Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking through the Creative Foundations Fund to increase access to arts and culture in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government wants to ensure everyone has access to high quality institutions in the places they call home. The new Creative Foundations Fund will invest £85 million to support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. This will ensure their buildings and infrastructure will provide improved user experience for visitors and ensure they can be enjoyed by visitors for many more years to come.
Guidance for the fund was published at the end of May and Arts Council England will be accepting Expressions of Interest from 30 June. With grants available from £100,000 and up to £10 million, this fund is a significant opportunity for eligible organisations across the country, including those in the Beckenham and Penge constituency, to address their capital needs.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote participation in sport among disabled people in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone. Sport England, the Government’s Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, is committed to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for disabled people and improving their access to sport facilities. Their work is focused on providing more support and more investment targeted towards least active groups, including disabled people.
Sport England's Movement Fund invests over £20 million of Lottery and Exchequer funding every year to help people play sport and take part in physical activity. The Movement Fund prioritises projects that give opportunities to least active groups, such as disabled people or those with long-term health conditions. Sport England also has partnerships with organisations such as Disability Rights UK, Activity Alliance, Aspire, and Sense, to help more disabled people get active.
The Government is investing £100 million through the Multi Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to build and upgrade high-quality grassroots sports pitches and facilities in the communities across the UK that need it most. The Multi Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme’s aims include regular, weekly use by under-represented groups, including disabled people, so that everyone has the opportunity to participate.
On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help protect consumers from unregulated borrowing schemes in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that credit, when provided responsibly, can be crucial for people facing unexpected expenses or managing their cash flow. That is why it is committed to expanding access to affordable credit for people across the UK, so that everyone has the opportunity to access products and services which support their financial wellbeing and goals.
We are also taking action when concerns about consumer harm arise regarding unregulated products. For example, the Government has made regulating the Buy-Now, Pay-Later sector a priority and recently laid legislation to do so. The government’s approach will maintain access to a popular product while adding crucial safeguards.
More broadly, without access to affordable regulated credit some consumers may feel forced to turn to illegal money lenders. To combat illegal money lending, the Government funds specialist Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLTs) operating across the UK. These teams investigate and prosecute illegal money lenders and offer support to their victims; further information about their work is available on the Stop Loan Sharks website.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help increase returns on investments from pension schemes for people in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The first part of the landmark Pensions Review has concluded with the publication of the Final Report of the Pensions Investment Review on 29 May 2025.
The ambitious reforms outlined in the Final Report will drive scale and consolidation in both the multi-employer defined contribution pensions market and the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales. They will unlock billions of pounds in investment for productive assets, improve efficiency, and deliver better returns for savers. Estimates suggest the measures could increase a Defined Contribution pot at retirement by £5,900 for an average earner who saves over their career.
To deliver these reforms, the Government has introduced the Pension Schemes Bill, providing the necessary legislative framework to implement these reforms, alongside wider pension reforms that are focused on improving returns for pension savers. The Bill received its first reading on 5 June 2025.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to introduce mandatory early screening for dyslexia in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) nationally.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework, for trainee and Early Career Teachers (ECTs) respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge skills and behaviours that define great teaching, and from September 2025 will be superseded by the combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of initial teacher training and those delivering training to ECTs to create their curricula. The ITTECF contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND.
We recognise that the early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including those with dyslexia, and measures have been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the reading framework and an updated list of high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programmes for schools.
To improve early identification, we have commissioned evidence reviews from University College London which will highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective strategies to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs in mainstream schools.
Additionally, the ‘What Works in SEND’ research programme will research tools that schools can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children. The research is expected to be completed by March 2026.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve teacher training on dyslexia in mainstream settings in (a) Beckenham and Penge and (b) across the country.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework, for trainee and Early Career Teachers (ECTs) respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge skills and behaviours that define great teaching, and from September 2025 will be superseded by the combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of initial teacher training and those delivering training to ECTs to create their curricula. The ITTECF contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND.
We recognise that the early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including those with dyslexia, and measures have been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the reading framework and an updated list of high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programmes for schools.
To improve early identification, we have commissioned evidence reviews from University College London which will highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective strategies to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs in mainstream schools.
Additionally, the ‘What Works in SEND’ research programme will research tools that schools can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children. The research is expected to be completed by March 2026.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending the Warm Homes Discount to households in receipt of means-tested benefits on people receiving those benefits.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have recently consulted on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more eligible households £150 off their energy bills. These proposals would end the use of the property high cost to heat threshold, making all energy billpayers who are on a qualifying means tested benefit eligible for the Discount. This would bring around 2.7 million households on a qualifying means-tested benefit into the scheme – pushing the total number of households that would receive the discount next winter up to around 6 million. The consultation closed on 24 March, DESNZ has considered the responses and a Government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on improving neighbourhood policing in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing for everyone in England and Wales, no matter where they live.
As the Prime Minister announced on 10 April, by July, every community will have named, and contactable officers dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities as part of the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
We are providing £200 million to police forces in financial year 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel.
The Metropolitan Police has been allocated £45,639,456 from the £200 million fund for 2025/26. Based on their funding allocation, the projected growth for neighbourhood officers in the Metropolitan Police over 2025/26 will be 420 (FTE) police officers and 50 (FTE) Police Community Support Officers.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) shoplifting and (b) violence against shopworkers (i) in Beckenham and Penge constituency and (ii) nationally.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling retail crime and is absolutely clear that everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
The Bill will also repeal existing legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, which means it can only be tried in a magistrate’s court. This will send a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
We will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the national policing intelligence unit for serious, organised acquisitive crime.
We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.
Further, the National Police Chiefs' Council will receive funding to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics. The training will aim to empower retailers to develop and implement tactics to prevent retail crime across all of the UK.
I speak regularly with representatives of the retail sector and chair the Retail Crime Forum which brings together policing and industry to discuss practical ways to work together to tackle retail crime.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support victims of the Windrush scandal.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is determined to put right the appalling injustices caused by the Home Office’s treatment of members of the Windrush community, making sure that those affected receive the compensation they deserve quickly and ensuring cultural change is embedded permanently into the fabric of the department.
We are committed to engaging directly with the communities most affected to understand their views and priorities, and to ensure their voices are heard. Both I and the Home Secretary have met, and will continue to listen to, those directly affected by the scandal and representatives of groups advocating for them.
In February, we launched the recruitment for a Windrush Commissioner, which marks a vital step in resetting the government’s response to the Home Office Windrush scandal. The Commissioner will serve as an independent advocate for those affected, assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme and hold the department to account as we learn the lessons of the past to drive improvements. The immediate priority is to appoint the right person into the role and ensure they engage swiftly with impacted communities to truly understand what they need and identify how the Commissioner can deliver meaningful change through their role.
We have injected £1.5 into a programme of grant funding for organisations to provide support for Compensation Scheme applicants who need additional help with the application process, ensuring claimants feel supported. We invited applications for funding on 11th April 2025, with successful organisations expected to be announced by summer 2025.
Financial compensation cannot make up for what has been lost but we are committed to giving the maximum amount at the earliest point possible and doing so with compassion and understanding.
This is why we introduced a new single named caseworker process in July so the individuals who apply for compensation are better supported and have increased transparency on the progress of their claim. The time taken to allocate claims has also been reduced significantly, down to six weeks from 3 months a year ago. The time taken to finalise a claim has similarly reduced significantly now down to approximately 3 months compared to 6-7 months a year ago.
We also have a dedicated Vulnerable Persons Team who provide trusted help and advice to vulnerable people in urgent need. The Vulnerable Persons Team also administers the Urgent and Exceptional Payments policy, which provides immediate financial support to people in urgent need.