Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating an accreditation scheme for fire door replacement works to allow approved contractors to carry out such works without requiring Building Safety Regulator approval.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government introduced the higher-risk building control regime to ensure more stringent oversight and accountability during the design and construction of higher-risk buildings, backed by stronger enforcement and sanctions. All proposed higher-risk building work now must receive approval from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before starting. These changes are in line with Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommendations to improve the focus on compliance with building regulations and to ensure residents are, and feel, safe in their homes.
However, we are aware that there are concerns regarding the impacts of the delays and the difficulty in getting approval for certain types of high-volume work to existing higher-risk buildings, including the repair and replacement of fire doors. We are working closely with the BSR to address these current challenges and to ensure the regime is proportionate and fit for purpose.
Nevertheless, allowing certain types of higher-risk building work to progress without BSR oversight risks inconsistency in applying building regulations, potentially compromising safety standards and resulting in non-compliance. Therefore, any changes would need to be carefully considered, particularly while the sector is still getting to grips with the new regime.
Competent Person Schemes allow registered professionals and companies to self-certify their work as compliant with the building regulations. Operation of a scheme is voluntary, as is membership of a scheme. Scheme operators are authorised under paragraph 4A of Schedule 1 to the Building Act 1984 and are named in Schedule 3 to the Building Regulations 2010. After applying, they are assessed by the BSR and approved by MHCLG ministers. Before ministerial approval, applicants must demonstrate that they have the managerial, financial and technical ability to operate a scheme. This includes demonstrating compliance with the Conditions of Authorisation. At this time, no industry organisation has expressed interest in operating a Competent Person Scheme for the repair and/or replacement of fire doors.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to publish guidance for managing agents and freeholders on how costs should be allocated for remedial works relating to historic building defects when the developer is no longer in existence.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Building Safety Act allows for civil cases to be brought against companies which were associated with those responsible for historic building defects, even when these responsible parties are no longer in existence or are making use of complex corporate structures to avoid their remediation responsibilities.
Guidance on how costs should be allocated for remedial works relating to historic building defects when the developer is no longer in existence (in which case costs are shared between government, leaseholders and freeholders) has already been published and can be found here:
Remediation costs: what leaseholders do and do not have to pay - GOV.UK
Leaseholder contribution caps - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s policy is on the use of cash for food vendor payments in NHS hospitals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not have a policy on the use of cash for the payment of food vendors in National Health Service hospitals. These decisions are taken locally by NHS organisations.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to (a) speed up the marriage application process, (b) expand the scope of legal marriage venues and (c) review the 28-day notice period prior to the marriage ceremony.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The 28-day notice period implemented by the Immigration Act 2014 remains in place not only for administrative reasons but also to support safeguards against sham marriages. The Government has no plans to review this.
The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings law made 57 recommendations for the reform of weddings law, including in relation to preliminaries, and where weddings can take place. The Government appreciates the importance of these issues and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of nurseries falling within Class E of the Town and Country Planning Order 1987 on neighbouring residents; and if he will review the classification to ensure that (a) traffic generation, (b) parking pressure and (c) road safety can be properly considered by local planning authorities before such uses are introduced.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has made no such an assessment.
We continue to keep planning regulations under review.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a diplomatic humanitarian convoy to facilitate the delivery of aid through the Rafah Crossing; and what recent discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on diplomatic escorts for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The political and security conditions in Gaza are not currently suitable for the deployment of diplomatic convoys and escorts. Israel must allow the full range of humanitarian relief supplies to enter and be distributed within Gaza via all crossings and routes, and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) must ensure their safe passage.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of large businesses repaying SME invoices 60 or 90 days after receipt of the invoice on levels of interruption to SME cashflow.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 31st July DBT published new research showing that late payments cost the UK economy £11bn per year and closes down 38 UK businesses every day, with a disproportionate impact upon small businesses.
Government is putting in place the most significant legislation to tackle late payments in over 25 years, giving the UK the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7. The consultation on stronger new legislative measures to ensure small businesses are paid promptly closes on 23 October.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the service level target is for HM Revenue and Customs for answering telephone calls; and when that target was last reviewed.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres.
These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below:
Telephony | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Contacts | 64,781,978 | 60,804,092 | 49,865,940 |
% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres | 71.9 | 71.6 | 91.7 |
Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds) | 10:18 | 14:33 | 6:53 |
The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message.
HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk.
A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025.
HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HM Revenue and Customs to answer all telephone calls.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres.
These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below:
Telephony | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Contacts | 64,781,978 | 60,804,092 | 49,865,940 |
% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres | 71.9 | 71.6 | 91.7 |
Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds) | 10:18 | 14:33 | 6:53 |
The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message.
HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk.
A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025.
HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of telephone calls to HM Revenue and Customs were answered in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres.
These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below:
Telephony | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Contacts | 64,781,978 | 60,804,092 | 49,865,940 |
% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres | 71.9 | 71.6 | 91.7 |
Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds) | 10:18 | 14:33 | 6:53 |
The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message.
HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk.
A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025.
HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.