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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to require housing developers to deliver homes for social rent as part of their developments.

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

The government is currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including proposals designed to further support the delivery of social housing.

These include reforms to the viability system and specifying a minimum proportion of social rent housing that would be required of major development unless otherwise specified in development plans.

The consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the benefits of introducing additional taxation on large SUVs.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Vehicles used or kept on public roads pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Cars registered on or after 1 April 2017 pay a variable first year VED rate according to the emissions of the vehicle, before moving to a standard annual rate after the first year.

For certain vehicle classifications, such as heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), VED liability is calculated in accordance with the vehicle's weight in order to reflect in part the road damage caused by heavier vehicles. However, this is not the case for cars, due in part to their relatively lower impact on road damage compared to heavier vehicles.

When making changes to the tax system, the Government considers a range of trade-offs, such as complexity in the tax system and administrative burdens.

The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will provide local authorities with funding from the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme to tackle ground litter.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government remains committed to tackling litter. However, payments to Local Authorities for tackling ground litter are currently outside the scope of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) regulations.

The deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers will have an impact on single-use packaging waste and commonly littered items. Plastic bottles and cans account for 55% of litter volume and DRS is expected to significantly reduce the number of items littered. The scheme is due to rollout in October 2027. We will review payments for binned and littered waste when the impact of DRS is evaluated.

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 potential impact of partial retirement for NHS staff on redundancy entitlements; and what discussions his Department has had with NHS representatives on ensuring staff were informed of the employment and redundancy implications of partial retirement.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Partial retirement does not mean that National Health Service staff are ineligible for redundancy payments. However, taking partial retirement may change the way in which contractual redundancy payments are calculated.

The rules concerning the calculation of redundancy payments for NHS staff who have previously taken pension benefits, are determined in accordance with their contracts of employment, and statutory redundancy entitlements.

Redundancy terms for NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract are set out under section 16 of the NHS Staff Terms and Conditions of Service handbook. This also applies to NHS staff whose redundancy terms refer to section 16. This section states that service used for the purposes of calculating previous pension benefits will not count for the calculation of a contractual redundancy payment. Statutory redundancy entitlements are unaffected.

The Department commissions NHS Employers to provide guidance for employers on a range of topics, including NHS redundancy arrangements and retirement options for NHS staff.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage trainee doctors to take up rehabilitation as a specialism.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to training the staff we need, including rehabilitation specialists, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.

As of September 2025, there are 490 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the speciality of rehabilitation medicine in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is 24, or 5%, more than last year, 116, or 31.2%, more than 2020, and 232, or 90.2%, more than in 2010. This includes over 164 FTE consultants. This is seven, or 4.3%, more than last year, 15, or 10%, more than in 2020, and 50, or 43.8%, more than in 2010.

Fill rates for ST3 level rehabilitation medicine have been increasing. 94% of training posts were filled in 2025 compared to 54% in 2023 and 60% in 2024.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to advocate for Jagtar Singh Johal’s release since 4 March 2025.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 8 December in response to Question 97066.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of introducing a 15-year route to settlement on migrants on low wages.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The earned settlement model, proposed in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessment, which we have committed to publish in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of freezing Local Housing Allowance rates in 2026–2027 on low-income renters; and when he plans to review Local Housing Allowance rates.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are annually reviewed at Autumn Budget.

In his Written Statement following Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions confirmed that LHA rates will remain at current levels in 2026/27 (HCWS1101). A range of factors were considered, including rental levels across Great Britain, the challenging fiscal context, and the impact of current levels of housing support.

To support our commitment to reduce child poverty, we prioritised removing the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities for low-income renters who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on independent students who require accommodation between June and September.

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

My Department has made no such assessment.

The Renters’ Rights Act introduces a new mandatory ground which will allow landlords renting HMOs to full-time students who occupy on either joint or individual tenancy agreements to seek possession ahead of each new academic year, facilitating the ongoing yearly cycle of short-term student tenancies.

Students living in one or two bed (non-HMO) properties will have the same security of tenure as tenants in the wider private rented sector.

As is the case now, we would encourage students who wish to remain in their accommodation over summer to discuss with their landlords.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the ability of schools and academies to reclaim VAT under Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994 to further education colleges.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Further Education (FE) funding is vital to ensure people are being trained in the skills they need to thrive in the modern labour market. The 2025 Spending Review provided an additional £1.2 billion per year by 2028-29 for skills and £1.7 billion of capital funding to help colleges maintain the condition of their estate. In addition, the Government is providing £375 million of capital investment to support the FE system to accommodate increasing student numbers.

For their non-business activity, FE colleges are unable to reclaim VAT incurred. We operate several VAT refund schemes for schools and academies which are designed variously to ensure that VAT is not a burden on local taxation, and that academies are not disincentivised to leave LA control. FE colleges do not meet the criteria for either scheme.

In relation to business activity, FE colleges enjoy an exemption from VAT which means that they do not have to charge VAT to students, but cannot recover it either.

Civil service pension scheme

Situation of Kurdish people in Syria

Right To Food UK Commission

Local news journalism and STV regional broadcasting

Situation in Iran

Food insecurity amongst workers in food processing, manufacturing and retail sectors

Centenary of the derailment of the Flying Scotsman

Parliamentary screening of The Removed and historic forced adoptions

Gender apartheid

Hunger strike by pro-Palestinian activists

US military attack on Venezuela

Higher education pension cuts

Found: On resuming— Kate Osborne and Nadia Whittome made representations.

Found: Further to Professor Ikpoh’s answer to Q113 from Nadia Whittome MP and Q114 from Rachel Taylor MP, we

Found: Burton-Sampson; Dame Nia Griffith; Christine Jardine; Kim Leadbeater; Kevin McKenna; Rachel Taylor; Nadia Whittome