Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 plans to publish the findings of the urgent review into foreign financial interference in politics in their entirety.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In December, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced an independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. The review findings will be delivered to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Security Minister by the end of March 2026.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government will ensure that Mr Rycroft’s report is made available to Parliament at the earliest opportunity after it is received.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 the introduction of mandatory online booking systems does not mean the withdrawal of other options such as face to face receptions and phone calls.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate against patients or staff.
This means that a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally, including those with mental health conditions or language barriers. These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Advertising Standards Authority on the print size of the costs of phone lines on advertising in relation to the main body of the advertisement.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
My Department meets regularly with representatives of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on a range of matters.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent regulator for advertising in the UK and enforces the ‘CAP Code’ and ‘BCAP Code’, which set the standards for non-broadcast and broadcast advertising, respectively. These codes include specific rules intended to protect consumers from misleading marketing communications. If advertising includes the omission, exaggeration, or ambiguous presentation of information, for example in relation to prices, it can be considered misleading.
Further, Ofcom has overall responsibility for the regulation of non-geographic service numbers and premium rate services. Organisations using these numbers in broadcast and non-broadcast advertising must ensure that the service charge is displayed prominently and in close proximity to the number itself.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his department is taking to ensure that publicly available court information is not fragmented or incomplete, in the context of the deletion of the court desk archive.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There has been no deletion of the Courtsdesk archive of courts lists. Courtdesk does not hold courts records. We recognise that the ability for journalists to access and search courts lists in a single place is helpful. We are doing three things to improve the way in which magistrates’ and Crown court lists are made available. First, we have launched a market engagement exercise for new providers to apply to reuse our data under a new licensing regime (which would be open to Courtsdesk to apply for). Second, we have met Courtsdesk with a view to potentially re-establishing their service, provided they can demonstrate they will comply with data protection requirements. Third, by the end of March we will be expanding the Court and Tribunal Hearings (CaTH) service, an online portal which allows journalists, professional users and the public to access and search court-related information, to include magistrates’ and Crown court lists alongside the civil, family and tribunal hearing lists already published.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 proposed police reforms on the integration of Mayoral Combined Authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Reform White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, represents the most significant reforms to policing in England and Wales since the service was professionalised nearly 200 years ago. Proposals will focus local forces on local crime, while strengthening our ability to tackle serious and organised crime and threats to national security by creating a new national force, the National Police Service. The White Paper also sets out an ambition to significantly reduce the number of police forces by the end of the next Parliament.
As part of these reforms, the Police and Crime Commissioner Model will be abolished at the end of their current term of office in May 2028. We will transfer policing governance to mayors of strategic authorities wherever possible, or to elected council leaders where it is not, through Policing and Crime Boards.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when will her department plans to publish the Economic Diplomacy Review.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The findings from this and other reviews were used to inform the strategy for the department's FCDO2030 reform programme, as set out in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's published annual report.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recourse to action patients who have had scheduled operations cancelled by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, citing funding pauses, have in order to secure the surgeries they need at the earliest opportunity.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to putting patients first by ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care. Since this Government came into office, the waiting list for routine appointments, operations and procedures in England has been cut by 225,852. This is despite 28.4 million referrals onto the waiting list.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) have existing contractual powers to manage activity by providers, which were enhanced in 2025/26 with central support for setting and managing activity. Commissioners’ use of these powers support systems to live within their means and to deploy better financial discipline than previous years where systems have overspent.
We expect use of activity management provisions by local systems to support efforts in achieving the goal of at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026 whilst living within financial budgets set for 2025/26.
All trusts are expected to have their own safeguards to ensure that patients waiting for planned care are triaged, and that appointments take place according to clinical priority and the length of time patients have waited, avoiding risk of serious complications. Patients have the right to request their local ICB find an alternative provider when they have been waiting, or expect to wait, over 18 weeks to begin treatment for consultant-led care.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has to establish a public health task force to review the incorporation of public health better into the legislative framework for water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Independent Water Commission was tasked with producing recommendations to fundamentally transform how our water system works and delivered its final report on 21 July 2025.
The Government is considering recommendations, including those on public health to ensure environmental improvement and public health risks are better managed in the water system.
The Government will respond in full via a White Paper, and a new water reform bill will be introduced during this Parliament.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to cap ground rents for leasehold properties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 99005 on 5 January 2026.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to commence secondary legislation for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has already made significant progress when it comes to commencing provisions in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024:
The government recognises the considerable financial strain that rising service charges place on leaseholders and tenants. The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building. By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Overcharging through service charges is completely unacceptable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.
On 4 July 2025, the government published a consultation, jointly with the Welsh Government, on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. The consultation included proposals to increase transparency over service charges and enhance access to redress through the relevant provisions in the Act. It also proposed new reforms the section 20 ‘major works’ procedure. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. It closed on 26 September 2025, and we are analysing responses with a view to bringing the relevant measures into force as quickly as possible.
On 18 December 2025, the government launched a consultation on proposals to implement the Act’s new consumer protections for homeowners living on freehold estates. These include ensuring that homeowners who pay an estate management charge have better access to information they need to understand what they are paying for, the right to challenge the reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal (in England), and to go to the tribunal to appoint a substitute manager. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 12 March 2026. We will look to bring these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter.
The Act also sets the method for calculating the price of a statutory lease extension or freehold acquisition, known as the valuation process. It removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value, and allows government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium. Valuation rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation. We will consult on valuation rates and commence the relevant provisions as soon as possible. As per my Written Ministerial Statement of 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), primary legislation will be required to rectify a small number of specific flaws in the 2024 Act before the Act’s enfranchisement provisions are commenced.