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 (a) tackle fraudulent EWS1 forms and (b) support affected homeowners.

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

EWS1s (External Wall System Fire Review) are not a legal or regulatory requirement. Their use is a commercial decision by mortgage lenders and subject to their individual lending criteria. EWS1 forms are completed by competent members of relevant professional bodies. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) provides guidance on competence for professionals carrying out EWS1. The Department takes seriously any claims of fraud and would advise evidence of any such concerns should be notified to the relevant professional body and RICS, for investigation, and to take any appropriate action.

The absence of a correctly completed EWS1 should not be a blocker to mortgage lending, where a leaseholder can provide alternative evidence of the safety of their building, or that the building is in a remediation scheme or that the leaseholder qualifies for the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act.

We are working closely with the RICS, UK Finance and the lending industry to ensure the market continues to function for leaseholders in properties with building safety issues.

Leaseholders should contact the building owner or person responsible for fire safety if they have concerns about the fire safety of their building.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the earnings and capital thresholds for disabled adults in receipt of social care support to ensure they are not disadvantaged when saving for (a) a house deposit and (b) other major life expenses.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The current capital thresholds, namely the lower limit of £14,250 and the upper limit of £23,250, ensure that individuals have a minimum amount of capital protected.

Where an individual is receiving care in their own home, charging should not reduce an individual’s income below the Minimum Income Guarantee. For those receiving care in a residential setting, residents must retain an allowance for personal expenses. Additionally, people must retain enough of their disability related benefits for any disability-related expenditure they incur.

The capital limits and the social care allowance rates are communicated annually, and the rates for the financial year 2025/26 will be published in the Local Authority Circular in February 2025.

We have announced an independent commission into adult social care to build consensus on what adult social care should achieve, address systemic challenges comprehensively, and chart a clear path toward practical and impactful reform.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when her Department plans to make a decision on the business case for Southern Rail access to Heathrow Airport.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Whilst discussions with promoters of schemes for a southern rail access route to Heathrow have taken place in recent years, no business case has yet been produced.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Department is taking to tackle doxing; and whether she plans to (a) fast track protections for victims and (b) ensure social media platforms act swiftly to remove content.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT is implementing the Online Safety Act which will bring in a number of protections for online users from the harms associated with doxing. In-scope providers will need to enact measures to take down illegal content and protect children from harmful content. Additionally, the largest services (Category 1) must ensure their terms of service are clear and consistently enforced. Ofcom is required to consult with the Victim's Commissioner before drafting its codes of practice. Ofcom can take enforcement action against companies failing to meet their duties, including fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) fast track protections for people who experience doxing and (b) help ensure social media platforms (i) act swiftly to remove doxing content and (ii) sanction those who commit such offences.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT is implementing the Online Safety Act which will bring in a number of protections for online users from the harms associated with doxing. In-scope providers will need to enact measures to take down illegal content and protect children from harmful content. Additionally, the largest services (Category 1) must ensure their terms of service are clear and consistently enforced. Ofcom can take enforcement action against companies failing to meet their duties, including fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

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 ensure the effectiveness of (a) compliance by contractors with and (b) enforcement measures by the new Building Safety Regulator with the Building Safety Act 2022; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of compliance by (i) clients and (ii) contractors with the provisions of that Act.

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

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) takes action to ensure that applications that do not meet the regulatory standards of building safety are rejected. We understand that the introduction of the new regulatory regime initially resulted in a lot of poor quality and incomplete applications from industry. BSR continue to support applicants to meet the functional requirements of the building regulations. It is worth noting that the requirements in the regulations are not new and rejected applications contribute to the processing time of compliant applications.

BSR officials are also working with MHCLG officials on setting up a dedicated Remediation Enforcement Unit within the Building Safety Regulator. The Remediation Enforcement Unit is designed to hold owners of ACM clad buildings to account, enforcing remediation where necessary, and will be essential to meet the government’s priority for remediation of unsafe Higher-Risk-Buildings (HRBs). We are considering further options to ensure compliance with the building safety regulations as part of the ongoing spending review.

The Building Safety Act 2022 also requires that within five years of the Act coming into force, the Secretary of State appoint an independent person to carry out a review. This includes reviewing the effectiveness of the regulator, and provisions made by or under the Building Act 1984 such as the dutyholder duties and enforcement measures.

Royal Horticultural Society and A3/M25 roadworks

CAMRA Pub of the Year award 2024 for The Bailey Head

Benefits of outdoor education to children’s wellbeing

Found: Questions 1-38 Representations made I: Ben Obese-Jecty II: Dawn Butler III: Mrs Sharon Hodgson IV: Mr Will Forster

Found: present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Chris Curtis; Mr Lee Dillon; Maya Ellis; Mr Will Forster

Found: present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Chris Curtis; Mr Lee Dillon; Maya Ellis; Mr Will Forster

Found: meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Chris Curtis; Maya Ellis; Mr Will Forster

Found: meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Chris Curtis; Maya Ellis; Mr Will Forster