Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discretion is available to (a) local housing authorities and (b) registered providers of social housing to waive rent charges accrued between the death of a sole tenant and the formal ending of the tenancy; and what assessment he has made of the consistency with which that discretion is exercised.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government does not collect data on rent debt accrued against the estate of a deceased sole tenant.
When a sole tenant dies, where a tenancy is not legally ended immediately, rent continues to accrue until the tenancy is legally brought to an end. Any arrears or debt built up on a property are a liability of the deceased’s estate or guarantor, where one is in place and the agreement provides for this.
Once the Renters’ Rights Act is implemented for social housing assured tenants of private registered providers from October 2027, guarantors of these tenancies will only be responsible for any arrears accrued up to the date of the tenant’s death. We would expect landlords to act sensitively when seeking recovery of any charges accrued.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) local housing authorities and registered providers of social housing on the handling of tenancies following the death of a sole tenant, including the period during which rent continues to be chargeable to the deceased's estate.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government does not collect data on rent debt accrued against the estate of a deceased sole tenant.
When a sole tenant dies, where a tenancy is not legally ended immediately, rent continues to accrue until the tenancy is legally brought to an end. Any arrears or debt built up on a property are a liability of the deceased’s estate or guarantor, where one is in place and the agreement provides for this.
Once the Renters’ Rights Act is implemented for social housing assured tenants of private registered providers from October 2027, guarantors of these tenancies will only be responsible for any arrears accrued up to the date of the tenant’s death. We would expect landlords to act sensitively when seeking recovery of any charges accrued.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the average rent debt accrued against the estate of a deceased sole social housing tenant between the date of death and the formal ending of the tenancy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government does not collect data on rent debt accrued against the estate of a deceased sole tenant.
When a sole tenant dies, where a tenancy is not legally ended immediately, rent continues to accrue until the tenancy is legally brought to an end. Any arrears or debt built up on a property are a liability of the deceased’s estate or guarantor, where one is in place and the agreement provides for this.
Once the Renters’ Rights Act is implemented for social housing assured tenants of private registered providers from October 2027, guarantors of these tenancies will only be responsible for any arrears accrued up to the date of the tenant’s death. We would expect landlords to act sensitively when seeking recovery of any charges accrued.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her statement of 5 March 2026 that extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for 350,000 low skilled workers from five to between fifteen and twenty years is necessary to avoid a £10 billion drain on public finances, what the fiscal impact is of this group on the current fiscal balance in the year five years after arrival, and what is the impact on the debt/GDP ratio (both as defined in the government’s Fiscal Rules).
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The analysis undertaken by the Home Office to estimate the £10bn figure is set out at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants
This analysis is based on work undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee which includes further detail on the characteristics and time profile of fiscal impacts and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her statement of 5 March 2026 that extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for 350,000 low skilled workers from five to between fifteen and twenty years is necessary to avoid a £10 billion drain on public finances, in approximately which year after arrival does the Government's analysis show that main applicants and their dependents transition from making a net fiscal contribution to becoming a net fiscal cost.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The analysis undertaken by the Home Office to estimate the £10bn figure is set out at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants
This analysis is based on work undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee which includes further detail on the characteristics and time profile of fiscal impacts and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her statement of 5 March 2026 that extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for 350,000 low skilled workers from five to between fifteen and twenty years is necessary to avoid a £10 billion drain on public finances, in approximately which year after arrival does her Department's analysis show that main applicants and their dependents transition from making a net fiscal contribution to becoming a net fiscal cost.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The analysis undertaken by the Home Office to estimate the £10bn figure is set out at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants
This analysis is based on work undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee which includes further detail on the characteristics and time profile of fiscal impacts and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her statement of 5 March 2026 that extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for 350,000 low skilled workers from five to between fifteen and twenty years is necessary to avoid a £10 billion drain on public finances, how much of this lifetime fiscal £10 billion cost her Department estimates is saved by its policy of delaying the qualification for settlement by 10 years, and how much of the fiscal cost remains incurred in the scenario that this policy is not pursued.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The analysis undertaken by the Home Office to estimate the £10bn figure is set out at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants/estimated-lifetime-net-fiscal-costs-for-care-workers-and-their-adult-dependants
This analysis is based on work undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee which includes further detail on the characteristics and time profile of fiscal impacts and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the use of zip cards as a form of voter ID for people aged 16 and 17.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has considered a range of documents for use at the polling station, including Oyster ZIP cards. We recognise that the current Voter ID rules are overly restrictive – however we must take into account that expanding the list of documents accepted at the polling station could make the policy more challenging to administer for polling station staff and could lead to confusion among electors as to what is and is not accepted.
We believe that our proposed change to allow the use of bank cards will significantly expand the proportion of legitimate electors easily able to meet the VID requirements and have no plans to make any further additions to the list of accepted documents.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to provide the latest register of interest for the Department's Senior Civil Servants and Non Executive Board Members as of 1 February 2026 including any updates following the publication of the Department's annual report and accounts for 2024-5.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Non-executive board members’ (NEBM) declarations of interest and any updates to them are published on the GOV.UK website, in alignment with Government policy. Updates to NEBM interests following the 2024/25 annual report and accounts publication can be found in the 2025/26 Department register of board members’ interests, at the following link:
The Department is required to publish the relevant interests of its Permanent Secretary, and other Senior Civil Servants who are Board Members at least annually within its annual report and accounts. Further information is available at the following link:
The next publication will be later this year.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out what companies with current Government contracts will be subject to the profit cap as proposed in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The profit cap provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill would apply in England to any non-local authority providers of children’s homes or fostering services, and subject to changing secondary legislation, supported accommodation. The government does not contract directly to companies to provide these services within scope of the profit cap provisions. Local authorities commission these contracts directly.