing directly from children and families in the development of the child poverty strategy.
Ministers, special advisors and government officials have taken part in several sessions with children and families to inform the strategy. This has been supported by a number of partners, including the Changing Realities project and Save the Children, and has included discussion of a wide range of issues, including the effects of poverty on single parents, and the experience of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The details of the Taskforce’s engagement and supporting research with children and families will be published in the strategy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the planned timetable is for the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy; and whether an (a) interim report and (b) update will be published.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Taskforce is on track to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in spring this year as set out in our framework ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions on the Child Poverty Engagement Plan in which regions the Child Poverty Taskforce has had with (a) devolved governments, (b) elected mayors, (c) academia, (d) businesses and (e) civil society.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is engaging with devolved governments, elected mayors, academia, businesses and civil society, as well as children and families across the regions and nations of the UK to shape and inform the Child Poverty Strategy.
The Taskforce regularly discusses its engagement approach with ministers from all four nations, and key child poverty stakeholders such as Save the Children, IPPR, Citizens Advice, Child Poverty Action Group, Barnardo’s, the End Child Poverty Coalition, and the National Children’s Bureau, who arrange events on our behalf. We also have an Analytical Expert Reference Group, which brings together independent external expertise.
The full details of our engagement plan will be set out when we publish the Child Poverty Strategy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a long term funding settlement for NHS dentistry.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A budget of £3.8 billion for primary, community, and secondary dentistry has been allocated to the integrated care boards across England for 2024/25, to deliver new initiatives and address the challenges facing National Health Service dentistry. Allocations for 2025/26 will be confirmed shortly, and long-term funding will be considered during phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will set budgets for 2026/27 to 2028/29.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed plans to make it easier to build data centres on levels of water usage.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the use of public water supply by 20% by 2037/38, Defra continues to work with the Department for Science Innovation and Technology, the Department for Business and Trade and the Environment Agency (EA) to determine how water efficiency and demand in data centres can be improved.