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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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:
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential (a) implications for his policies of the recent tax introduced in France on industrial emissions of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances into the environment and (b) merits of introducing similar measures in the UK.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to work closely with the other Government Departments, regulators, and the Devolved Governments to assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and their potential risks, in order to inform policy and regulatory approaches. Consideration of other countries’ plans can be helpful in informing the UK's management and regulation of PFAS.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of potential merits of recovering the costs of treating chemical pollutants in (a) drinking water, (b) wastewater and (c) high risk sites in England from the producers of those substances.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to the ‘polluter pays’ principle and regularly reviews ways to improve its implementation and efficacy.
The Government can already seek cost recovery for contaminated land so that the responsible party (typically the polluter or current owner/occupier) bears the financial burden of cleaning up the land. The Environment Act 1990 Part 2A outlines this principle, with local councils having a statutory duty to recover reasonable costs incurred for remediation. Where contaminated land is designated a special site and the Environment agency is the lead regulator, it also has similar cost recovery powers.
The quality of drinking water in England is exceptionally high and among the best in the world. Water companies and local authorities have statutory duties to carry out risk assessments and to sample drinking water supplies for any contaminants they believe may cause the supply to be unwholesome.