Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government what progress has been made in updating the national Incident Recording System to capture data on lithium-ion battery fires, including whether the battery involved was an e-bike or e-scooter battery and whether it was on charge at the time of the incident; and when this update will be operational.
Answered by Samantha Dixon
There is currently no set date for Fire and Rescue Services to record whether fires involve lithium-ion batteries or electric vehicles. However, development work is ongoing to enable the collection of these data points, with the intention that this capability will be in place by the end of 2026. As part of the development of Version 2 of the Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP), we will be adding new reference data to allow fire and rescue services to record and report on when an incident involves lithium‑ion batteries or electric vehicles. This will include identifying whether the source of ignition was a battery and, where relevant, whether that battery was on charge at the time of the incident. These additions will ensure that such information is collected and reported consistently across services. Publication of the data is currently expected by the end of next year.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill contains provisions to ensure housing-with-care is affordable to as many retirees as possible.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 108467 on 3 February 2026.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to introduce a Remediation Bill.
Answered by Samantha Dixon
A Bill to speed up remediation for people living in homes with unsafe cladding was announced in the King’s Speech for the second session. We will introduce the Bill as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 is taking to address the continuing in perpetuity status of non-qualifying leases following the completion of building safety remediation works; what progress her Department has made in reviewing that status; and whether she plans to bring forward measures to remove barriers to the sale of affected properties.
Answered by Samantha Dixon
This Government recognises the current rules aren’t working for many people and has been clear that leaseholders should not be left responsible for the creation of historic building safety defects.
We are working hard to develop options to further protect leaseholders from current and future building safety issues, especially those groups left out of existing protections and who are unable to sell because of the existing rules.
We hope to be able to provide a more detailed response shortly.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local planning authorities on the treatment of almshouses and other small charitable housing providers in planning obligations, including access to Section 106 agreements; and whether his Department plans to review the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework to better reflect the role of charitable housing providers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Guidance on the use of planning obligations is available on gov.uk here. The guidance makes clear that policies for planning obligations should be set out in plans and examined in public.
By law, applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) must be taken into account in preparing the development plan and is a material consideration in planning decisions.
The government is consulting on a new NPPF that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.
Whilst the government does not propose to amend the NPPF definition of affordable housing to include almshouses that are not registered providers, the consultation welcomes views on a range of proposals to better support the provision of social and affordable housing.
The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 trends in the number of social rented homes built through the planning system in Bedford and in England over the past five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The number of social rented homes delivered in each local planning authority through Section 106 agreements (S106) since 1991-92 is available in Live Table 1011, on gov.uk here.
I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Questions UIN 101017 on 6 January 2026 and UIN 107221 on 28 January 2026, and to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771) and 28 January 2026 (HCWS1283 and HCWS1286).
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend planning rules to include measures relating to the long-term stewardship and public accessibility of green spaces provided as part of residential development.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that local plans should make sufficient provision for green infrastructure, which is defined as a multifunctional network of green and blue spaces.
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes a proposed requirement for local plans to set standards for green infrastructure.
The consultation on changes to the NPPF is available on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of national planning policy in securing the long-term management and maintenance of public open spaces in residential developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making. The consultation includes proposals relating to the provision of new or improved open space.
The consultation on changes to the NPPF is available on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.
I also refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 18 December 2025 (HCWS1210).
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 introduce a requirement for local planning authorities to include targets for social rented housing within their local plans.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107221 on 28 January 2025.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with operators of housing-with-care schemes on the potential impact of tenure reform on growth in the sector.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 87630 on 11 November 2025.