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 with the Secretary of State for Transport to (a) expand electricity capacity and (b) ensure the adequacy of the number of EV charging stations in new housing developments.

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

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that strategic policies set out in development plans should make sufficient provision for energy.

The government recently amended the existing permitted development rights for electric vehicle charging points to support homeowners through the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2025.

We continue to keep the regulations under review.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the supply of sustainable aviation fuel increases to match demand.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport is taking a comprehensive approach to ensure the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) increases to match demand. In January 2025, the Government introduced the SAF Mandate, obligating jet fuel suppliers to blend increasing volumes of SAF into the UK aviation fuel mix, with targets rising from 2% in 2025 to 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040. These targets were set following detailed analysis and engagement with industry stakeholders. To ensure the SAF Mandate reflects the latest technological and commercial developments, regular review points are built into the legislation, allowing targets to be revisited if required. The first formal review will be carried out before 2030.

To support supply, £63 million in grant funding has been allocated through the Advanced Fuels Fund for the current year, with continued support for SAF production through to 2029/30. The UK SAF Clearing House provides advice and support to SAF producers navigating the fuel testing landscape, helping to remove barriers to new fuels coming to market.

In addition, the Government has introduced legislation for a Revenue Certainty Mechanism to increase investor confidence and unlock investment in UK SAF production.

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 encourage the Building Safety Regulator to provide a timeline for decision on the 338 social homes intended for the former Bermondsey Biscuit Factory development site.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Building Safety Regulator has received three Building Control Applications for new higher risk buildings to be built on the Biscuit Factory site. Progress on each application is set out in the following table. Please note that assessment of applications is a dynamic process, and timetables can change dependent on the information provided by the applicant:

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking with the (a) financial sector and (b) regulators to help ensure that mortgage lenders provide loans to leaseholders affected by building safety issues in the period after the Grenfell Tower fire.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Officials in my department have regular engagement with financial sector stakeholders. A product of this is the lenders’ statement on cladding which has signatories from ten major banks and building societies.

These lenders have committed to consider mortgage applications, even if a property has building safety issues, provided either the building has funding for works from government or the developer, or the property is protected by the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act, and the leaseholder has completed a ‘Leaseholder Deed of Certificate’ to evidence it.

Officials have well-established relationships with regulators should the need arise to discuss a particular issue.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications have waited longer than the 12-week timeframe that the Building Safety Regulator says it will take to complete its process in the last 12 months.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has reported that 930 Gateway 2 applications decided in the last 12 months (between 24 October 2024 and 23 October 2025) took longer than 12 weeks to reach a decision.

The BSR is already making operational and policy changes to speed up decision making, particularly on building control approval, including through the introduction of an Innovation Unit and batching process. Early signs are positive with all applications in the Innovation Unit so far on track to exceed or meet the 12-week SLA target.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure ICBs meet national requirements for hospice performance.

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

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.  The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative care and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.

NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.  Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and, therefore, covers the palliative and end of life care sector, including independent hospices. The CQC registers health and adult care providers, monitors and inspects services to see whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, and publishes its findings, including quality ratings.

The CQC can use its legal powers to take action where poor care is identified, and publishes regional and national views of the major quality issues in health and social care, including palliative and end of life care, encouraging improvement by highlighting good practice.

The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

The Government and the NHS will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

I am pleased to confirm the continuation of children’s hospices funding for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the most recent National Study of Health and Wellbeing.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The latest prevalence data from the National Study of Health and Wellbeing (also known as the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey) found that 1 in 5 adults in England were experiencing a common mental health condition in 2023/24, up from 1 in 6 a decade ago.

Through our Plan for Change, we are committed to working beyond the health system to tackle the drivers of mental ill health. For example, recently announced welfare legislation is getting more people with health conditions back into work, backed by £1 billion of investment to unlock opportunity and grow the economy.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a number of important initiatives that will help tackle the rising prevalence of mental ill health by intervening earlier when problems first arise. This includes expanding access to mental health support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage across England by 2030, embedding mental health support in Young Futures Hubs and making it easier than ever to access mental health support via the NHS App.