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 it her policy to prohibit a landlord from (a) demanding and (b) accepting more than one month’s rent in advance in respect of a (i) tenancy and (ii) licence of residential accommodation tenancy.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government recognise that demands for extortionate rent in advance place a considerable financial strain on tenants and can exclude certain groups from renting altogether.

We are very clear that the practice of landlords demanding large amounts of rent in advance must be prohibited.

Although it might be argued that the interaction of the new rent periods in clause 1 of the Renters’ Rights Bill, which are a month or 28 days, and the existing provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019, relating to prohibited payments, provide a measure of protection against requests for large amounts of advance rent, we believe there is a strong case for putting this matter beyond doubt.

The government is therefore giving careful consideration as to how best that might be achieved through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of grassroots sports programmes in strengthening mental health (a) literacy and (b) resilience of men and boys.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Grassroots sports programmes provide important opportunities to bring communities together and to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of participants. Active lifestyles are also associated with 375,000 fewer people being diagnosed with depression.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and can maximise the benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Government has committed to continue funding for grassroots facilities through the £123 million UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2024/25. The evaluation of this programme, which has already published a first interim report and will publish a further two reports in April 2025 and 2026, will consider the impacts on mental wellbeing and physical health. These future reports will seek to demonstrate a causal link between the programme and positive outcomes for mental wellbeing.

The latest report from Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (November 2022-23) notes that there is a positive association between activity levels and mental wellbeing, and provides data split by gender. Being physically active can improve mood, decrease the chance of depression and anxiety and lead to a better and more balanced lifestyle.

The Active Lives Adult Survey (November 2022-23) survey shows 14.9 million men who are active have higher mental wellbeing scores than those who are inactive. Active Lives Children and Young People Survey (Academic year 2022-23) indicates that boys are more likely than girls to have three or more positive attitudes towards sport and physical activity.

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 promote cross-departmental work to strengthen community cohesion.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has made £15 million available to the places most severely affected by disorder through the Community Recovery Fund to support the immediate recovery. Officials from my department have also carried out an extensive engagement process with these places to understand and address the underlying causes of the unrest.

The disorder that affected communities across the UK following the Southport tragedy this summer has made clear that a new approach to community cohesion is urgently needed. This is a priority for the Government and I have stood up a cross-government Communities & Recovery Steering Group to oversee this work.

We are listening to communities across the country to understand the challenges they face and this will inform how this government works to empower communities and build greater cohesion.

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 legislating to enable local authorities in England to adjust council tax rates by increasing them for higher-band properties while limiting increases for lower-band properties.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government does not have any plans to reform council tax. In line with OBR forecasts made under the previous government, the government will maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept in 2025-26.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish the criteria for determining which individuals seeking asylum will be subject to detention.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has published guidance for determining who can be detained under immigration powers including those who are seeking asylum.

‘Detained Asylum Casework’ sets out for the criteria for our caseworkers to determine under which circumstances asylum claimants may be detained, and their claims routed for consideration and decision under the process. This is available at the link below:

detained-asylum-process-v5.0.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).

‘Detention: general instructions’ sets out the criteria for making detention decisions and deciding whether to maintain detention. This is available at the link below:

Detention: general instructions (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle abuse in immigration detention centres.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

We expect all suppliers operating on behalf of the Home Office to treat detained individuals with decency and respect, behaving in line with the high standards outlined in the Detention Centre Rules, published operating standards and service delivery contracts.

A range of safety and security safeguards operate in all IRCs to ensure the safety of all detained individuals, staff and visitors.

The Home Office is reviewing current processes in relation to violence prevention and use of force and have introduced a programme focused on improving the overall culture in IRCs. A new staffing model delivers a considerably improved ratio of custodial staff per detained individual. This is tailored to each centre’s requirements and layout, deploying staff where they are most needed as they support detained individuals in their journey through detention.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce a statutory time limit on immigration detention.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

There are currently no plans to introduce a time limit on immigration detention. This would risk significantly weakening our ability to remove those who have breached our immigration laws or who refuse to leave the UK voluntarily.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to repeal the Illegal Migration Act 2023.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has made clear the that the migration partnership with Rwanda will end. Consequently, the Government is considering all options connected with ending that partnership, including for the entirety of the Illegal Migration Act 2023. Legislative plans will be published in due course.

I refer the Honourable Member to PQ 4812.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing advertising restrictions on high carbon emission products (a) on television and (b) online.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is committed to reducing emissions from high carbon products and will continue to bring forward proposals to do so.

The Committees of Advertising Practice and Advertising Standards Authority regulate the content and targeting of advertising in the UK, both on television and online, and the advertising codes include rules on environmental claims. The ASA system operates independently of the Government.

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

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