Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 take steps to review the definition of affordable housing within planning policy to ensure it is aligned with social rent levels to better reflect local income levels.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
National planning policy is clear that local planning authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require social and affordable housing, and reflect this in planning policies.
In December 2024, the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which made clear that local authorities should consider the particular needs of those who require social rent.
The government is currently consulting on further reforms to the NPPF, including proposals designed to further support the delivery of social housing. These include reforms to the viability system and specifying a minimum proportion of social rent housing that would be required of major development unless otherwise specified in development plans. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of social rent provision within the proposed 2,350-home Peel Waters development in Liverpool.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
National planning policy is clear that local planning authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require social and affordable housing, and reflect this in planning policies.
In December 2024, the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which made clear that local authorities should consider the particular needs of those who require social rent.
The government is currently consulting on further reforms to the NPPF, including proposals designed to further support the delivery of social housing. These include reforms to the viability system and specifying a minimum proportion of social rent housing that would be required of major development unless otherwise specified in development plans. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 an assessment of the potential merits of amending the National Planning Policy Framework to require a minimum of 20 per cent social rent housing in all new residential developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
National planning policy is clear that local planning authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require social and affordable housing, and reflect this in planning policies.
In December 2024, the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which made clear that local authorities should consider the particular needs of those who require social rent.
The government is currently consulting on further reforms to the NPPF, including proposals designed to further support the delivery of social housing. These include reforms to the viability system and specifying a minimum proportion of social rent housing that would be required of major development unless otherwise specified in development plans. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the document entitled Fair pay agreement consultation impact assessment, published in October 2025, if he will award an interim uplift to the pay of frontline care workers in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years to address the immediate workforce recruitment and retention challenges before a negotiated fair pay agreement is implemented in the 2028-29 financial year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Employment Rights Bill, the Government will set up the Fair Pay Agreement, establishing a form of sectoral collective bargaining which will empower employers, worker representatives, and others in partnership to negotiate fair pay, and terms and conditions.
The Government is taking steps to establish Fair Pay Agreements. These steps are essential to getting this right and ensuring meaningful reform for the adult social care sector. This includes our public consultation, which closes on 16 January.
This will support the delivery of our Plan to Make Work Pay, which is already delivering for care workers through changes to the minimum wage, putting more money into their pockets. The Employment Rights Bill will also end exploitative zero-hours contracts, with one in five carers on a zero-hour contract, and give workers rights to statutory sick pay from day one of absence due to illness.
Currently, most workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of the Government.
We know this is an issue now, and in the meantime the Government is making available approximately £4.6 billion of funding for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements. This includes £500 million for the Fair Pay Agreement, the most significant investment in improving pay and conditions for adult social care staff to date.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the evaluation of the serious violence reduction order pilot.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) were piloted for two years throughout Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands police force areas. The pilot took place between 19 April 2023 and 18 April 2025.
The pilot has been independently evaluated and looks at the effectiveness of SVROs, including the use of the SVRO stop and search power and the effectiveness of SVROs in reducing reoffending and knife carrying.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it mandatory for all schools to hold spare AAIs, and ensure relevant staff are trained in their use.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 have allowed all schools to buy adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI devices) without a prescription for emergency use on children who are at risk of anaphylaxis but whose own device is not available or not working.
The Department of Health and Social Care has published non-statutory guidance to accompany this legislative change, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools.
The department is working with DHSC and NHS England to consider how we might extend the availability of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with hospitality businesses on the potential impact of the current rate of VAT on the viability of those businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK. The Chancellor and other Ministers meet with a range of businesses and their representatives to understand the impacts of Government policy, including hospitality businesses.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) spending by the rail industry on private security and (b) her Department's funding for the British Transport Police.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is committed to working with the rail industry as we move towards the creation of Great British Railways to ensure that security provision on the network keeps staff and passengers safe. The Department are currently undertaking analysis of private security spend by the 14 train operating companies that have been or are due to be nationalised.
The British Transport Police (BTP) budget is set by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). BTP's costs are passed on to individual Train Operating Companies and Network Rail. BTPA sets the BTP’s budget annually following proposals from the Force and views from industry. BTP work closely with BTPA and industry operators to make final resourcing decisions with their agreed budget.
In the year 2025/26 BTP received a 5.9% budget increase. The budget for 2026/27 will be set by the BTPA imminently following engagement with the rail industry. Like other police forces the BTP has operational independence, so the BTP Chief Constable and Chief Officers use a variety of data to inform the deployment of officers and other resources, following the agreement of the budget.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made on (a) value for money and (b) quality of service of bringing outsourced rail security provision in-house as contracts expire.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ensuring value for money is a requirement for all DfT contracted train operators. Publicly owned train operators also have a duty to follow the guidance on managing public money.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 mandatory for all new housing development projects to ensure that 50% of the developed units are built for social rent, allowing the remaining 50% to be used for affordable or market-rate/luxury housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that local authorities should assess the size, type, and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing (including Social Rent), and reflect this in their planning policies.
This includes setting out the proportion and type of affordable housing that should be expected of new development, including the minimum proportion of Social Rent.
Policy requirements, particularly for affordable housing, should be set at a level that takes account of affordable housing and infrastructure needs and allows for the planned types of sites and development to be deliverable, without the need for further viability assessment at the decision-making stage.