Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of linking Unique Property Reference Numbers to Universal Credit claims to help tackle fraud.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is considering external data sources, including Unique Property Reference Numbers, that could be used to help address fraud and error that occurs in Universal Credit.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are waiting for a decision on their Access to Work scheme claim.

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

As of October 2025, there are 62,000 applications outstanding. We recognise the importance of reducing waiting times, which is why we have increased the number of staff working in this area by 27% in the last financial year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of introducing Sectioning Support Officers to the NHS to reduce police officer time spent in hospitals.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Any decisions relating to staffing in the NHS is a matter for the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England.

The Right Care Right Person approach is an approach designed to end inappropriate and avoidable police involvement in cases where people have health and/or social care needs and help ensure that people receive support from the right person, with the right skills, training, and experience to best meet their needs.

The National Partnership Agreement (NPA), signed in July 2023 by Government, NHS England and national policing bodies, sets out the principles of Right Care Right Person and how they can jointly deliver the best care to communities. The NPA sets out that local areas should work towards handovers of care between the police and mental health services taking place within one hour as specified in local plans. This one hour handover will reduce the amount of time spent by police officers with mental health patients in hospital.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps with the Metropolitan Police to move officers and staff out of the capital whose responsibilities are (a) national and (b) not wholly London-focused.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Decisions on the location of officers and staff in the Metropolitan Police Service are an operational matter for the Commissioner. This includes resources that support existing national units.

Any future proposals on structural reform to policing in England and Wales will be set out in the upcoming white paper on police reform.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing mandatory training for opticians and GPs to recognise Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no plans to implement mandatory training for opticians and general practitioners to recognise Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Healthcare professionals are responsible for ensuring their clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. The College of Optometrists has also published a number of resources providing information about Charles Bonnet Syndrome for optometrists and patients.

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 ensure that Integrated Care Boards are implementing NICE guidance on intermediate care for patients experiencing homelessness.

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

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to appropriate intermediate care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline NG214 on integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness sets out clear expectations for services to be accessible and tailored to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214/chapter/Recommendations#intermediate-care

The intermediate care framework, published in 2023, stipulates that intermediate care services should be available to all eligible individuals, including those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The intermediate care framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/intermediate-care-framework-for-rehabilitation-reablement-and-recovery-following-hospital-discharge/

Guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, published in 2024, further states that specialist and bespoke homeless intermediate care services should be developed in response to needs and should be integrated so that ‘mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ services work seamlessly together. The guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness

The Better Care Fund supports local systems to integrate health, housing, and social care in ways that deliver person-centred care. One of the conditions is that Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to submit plans showing projected demand and planned capacity for intermediate care services with due regard to the need to reduce inequalities in access to and outcomes achieved by National Health Services.

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 impact of homelessness on local authorities’ resources and their capacity to meet their statutory duties.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Homelessness is too high and the Government recognises the impact this has on local authorities, including financial pressures.

We have increased funding for homelessness by £316 million this year to a total of more than £1 billion, and will publish our cross-Government homelessness strategy later this year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department is working with local authorities to ensure they are equipped to deliver the Crisis and Resilience Fund from 1 April 2026.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

My Department has actively engaged with stakeholders on the design for the new Crisis and Resilience Fund through a structured co-design process. This has involved a representative group of local authorities, third-party organisations and academics. The concluding event on 22 October 2025 was attended by over 750 stakeholders.

We plan to publish guidance in January 2026. Provisional allocations will be published as part of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, ahead of the scheme going live in April 2026.

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 potential merits of making unique property reference numbers a requisite field in the private rented sector database.

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

My government already intends to record unique property reference numbers on the Private Rented Sector Database in all instances where they are available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many properties with EPC ratings of (a) F and (b) G rating are let by (i) Local Authorities and (ii) Housing Associations

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

Information on the EPC ratings of social housing let by local authorities and housing associations, as well as other tenures, can be found in the latest English Housing Survey on gov.uk here. In the 2023-24 survey, 0.3% of homes let by local authorities and 0.4% of homes let by housing associations have an EPC rating of band F or G.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his department makes of the number of retrofits underway.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

In 2025-2026 alone, we will be upgrading up to 300,000 homes, using around £1 billion of Warm Homes Plan money, and further support through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS). This is more than double the number of home upgrades delivered in 2023/24.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy and accessibility of advice and support available for employers of people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

All employers have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 not to unlawfully discriminate against disabled people and people with long term health conditions, including people with multiple sclerosis. This includes making reasonable adjustments where employees would otherwise be put at a substantial disadvantage. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act and provides guidance to businesses and individuals, including the statutory Code of Practice on Employment.

The Government also offers guidance to employers on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in the workplace, through its Support with Employee Health and Disability service. The service was developed with input from smaller businesses and disability organisations and provides a step by step guide to supporting employees in workplace scenarios involving health and disability. This includes guidance on having conversations about health and disability, supporting employers to understand and respond to an employee’s individual needs, circumstances and capacities. This service is fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard.

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 ensure flexibility in the workplace for people living with fluctuating conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS).

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Employers have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, including workplace flexibilities, where a disabled person or person with a long-term health condition would otherwise be put at a substantial disadvantage. This includes chronic and fluctuating health conditions and disabilities, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The Equality and Human Rights Commission provides statutory guidance to employers covering this. DWP also provides tailored guidance through its Support with Employee Health and Disability online service and the Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces including guidance on flexible working.

All employees have the existing right to request flexible working arrangements. The Employment Rights Bill is designed to make it more likely that flexible working requests are accepted and would require employers to explain the basis for their decision where rejecting a request. The Keep Britain Working Review is currently establishing vanguards to explore innovative ways to support more disabled employees to stay in work.