Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timetable is for Awaab's Law to be implemented within the private rented sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the roadmap for implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025 published on 13 November 2025 which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing maximum statutory workplace temperatures.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to PQ 3463.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rented sector on private rent inflation.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government published a response to the consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes on 21 January 2026. The government response is accompanied by the Department’s Impact Assessment which provides an estimated impact of the final policy and can be found on GOV.UK.
Rental prices are not determined by a single factor, and as outlined in the final impact assessment, wider market factors alongside this regulation may affect the rental prices of properties whether or not they are required to make upgrades under the MEES regulations. The government’s priority is to give landlords the regulatory certainty and advice they need to plan efficiency upgrades over the coming years, in consultation with tenants. More broadly, we are committed to protecting tenants’ rights by giving them the right to challenge unreasonable rent increases under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2026 to Question 3739, how many allegations of piglet thumping were investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in each of the last 3 years; and if she will take steps to record data on prosecutions in a way that would enable cases to be identified.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) take all complaints of illegal slaughter, other forms of on-farm killing and serious breaches of animal welfare, seriously. On receipt of a complaint, APHA will triage the details provided to determine the action required. The number of allegations specifically related to piglet thumping is not publicly available.
Local authorities lead on enforcement and prosecutions with support from APHA where needed to provide veterinary expertise and evidence. Any successful prosecution for welfare offences taken by a local authority is published in the annual Section 80 report under the Animal Health Act 1981 which is laid in Parliament. The data for this report is held and provided by the local authorities.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Poverty Strategy in the absence of statutory targets for reducing child poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Child Poverty Strategy sets out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty this Parliament, lifting 550,000 children out of poverty in 2029/30. These interventions are set to lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK), published alongside the Strategy, sets out how progress will be assessed through a clear framework, including headline metrics on relative low income and deep material poverty, alongside a comprehensive programme of analysis and cross‑government working. Further details on our approach will follow in a baseline report this summer, alongside the latest statistics and evidence.
The Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually and we also hold ourselves to account on our progress through the monitoring and evaluation arrangements we have put in place. This means that from this year and in future years, the progress we make is transparent for all.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has issued guidance to universities on the Employment Rights Act; and what steps she is taking to prevent university employers engaging in fire and rehire practices before January 2027.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Universities are autonomous institutions and, as such, like any other employer, are expected to comply with UK employment laws. The government has not issued specific guidance to universities on the Employment Rights Act, but clearly they should comply with it as they should any other law.
The government does not have an intervening role with specific providers or in resolving disputes between providers and their staff. Providers are however expected to work with their staff to develop sustainable models that retain talent and expertise, and provide stability for the workforce and the institution.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure no compulsory redundancies among staff who cannot relocate from her Department's offices which are closing.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to supporting colleagues affected by the closure of six office locations and have developed a package of mitigations to support those affected, resulting in the majority of colleagues accepting moves to one of our remaining eight nationally based offices. We continue to work with all staff to reach a workable solution with the aim to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take legislative steps to make the Water Restoration Fund a long-term legal entity in the proposed Clean Water Bill.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recipients of the Water Restoration Fund were announced in October 2025, with projects due to be completed by March 2028.
The most recent tranche of water company fines, as announced alongside the White Paper in January, is being allocated to catchment partnerships, the Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF) and Water and Abandoned Metal Mines (WAMM) Programme. Further details on future tranches of water company announced in due course.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his plan for a Poultry Sector Growth Plan, what assessment he has made of the potential health risks of air pollution linked to ammonia emissions from poultry facilities.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ammonia from poultry farms contributes to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution concentrations across the country. The precise contribution is difficult to assess and will vary according to the prevailing weather conditions and other sources of PM2.5. Long term exposure to fine particulate matter is associated with a number of serious health conditions. Intensive poultry farms with a capacity of 40,000 poultry places or more require a permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations, to control their emissions into the environment.
Asked by: Hannah Spencer (Green Party - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of older private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit whose rent exceeds the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate; and what assessment he has made of the impact the extended freeze of LHA rates has had on these households.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the number of older private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit, and if it covers rent (after application of Local Housing Allowance, reductions and deductions), is available on Stat-Xplore via the Housing Benefit official statistics. The information can be found in the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset and is currently available to February 2026. https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/).
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed LHA rates and confirmed in his written ministerial statement on 26 November 2025 that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for discretionary support through the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) Housing Payments from local authorities in England. In Wales and Scotland Discretionary Housing Payments apply.