Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulations for managing agents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of restoring Birmingham’s Cross City service to four trains per hour on the economy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
West Midlands Trains (WMT) are working on the feasibility of increasing CrossCity line services where the infrastructure allows, and the business case for such an increase will be expected to include the impact on passengers, taxpayers and the economy.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 has she made of the adequacy of local authority powers to ensure that vacant rental properties are made available for new tenancies.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.
Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found here.
The government expects social housing landlords to manage their stock efficiently, ensuring that vacant properties are made available where possible.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Yemen on the restriction of freedom of religion or belief for Baha’is in that country; and whether the John Bunyan Fund for Freedom of Religion and Belief will be used to assist people facing persecution.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, and our programme funding, including the FCDO John Bunyan Fund (JBF), a designated programme for FoRB-focused overseas projects.
The FCDO works to ensure that Official Development Assistance is allocated to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. This includes minority religious or belief communities, who are assessed by our partners when determining those most in need of protection and assistance.
We track the treatment of the Bahá'ís in Yemen closely, including through meeting their representatives in the UK and lobbying the relevant authorities. We continue to condemn the continued persecution of the Bahá'ís and other religious minorities in Yemen.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to continue supporting local authorities with large shares of exempt supported accommodation in their areas through the supported housing improvement programme.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Future spending on specific programmes in 2025-26, including for the Supported Housing Improvement Programme (SHIP), is yet to be determined. SHIP local authorities will be notified as soon as possible.
The government is currently consulting on proposals for implementing the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. The consultation closes on 15 May. Following this, the responses will be analysed before regulations are drafted and consulted on. We are continuing to engage closely with the sector as we work to implement the Act.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress has she made in implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Future spending on specific programmes in 2025-26, including for the Supported Housing Improvement Programme (SHIP), is yet to be determined. SHIP local authorities will be notified as soon as possible.
The government is currently consulting on proposals for implementing the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. The consultation closes on 15 May. Following this, the responses will be analysed before regulations are drafted and consulted on. We are continuing to engage closely with the sector as we work to implement the Act.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of employees of NHS England: Midlands are in the (a) ESM 1, (b) ESM 2, (c) ESM 3 and (d) ESM 4 salary bands.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Of the 961 staff employed in the NHS England Midlands region, 2.3% of employees in the region are at Executive Senior Manager (ESM) grades, none of whom are at ESM4. The following table shows the number and proportion of staff in the NHS England Midlands region who are at ESM grades, as of end of February 2025:
Grade | Number of staff | Percentage of regional staff |
ESM1 | 16 | 1.7% |
ESM2 | 5 | 0.5% |
ESM3 | 1 | 0.1% |
ESM4 | 0 | 0.0% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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 help tackle hate crimes based on religion in (a) the West Midlands, (b) Birmingham and (c) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 37961 on 20 March 2025.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure effective prosecutions in cases of violence against women and girls in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a national emergency and through the Safer Streets Mission, this Government will deliver on our ambition to halve VAWG in a decade. A key part will be delivering effective prosecutions, and we continue to see improvements in the prosecution of VAWG offences.
As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is continuing to transform its approach to adult rape prosecution through the implementation of its new national operating model, based on robust evidence from Operation Soteria. Through this work, the CPS has seen substantial increases in referral, charge, and prosecution volumes for adult rape.
These improvements have also informed the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan with policing which launched in November 2024. Better partnership with policing has already led to modest initial increases in domestic abuse referrals, setting a strong foundation for future improvements.
To address the increasingly complexity of VAWG offending and the holistic needs of victims, the CPS will also begin implementation of its 2025-30 VAWG strategy this spring. This will ensure prosecutors have the right skills and tools to prosecute VAWG effectively.
I was delighted to give a keynote address at a joint CPS, Home Office, and National Police Chiefs’ Council conference on tackling honour-based abuse held in Birmingham last week. On the same day, I met with the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the West Midlands and the Area’s Victim Liaison Unit and heard directly from CPS staff about the critical work they are doing to prosecute VAWG offences.
In the West Midlands police force area in 2023-24, the CPS prosecuted 1,596 domestic abuse flagged cases (an increase from 1,543 in 2022-23), 135 rape flagged cases (an increase from 108 in 2022-23), and 419 sexual offences (excluding rape flagged) cases (an increase from 295 in 2022-23).
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure effective prosecution rates (a) serious and (b) violent crime in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Reducing serious and violent crime is integral to this Government’s Safer Streets Mission and commitment to halve knife crime in a decade.
Our new Crime and Policing Bill will back our police by giving them enhanced and tougher powers to keep our streets safe, to tackle anti-social behaviour, and to crack down on knife crime.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes serious and violent crime robustly, providing early investigative advice on complex and serious offending to build strong cases and deliver justice for victims.
The CPS is working with cross-government partners to support the delivery of the Safer Streets Mission, and all CPS guidance and training is kept under constant review to ensure front-line prosecutors are equipped to prosecute these serious offences. Serious and violent crime encompasses many different types of crime but is more commonly associated with drug crime, knife crime, gun crime, and homicide.
In 2023-2024, the CPS prosecuted the following serious and violent offences in the West Midlands Police force area, in which the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency is located:
1,249 defendants for drug offences under the principal category offence for drugs (which includes possession of controlled drugs, supplying or offering to supply controlled drugs, unlawful importation of controlled drugs, and manufacturing a scheduled substance) (up from 942 in 2022-23).
1,645 offences for possession of a knife under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (up from 1,408 in 2022-23).
189 offences under the Firearms Act 1968 (up from 117 in 2022-23).
124 defendants were prosecuted for homicide offences under the principal offence category for homicide (which includes offences of murder, attempted murder, causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult, child destruction, conspiring or soliciting to commit murder and causing death by dangerous or careless driving) (up from 73 in 2022-23).