Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Lifetime ISA withdrawal limit for home purchases in London in the context of average house prices in London in 2024.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Lifetime ISA (LISA) property price cap supports most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that might find it most difficult to get on the property ladder. Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values.
Any unauthorised withdrawals are subject to a 25% withdrawal charge. This recoups the Government bonus, any interest or growth arising from it, and a proportion of the individual’s initial savings.
The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will review the Lifetime ISA withdrawal limit to support first time buyers in London.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Lifetime ISA (LISA) property price cap supports most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that might find it most difficult to get on the property ladder. Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values.
Any unauthorised withdrawals are subject to a 25% withdrawal charge. This recoups the Government bonus, any interest or growth arising from it, and a proportion of the individual’s initial savings.
The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.
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 steps he is taking to help ensure that social care providers make their clients aware of the services provided by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulations 2014) requires that anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care must have a route available to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care.
To meet this requirement, adult social care providers must have an effective and accessible system in place for identifying, receiving, handling and responding to complaints from people using the service, or people acting on their behalf. All complaints must be investigated thoroughly and any necessary action taken where failures have been identified.
This means that although adult social care providers are not required to signpost to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), there are clear avenues for individuals to raise concerns or complaints about their care and support. If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the LGSCO who can investigate individual concerns.
The LGSCO has recently published its annual report of social care complaints, which provides information on the numbers of complaints received. Departmental officials meet regularly with the LGSCO.
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, whether he has had recent discussions with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman on the proportion of cases referred to the Ombudsman from the independent care sector.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulations 2014) requires that anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care must have a route available to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care.
To meet this requirement, adult social care providers must have an effective and accessible system in place for identifying, receiving, handling and responding to complaints from people using the service, or people acting on their behalf. All complaints must be investigated thoroughly and any necessary action taken where failures have been identified.
This means that although adult social care providers are not required to signpost to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), there are clear avenues for individuals to raise concerns or complaints about their care and support. If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the LGSCO who can investigate individual concerns.
The LGSCO has recently published its annual report of social care complaints, which provides information on the numbers of complaints received. Departmental officials meet regularly with the LGSCO.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 6 March 2024 to Question 16490 on Special Educational Needs: Codes of Practice, what steps her Department is taking to review the contents of SEND information reports.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The requirement for all schools to publish Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Reports was introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014. Information Reports must contain details of a school’s provision for pupils with SEND and must be reviewed annually.
As part of the department’s work on long-term options for improving the SEND system, we will explore the role of SEND Information Reports.
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, what steps his Department is taking to enable community energy schemes to sell their power to local residents.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Community energy will play an essential role in meeting our mission for clean power by 2030.
Great British Energy will provide support to deliver the Local Power Plan, putting communities at the heart of restructuring our energy economy. Through partnering with and providing funding and support to Community Energy Groups, the Local Power Plan will roll out small and medium‑scale renewable energy projects, using established technologies to develop up to 8GW of cheaper, cleaner power. This will include shared ownership projects in partnership with private developers.
Some suppliers already offer local tariffs, and other products and services are available that provide community benefits. Small-scale generation sites can benefit from an exemption, which means that they do not require a licence from Ofgem to generate electricity or to supply to local customers. Ofgem has further flexibility to award supply licences to generation sites that are above the exemptions threshold when they are restricted to specified local area.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's planned timetable is for announcing future funding settlements for (a) Violence Reduction Units and (v) the London Violence Reduction Unit.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise the valuable work and significant progress that Violence Reductions Units (VRUs), including the London Violence Reduction Unit, have made in understanding and preventing serious violence.
All decisions on funding post March 2025 will be subject to the spending review.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2024 to Question 2960 on Insulation: Housing, what steps she is taking to ensure homeowners who retrofit their homes with recommended measures are not penalised by mortgage lenders.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware of the issues some homeowners are facing in obtaining finance where spray foam insulation has been installed. Officials in the department have previously consulted UK Finance and the Building Societies Association, the trade bodies for lenders about this matter, who advise that their members rely on the views of valuers and surveyors on this issue.
Whilst the department cannot comment on the decisions made by individual lenders, the presence of spray foam should not automatically prevent lending, and decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis following a survey.
That is why it is important that surveyors continue to follow published protocols published in March 2023 to support these assessments, which can be found here: https://www.property-care.org/resources/spray-foam-insulation-inspections(opens in a new tab)(opens in a new tab) and Guides & Documents - IMA (insulationmanufacturers.org.uk)(opens in a new tab).
The Government do not specify or recommend which types of insulation are appropriate for a particular property, and all measures installed under government schemes must be installed by TrustMark registered installers.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2024 to Question 2960 on Insulation: Housing, what discussions her Department has had with mortgage lenders on (a) the installation of spray foam insulation and (b) its impact on lending.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware of the issues some homeowners are facing in obtaining finance where spray foam insulation has been installed. Officials in the department have previously consulted UK Finance and the Building Societies Association, the trade bodies for lenders about this matter, who advise that their members rely on the views of valuers and surveyors on this issue.
Whilst the department cannot comment on the decisions made by individual lenders, the presence of spray foam should not automatically prevent lending, and decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis following a survey.
That is why it is important that surveyors continue to follow published protocols published in March 2023 to support these assessments, which can be found here: https://www.property-care.org/resources/spray-foam-insulation-inspections(opens in a new tab)(opens in a new tab) and Guides & Documents - IMA (insulationmanufacturers.org.uk)(opens in a new tab).
The Government do not specify or recommend which types of insulation are appropriate for a particular property, and all measures installed under government schemes must be installed by TrustMark registered installers.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has taken steps to establish an independent review of HMRC's implementation of the Loan Charge.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor and I know the loan charge is a very important matter for many members and their constituents. We have been considering this matter since taking office and will provide an update in due course.