Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reforming the non-qualifying leaseholder status for building remediation funding.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of consumer protection provided by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
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:
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of consumer protection provided by (a) package travel and (b) ATOL regulations.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of healthcare provision in HMP Wandsworth.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 improve the quality of healthcare provision across the prison estate.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s Health and Justice Oversight Delivery Group is responsible for governance and oversight of delivery and continuous improvement in health and justice commissioned services.
NHS England, via the regional health and justice teams, has regular meetings with prison healthcare providers to ensure the quality of the services that are provided. These are also supplemented with local partnership boards, where governors, commissioners, and providers meet to discuss any issues, risks, and areas of concern.
NHS England also works closely with the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to identify themes, trends, and learning from recommendations made as part of the investigations into deaths in custody, and also takes learning and insights around preventable events from preventing future deaths reports and commissioner-led complaints.
NHS England is undertaking a review of health and justice service specifications to ensure they remain fit for purpose in relation to patient needs, developments in health and justice, and the wider National Health Service. This review includes engagement with lived experience, commissioners, providers, clinical leads, partner organisations, and stakeholders, along with NHS England directorates. This review of service specifications may also provide opportunities for the improvement of the provision of services. It is expected that publication of the refreshed specifications will start in 2025, and will be fully complete by the end of March 2026.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including breast density in medical data collection, in the context of diagnosing breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 improve the rate of breast cancer diagnoses for women with asymptomatic breast density.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the correspondence of 12 and 26 September 2024 from the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending to the hon Member for Tooting on HMP Wandsworth, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of installing protective netting in HMP Wandsworth to prevent drone incursions.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve road safety for (a) cyclists and (b) pedestrians.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of strengthening legal penalties for motorists at fault in hit-and-run incidents.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.