Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 expedite the development of affordable housing at Sawyers Close in Windsor.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will continue to work in partnership with local authorities, housing associations and the wider sector to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 potential impact of granting Indefinite Leave to Remain to people with Health and Care Worker visas on welfare services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce, and our Code of Practice for International Recruitment ensures stringent ethical standards when recruiting health and social care staff from overseas. Health and Care Worker visa holders may be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years on the visa. No estimate has been made of the potential impact on public services of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain to people with Health and Care Worker visas.
The Government remains committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the National Health Service. In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many cases are waiting to be assessed by the Building Safety Regulator.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware that there have been delays for applicants in Gateway Two. The Building Safety Regulator have told applicants to currently plan on the basis of 20 weeks to clear Gateway Two, although we are seeing signs that this processing time is improving. This is compared to the Service Level Agreement of 12 weeks for new builds. We also understand there are specific applications which exceed current average processing timescales.
The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings represents a fundamental shift in the approach to building safety. The introduction of the new regulatory regime initially resulted in a lot of poor quality and incomplete applications. The BSR are supporting applicants to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. It is worth noting that the requirements in the regulations are not new and rejected applications contribute to the processing time of compliant applications.
We recognise the changes are still bedding in, however it is clear that the sector must also take responsibility for the projects they deliver. Guidance is available to support them in understanding their duties.
MHCLG and BSR have taken the following actions to enable applications to be processed more efficiently:
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 increase the number of claims processed by the Building Safety Regulator.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware that there have been delays for applicants in Gateway Two. The Building Safety Regulator have told applicants to currently plan on the basis of 20 weeks to clear Gateway Two, although we are seeing signs that this processing time is improving. This is compared to the Service Level Agreement of 12 weeks for new builds. We also understand there are specific applications which exceed current average processing timescales.
The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings represents a fundamental shift in the approach to building safety. The introduction of the new regulatory regime initially resulted in a lot of poor quality and incomplete applications. The BSR are supporting applicants to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. It is worth noting that the requirements in the regulations are not new and rejected applications contribute to the processing time of compliant applications.
We recognise the changes are still bedding in, however it is clear that the sector must also take responsibility for the projects they deliver. Guidance is available to support them in understanding their duties.
MHCLG and BSR have taken the following actions to enable applications to be processed more efficiently:
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average time was for the Building Safety Regulator to make a decision in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware that there have been delays for applicants in Gateway Two. The Building Safety Regulator have told applicants to currently plan on the basis of 20 weeks to clear Gateway Two, although we are seeing signs that this processing time is improving. This is compared to the Service Level Agreement of 12 weeks for new builds. We also understand there are specific applications which exceed current average processing timescales.
The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings represents a fundamental shift in the approach to building safety. The introduction of the new regulatory regime initially resulted in a lot of poor quality and incomplete applications. The BSR are supporting applicants to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations. It is worth noting that the requirements in the regulations are not new and rejected applications contribute to the processing time of compliant applications.
We recognise the changes are still bedding in, however it is clear that the sector must also take responsibility for the projects they deliver. Guidance is available to support them in understanding their duties.
MHCLG and BSR have taken the following actions to enable applications to be processed more efficiently:
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on subsequent family migration patterns of people with Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made cost benefit analysis of the Health and Care Worker visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Impact Assessments evaluating the impacts of policy changes to the Health and Care Worker route since it was established can be found at: Impact assessments covering migration policy - GOV.UK. These provide insight into specific economic impacts of the route, addressing matters such as direct and indirect business impacts and the visa fee revenue collected by the Home Office.
Further analysis of the economic impact of those on the Health and Care Worker visa can be found in Chapter 1 of the independent Migration Advisory Committee’s 2024 Annual Report (Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) annual report, 2024 (accessible) - GOV.UK). The OBR also assesses the potential economic implications of net migration, to which those on the Health and Care Worker visa contribute, as part of their Economic and Fiscal outlook (Net migration forecast and its impact on the economy - Office for Budget Responsibility).