Rosena Allin-Khan

The additional consumer rights provided to travellers under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (“PTRs”) have played an important role in ensuring consumers are supported through supplier insolvencies. The Department is currently working with stakeholders and consumer representatives to review the framework and identify whether it can be further strengthened. This has taken the form of:

• a Call for Evidence,
• stakeholder engagement sessions and,
• consumer research.

Our conclusions from this evidence gathering will be published in due course. Separately, the Department for Transport is continuing work with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) exploring how the ATOL scheme should operate in the future.

The rights provided under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangement Regulations 2018 (PTRs) have been key to resolving many consumer issues in recent years- including supplier insolvencies. DBT is looking to expand options for businesses to protect consumer deposits, while working with stakeholders and consumer organisations to identify whether the framework can be further strengthened.

In relation to ATOL, the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Transport. The ATOL Regulations have provided valued protection to consumers for over 50 years. The Department for Transport is continuing work with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) exploring how the ATOL scheme should operate in the future.

DBT is implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act which strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the CMA new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties.

The Act also updates the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, setting out new ‘banned practices’ relating to the buying, selling, and publishing of fake consumer reviews and prohibiting ‘drip pricing’.

The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill was introduced on 4 September and aims to address the gap in consumer protections which allow online marketplaces to facilitate the sale of unsafe and illegal products.

DBT supports broader government efforts to tackle fraud through its funding of Citizens Advice and National Trading Standards to advise on and enforce consumer law, including fraud.

DBT is also implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which strengthens consumer law enforcement powers and introduces significant new monetary penalties to better deter wrongdoers.

Through the Consumer Protection Partnership, Citizens Advice run an annual Scams Awareness campaign to give consumers the skills to identify scams, share their experiences and gain the confidence to report scams. The next campaign, focusing on financial scams launches on 21 October.

The Government wants all areas of the UK, including London, to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage. Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025.

Vodafone, Virgin Media O2 and BT/EE have all launched standalone 5G services in London.

We work closely with the mobile industry and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they become aware of it. This includes content that intentionally encourages or assists suicide and self-harm, including eating disorder behaviours. User-to-user services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering this material.

Search services also have targeted duties that focus on minimising the risk of all users encountering illegal suicide and self-harm search content, and children from harmful but legal suicide and self-harm content.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they become aware of it. This includes content that intentionally encourages or assists suicide and self-harm, including eating disorder behaviours. User-to-user services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering this material.

Search services also have targeted duties that focus on minimising the risk of all users encountering illegal suicide and self-harm search content, and children from harmful but legal suicide and self-harm content.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high quality childcare is a priority for this government. Our focus in reforming the system will be to ensure that there are greater and more equal opportunities to access early education for every family, and that there are greater opportunities for children to thrive and develop. As an initial step, we are progressing work to deliver new places in 3,000 nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools.

Families that are not eligible for the childcare entitlements for working parents may be entitled to other forms of support, including the 15 hours entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds and the 15 hours universal entitlement for three and four year olds. The universal entitlement is available to all parents of three and four year olds, regardless of income or immigration status. In terms of the disadvantaged two year olds entitlement, parents do not need to work to claim this entitlement. However, they will need to be claiming certain benefits and have a household net income of less than £15,400 per year. All two year olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, those in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and looked after children are eligible regardless of household income. Some two year olds with ‘no recourse to public funds’ immigration status may also be eligible subject to different income thresholds.

Working families claiming universal credit can also claim up to 84% of the childcare costs back through Universal Credit Childcare. This offer can be used alongside the entitlements set out above.

We will be undertaking a comprehensive evaluation programme of the expansion of childcare entitlements for working parents which will explore how families not eligible for the new entitlements experience finding and accessing childcare, including the associated costs. Further, the impact evaluation will assess how the expansion has impacted upon the quality of childcare provision and children’s development, for all children, and wider family outcomes. As per Government Social Research guidelines, evaluation findings will be available within 12 weeks of the projects being finalised. We expect the first to be available from spring 2026.

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.

Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.

Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.

The Environment Agency are responsible for the regulation of the environmental permit held by Reston Waste Management at 77 Weir Road. After being notified of the fire late on Saturday 7 September by the London Fire Brigade (LFB), Environment Agency staff worked throughout the weekend with LFB to review potential impacts to air, land and water. As the incident continued, the Environment Agency provided advice to LFB and London Boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth regarding impacts to the environment and maintained input via multi-agency meetings. Environment Agency staff attended the site on Tuesday 10th September following a large number of complaints about the smoke from the fire. Their attendance ensured that waste was being managed appropriately and no longer causing a discharge to enter the River Wandle.

Officers from the Environment Agency are in regular contact with the Cllrs in Merton and Wandsworth whose Wards were affected by the fire, along with officers from those boroughs. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Environment Agency, alongside those partners. They will be working with the fire brigade to understand the cause of the fire, and the reasons why it took so long to extinguish. The London Borough of Merton is leading a formal multi-agency review of the incident and the Environment Agency will feed into this review. Alongside this, the Environment Agency is assessing the actions taken by Restons Waste Management, to understand if any more could have reasonably been done to prevent or mitigate the effects of the fire.

This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our road safety strategy, and will set out more details in due course.

This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course.

Ensuring a decent foundation State Pension for pensioners is a priority for this Government. That is why we have set out our commitment to the Triple Lock, which will substantially improve outcomes for current and future pensioners.

There are already other benefits for those who are disabled, Attendance Allowance (AA) provides additional financial support towards the extra costs faced by those over State Pension age (SPa) with a severe disability who have care needs. It is neither means-tested, nor based on National Insurance contributions paid and recipients can choose how they wish to spend it.

Those already in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment when they reach SPa can continue to receive those benefits. They are not obliged to switch to claiming AA.

Disability benefits open the door to additional amounts in means tested support, receipt of a disability benefit can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes and to Carer’s Allowance for the person providing care for them.

The Motability scheme is open to recipients of enhanced mobility Personal Independence Payment, higher rate mobility Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment.

Attendance Allowance does not have a mobility component for those whose needs arise after State Pension age. This is because it is expected that many older people will develop mobility issues as part of the ageing process. Eligible benefits such as DLA or PIP are awarded to individuals under pensionable age and, as long as entitlement conditions remain satisfied, the mobility component can continue to be paid beyond State Pension age.

There are no current plans to include Attendance Allowance as an eligible benefit for the Scheme.

The Government is taking action to improve the efficacy and efficiency of NHS Pathways across the health system.

The NHS Pathways clinical content and assessment protocols are consistent with the latest advice from the respected bodies that provide evidence and guidance for medical practice. In particular, NHS Pathways is concordant with the latest guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the UK Resuscitation Council, and the UK Sepsis Trust.

The NHS Pathways Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) is a triage product used to support urgent and emergency care in England, and is embedded in NHS 111 and 999 telephony service, and NHS 111 online. It is continuously reviewed to ensure it remains safe, effective, and efficient. The system is developed and maintained by a group of experienced National Health Service clinicians with an urgent and emergency care background. The safety of the clinical triage process is overseen by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the relevant royal colleges, and clinical professional groups endorse and approve the CDSS.

The NHS triages patients waiting for elective care, including surgeries, through clinical prioritisation, ensuring the order in which patients are seen reflects clinical judgement on need as well as taking into account overall wait time.

The Government is taking action to improve efficacy and efficiency of NHS Pathways across the health system. The recently published Elective Reform Plan commits to reforming outpatient care through clinical pathway transformation. Reform will include doing more activity in the community and increasing the opportunities for patients to be referred straight to diagnostic tests without the need to first see a consultant, reducing unnecessary follow-up appointments and freeing up clinical time for those who need it most. The Elective Reform Plan also makes changes to advice and guidance to support more patients being cared for outside of hospitals, avoiding 800,000 unnecessary referrals each year.

The Government is committed to National Health Service dental services being available for all those who need them. Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet one of the following criteria:

• under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education;
• pregnant or had a baby in the previous 12 months;
• being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges; and
• receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits.

Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission of dental patient charges. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/

The National Health Service contracts independent dental providers to deliver NHS dental treatment. Dentists must make clear which treatments can be provided on the NHS and which can only be provided on a private basis, and the costs associated for each. If a patient decides to choose alternative private options, this should be included in their treatment plan.

The Department and NHS England do not control the cost of private dental or orthodontic treatment.

Healthcare services at HMP Wandsworth underwent inspection, jointly undertaken by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and the Care Quality Commission, in May 2024. The joint inspectorate noted that improvements had been made across the provision of healthcare since the last inspection. The full report is available at the following link:

https://hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_reports/hmp-wandsworth-3/

NHS England continues to monitor service provision and the quality of the healthcare service, meeting with the healthcare provider on a quarterly basis to discuss quality and assurance matters. Quality and assurance visits to the service are also taking place, attended by the Lead Commissioner and Clinical Quality Lead.

The UK National Screening Committee is currently reviewing the evidence surrounding breast density in screening.

Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for NHS England. To support early detection and diagnosis, the National Health Service carries out approximately 2.1 million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.

We have repeatedly condemned Taliban restrictions on women and girls' rights, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions. As the Foreign Secretary has said, exclusion of women from all aspects of public life is a tragic setback for Afghanistan. Officials from the Doha-based UK Mission to Afghanistan continue to press Taliban acting ministers and Afghan officials on human rights abuses in Afghanistan, including the most recent ban on female medical education. Our current £161 million aid programme provides vital life-saving support to the country's most vulnerable people, including access to healthcare and education. We are committed that at least 50 percent of people reached with UK aid in Afghanistan will be women and girls.

Eligibility is assessed on a per person rather than per household basis because the application is made by the individual, it aligns to the existing boundary in the tax system and means there is no incentive for the lower earner in the household to reduce their income in order to be eligible. The eligibility criteria are kept under review.

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016, and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and is determined that support should be focused on people who need it most. The aim of existing Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) exemptions for recipients of some disability benefits is to provide additional help for people who become disabled early, or relatively early, in life and as a result experience economic disadvantage. These allowances are therefore only available to people who become disabled before State Pension age.

For individuals who develop a disability after State Pension age, Attendance Allowance (AA) is a non-means-tested benefit which provides targeted help with the extra costs of disability and helps them maintain their independence. Unlike Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, AA does not have a mobility component and is intended to cover the need for care or supervision an individual requires as a result of their disability rather than specific mobility needs. Individuals can however choose to use their AA to fund mobility aids.

The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process, and the Chancellor makes decisions at fiscal events in the context of public finances.

The Home Office is developing a border and immigration system that is more digital and streamlined. eVisas - which over 6 million people have been successfully using for several years - are a key part of this transformation and will enhance people's experience and increase the immigration system's security and efficiency.

We continue to deliver a wide range of communications activity to raise awareness of eVisas, both in the UK and overseas.

We have undertaken extensive engagement with foreign governments in conjunction with the FCDO to raise awareness of the transition to eVisas and the phasing out of physical immigration documents. Our Engagement Team have met with Embassies and High Commissions and produced communication materials to assist with this transition.

We have also delivered a significant eVisa communications campaign, which has encouraged holders of physical immigration documents to take action to access their eVisa, and key elements of this have sought to reach an international audience. At key points in eVisa delivery throughout 2024, the Home Office communications team issued eVisa announcement press notices to diaspora media and international journalists, and held three press briefings to which international media were invited. This activity resulted in wide-ranging international eVisa media coverage.

We recognise that the transition to eVisas may affect some countries’ internal processes where verification of UK immigration status may be required. We have informed other Governments that a person can do this through a share code, a physical document confirming their UK status or permission, a screen from a person’s UKVI account, or a copy of a letter or email sent to the person when their status or permission was granted. It is a matter for individual countries to set their own policies but we have engaged with them, through FCDO, about what the transition to eVisa means, and continue to do so. We advise that people check what individual countries’ requirements are before travelling or applying for a visa.

The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 7 January.

Neighbourhood policing sits at the heart of the British policing model. It is a critical building block in helping communities feel safe.

That is why we are introducing the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, restoring patrols to town centres and recruiting thousands of extra police officers, PCSOs and Special Constables, and we will set out further details in due course.

We understand that many leaseholders are frustrated by the limits of qualifying status set out in the Building Safety Act.

The principle of the leaseholder protection package is to protect leaseholders living in their own homes in unsafe buildings. They also seek to balance the rights of leaseholders who own additional properties with those freeholders (not connected with the developer) who, like the leaseholders, were innocent in the creation of the emerging defects.

To achieve this balance a threshold was set at ownership of up to three properties in total, to cover those individuals who had purchased properties primarily to live in. The inclusion of up to three properties was aimed at giving protection to, for example, those who had been unable to sell flats that they had been forced to move out of, e.g. because of a growing family.

The Government has committed to review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and take steps to accelerate the pace of remediation across the country.

In the meantime, there is a range of support for those leaseholders whose lease does not qualify for protection under Part 5 of the Building Safety Act 2022. This includes support with cladding remediation and protection for their principal residence on 14 February 2022 if it is in a relevant building above 11 metres or five storeys.

Additional netting is one of a number of measures that HMP Wandsworth is seeking to progress in the coming months, in order to address the shortcomings that have been identified by HM Inspectorate of Prisons

HM Prison & Probation Service is continuing to work collaboratively with the Metropolitan Police to ensure appropriate sharing of intelligence to support the apprehension of those involved in drone use.

We are committed to ensuring that parties to private law children cases in the family courts are protected from harm and that the welfare of the child is always the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions about children’s lives.

The Ministry of Justice published a delivery update in May 2023 which outlined the progress made against the recommendations of the Final Report on Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases. This can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/646e0e577dd6e7000ca9b2f8/harm-panel-delivery-update.pdf.

We will now take the time to consider what more should be done to ensure that children and families are kept safe and supported throughout the family justice system.

The welfare of a child must be the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions about a child’s life. This is known as the welfare principle. Prior to the application of the presumption of parental involvement, the court is legally obliged to assess if a parent poses a risk of harm to the child - if their involvement would pose a risk to the child, the presumption does not apply.

The Ministry of Justice has undertaken evidence gathering on the presumption of parental involvement, focused on its application in the family court. We will publish the evidence and proposed next steps in due course.

As part of our commitment to ensuring the justice system is designed to put victims and survivors first, including those who have experienced domestic abuse, we are carefully considering the next steps for supporting victims and survivors across the justice system, including in the family court. We are working across departments to ensure that victims and survivors are supported and that children are kept safe.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ findings at HMP Wandsworth are deeply concerning. My right Hon. Friend, the Lord Chancellor, is determined to drive improvement at the prison and will publish her response to the Urgent Notification as soon as possible.