Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities within the most deprived decile receive above average increases in Core Spending Power in each year of the local government funding settlement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up to date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.
We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities. Following a large number of representations, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement; and to provide a Recovery Grant Guarantee, ensuring that upper-tier authorities in receipt of Recovery Grant see an increase of at least 5% in 2026-27, 6% in 2027-28 and 7% 2028-29, compared to their 2025-26 income, subject to a cap of £35m.
As a result of our reforms, the most deprived places – such as Blackpool – will see increases in government funding which ensure that their Core Spending Power per head will on average be higher than in less deprived places.
The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of drink-driving related (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries in Blackpool North and Fleetwood for each of the past 5 years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Statistics regarding drink driving in personal injury road collisions in Great Britain are based on data reported to police using the STATS19 system.
The estimated number of fatalities and serious injuries in drink-drive collisions for Blackpool North and Fleetwood between 2019 and 2023 (the latest 5 years available) are given in the table below.
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Values of 0 indicate that the estimated number of fatalities or serious injuries is less than 5:
Year | Fatalities | Serious injuries (adjusted) |
2023 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 0 | 10 |
2021 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 0 | 0 |
These figures are based on the results of breath tests conducted by the police at the scene of personal injury road collisions and combined with data from coroners on blood alcohol levels of those killed in collisions.
On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. Alongside the strategy we published a consultation on reforms to motoring offences, including lowering the drink drive limit in England and Wales and introducing tougher penalties for driving without insurance or without a licence.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
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 Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
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 Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
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 Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
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.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
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.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to investigate incidents of incorrectly installed cavity wall insulation that was installed before 2021.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Cavity wall insulation (CWI) is one of the most cost-effective means of improving energy efficiency in people’s homes when installed in suitable homes and supported by appropriate installation standards and guarantees. However, the Government is aware that there are instances where issues have arisen in some homes which may be attributed to a CWI installation.
For installations under previous government schemes, guidance is available on the Government’s website for consumers who suspect they may have faulty CWI installed in their home, outlining routes to redress under these circumstances at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cavity-wall-insulation-cwi-consumer-guide-to-issues-arising-from-installations.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme can deliver justice for the victims of some of the most serious crimes, including murder and rape.
During 2024, my office dealt with requests to review 831 sentences. So far during 2025, we have already exceeded that figure, receiving 846 requests. Of those, 102 cases have been considered by the Court of Appeal, and in 59% of those cases the sentence has been increased.
The ULS scheme continues to be effective by allowing the public to have a voice in the sentencing of offenders, and helping victims of the most abhorrent crimes to receive justice.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the extent of regional inequities in the provision of early access programmes for (a) innovative treatments and (b) people living with SOD1 motor neurone disease.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Company-led early access programmes (EAPs) are not endorsed by the Department or NHS England and no assessment has been made of whether there are regional inequities in the provision of early access programmes for innovative treatments and people living with SOD1 motor neurone disease.
Participation in company-led schemes is decided at an individual NHS trust level. Under these programmes, the cost of the drug is free to both patients taking part in it, and to the National Health Service, but NHS trusts must still cover administration costs and provide clinical resources to deliver the EAP.
NHS England has published guidance for integrated care systems (ICS) on free of charge medicines schemes, providing advice on potential financial, resourcing, and clinical risks. ICSs should use the guidance to help determine whether to implement any free of charge scheme including assessing suitability and any risks in the short, medium, and long term. The guidance is available at the following link: