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 Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service’s guidance on religiously aggravated and religion-based hate crime offences is applied; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of CPS decision-making on community confidence across different faith groups.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issues legal guidance on prosecuting racist and religious hate crime, available on their website. To support effective application of this guidance, all new CPS prosecutors receive mandatory training on hate crime, including religiously aggravated offending.
A Chief Crown Prosecutor National Lead for hate crime oversees a network of Hate Crime Coordinators and Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor leads, who provide specialist advice, support casework quality and promote consistent decision-making in every regional CPS Area. They oversee a robust assurance scheme which includes bi-monthly checks of the religiously aggravated hate crime cases in every Area. These checks examine whether such cases have been appropriately identified, and review the case strategy and handling, including whether applications are made to uplift the sentence on conviction. Feeback on casework is provided directly to prosecutors and shared at a regional and national level to identify shared challenges and best practice.
Engaging with communities affected by hate crime is important to build trust and support victims. The CPS has a strong record of engaging openly with a wide range of stakeholders, including academics, the voluntary sector, advocacy groups and community representatives. This helps to ensure that CPS policy and legal guidance reflect best practice and is responsive to communities’ needs. Across every Area and nationally, the CPS holds regular Hate Crime Scrutiny Panels for external scrutiny of its performance on hate crime, including examination of cases of religious hatred.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has HM Treasury made of the potential impact of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on self-employed childminders and other home-based childcare providers.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Childminders make a significant contribution to children’s development, learning, and wellbeing. The Government has eased rules on working from schools and community centres and increased early years funding rates above 2023 average fees. These increases reflect increased costs, and from April 2026, local authorities must pass at least 97 per cent of funding to providers.
Only a small proportion of childminders with qualifying income over £50,000 will be mandated into Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax from April 2026. Childminders moving to MTD for income tax can continue to claim tax relief for household costs, wear and tear of household items and furniture, and food and drink, by deducting actual business costs. This ensures childminders receive tax relief for all of the costs that they incur in relation to their childminding business.
The Government will monitor the impact of MTD for income tax on childminders and other home-based childcare providers in the same way as it will for all sole traders moving to MTD for income tax.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Department plans to improve guidance to schools on teaching road safety and safe cycling within PSHE or related curricula.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bedford to the answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 77400.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the introduction of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on (a) childminders and other home-based childcare providers on the levels of (i) recruitment and (ii) retention in that workforce and (b) on the Government's commitment to fund childcare for 30 hours a week.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We are working with the sector to expand the number of childminders and make it easier for them to operate, including through increased funding rates and new flexibilities to work with more people and spend more time working from non-domestic premises if they want to.
We are taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers.
We are working with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers can be paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable.
In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements could benefit childminders in different ways: the national average three- and four-year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. Childminders may also benefit from an expected increase in demand for places.
Making Tax Digital standardises the way that sole traders record and claim business expenses. It could benefit childminders as it means that any business expenses related to childminding will be included in their tax calculations. We are however aware of the strength of feeling amongst childminders and those who work with them. We have been talking regularly to Coram Pacey, HMRC and others to understand the issue, the effect that it is having on the childminding sector and to make sure that the concerns of childminders are clearly understood. The department emphasises its strong support for childminders, who continue to provide high quality and flexible early education, and do so in a way that families across the country greatly value.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that displaced Ukrainians in the United Kingdom have access to long-term residency, education, and employment; how it determines whether return to Ukraine is considered safe; and what measures are in place to ensure that policies affecting displaced Ukrainians are applied fairly and in accordance with human rights obligations, including the best interests of children.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK’s support for Ukraine remains steadfast and, together with our partners and allies, the UK stands in solidarity with Ukraine and condemns the Russian government’s unprovoked and premeditated war. Since the launch of the Ukraine schemes, the UK has offered or extended sanctuary to over 310,000 Ukrainians and their families through the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and the Ukraine Extension Scheme.
The Government has already taken significant steps to extend support for those in the UK under the Ukraine visa schemes. Since February 2025, individuals have been able to apply to the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme for a further 18 months’ permission, with continued access to work, benefits, healthcare and education. On 1 September 2025, the Government announced a further 24‑month extension to the scheme, providing additional certainty and stability for Ukrainian guests and reflecting our ongoing commitment to support those displaced by the conflict.
The Government has been clear from the outset that the Ukraine scheme routes are temporary and do not provide a direct path to settlement, in line with the Ukrainian government’s strong desire for its citizens to return home when it is safe to do so.
The Government recognises the importance of providing longer‑term clarity for Ukrainians beyond the lifetime of UPE, and a further statement setting out the long‑term position will be issued in due course. As part of this process, the safety situation in Ukraine will also be considered.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the proposed loan charge settlement scheme cut off date of 1 June 2021 for excluding taxpayers who have entered into contract settlements with HMRC before that date; and what steps she has taken to help ensure that taxpayers who settled earlier are not disadvantaged compared with those who settle under the new scheme.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge.
The purpose of the review was to bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities. Although the loan charge officially came into force from 6 April 2019, the deadline for settling to avoid being liable to the loan charge was extended because of the Morse Review. The settlement opportunity applies after 1 June 2021 because it is from that date onwards that loan charge settlements were agreed.
The review identified affordability as a key barrier preventing those individuals from settling and made recommendations to remove this barrier. The Government accepted all but one of the review’s recommendations and will legislate to give HMRC the power to administer a new settlement scheme.
The Government has no plans to apply the recommendations of the review beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average response time is for correspondence from members of the public and from Members of Parliament acting on behalf of their constituents; what targets are in place for responding to correspondence; and what steps the Department is taking to ensure that enquiries submitted via MPs’ offices are acknowledged and replied to promptly.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
MP enquiries continue to be treated as a matter of high priority. There is clear guidance avail-able to all staff regarding the expected timeframe for responding to enquiries from MPs, which is accessible via the Department’s intranet.
The Department for Work and Pensions aims to respond to MP enquiries within 15 working days. Where this is not feasible, such as in complex cases, the Department remains committed to providing a response at the earliest opportunity.
Higher volumes of MP enquiries combined with a rise in more complex complaints, which take longer to investigate, has caused some delays with our responses. We are in the process of recruiting more complaint handlers to reduce our response times.
Data on responses to correspondence from MPs is regularly published and can be found here:
Data on responses to correspondence from MPs and peers - GOV.UK
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people who leave employment due to long-term health conditions or disability can access Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment without (a) delays and (b) repeated appeals.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to providing timely and accurate support to people whose ability to work is affected by long-term health conditions or disabilities through Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Anyone who claims ESA and PIP must satisfy the relevant conditions of entitlement, regardless of the circumstances in which the claim is made. Initial decisions on claims will be made without delay once all evidence needed is available.
Decisions are made within a statutory framework, which allows for revision within one month of notification, with extensions where reasonable. Decisions may also be revised or superseded where there has been official error, where new medical evidence is presented or where a customer has had a relevant change in circumstances. These provisions help ensure accurate decision making and reduce the need for repeated appeals.
We recognise that some customers have complex needs and may require additional support and reasonable adjustments, including adapted communication, additional time, and advocacy from representatives or appointees.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued on the consideration of occupational health reports when assessing claims for (a) Employment and Support Allowance and (b) Personal Independence Payment for people with cognitive or fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides comprehensive training and guidance for assessment providers and the health professionals (HPs) who carry out both Work Capability Assessments (WCA) in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC), and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. The WCA Handbook and the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide (PIPAG) sets out how HPs should evaluate all relevant evidence when assessing a claimant’s functional limitations against the respective criteria.
Both WCA and PIP assessments are functional assessments, focusing on the impact of health condition(s) or disability. HPs consider all available evidence. DWP decision makers give due consideration to all available evidence when making decisions on benefit entitlement, including the HP’s assessment report and any evidence provided by the individual, their GP or consultant, and anybody else that provides them with formal or informal support.
HPs receive training on cognitive and fluctuating conditions and how these might impact on how individuals perform the activities/descriptors which form the assessments.