Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
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 impact of the emissions trading scheme on the clay brick and rooftile industry.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) participants, including the clay brick and rooftile sector, are provided with free allocations, reducing their exposure to the carbon price and mitigating their risk of carbon leakage whilst continuing to provide an incentive to decarbonise at the least cost route. This approach is currently being reviewed to ensure we can better target support for sectors most at risk of carbon leakage.
We are very mindful of the impact of the ETS on industrial participants, and have committed to an ongoing assessment of the scheme’s effectiveness – outputs of this review will be published in 2026. Interim outcomes of this review can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
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 of the potential merits of including incontinence in medical training for all healthcare professionals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The standard of training for healthcare professionals is the responsibility of the independent statutory regulatory bodies who set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses. Higher education institutions write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators’ outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasise the skills and approaches a healthcare professional must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for incontinence.
Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective treatment for patients.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she considered the potential merits of providing a higher level of funding to help support the implementation of the updated National Occupational Standards for hair and beauty qualifications.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is appreciated that over time National Occupational Standards change. The department expects providers to use the available funding to undertake any changes required.
The department uses the 16 to 19 funding formula to calculate the funding to institutions each academic year for the students they recruit. Funding rates depend on the size of students’ study programmes or T Levels, regardless of the type of institution.
In the 2025/26 academic year, the department will increase the national funding rate for students aged 16 and 17 and students aged 18 and over with high needs by 5.4%, compared with 2024/25, to £5,105. Other funding bands will increase proportionately.
For adults, the department is spending £1.4 billion on the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year, ensuring that adults can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.
Currently, 62% of the ASF is devolved to nine Mayoral Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas.
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department introduced five new funding rates that apply to non-devolved ASF. Under these new funding rates, 78% of qualifications have seen an increase in funding. There are a range of factors that influence the funding bands, such as skills needs and the cost of delivery.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department provides for the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work. The ASF supports a range of courses, including English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).
Currently, 62% of the ASF is devolved to 9 Mayoral Strategic Authorities, including West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers.
WMCA devolved ASF budget for the 2024/25 academic year was £133.7 million. WMCA decide what to spend their ASF budget on and this includes ESOL. By honouring the department’s commitments to combine and further devolve adult skills funding, we give those with local knowledge the power they need to make decisions that are best for their areas.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure awarding bodies for hair and beauty qualifications update their (a) guidance and (b) training to promote inclusivity for all (i) hair and (ii) skin types.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This is a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to my hon. Friend, the member for Dudley directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
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 plans to take to help support councils to require developers to (a) complete and (b) refurbish (i) building sites and (ii) existing empty buildings.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) for 2021-26 allows a proportion of programme delivery to come from new build and second-hand home acquisitions and funding replacement homes on regeneration schemes where there is a positive impact on overall housing supply.
Local authorities can also access funding through the AHP and Local Authority Housing Fund to bring homes back into use. Where funding, tax, and informal approaches are ineffective, local authorities can use formal enforcement levers to bring homes back into use such as Empty Dwelling Management Orders and Compulsory Purchase Orders.
The government recognise the frustrations that stalled or delayed sites can cause to communities.
Once housebuilders have been granted permission for residential development, meeting local housing needs and preferences, we expect to see them built out as quickly as possible.
Local planning authorities already have powers to issue a completion notice to require a developer to complete their development if it is stalled. If they fail to do so, the planning permission for the development will lapse.
The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes policies designed to support increased build out rates, including the promotion of mixed tenure development.
On 25 May, the government published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out (which can be found on gov.uk here) inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built.
On the same day, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential development, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. The consultation can be found on gov.uk here. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the government intends bring forward the regulations to implement these measures at the earliest practical opportunity with the new build out reporting framework coming into force from 2026.
Local planning authorities have a wide range of enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance, which they can use where development has not taken place in accordance with the planning permission given. It is for authorities to decide how and when they use their powers depending on the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review guidance on the application process of the Household Support Fund.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions have no plans to review the guidance on the application process for this iteration of the Household Support Fund, having reviewed and updated the guidance to launch the scheme on 1 April 2025.
Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for The Fund. Every Local Authority must operate part of their scheme on an application basis, to allow the opportunity for individuals struggling with the cost of essentials to ask for further support.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has taken to help tackle land banking.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60243 on 24 June 2025.