Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of powers available to local authorities to (a) maintain and (b) intervene on land where ownership is (i) unknown and (ii) unregistered.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

HM Land Registry (HMLR) are responsible for registering the ownership of land.

Approximately 11% of land in England and Wales remains unregistered.

My Department is working with HMLR to widen and deepen transparency of land ownership and control.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in identifying ownership of land that has remained unregistered since 1974.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

HM Land Registry (HMLR) are responsible for registering the ownership of land.

Approximately 11% of land in England and Wales remains unregistered.

My Department is working with HMLR to widen and deepen transparency of land ownership and control.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting times for children and young people accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know too many children and young people are waiting too long for mental health support, and through our Plan for Change, we’re determined to give children and young people the best start in life.

The Government is expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools and colleges to reach all pupils by 2029, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services. This expansion will ensure that up to 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from trained education mental health practitioners in 2025/26.

More widely, we are, rolling out young futures hubs. The Government’s first 50 young futures hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention. We will work to ensure there is no wrong door for young people who need support with their mental health.

We have also committed to hiring 8,500 more mental health staff to reduce waiting times. Thus far, we have hired almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure early intervention for pupils with special educational needs.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Leeds South West and Morley, to the answer of 12 November 2025 to Question 86204.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department have made on the impact of participation in (a) gyms, (b) swimming pools, and (c) leisure centres on men’s (i) mental and (ii) physical health.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government knows that addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, well-being, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambition to break down barriers and take a cross-sector approach to building movement back into everyday lives. This requires a collective effort and there is an important role for the leisure and fitness sector through providing facilities and opportunities to get people active and reap the associated health benefits.

On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Day, we published England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, address societal norms, and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men. The strategy recognises the importance of meeting men where they are and includes investment in community-based health and suicide prevention programmes and a new partnership with the Premier League to ensure men know where to go for mental health support.

Found: Q4 Mark Sewards: Good morning, everybody.

Submit Evidence (by 9 Jan 2026)

Reading brings a range of benefits to children, young people and their families, but the number of children reading for pleasure is declining rapidly.