Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing appropriately skilled professionals using a competency-based framework to undertake Initial Health Assessments.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local authorities are responsible for making sure a health assessment of physical, emotional and mental health needs is carried out for every child they look after, regardless of where that child lives. Integrated care boards (ICBs) commission a health provider to undertake initial health assessments (IHAs). The service specification for this service is aligned to the current Children Act 1989 regulations.

The regulations for health assessments are set out in the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations colume 2: care planning, placement and case review and supported within the statutory guidance Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children.

Regulation 7(3) of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 states that IHAs are required to be undertaken within twenty days of a child coming into the care of the local authority. The current regulations for the Children Act 1989 state that the IHA should be undertaken by a registered medical practitioner.

This is different to a review health assessment, which may be carried out by a registered medical practitioner, or by a registered nurse or registered midwife, under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner, as stated in regulation 7(3).

No assessment has been made on the potential merits of allowing additional appropriately skilled professionals using a competency-based framework to undertake IHAs.

If IHAs are not happening on time, ICBs are the first line of statutory safeguarding assurance, which includes identifying early warning signs and responding to risks at local levels. NHS England, through ICBs, also undertake annual checks on how safeguarding, and other statutory commitments, are working in practice and across the system. NHS England is working with ICBs to improve the timeliness of IHAs and review health assessments.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is considering additional fiscal support for (a) small business and (b) hospitality.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The hospitality sector and small businesses make significant contributions to the exchequer, the UK economy, and society.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

Furthermore, we have worked with the hospitality sector to announce the first National Licensing Policy Framework which sets a new strategic direction for licensing authorities and encourages them to have more regard to growth when reviewing licensing applications and decisions. Responding to sector asks, we will also explore further planning reforms to make it easier for hospitality and high-street businesses to expand and grow. To help drive these reforms, we will appoint a new Retail and Hospitality Envoy to champion these sectors across government.

This is on top of measures we have already announced, such as:

• increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500 – protecting the smallest businesses from the increase to employer National Insurance;
• protection against upward only rent clauses, and
• the introduction of strong new ‘Community Right to Buy’ to help communities safeguard valued community assets – such as pubs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the requirements for EU nationals married to UK national to apply and pay for visas to live in the UK.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The deadline for EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens resident in the UK by the end of the transition period (11pm on 31 December 2020) to apply to the EUSS was 30 June 2021, but they can make a late application if there are reasonable grounds for the delay. That is the case regardless of whether or not they are a spouse or civil partner of a British citizen.

Where an EU national is not within scope of the EUSS, EU nationals wishing to join a British or settled partner in the UK must apply for a family visa under the Immigration Rules. The family Immigration Rules ensure those who are seeking to establish or maintain their family life in the UK are in a genuine and subsisting relationship, financially independent and able to speak English. Those applying to join a British or settled partner in the UK must pay the application fee although fee waivers are available for certain specified human rights applications.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance exists on balancing data protection with safeguarding when families seek to support vulnerable adults in accessing local authority services including housing registers; and what discretion local authorities have to share information with family members in such circumstances.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs, such as under the Care Act 2014.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides mechanisms by which others can support, and if appropriate make decisions for, a person who lacks mental capacity. A person who is aged 18 or over and who has capacity (a donor) can make a lasting power of attorney (LPA) appointing one or more trusted third parties (often family members or friends) to act as attorney. An attorney with powers under an LPA can act or make decisions for the donor, including accessing services on their behalf. If no LPA has been made and a person lacks capacity, the Court of Protection can appoint a deputy to manage the person’s affairs.

Statutory guidance on social housing allocations sets out how local housing authorities should approach information sharing in relation to the management of their allocation scheme including how data should be processed in line with UK data protection laws.

If a person is likely to have difficulty making an application for an allocation of social housing without assistance, local housing authorities must ensure that any necessary assistance is available free of charge.

The cross-government Changing Futures programme is working with 15 local partnerships to test new approaches to improve access to support for adults experiencing multiple disadvantage – including combinations of homelessness, substance misuse, mental ill health, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system. A further £56m has been announced in the homelessness strategy to build on learning from Changing Futures through a new multiple disadvantage programme.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure vulnerable adults can access essential services when they cannot navigate processes independently and family members lack formal powers of attorney.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs, such as under the Care Act 2014.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides mechanisms by which others can support, and if appropriate make decisions for, a person who lacks mental capacity. A person who is aged 18 or over and who has capacity (a donor) can make a lasting power of attorney (LPA) appointing one or more trusted third parties (often family members or friends) to act as attorney. An attorney with powers under an LPA can act or make decisions for the donor, including accessing services on their behalf. If no LPA has been made and a person lacks capacity, the Court of Protection can appoint a deputy to manage the person’s affairs.

Statutory guidance on social housing allocations sets out how local housing authorities should approach information sharing in relation to the management of their allocation scheme including how data should be processed in line with UK data protection laws.

If a person is likely to have difficulty making an application for an allocation of social housing without assistance, local housing authorities must ensure that any necessary assistance is available free of charge.

The cross-government Changing Futures programme is working with 15 local partnerships to test new approaches to improve access to support for adults experiencing multiple disadvantage – including combinations of homelessness, substance misuse, mental ill health, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system. A further £56m has been announced in the homelessness strategy to build on learning from Changing Futures through a new multiple disadvantage programme.

Convention on Cluster Munitions and preventing UK involvement in their production

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Snares

Winter NHS corridor care

Cary Repair Café

Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief in the Autumn Budget 2025

Postal workers and Royal Mail staff

Russian shadow fleet

Chalk streams and salmon in Hampshire

Valporate report

McLaren title win for British motorsport

15th anniversary of the repair café movement

Humanitarian situation in Sudan

Repair Cafés

Water bills

Pavement parking

NHS Food Scanner App and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition Guidance

Protections for the welfare of wild animals in tourism

Found: Tuesday 26 November 2024 Members present Bob Blackman, in the Chair Jack Abbott Jess Brown-Fuller