Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of recipients of Disabled Facilities Grants according to the latest figures available waited longer than the statutory deadline of 12 months for the work to be completed after approval of an application.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Disabled Facilities Grant is administered by local authorities who determine their own application processes in line with their statutory duties.
Government collects Disabled Facilities Grant data from local authorities through a voluntary annual data collection. This includes information on average delivery times at key stages of the grant process. Nearly 97% of councils reported that their average time frame for approving valid applications was within the 6-month legal timeframe. Nearly 98% of councils reported that their average time to complete works was within the 12-month deadline.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the Disabled Facilities Grant application process is accessible and responsive to applicants’ needs. Government guidance encourages local authorities to meet faster best practice timelines and provides information on making the application process accessible and responsive.
The Government continues to work with local authorities and the national body for Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Improvement Agencies, currently Foundations, to support effective delivery of the Disabled Facilities Grant.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of applications for Disabled Facilities Grants according to the latest figures available were approved or rejected within the statutory deadline of 6 months.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Disabled Facilities Grant is administered by local authorities who determine their own application processes in line with their statutory duties.
Government collects Disabled Facilities Grant data from local authorities through a voluntary annual data collection. This includes information on average delivery times at key stages of the grant process. Nearly 97% of councils reported that their average time frame for approving valid applications was within the 6-month legal timeframe. Nearly 98% of councils reported that their average time to complete works was within the 12-month deadline.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the Disabled Facilities Grant application process is accessible and responsive to applicants’ needs. Government guidance encourages local authorities to meet faster best practice timelines and provides information on making the application process accessible and responsive.
The Government continues to work with local authorities and the national body for Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Improvement Agencies, currently Foundations, to support effective delivery of the Disabled Facilities Grant.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the government has made of the accessibility of the process of applying for a Disabled Facilities Grant.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Disabled Facilities Grant is administered by local authorities who determine their own application processes in line with their statutory duties.
Government collects Disabled Facilities Grant data from local authorities through a voluntary annual data collection. This includes information on average delivery times at key stages of the grant process. Nearly 97% of councils reported that their average time frame for approving valid applications was within the 6-month legal timeframe. Nearly 98% of councils reported that their average time to complete works was within the 12-month deadline.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the Disabled Facilities Grant application process is accessible and responsive to applicants’ needs. Government guidance encourages local authorities to meet faster best practice timelines and provides information on making the application process accessible and responsive.
The Government continues to work with local authorities and the national body for Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Improvement Agencies, currently Foundations, to support effective delivery of the Disabled Facilities Grant.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that women experiencing rough sleeping are identified and supported as part of the Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On his first day in office, the Prime Minister launched an urgent national drive to end rough sleeping. We have announced £442 million new funding to support this ambition, taking total investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years to over £4 billion.
The Government recognises that women experiencing rough sleeping are often less visible and may be at greater risk of violence, abuse and exploitation. Local areas are encouraged to work proactively with specialist women’s services, domestic abuse and violence against women and girls services, health partners and community organisations to identify and support women who may be sleeping rough or at risk of doing so. Further guidance on how local authorities are expected to support women through the Rough Sleeping Programme can be found here: Rough Sleeping Programme Guidance - GOV.UK
You can find data about the number of women sleeping rough in England on gov.uk here. Since June 2025 we have included a question on the number of women sleeping rough in our monthly rough sleeping survey. The annual rough sleeping snapshot also includes data on the number of women estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in England. In addition to our official rough sleeping statistics, we continue to gather information from a variety of sources to understand women’s rough sleeping, including the Women’s Census.
Through the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, we are providing £37 million over three years to support specialist organisations that work with women facing some of the greatest barriers to accessing support.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that women sleeping rough are identified and included in the Government’s commitment to get everyone in by Christmas.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On his first day in office, the Prime Minister launched an urgent national drive to end rough sleeping. We have announced £442 million new funding to support this ambition, taking total investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years to over £4 billion.
The Government recognises that women experiencing rough sleeping are often less visible and may be at greater risk of violence, abuse and exploitation. Local areas are encouraged to work proactively with specialist women’s services, domestic abuse and violence against women and girls services, health partners and community organisations to identify and support women who may be sleeping rough or at risk of doing so. Further guidance on how local authorities are expected to support women through the Rough Sleeping Programme can be found here: Rough Sleeping Programme Guidance - GOV.UK
You can find data about the number of women sleeping rough in England on gov.uk here. Since June 2025 we have included a question on the number of women sleeping rough in our monthly rough sleeping survey. The annual rough sleeping snapshot also includes data on the number of women estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in England. In addition to our official rough sleeping statistics, we continue to gather information from a variety of sources to understand women’s rough sleeping, including the Women’s Census.
Through the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, we are providing £37 million over three years to support specialist organisations that work with women facing some of the greatest barriers to accessing support.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made a decision on the steps it plans to take to develop the pilots with Centrepoint of the Upstream youth homelessness prevention programme.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government recognises that targeted support within schools can play a major role in identifying young people at higher risk of homelessness and providing support to them and their families at a much earlier stage. We continue to engage with Centrepoint on their Upstream pilots as part of our work to prevent youth homelessness.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 merits of changing the Industry Code to ensure that a parking fine is automatically cancelled where a motorist is able to provide evidence of mitigating circumstances.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan
The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities, which will replace the existing Sector Single Code of Practice. The Department consulted on the Code of Practice last year, including on mitigating circumstances that would warrant the cancellation of a parking charge. Consultation responses are currently being considered, and the Government’s response will be published alongside the new statutory Code of Practice in the autumn.
The Department consulted on the effectiveness of the current enforcement regime in the Parking Code Enforcement Framework consultation in 2021. The government response can be found here Parking code enforcement framework: consultation response - GOV.UK. To address the issues of transparency and the lack of independence, the Government is developing a Certification Scheme to hold operators accountable for not adhering to standards in the Code.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 effectiveness of the use of sanctions by trade associations on private parking operators where they breach the Industry Code.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan
The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities, which will replace the existing Sector Single Code of Practice. The Department consulted on the Code of Practice last year, including on mitigating circumstances that would warrant the cancellation of a parking charge. Consultation responses are currently being considered, and the Government’s response will be published alongside the new statutory Code of Practice in the autumn.
The Department consulted on the effectiveness of the current enforcement regime in the Parking Code Enforcement Framework consultation in 2021. The government response can be found here Parking code enforcement framework: consultation response - GOV.UK. To address the issues of transparency and the lack of independence, the Government is developing a Certification Scheme to hold operators accountable for not adhering to standards in the Code.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's document entitled Summary of the local government reorganisation process, published on 25 July 2025, if he will help support incoming shadow authorities to ensure that contracts that have been novated are fiscally deliverable for providers.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government continues to provide guidance and support to councils throughout the reorganisation process. We have issued explanatory guidance to councils undergoing local government reorganisation on Financial decisions before local government reorganisations and further guidance on decision making. We are working with the Local Government Association and other sector organisations to ensure appropriate support is provided at all stages.
Local authorities are independent financial bodies, and their assets and liabilities, including contracts, will move to new councils. Decisions on service delivery, contracts and if there is any renegotiation of terms with providers, will be a matter for individual local authorities as needed.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 ensure that local councils provide homelessness assistance to children to prevent them being forced to sleep rough.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I wrote to council leaders and chief executives on Wednesday 25 February setting out local authorities’ legal duties to homeless families with children under the Housing Act 1996 and Children Act 1989. This letter made it clear that a child should never be sleeping rough. A household with a child has priority need for the purposes of the Housing Act 1996. Eligible homeless households with children must be accommodated under section 188, and in some circumstances under section 190(2) or 193 of the Act.