First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Siân Berry, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Siân Berry has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Siân Berry has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
A Bill to provide for the prohibition of the use of professional plant protection products by local authorities and other public authorities for amenity purposes; to require the Secretary of State to publish guidance in connection with that prohibition; and for connected purposes.
Microplastic filters (washing machines) Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Alberto Costa (Con)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 30/07/24 is attached.
The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has regular discussions with UK exporters on Open General Export Licences (OGELs) including the OGEL: exports in support of Joint Strike Fighter: F-35 Lightning II.
Exporters registered to OGELs have specific reporting obligations. More information on how ECJU works with exporters on OGELs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/open-general-export-licences-ogels.
Usage against Open General Export Licences (OGEL) is only recorded and held on an annual basis, and therefore it is not possible to report on the number of times an OGEL has been used from part way through the year.
The Export Control Joint Unit’s searchable database allows bespoke searches of published data to be conducted. This includes open licence usage broken down by specified year(s), separated by country; licence type; end user type and usage count. This database can be accessed at https://www.exportcontroldb.trade.gov.uk/sdb2/fox/sdb/. Please note that we do not publish open licence usage of specific companies.
L3Harris did not hold any of the Standard Individual Export Licence or Open Individual Export Licences that were suspended on 2 September 2024.
The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's report on grassroots music venues outlines our commitment to working across the live music sector to support grassroots music.
We urge the live music industry to introduce a voluntary ticket levy for stadium and arena shows, to support a sustainable grassroots music sector. I am writing to the major players in the industry to underline the importance of swift progress, and on the need to unblock any remaining barriers to an effective industry-led solution.
Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Music Fund, which provides grants, including to music venues and festivals.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not have policy responsibility for the Press Recognition Panel in order to ensure that there is no Government interference in its independent work.
The Government currently has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the press.
It is vital that the public have access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different media, and we are working across Government to consider these issues in the round.
The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. In England, since 2010, DCMS has directly provided over £1.5 billion to the youth sector - mainly through three large programmes: MyPlace (capital); National Citizen Service (revenue) and the Youth Investment Fund (capital and revenue).
Over the current Spending Review Period, DCMS is investing £500 million of revenue and capital funding in youth services to deliver the National Youth Guarantee. This is in addition to revenue funding provided through DCMS Public Bodies, such as Sport England, Arts Council England and the National Lottery Community Fund, and other government departments. We do not hold the breakdown of youth work funding from other government departments.
As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, Local Authorities have a statutory duty to ‘secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people’. Details of all Local Authorities’ annual spending on youth services in England can be found in Section 251 data published on gov.uk.
The devolved administration of Wales is responsible for their own youth services and we do not hold the data requested.
Statutory guidance on supporting pupils at school with medical conditions recommends the use of individual healthcare plans as good practice, as they can help schools to support pupils with medical conditions by providing clarity about what needs to be done when and by whom. The school, healthcare professionals and parents should agree, based on evidence, when a healthcare plan would be appropriate.
This statutory guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf. The department will keep this statutory guidance under review as we take forward our commitment to delivering an inclusive mainstream system.
Further education (FE) providers are not in scope of the School Teacher Review Body’s remit. The government neither sets nor makes recommendations about FE teacher pay, and it is instead the responsibility of individual colleges to make awards in line with their own local circumstances.
The fiscal situation that the government has inherited means that it has had to take incredibly difficult decisions about how to allocate scarce resources. However, I can assure you that this government knows the very important contribution of sectors where pay is not currently set by a Pay Review Body, including FE.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce a Budget on 30 October, to be followed by a multi-year spending review in Spring 2025. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.
The department will continue with plans to invest in FE teachers, as part of the c.£600 million funding across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years that was announced last autumn. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. We will also work with the FE sector to recruit 6,500 additional teachers across schools and colleges to raise standards for children and young people.
The full-year participation data for the 2023/24 academic year is expected to be available in November 2024. After this point the department will be in a position to provide additional breakdowns.
Regarding student enrolment for the 2025/26 academic year, on 24 July 2024 the Secretary of State announced that the department is conducting a short, internal review of Post-16 qualifications reform at Level 3 and below. Defunding decisions for 2025 onwards will be confirmed after the short review and we will set out the position before the end of December 2024.
Domestic shipping contributed 11% to total UK nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in 2022. The Air Quality Plan for NO2 addresses the primary cause of exceedances of the concentration limits set by the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 (AQSR): emissions from road transport.
The UK has been at the forefront of international action to reduce NO2 emissions from shipping through work at the International Maritime Organization, and from 2021 the UK gained additional protection as additional restrictions on NOx emissions came into force in the North Sea Emission Control Area.
The term micromobility can be defined in different ways. For the purposes of this question, we have taken it to refer to rental e-scooters and cycles.
DfT's Transport and Transport Technology Tracker survey is designed to be representative of the wider population of adults aged 16 and over across England. The most recent published data from Wave 11 (data collection - Dec 2023) of the tracker surveyed 3,622 adults.
Rental e-scooters
The survey found that of 244 respondents who said they had used a rental e-scooter at least annually:
Age: young people are much more likely to use rental e-scooters at least annually (20% of 16-24s vs 1% of those aged 55 or older)
Gender: men are more likely than women to use rental e-scooters at least annually (8% vs. 5%)
Disability status: 5% of people with a health condition that reduces their activity use rental e-scooters at least annually (vs. 7% of those that do not have a health condition that reduces their activity)
Other demographic make up: ethnic minorities are more than three times as likely to use rental e-scooters at least annually (16% vs 5% of white people)
Urban vs rural: urban residents (8%) were more likely than rural residents (3%) to have used a rental e-scooter at least annually.
E-cycles
10% of respondents (355 people) said they have used an e-cycle at least annually. Of these:
Age: young people are more likely to use e-cycles at least annually than older people (13% of 16-24s vs 8% of 55-74 year olds).
Gender: men are more likely to use e-cycles at least annually than women (12% vs 7%).
Other demographic make-up: ethnic minorities are more likely to use e-cycles at least annually compared to white people (16% vs 9%).
Standard Cycles:
36% of respondents (1298 people) said they have used a standard cycle at least annually. Of these:
Age: younger age groups are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to other age groups (47% of 16-24s vs 36% of 55-64 year olds)
Gender: men are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to women (44% vs 27%)
Disability status: people without a health condition that reduces their activity are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to those without (38% vs 29%)
Other demographic make-up: ethnic minorities are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to white people (41% vs 35%).
Greening transport, which includes tackling air pollution, is a key priority for the Secretary of State. The UK has consistently supported ambitious international efforts to limit air pollutant emissions from global shipping at the International Maritime Organization, including adopting the North Sea ECA for SOx emissions in 2005 which was expanded to include NOx emissions in 2021. Since April 2010, the UK has also applied equivalent SOx regulations to inland-water vessels and ships at berth in all ports.
The Department considers the environmental principles policy statement across all policy areas, in line with our legal duty.
We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
The Government has announced that it intends to publish a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. Work is already underway on this and further details will be set out in due course.
The table below outlines Departmental funding for active travel for the period 2011/12 to 2023/24. It is not possible to disaggregate this into separate amounts for walking, cycling, healthy streets and so forth. Comparable data for 2010/11 is unavailable. The figures do not include funding from wider sources within the Department such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) or the Levelling Up Fund.
Year | Capital (£ million) | Revenue (£ million) | Combined* (£ million) |
2011-12 | 39 | 64 | 54 |
2012-13 | 72 | 59 | 54 |
2013-14 | 131 | 63 | 54 |
2014-15 | 50 | 54 | 54 |
2015-16 | 74 | 57 | 54 |
2016-17 | 43 | 44 | 0 |
2017-18 | 72 | 30 | 0 |
2018-19 | 29 | 36 | 0 |
2019-20 | 3 | 37 | 0 |
2020-21 | 187 | 118 | 0 |
2021-22 | 205 | 74 | 0 |
2022-23 | 200 | 73 | 0 |
2023-24 | 54 | 58 | 0 |
*Local Sustainable Transport Fund including wider sustainable transport spend.
(a) Table 1 shows the number of estimated eligible qualifiers across 2024.
Table 1: Number of Estimated Eligible Recipients in England and Wales
Season (1st November-31st March) | Estimated Eligible Recipients (England and Wales) |
2023/24 | 3,921,000 |
2024/25 | 4,116,000 |
Due to the nature of eligibility, we are unable to breakdown to the household level.
(b) Tables 2 and 3 show the breakdown of weekly payments made in 2024- these are from the 2023/24 season running from the 1st November 2023-31st March 2024 and the start of the 2024/25 season 1st-22nd November 2024.
Table 2: Payments made to estimated qualifiers in England and Wales, 2024- from the 2023/24 season.
Week Commencing | Triggers | Estimated Payments Made (England and Wales) |
|
|
|
29 December 2023 | 0 | 0 |
5 January 2024 | 0 | 0 |
12 January 2024 | 3 | 11,000 |
19 January 2024 | 9 | 362,000 |
26 January 2024 | 5 | 204,000 |
2 February 2024 | 0 | 0 |
9 February 2024 | 0 | 0 |
16 February 2024 | 0 | 0 |
23 February 2024 | 0 | 0 |
1 March 2024 | 0 | 0 |
8 March 2024 | 0 | 0 |
15 March 2024 | 0 | 0 |
22 March 2024 | 0 | 0 |
29 March 2024 | 0 | 0 |
5 April 2024 | 0 | 0 |
Table 3: Payments made to Estimated Qualifiers in England and Wales so Far- from the 2024/25 season.
Week Commencing | Triggers | Estimated Payments Made (England and Wales) |
1 November 2024 | 0 | 0 |
8 November 2024 | 0 | 0 |
15 November 2024 | 0 | 0 |
22 November 2024 | 3 | 6000 |
Please note-
1) Figures are estimated based on the number of individuals eligible at the start of the season. See the methodology document for further details,
and guidance on how to estimate the number of payments and expenditure, here:
2) Figures are shown by the week or month the payment was triggered - that is, the day that the recorded/forecasted temperatures for the seven
day period caused payments to be authorised. The recipient should receive the payment within 14 days.
3) All volumes are rounded to the nearest 1,000
4) The figures include claimants meeting the legacy benefit and Universal Credit eligibility criteria for Cold Weather Payments.
Future publications for the 2024-25 Cold Weather Season can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-estimates-2024-to-2025
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits: Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners who need it most. The Government has no plans to change the eligibility conditions.
The Government wants those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including their Winter Fuel Payment. As part of this, we have started a new drive to increase take-up of Pension Credit. We know there are low-income pensioners who are not claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply.
We will shortly be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioners who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these pensioners to claim Pension Credit ahead of 21st December so that they may also be entitled to this year’s Winter Fuel Payment.
As you are aware, there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in supported housing and temporary accommodation. We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders.
We have engaged with a range of stakeholders including Centrepoint, St Mungo’s, BHT Sussex, the Cardinal Hume Centre, Your Place and Homeless Link about this issue and plan to continue conversations with these and other organisations in the future about this issue.
The Regulations will come into force on 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week.
In making her decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Secretary of State had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.
The Government is determined to protect the poorest pensioners and target support to those in greatest need. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.
We want those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including the Winter Fuel Payment. That’s why we have launched a nationwide campaign, joining forces with key partners and stakeholders to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim. Our campaign is also aimed at those who can influence, encourage and support their older family members and friends to apply.
Although it is not possible to automatically assess everyone reaching State Pension age for Pension Credit, we will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households currently receiving Housing Benefit and who we have identified – based on the data we have – may be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.
The Government supports investment in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services to ensure that those people with a substance use need get the appropriate help and support. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department has allocated local authorities a further £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. This is alongside the £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve employment and housing support.
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced updates to the fiscal framework, and earlier this year launched the Spending Review, which has now settled 2025/26 departmental budgets. She has also made clear that the Government will conclude a multi-year Spending Review in spring 2025. In future, we anticipate that Spending Reviews will be set every two years to cover a three-year period, including a one-year overlap with the previous Spending Review, helping build in greater certainty and stability over public finances.
Now that the Autumn Budget has been completed, the Department is working to be able to announce future funding allocations for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems. We will communicate with the sector about this as soon as we are able to, as we recognise the importance of this information in maintaining delivery and planning for 2025/26.
As with all United Kingdom vaccination programmes, the decision on which groups are eligible for a particular part of the programme is only made following careful consideration of the groups most at risk of illness, severe illness, or death, as a consequence of infection. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to the following individuals in autumn 2024:
- adults aged 65 years old and over;
- residents in a care home for older adults; and
- persons aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, as defined in the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book.
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care accepted the JCVI’s advice for COVID-19 vaccination in autumn 2024, and so COVID-19 vaccination will be offered to all adults aged 65 years old and over in the upcoming campaign.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a priority for the Government, and we will commission a new plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. As part of our work in developing a new plan, we will explore options for ensuring equity and equal access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all communities, including those across different risk, demographic, and geographic groups. We will also explore opportunities to deliver PrEP in settings outside of sexual health services, to improve access and equity, including considering online PrEP provision and PrEP in pharmacies.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a priority for the Government, and we will commission a new plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. As part of our work in developing a new plan, we will explore options for ensuring equity and equal access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all communities, including those across different risk, demographic, and geographic groups. We will also explore opportunities to deliver PrEP in settings outside of sexual health services, to improve access and equity, including considering online PrEP provision and PrEP in pharmacies.
The Chevening Scholarship Programme opened for applications from Afghans on Thursday 14 November 2024.
The people of Gaza face a humanitarian catastrophe. The whole population faces the risk of famine. As set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement on 2 September, Israel could and must do more to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza. The Prime Minister reaffirmed the need for greater aid access in his statement to the UN General Assembly on 26 September. The Foreign Secretary also continues to press Israeli leaders to ensure aid can flow freely into and within Gaza.
Through our support for UK-Med, (including a further £5.5 million announced on 14 July) we are helping to run field hospitals in Gaza. We are also supporting other agencies such as United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and World Food Programme to provide health and nutrition surveillance and interventions.
The abuse that took place at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in 2017 was unacceptable.
Whilst there are no plans to publish a response to each recommendation raised by the inquiry, positive progress continues to be made against the 30 accepted recommendations. The Government will continue to reflect and act on Inquiry recommendations.
Specifically on recommendations 14-17, on the use of force in IRCs, the Home Office communicated to all IRC and contracted service provider staff in December 2023 and May 2024, that techniques involving handcuffing behind backs whilst seated is not permitted. A new Detention Services Order in relation to use of force is being developed specifically for the immigration detention estate and will be published in Spring 2025.
Policing is subject to a highly regulated police complaints and disciplinary system, which includes oversight responsibilities for both local policing bodies and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The Government has committed to strengthening standards on police vetting and misconduct
This year, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) commenced its new police integrity inspection programme for forces within England and Wales. This programme assesses forces’ effectiveness on professional standards, vetting and counter corruption arrangements
The Government also publishes data annually as part its police misconduct statistical series, covering conduct matters, misconduct proceedings and appeals to the Police Appeals Tribunal.
The government is considering a range of appointments following the election. When there are appointments to announce, this will be done in the usual way.
Certain sections of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 are currently being reviewed by the Government in line with commitments made in Parliament when the Act was passed. In addition, the entirety of the Act will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny. This usually occurs between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent.
Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 contains offences relating to the sale and other dissemination of books and other publications, including material on the internet by an individual, that encourage people to engage in terrorism, or provide information that could be useful to terrorists. Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006 also provides a power for a constable to, in certain circumstances, give a notice to a person that a statement, article or record is unlawfully terrorism-related.
It is a matter for the police to consider whether to open a criminal investigation into an offence. It is then for the Crown Prosecution Service to make a charging decision. Both the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service are independent of Government.
As part of the Government's Major Project Portfolio, details on the Clyde Infrastructure programme are routinely released as part of this Government's annual transparency return to Parliament.
Several infrastructure projects at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde do not fall within the Clyde Infrastructure Programme, for instance routine base maintenance and Programme EUSTON, the delivery of resilient out of water engineering capability.
I am unable to release this information due to operational sensitivities.
The government have made clear its intention to reform the compulsory purchase order process and land compensation rules to enable more effective land assembly that will speed-up and lower the costs of the delivery of housing and critical infrastructure in the public interest. We will work with a wide range of experts and organisations to develop our policy in this area and will consider reports such as this one as part of that work.
The Building Safety Act 2022 and associated regulations set out requirements for information that must be provided to residents in Higher-Risk Buildings - buildings which contain at least two residential units and are at least 18 metres in height, or have at least seven stories. Whilst not published, the Principal Accountable Person for these buildings must provide information to residents that will enable them to understand the safety of their building, including information on what they can do to make the building safer. This information includes the residents engagement plan, a summary of the safety case report, and a summary of the fire risk assessment for the building.
The government has also committed to introducing new access to information requirements for housing associations so tenants can access the information they need about the management of their homes, including on matters relating to safety, to hold their landlords to account. Further details on the requirements will be set out in due course.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2677 on 13 November 2024.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2676 on 13 November 2024.
The government recognise that community-led housing delivers a wide range of benefits including building affordable homes, increasing community participation and strengthening the co-operative economy. I recently met with the Chief Executive of the Community Land Trust Network and other stakeholders to discuss how the government can best support the growth of community-led housing. This will include drawing on research and experience across the sector, including the Community Housing Fund Delivery Review.
The government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include specified exemptions for community-led housing from the ban on new leasehold houses and freehold acquisition. This will be provided the community-led housing provider obtains a certificate from the relevant Tribunal.
The implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will require an extensive programme of secondary legislation and we will set out the details in due course.
With regard to new leasehold flats, the government is committed to banning their sale and making commonhold the default tenure and we intend to consult on the best way to achieve this.
The government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include specified exemptions for community-led housing from the ban on new leasehold houses and freehold acquisition. This will be provided the community-led housing provider obtains a certificate from the relevant Tribunal.
The implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will require an extensive programme of secondary legislation and we will set out the details in due course.
With regard to new leasehold flats, the government is committed to banning their sale and making commonhold the default tenure and we intend to consult on the best way to achieve this.
The Government will support councils and housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. As a first step, we have given councils the ability to combine Right to Buy receipts with section 106 contributions and removed the caps on the percentage of replacements delivered as acquisitions and the percentage cost of a replacement home that can be funded using Right to Buy receipts. These flexibilities will be in place for an initial 24 months, subject to review. We encourage councils to make the best use of these flexibilities and to achieve a good balance between acquisitions and new builds. We have also confirmed the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund will be going ahead, with £450 million to councils to acquire and deliver homes for families at risk of homelessness.
The total amount of Right to Buy discounts per local authority from 2011-12 onwards is available in Section B of the Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS) available here Local authority housing data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), with the latest data included in the LAHS open data Local Authority Housing Statistics open data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Discounts data prior to 2011-12 are not available by local authority. At England level, the average discount from 1998-99 is available in live table 682 Live tables on social housing sales - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Figures are not available for earlier periods.
Local authorities can bid for grant funding through the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) to support delivery of affordable homes. If a home built using AHP grant is sold via the Right to Buy, then the local authority must either recycle the relevant grant or return it to Homes England or the Greater London Authority so that it can be used for another permitted purpose, including the delivery of new homes. These requirements ensure that grant issued through the AHP is used efficiently and in a way that secures value for money. As such, we have not made a specific assessment as outlined in the question.
The Government is undertaking a rapid review of the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012 and will bring forward more detail and secondary legislation this Autumn. We will also review the Right to Buy more widely, including looking at eligibility criteria and protections for new homes and will bring forward a consultation in the Autumn.
The Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) receives bids from housing associations and local authorities. Our delivery partners, the GLA and Homes England, assess the viability of these against criteria set out in the internal programme evaluation. The National Audit Office conducted a value for money assessment for the AHP 21-26 and published this in on their website in September 2022.
Local planning authorities are required to publish an infrastructure funding statement annually on their websites. These should include information on the amount of unspent developer contributions they hold at the end of each reporting year and the amount spent during the year, including on affordable housing.