Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 19 September 2024 to Question HL704 on Afghanistan: Chevening Scholarships Programme, when a final decision will be taken on the Afghanistan Chevening programme for academic year 2025-26.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Chevening Scholarship Programme opened for applications from Afghans on Thursday 14 November 2024.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to reply to Question 2676 on Council Housing: Finance tabled by the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on 30 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2676 on 13 November 2024.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to answer Question 2677 on Right to Buy Scheme tabled by the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion on 30 July 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 2677 on 13 November 2024.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government , if she will make an estimate of the real-terms value of the total of discounts claimed under Right to Buy in each local authority in England and Wales in each year since 1989.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing councils with grants to buy homes from the market to convert the tenure of these homes to council housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will issue guidance to schools to make clear every child with epilepsy is entitled to have an Individual Healthcare Plan with (a) information about their epilepsy and (b) any support they need.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
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.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to (a) reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants from ships at ports in England and (b) incorporate the requirements of the environmental principles policy statement into maritime policy.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of emissions of nitrogen dioxide from ships at English ports on the annual mean concentration limits set out in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 7923 on Housing Benefit: Young People, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of adjusting the housing benefit taper for people in supported accommodation; and with which stakeholders he plans to consider the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for people residing in supported housing and temporary accommodation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report by The Community Land Trust Network entitled Community Housing Fund Delivery Review, published 19th September 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.