Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support single parents to secure affordable accommodation suitable for their children following a separation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local housing authorities set their own allocation schemes, governed by a legal framework set by central government. This allows councils to design schemes in a way that best meets local needs.
Local housing authorities may consider a household’s size and needs when allocating housing. They may also take into account the circumstances of a separated parent who needs to accommodate visiting children.
Local housing authorities must publish a summary of their allocation scheme and ensure that advice and information is available free of charge to everyone in their area about the right to apply for an allocation of accommodation.
Applicants have the right to information that will enable them to assess how their application is likely to be treated under the authority’s allocation scheme, including whether they are likely to fall within any of the priority categories and whether accommodation appropriate to their needs is likely to be made available.
Allocation schemes must also be framed so as to give applicants the right to be informed of certain decisions and the right to review certain decisions.
The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. On 2 July, the government set out its plan for kickstarting a decade of social and affordable housing renewal and I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on that day (HCWS771).
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 support clean energy initiatives in Eastbourne constituency.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is supporting clean energy initiatives in Eastbourne through funding and regional delivery mechanisms. The Greater South East Net Zero Hub provides technical and coordination support to local authorities and community groups to develop renewable energy projects.
The Community Energy Fund offers grants of up to £140,000 for feasibility and business case development of community-led schemes. A further £1.28 million has been allocated to the Hub for 2025/26 through the Great British Energy Community Fund to continue supporting clean energy delivery in the region. Eastbourne-based projects are eligible to apply.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of crimes committed using social media in (a) Eastbourne and (b) the South East.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act gives social media companies new duties to protect all UK users on their services, including users based in Eastbourne and the South East. Under the regulation, platforms need to take steps to reduce the risk their services are used to facilitate illegal activity. They need to remove illegal content when it does appear. They need to offer UK users reporting routes so that they can report illegal content, and they need to take effective action in response. Ofcom oversees these duties and has strong powers to enforce compliance.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce A&E waiting times in Eastbourne.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the NHS Constitutional standard across England, including in Eastbourne.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, and is backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.
Furthermore, our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will reduce waiting times in accident and emergency by shifting care into the community through new neighbourhood health services, forming a key part of our mission to reform the National Health Service.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 support the energy efficiency of homes in Eastbourne.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will help households, including those in Eastbourne, take up measures like solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and insulation, helping them save money on their bills and benefit from cleaner, cheaper heating. Support is available under current government schemes including the Energy Company Obligation, the Great British Insulation Scheme, the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Recommendations for home energy improvements is also available at the GOV.UK ‘Find Ways to Save Energy in Your Home’ webpage.
Further detail on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out by October.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 support people living in fuel poverty in Eastbourne constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government's review of the 2021 fuel poverty strategy and the latest fuel poverty statistics confirm that a new plan is needed to accelerate progress to alleviate fuel poverty. We have therefore consulted on a revised fuel poverty strategy, with a focus on improving the energy performance of homes, supporting low-income households with energy affordability and protecting them from high prices. The consultation closed on 4 April and we are considering the responses received.
It is imperative that fuel poor homes benefit from the transition to net zero. We are investing £13.2bn in the Warm Homes Plan over the Spending Review period (up to 2029/30), in line with the Manifesto commitment. This is a major step forward in the Government’s plans to upgrade 5 million homes over this Parliament and cut energy bills for good.
Support is also available through the Warm Home Discount schemes which provide eligible low-income households across Great Britain with £150 off their winter energy bill. On 19 June we announced that we are expanding the Warm Home Discount to around an additional 2.7 million households. This means that from next winter, around 6 million low-income households will receive the £150 support to help with their energy bill costs.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that services provided through the Buy with Confidence Scheme complete satisfactory work.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Buy With Confidence scheme is run solely by local authority Trading Standards departments.
Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales operate independently from central government and are responsible for the provision of Trading Standards services. This includes responsibility for assessing businesses joining the scheme, business compliance and enforcement if things go wrong.
DBT has strengthened consumer law enforcement through the implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The Act gives local authorities the ability to apply to the courts for civil sanctions to impose monetary penalties on businesses who exploit their customers.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support hospices in Eastbourne.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The funding will help hospices to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families, in a supportive and dignified physical environment.
The first £25 million tranche of that funding, which Hospice UK kindly allocated and distributed to hospices throughout England, has been fully spent by hospices on capital projects. From this first tranche of funding, St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne received £179,191. Demelza Hospice Care for Children, which is the closest children’s hospice provider to Eastbourne, received £242,135. The second tranche of funding, consisting of £75 million, will be allocated in the coming weeks for use in 2025/26.
In addition, we are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant. Demelza Hospice Care for Children will receive an allocation of £1,750,000 for 2025/26.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the provision and availability of vocational educational programmes for pupils across Eastbourne.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As announced in the Spending Review, the government is making over £1 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/29.
This will support and grow the wide range of technical routes and work-based training available for people of all ages across the country including in Eastbourne. This includes:
We have also strengthened legislation to ensure all secondary pupils have multiple opportunities for meaningful encounters with providers of technical education and apprenticeships.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support people with childcare costs in Eastbourne constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.
From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months. From September 2025 this will extend to 30 hours, matching the three and four-year-old offer to support children right up until starting school.
In 2025/26 alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This represents a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25 as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.
As announced at Spending Review 2025, the government will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.
Additionally, the Universal Credit childcare offer supports claimants with the costs of childcare, no matter how many hours they work.
Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children.