Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are awaiting reassessment for Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The total number of cases outstanding at all stages of the Personal Independence Payment Award Review (PIP) process, at the end of May 2026 is 300,000.
Please note this data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard and represents England and Wales only. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10,000 cases.
All claims remain in payment whilst award reviews are in progress and award increases identified during a planned review will be backdated as appropriate. Should customers report a change of circumstance and trigger an unplanned review, their claim will be prioritised alongside new claims.
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for our claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service.
We know PIP can be improved, which is why we launched the Timms Review, which is being co-produced with disabled people and their organisations to ensure the benefit is fair and fit for the future. The Review aims to report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Autumn 2026 and we have committed to reporting its outcomes to Parliament.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to improve safeguarding for victims of modern slavery.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Modern slavery is a vicious crime that dehumanises people. Safeguarding victims of modern slavery, and human trafficking is a priority, and this Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms and to giving survivors the support and certainty they need to recover.
Child victims are supported through statutory local authority support, and the Government-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) service, which provides advocacy and specialist support to children referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and the professionals supporting them. In September 2025, the invitation-to-tender for the national contract was launched, which will expand the current service coverage from two-thirds of local authorities to all child victims referred into the NRM in England and Wales.
Adult victims of modern slavery identified through the NRM in England and Wales can access the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC). The MSVCC provides safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help victims access a range of services, including healthcare and legal advice. The Government will enhance support available to victims through the forthcoming Support for Victims of Modern Slavery contract, which will replace the MSVCC in 2027.
The Government has also taken steps to strengthen safeguarding and support for victims. We have launched an updated NRM referral form to improve the quality of referrals, better reflect victims’ experiences and support more informed and consistent decision-making.
To add, we understand that embedding the voices of people with lived experience in policymaking is imperative to achieving better outcomes. We are strengthening our engagement with existing sector-led Lived Experience Advisory Panels (LEAPs). These panels, coordinated by trusted experts, offer a safe and inclusive environment and provide access to a broad range of survivor perspectives. In March 2026, we held eight survivor engagement workshops to better understand lived experience on the themes of definitions, identification, and decision-making. The evidence we have received is informing the on-going policy development to improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, human trafficking, and exploitation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283) and 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of brownfield site utilisation in new housing construction.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department publishes a release entitled ‘Land use change’ on previously developed (brownfield) land. Yearly data is available from 2013-14 to 2021-22 and can be found here.
My Department is working to update the land use statistics, which includes the new residential addresses release, to take advantage of new, more granular data from Ordnance Survey. Publication is expected to resume this year.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of planning restrictions on the level of housing supply.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no assessment of the potential impact of undefined planning restrictions on housing supply.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase the supply of social housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283) and 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 ensure that new developments include adequate infrastructure and community services.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in December 2024 makes clear that local planning authorities should plan positively for the provision and use of shared spaces, community facilities, transport and other infrastructure to enhance the sustainability of communities and residential environments, taking into account local strategies to improve health, social and cultural wellbeing for all sections of the community.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals relating to community facilities and public service infrastructure.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of defence training exercises with allied nations.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Armed Forces constantly reviews the effectiveness of its military exercises according to key metrics to ensure the activity is having the desired impact and improving force readiness, capability, interoperability with allies or deterrence messaging.
The UK continues to enhance the effectiveness of its training exercises with NATO and other allies across all domains, including air, land and maritime. Such examples include the ongoing Op FIRECREST Carrier Strike Group deployment in the High North, Exercise SEA BREEZE, a maritime countermeasures exercise with NATO allies, and the upcoming multinational air exercise COBRA WARRIOR Pt 2.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to increase the level of funding to local authorities to deliver statutory services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authority funding is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.
The government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing and is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade.
The 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26, this includes over £4 billion new grant funding.
We are empowering local leaders and giving them flexibility to prioritise spending according to local need.
In England, the new Local Outcomes Framework will be used to understand progress across 16 priority outcomes in local areas. This will improve transparency and enable the public, government, local government and local partners to have a shared view of progress.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 ensure accountability and transparency in local government spending.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authority funding is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.
The government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing and is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade.
The 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26, this includes over £4 billion new grant funding.
We are empowering local leaders and giving them flexibility to prioritise spending according to local need.
In England, the new Local Outcomes Framework will be used to understand progress across 16 priority outcomes in local areas. This will improve transparency and enable the public, government, local government and local partners to have a shared view of progress.