Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve the standards and tackle delays in the Housing Ombudsman Service.

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

The Housing Ombudsman Service is an independent and impartial body responsible for investigating complaints about social landlords.

The Ombudsman is taking steps to improve timeliness and performance, including increasing capacity, strengthening its processes, and introducing more proportionate approaches to investigations.

Through its Business Plan 2026/27, which can be found here, the Ombudsman has set out a programme of work to reduce the number of older cases and improve the speed of case resolution. This includes increasing its workforce and introducing a multi‑year caseload reduction strategy focused on delivering faster outcomes for residents.

The Ombudsman has also increased its membership fees, paid by landlords, to support these improvements and ensure it has the resources needed to respond to rising demand.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made to introduce a Special Envoy for Complex and Arbitrary Detentions.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I know that the Hon Member has taken a long and passionate interest in this issue, both during and following the six years that she spent working for the release of her constituent, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from detention in Iran.

I am very pleased to tell her and other Parliamentary colleagues that the Foreign Secretary has today (14 July) appointed the Rt Hon Alistair Burt, former Minister of State for the Middle East, to serve as the UK's special envoy for complex consular cases.

The new role has been created to provide additional support in particularly complex cases, including those involving concerns about the welfare of UK detainees, their entitlement to due process and the protection of their human rights. Mr Burt will help ensure that the most complex detention cases continue to receive focused senior attention, supporting the UK's efforts to secure progress and resolution.

Mr Burt will advocate on behalf of detainees and will work closely with families to ensure that their views are heard and reflected in the UK's approach. He will also support coordination across Government and advocate for resolutions in the most challenging cases, ensuring that every possible avenue is being pursued.

He brings extensive experience to this position from his previous ministerial role at the Foreign, Development & Commonwealth Office, where he established a strong track record in handling complex consular cases, including engagement with detainees' families and senior international counterparts, and navigation of sensitive issues in high-pressure environments

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 need for additional guidance to ensure that post-war low-rise council blocks, not covered by the Building Safety Act, are proactively inspected and maintained.

Answered by Samantha Dixon

Building owners are responsible for managing building safety and performance issues in their buildings in a proportionate, risk-based and evidence-based manner, and for taking action where necessary.

Existing legislation and guidance already require building owners and responsible persons to identify, assess and manage safety risks in residential buildings, including low-rise council blocks. This includes requirements under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Government keeps building safety requirements under review. Updated HHSRS regulations and guidance came into force in June 2026.

Current HHSRS guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-health-and-safety-rating-system-hhsrs-guidance.

Current FSO guidance can be found here: ‘A guide to making your small block of flats safe from fire’ and ‘Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats’.

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