Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken with Homes England to encourage SMEs to build affordable homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has set Homes England a strategic objective that funding for the Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 should support use of small and medium-sized enterprise contractors. When Homes England assess a bid to the programme for funding, they will look at how the proposed development meets this strategic objective. Homes England will also include this objective in any grant agreement for the programme.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing emergency funding for temporary accommodation in London.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has increased funding for homelessness services in 2025/26 by £233 million to nearly £1 billion. This includes more than £277 million for London, an increase of more than £78 million from 2024/25.
Councils can draw from the wider local government finance settlement to help meet homelessness and temporary accommodation costs. The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26 makes available a total Core Spending Power of up to £10.14 billion for London Boroughs excluding the GLA, representing an increase of 6.6%.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for the fire and rescue service as part of the upcoming spending review.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Overall, fire and rescue authorities have received around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. The Local Government Funding Settlement was published on 3 February and sets out funding allocations for all Local Authorities including Fire and Rescue. In 2025/26, standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, represent a 3.6% increase in core spending power.
The government has committed to performing a Zero-Based Review of all expenditure, conducting line-by-line scrutiny of spending. This is the first time in over a decade and a half that government departments have been asked to take such an approach, with what’s called a “zero-based review” last undertaken 17 years ago.
The Spending Review will draw on this to ensure funding is aligned with the government’s priorities and the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will remove the 2011 cap on Local Housing Allowance payable for temporary accommodation through the Housing Benefit Subsidy system.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere.
We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. MHCLG are increasing funding for homelessness services this year by an extra £233 million compared to last year (2024/25).
We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and are working closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to explore the impacts of subsidy rates on local authorities.
Any future decisions on subsidy rates will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the current challenging financial environment at the appropriate fiscal event.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to include provisions for youths in the upcoming homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a VAT relief scheme for Further Education institutions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Education services supplied by an “eligible body” are exempt from VAT. For VAT purposes, an “eligible body” broadly refers to most regulated, publicly funded, or not-for-profit education providers. This means no VAT is charged on supplies of education made by further education colleges, nor are further education colleges able to recover the VAT they have incurred on their expenditure.
The Government is not currently planning to introduce a VAT refund scheme for further education institutions.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to allow colleges to carry out their own end point assessments for apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In February 2025 the department announced improvements to apprenticeship assessment and published a new set of assessment principles. This will make assessment simpler for employers, providers and apprentices and remove unnecessary duplication.
End-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) will be able to delegate assessment to the apprenticeship training provider, including colleges, where appropriate, in line with the revised assessment plan. EPAOs will continue to shape the assessment and ensure the validity of outcomes.
These changes will make the system more efficient and improve the experience for employers and apprentices, while retaining rigour and quality, and ensuring consistency in outcomes. This will ensure employers can be confident that apprentices have met the standards employers require.
Existing assessment plans will be rewritten on a standard-by-standard basis to reflect these changes. The department is working closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to develop and implement these revisions from April 2025. Further detail, including which assessment plans will be revised and by when, will be outlined in due course.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of re-evaluating the existing capital funding scheme for Further Education.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life. The government is investing £6.7 billion of capital funding for education in the 2025/26 financial year, a 19% real-terms increase from the 2024/25 financial year, including £950 million in skills. The department currently provides capital funding for further education (FE) through a wide range of programmes.
In the Spring Statement 2025, £625 million of funding was announced to support construction skills training. The funding includes capital investment through the establishment of Technical Excellence Colleges and the creation of an employer match funding pot worth £80 million.
On 1 April 2025, the department provided £302 million in new funding to FE colleges to support them to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estates. The new FE college condition allocation will help address the maintenance backlog and ensure a great environment for learning. Every FE college group will receive a share of this funding and will have the discretion to decide how funding is spent towards condition priorities for their estate.
The department keeps all FE capital funding programmes under continuous review and any future capital investment will be subject to the spending review, which is due to conclude in summer 2025.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential contribution of heat battery technology to the Government’s target for decarbonising homes by 2030.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Heat batteries are a promising low-carbon heating technology because they utilise time-of-use tariffs and do not require outside space. However, they are less efficient than heat pumps and therefore use more energy to meet the same heating demand. Although they can be charged at off-peak times, if not sized or used correctly, heat batteries could add to peak demand on the electricity network and increase bills for property owners. The Department is exploring, through studies like the Homes for Net Zero Trial, the role heat batteries could play in the future.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential contribution of heat batteries to balancing grid demand during peak energy usage periods.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Heat batteries are a promising low-carbon heating technology because they utilise time-of-use tariffs and do not require outside space. However, they are less efficient than heat pumps and therefore use more energy to meet the same heating demand. Although they can be charged at off-peak times, if not sized or used correctly, heat batteries could add to peak demand on the electricity network and increase bills for property owners. The Department is exploring, through studies like the Homes for Net Zero Trial, the role heat batteries could play in the future.