Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's press release Home upgrade revolution as renters set for warmer homes and cheaper bills, published on 23 September 2024, when he plans to consult on new EPC requirements for the private rented sector.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation will include proposals for rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the cost of temporary accommodation for London councils in each of the last four years.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities in England report revenue and expenditure on an annual basis. Data on council spending on temporary accommodation is contained in the Revenue outturn housing services (RO4) tables, accessible here. The drop down can be used to access data for each local authority, as well as for groups of local authorities including London Boroughs. The net current expenditure column contains data on the net cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities, after they have accounted for income such as from housing benefit.
The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and that this can have a devastating impact on those involved, as well as placing financial strain on councils. We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings the total spend on homelessness and rough sleeping to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26, a record level of funding.
In December, MHCLG also announced the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million in overall funding to work with 20 local authorities with the highest use of bed & breakfast (B&B) accommodation for homeless families, to test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives to reduce the use of B&Bs.
More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including:
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help councils reduce the (a) need for and (b) costs of temporary accommodation.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities in England report revenue and expenditure on an annual basis. Data on council spending on temporary accommodation is contained in the Revenue outturn housing services (RO4) tables, accessible here. The drop down can be used to access data for each local authority, as well as for groups of local authorities including London Boroughs. The net current expenditure column contains data on the net cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities, after they have accounted for income such as from housing benefit.
The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and that this can have a devastating impact on those involved, as well as placing financial strain on councils. We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings the total spend on homelessness and rough sleeping to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26, a record level of funding.
In December, MHCLG also announced the Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million in overall funding to work with 20 local authorities with the highest use of bed & breakfast (B&B) accommodation for homeless families, to test innovative approaches and kickstart new initiatives to reduce the use of B&Bs.
More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including:
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum who were not in school in each of the last five years, broken down by gender.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.
The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.
The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.
All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.
As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure young girls who are unaccompanied children seeking asylum are (a) able to access education and (b) supported to stay in school.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.
The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.
The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.
All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.
As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the central data collection on access to education for unaccompanied children seeking asylum.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.
The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.
The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.
All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.
As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Limitation law in child sexual abuse cases, which closed on 10 July 2024.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The consultation on limitation law in child sexual abuse cases was held between 15 May 2024 and 10 July 2024. Ministers are currently considering responses to the consultation and a Government response will be issued shortly.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of rolling out cardiac screening to young people.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under 39 years old in 2019 and concluded that screening should not be offered. More information on the review is available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/
Research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use in young people without symptoms, and that treatments and interventions were not based on good scientific evidence to prevent SCD.
To stop SCDs in young people, the current consensus is to focus on rapid identification and care of people who are likely to be at risk of SCD due to a family link or because they have had symptoms, and to train people to carry out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and to use defibrillators.
NHS England has published guidance for inherited cardiac conditions which requires services to investigate patients with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease, suggestive symptoms or from families with sudden unexplained deaths. Where a genetic variation is identified, cascade testing is offered to relatives based on risk.
We are aware that the UK NSC has received a submission via its annual call process to consider SCD screening in young people aged between 14 and 35 years old engaging in sport. The UK NSC is currently reviewing all annual call proposals. More information on the annual call process is available at the following link:
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to review the rates of the Local Housing Allowance to reflect housing costs in inner London boroughs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The decision at Autumn Budget to maintain Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates at current levels for 2025/26 considered a range of factors such as rental data,the Government’s missions and wider fiscal context.
LHA rates were last increased in April 2024 at a cost of £7bn over 5 years. The national maximum caps, which apply in London, were also increased. These caps protect taxpayer costs for exceptionally high rental prices.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 take steps to ensure that the funding model for inner London boroughs meets local demand.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The provisional Settlement for 2025-26 makes available £69 billion for local government, which is a 3.5% real terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The final Settlement will increase further, to incorporate the £515 million of funding announced for National Insurance Contributions.
The Department works closely with local government and other government departments to understand specific demand and cost pressures facing local government on an ongoing basis. This involves looking at a range of cost and demand data, as well as regular engagement with local authorities.
The government is making good on the promise to reform the local government funding system. We are committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to fix the foundations of local government, in partnership with the sector and on the principle of giving councils early certainty. From 2026-27, we want to fundamentally improve the way we fund councils and direct funding to where it is most needed through the first multi-year settlement in 10 years. We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February).