Peter Bedford

Paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code states: ‘the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority’. This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention. Authority to make such disclosures is rarely given.

The Environment Agency undertakes a programme of ecological, water quality and chemical monitoring on the Somerset Frome according to the requirements defined by the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 (WFD). This provides an understanding of the overall Ecological Status of the river.

The WFD monitoring classification shows the ecological rating of rivers in the Mid Leicestershire constituency as follows:

• The Grand Union Canal, Leicester Line, summit to Aylestone is rated as Good
• The Lubbesthorpe Brook Catchment (tributary of Soar) is rated as Moderate
• The Quorn Brook Catchment (tributary of Soar) is rated as Moderate
• The Rothley Brook Catchment (tributary of Soar) is rated as Moderate
• The Eye / Wreake from Langham Brook to Soar is rated as Poor
• The Soar from Sence to Rothley Brook is rated as Poor.

This information is publicly available on England Catchment Data Explorer.

Delivering reliable and affordable public transport services for passengers is one of the Government’s top priorities and we know how important this is for passengers and for local growth. The Government is urgently considering the most effective and affordable ways to deliver on these objectives.

An estimated 70,000 people in Mid Leicestershire constituency will be affected by the change to Winter Fuel Payments. This is the estimated number of people in Mid Leicestershire constituency that will no longer receive Winter Fuel Payment as they do not claim Pension Credit.

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Mid Leicestershire from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Mid Leicestershire (using the latest statistics, sources shown below).

Please note that following boundary changes to Parliamentary Constituency, data on Mid Leicestershire constituency is not explicitly available/ published. To obtain the above figure, local authority data on Blaby, Charnwood and Hinckley & Bosworth have been combined. Therefore, the above figure of 70,000 is likely to be an overestimate as the Mid Leicestershire constituency consists of some wards of the boroughs of Blaby, Charnwood and Hinckley & Bosworth.

Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it’s a couple claiming Pension Credit).

Furthermore, the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies.

Sources used:

winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)

Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk)

We are aware of reports of Hamas using healthcare facilities and other infrastructure, such as schools, as bases and command nodes. UNRWA has condemned the use of UN facilities by any party to the conflict for military and fighting purposes. All parties must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.

FCDO has systems in place to monitor how UK funding is safeguarded against aid diversion. Measures include rigorous due diligence assessments, thorough and regular risk management assessments, and clauses on preventing aid diversion in our Memoranda of Understandings and agreements with partners. We continuously monitor our programmes and partners, including through annual review processes. We coordinate closely with our partners and any concerns about misappropriation of aid are proactively raised to us.

The Government does not publish such estimates.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation is published by the Government in table ASY D_11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Government is committed to the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Our aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather than falling.

Our proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework include setting a clear expectation that housing needs assessments must consider the needs of those requiring Social Rent homes, and that local authorities should specify their expectations on Social Rent delivery as part of broader affordable housing policies.

We have asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise the number of Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding. The Government has started to review the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012, on which we will bring forward more details and secondary legislation to implement changes in the autumn. We have also announced new flexibilities for how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts to deliver replacement homes; these flexibilities will be in place for an initial 24 months, subject to review.

We are committed to setting out details of future Government investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review.

Local authorities should already be working together when preparing development plans under the current plan making system as the Duty to Cooperate remains in place.

The consultation on proposed reforms to the NPPF published on 31 July included proposals to strengthen co-operation between local authorities on the sharing of unmet housing need and other strategic issues.

It also sought views on our proposed intention to introduce mandatory mechanisms for cross-boundary co-operation with a view to moving to a model of universal strategic planning coverage within the next five years.

The change to the Standard Determinate Sentence release point was the only option to prevent the imminent collapse of the Criminal Justice System and ensure we protect the public.

The amended release point is applicable to eligible sentences only. Certain offences have been excluded from this change. This includes sex offences irrespective of sentence length; serious violent offences with a sentence of four years or more; specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length (including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation); as well as offences concerning national security. The change will also not apply to sentences subject to release at the discretion of the Parole Board or to offences which currently attract automatic release from an SDS at the two-thirds point (certain serious sexual and violent offences).

Some offenders will have a mixture of eligible and ineligible offences. Whether an offender is released early or not depends on their other sentences, and how they were imposed by the court to be served consecutively or concurrently.

The number of revised releases for those currently in custody are being recalculated to ensure probation and prison staff have time to prepare proper plans for their release. This data is being provided at local authority level to align with service provider boundaries, and therefore is not being provided at a constituency level.