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 issue guidance to local authorities to aid the rollout of stepping stone housing to address homelessness.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of digitising the provision of English language tests for student and working visas on applicants.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office is committed to maintaining the highest standards of security and integrity in our immigration system whilst modernising services for legitimate applicants. Any changes to English language testing delivery through the upcoming Home Office English Language Testing (HOELT) procurement shall include robust safeguards including identity verification, secure test delivery, active monitoring, and fraud detection.

The fundamental service shall be the same as the current SELT provision that is being replaced – a test which is largely digital already, albeit sat in a physical test centre.

We will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders, experts, and the market to ensure proposals maintain rigorous standards, comply with regulatory requirements, and consider how language testing can be transformed to deliver the best service possible for our customers, by improving accessibility and efficiency for applicants.

Any additional impacts will be addressed through a comprehensive Equalities Impact Assessment and associated mobilisation activity upon the conclusion of procurement and before the HOELT service goes live for customers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made on the launch of Community Help Partnerships.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government announced Community Help Partnerships (CHPs) at the Spending Review. Since then, we have been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders—including people with lived experience, the voluntary sector, and central and local government—to design a programme of preventative support for adults experiencing disadvantage.

This will build on learning from the Changing Futures’ crisis-focused programme. CHPs will go further in addressing systemic barriers to allow local services to provide better integrated, earlier preventative support. The Cabinet Office is working closely with MHCLG to coordinate the two programmes.

We are continuing to explore how to strengthen alignment with wider place-based public sector reform. Further details will be announced in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the new Community Help Partnerships will differ from the Changing Futures Programme.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government announced Community Help Partnerships (CHPs) at the Spending Review. Since then, we have been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders—including people with lived experience, the voluntary sector, and central and local government—to design a programme of preventative support for adults experiencing disadvantage.

This will build on learning from the Changing Futures’ crisis-focused programme. CHPs will go further in addressing systemic barriers to allow local services to provide better integrated, earlier preventative support. The Cabinet Office is working closely with MHCLG to coordinate the two programmes.

We are continuing to explore how to strengthen alignment with wider place-based public sector reform. Further details will be announced in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how allocations will be decided for new Community Help Partnerships.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government announced Community Help Partnerships (CHPs) at the Spending Review. Since then, we have been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders—including people with lived experience, the voluntary sector, and central and local government—to design a programme of preventative support for adults experiencing disadvantage.

This will build on learning from the Changing Futures’ crisis-focused programme. CHPs will go further in addressing systemic barriers to allow local services to provide better integrated, earlier preventative support. The Cabinet Office is working closely with MHCLG to coordinate the two programmes.

We are continuing to explore how to strengthen alignment with wider place-based public sector reform. Further details will be announced in due course.

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