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 consideration his Department of providing additional resource for local authorities to enforce 12 month relet bans on landlords who do not adhere to incoming legislation within the Renters Rights Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In accordance with the New Burdens Doctrine, we will ensure additional net costs on local authorities created by the Renters’ Rights Bill are fully funded.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of fully funding the specialist palliative (a) care, (b) advice and (c) assessment provided by hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life, as well as their loved ones.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative care, including specialist palliative care, and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area. It is important to note that hospices, like the NHS, provide both specialist and generalist palliative care and end of life care. Not all patients will require specialist palliative care.
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs and on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
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, whether his Department has prepared an impact assessment on the decision to freeze the local housing allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State considers a range of factors when reviewing Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. This includes the impact of the current rental market, the Government’s goals on housing, and the wider fiscal context. In April 2024, LHA rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local market rents costing £1.2bn in 2024/25 and £7bn over 5 years. LHA rates have been maintained at 2024/25 levels for 2025/26. The impacts of this are described in the explanatory memorandum for the legislation:
The Secretary of State considers LHA rates annually in the Autumn. Autumn Budget decisions will be taken in the round, considering the Government’s missions and the challenging fiscal context.
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 he has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending planning legislation on digital advertising screens.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The advertisement control regime seeks to control the impact of advertisements by reference to their effect on amenity and public safety. Responsibility for the application of the legislation rests with local planning authorities and they are best placed to consider the impact of specific advertisements.
My Department has not made any assessment of the impact of digital advertising screens and we have no current plans to issue guidance to local planning authorities on the cumulative impact of such installations.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timeline is for waiving visa fees for spouses and children of current and former serving personnel who are of non-UK nationality.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains committed to supporting current and former serving personnel and their families; ensuring that they do not face any disadvantage due to their service.
The Home Office is actively working with the Ministry of Defence on the manifesto commitment to scrap visa fees for veterans and their dependants and will keep stakeholders updated on progress.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made in establishing a national social tariff for water consumers; and what steps he is taking to ensure that a national social tariff will end geographical disparities in the support available for consumers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies must ensure support is available for vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their bills. Companies have therefore more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through social tariffs – from 4% to 9 and government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported.
The Independent Water Commission made a recommendation to consult on a National Social Tariff which the Government is taking into consideration and will provide a response to later this year in a White Paper.
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 steps he is taking to reduce electricity costs.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over this Parliament the government will be working relentlessly to translate the much cheaper wholesale costs of clean power into lower bills for consumers. This will be core to every decision we make.
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 steps he is taking to incentivise the uptake of heat pumps.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) provides grants to property owners to enable them to transition away from fossil fuel to low carbon heating. The grant available under the scheme for air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps is £7,500.
Support is also available to low-income households and social housing tenants under the Energy Company Obligation, Warm Homes: Local Grant, and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund to install low-carbon heating measures, including heat pumps.
This is in addition to the 0% rate of VAT on the installation of heat pumps, which will last until March 2027.
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, whether her Department plans to include policies on autism in the youth employment strategy delivery plan.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department recognises that young people with autism can face significant barriers to seeking and remaining in employment. As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we have ambitious plans to better support our young people to lead fulfilling lives and careers.
The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our approach to supporting young people into employment, including the introduction of a new Youth Guarantee for all 18–21-year-olds in England. As part of this, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education are working with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities who have commenced delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers. These Trailblazers are testing how new local leadership, accountability structures and provision can be integrated into a cohesive education, training and employment support for young people. Several areas are specifically designing support for young people with health conditions and disabilities, including autism.
DWP also provides tailored employment support for 16–24-year-olds on Universal Credit through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes access to work coaches, Youth Hubs, and Disability Employment Advisors, who can offer personalised support to neurodivergent young people.
The Government wants to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace. We are looking to build on the findings of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment and have launched the Neurodiversity Academic Panel – an independent group of experts, many with lived experience—to advise on boosting awareness and inclusion across all age groups.
The Government is committed to consulting with stakeholders, including young people with health conditions and those who are neurodivergent.
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 her Department is taking to help prevent the decommissioning of supported housing schemes.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 51474 on 19 May 2025.