Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Motability vehicles benefit the person they are intended to support.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Motability Foundation (Motability) is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter, to help disabled people with their mobility and transport needs. Only those claimants in receipt of an eligible benefit can choose to join the Motability Scheme. When a claimant elects to join the Scheme, the Department directly transfers the mobility allowance to Motability Operations on behalf of the eligible claimant. Any misuse of a scheme vehicle is taken very seriously, and Motability Operations has a dedicated unit that works to prevent, detect and handle such cases, taking action as appropriate.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plans to take to support households with district heating with increases in energy costs.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is introducing regulation in January 2026 which aims to provide district heating consumers with comparable protections to existing gas and electricity regulations.
The heat network regulator, Ofgem, will have powers to investigate and intervene where heat network prices charged to consumers appear to be disproportionate or unfair.
Ofgem’s regulatory oversight will be supplemented by statutory redress through the Energy Ombudsman who, from April 2025, will have the same powers to hear complaints and make legally binding decisions as they do in gas and electricity markets. Consumers will also be able to seek advice and advocacy assistance through Citizens Advice.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how her Department ensures the adequacy of Motability vehicles for users.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Motability Foundation is independent of government and regulated by the Charity Commission so is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme.
As Motability is independent of government, the management of the scheme rests with them and their respective Boards of Governors. As such, any questions regarding the
adequacy of Motability vehicles should be directed to the Motability scheme.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to change supported housing rules and regulations to allow disabled people to work more hours if they can; and whether she has plans to (a) monitor and (b) enforce how employers implement reasonable adjustments to work practices for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department will consider the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.
Despite this challenge, the Housing Benefit taper ensures a person is better off in work than wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence, as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.
It is recognised that employers play an important role in supporting disabled people and those with health conditions. Our support to employers includes a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident Scheme. Employers must comply with the Equality Act 2010, including making reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and job applicants. The Government keeps the Equality Act 2010 under review, but no formal review is planned at this time.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to support self-employed midwives.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Independent midwives make a valuable contribution to midwifery services across the country. As they are not employed by the National Health Service, we do not have any influence over their pay or terms and conditions, or how they access learning, development, and pastoral support. Many self-employed midwives are members of Independent Midwifery UK, which does offer support and mentoring.
Local employers who work with self-employed midwives are best placed to determine what additional support they can offer, in the interests of delivering high quality services.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to facilitate access to professional indemnity insurance for self-employed midwives.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, most National Health Services are covered by the state indemnity schemes administered by NHS Resolution. Therefore, midwives working in NHS trusts, other member organisations, and general practices are covered by the state indemnity schemes, namely the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) and the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice, respectively. Where self-employed midwives are not covered by state schemes, they need to obtain independent cover which is mainly through regulated insurance or via discretionary indemnity offered primarily by medical defence organisations.
In 2020, the difficulty in accessing indemnity was highlighted by self-employed midwives. Alternative arrangements were agreed via an NHS contract which enabled self-employed midwives to be covered by the state scheme, the CNST. A number use this model, although we understand some do not.
The Department is currently considering policy measures to address gaps in the clinical indemnities system. We would be happy to take further evidence from self-employed midwives to determine issues specific to them and the scale of the problem.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the No Recourse to Public Funds policy on trends in the level of child poverty.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
The government is working to develop a strategy to drive forward short and long-term actions to reduce child poverty.
The strategy will consider levers to alleviate poverty experienced by all children in the UK, regardless of immigration status, including children either subject to or impacted by the No Recourse to Public Funds policy.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating guidance issued to police authorities to allow officers to knock suspected criminals off push bikes, in line with moped guidance.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The College of Policing has issued guidance on when a roads policing pursuit is justified and proportionate, the Home Office has no plans to issue its own updated guidance on roads policing pursuits involving push bikes.
Any decision on when it is appropriate to use tactical contact is an operational matter for the police as outlined in the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice on Police Pursuits.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of holiday lets on the affordability of rents; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of giving councils greater licensing powers to regulate the (a) number and (b) use of holiday lets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 13348 on 18 November 2024.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Building Safety Regulator processing speeds; and what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of those speeds on the delivery of approved buildings.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are aware that there have been delays for applicants using the building regulation approval process for Higher Risk Buildings. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has told applicants to currently plan on the basis of 20 weeks to clear gateway two, although we are seeing signs that this processing time is improving. This is compared to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 12 weeks for new builds.
We recognise that changes are still bedding in and the BSR is a regulator in its infancy. However, it is clear that the sector must also take responsibility for the projects they deliver. We understand the BSR have rejected a significant number of Gateway Two applications for failing to meet the building safety regulatory standards. The BSR continue to support applicants to ensure they are meeting the functional requirements of the building regulations and guidance is available to support them in understanding their duties.
MHCLG and BSR have taken the following actions, which are embedding, to enable applications to be processed more efficiently: The BSR has recruited additional personnel and they are starting to process applications; the department has granted funding to HSE this financial year to improve its infrastructure, training and processes to maximise the BSR’s efficiency and effectiveness; MHCLG and the BSR are also reviewing how the multidisciplinary teams which assess applications are resourced to enable faster stand-up times; the Government has invested in new local authority building control inspectors to support the BSR; the Government has provided funding to support additional Fire and Rescue (FRS) staff to support the BSR and work to recruit and train these additional staff is well underway.