Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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).
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the judgements in the cases of a) Tirkey v Chandhok, b) Kaur v Montana Bakery, c) Meshram v Tata and d) Ramachandran v Bechtel.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No one should suffer prejudice or discrimination on any grounds, including any perception of their caste.
The judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Tirkey v. Chandhok shows that someone claiming caste discrimination may rely on existing statutory remedies in the Equality Act 2010 where they can show that their ‘caste’ is related to their ethnic origin, which is itself an aspect of 'race' under the 2010 Act.
The government is considering whether these existing remedies offer appropriate legal protection for victims of caste discrimination.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will amend the Equality Act 2010 to improve legal protection for victims of caste discrimination.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No one should suffer prejudice or discrimination on any grounds, including any perception of their caste.
The judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Tirkey v. Chandhok shows that someone claiming caste discrimination may rely on existing statutory remedies in the Equality Act 2010 where they can show that their ‘caste’ is related to their ethnic origin, which is itself an aspect of 'race' under the 2010 Act.
The government is considering whether these existing remedies offer appropriate legal protection for victims of caste discrimination.