Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 creating a new national post of Chief Environmental Health Officer to provide leadership on enforcement.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has no plans to create a new post of National Chief Environmental Health Officer.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 adequacy of the resources local authority enforcement teams (a) currently have and (b) will need to implement the Renters’ Rights Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 32068 on 5 March 2025.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on improving the collection of fines issued to rogue landlords; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to devolve more powers to local authorities to help enforce the collection of such fines.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engages regularly with local authorities and other stakeholders on how enforcement against rogue landlords in the private rented sector might be strengthened. Local authorities have a range of tools they can use to support the collection of unpaid fines imposed on rogue landlords, including charging orders and bankruptcy proceedings. The Department will continue to engage with local authorities and consider how best practice can be shared as part of supporting the effective implementation of the Renters’ Rights Bill.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 introducing mandatory annual reporting by councils on enforcement activity to ensure transparency and accountability.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department recognises the importance of good quality data on enforcement in the Private Rented Sector to support good decision making at both national and local level, and the monitoring and evaluation of Renters’ Rights Bill implementation.
The Bill places a new duty on local authorities to report to the Secretary of State on their activities under the legislation. We expect to start formally collecting data from local authorities on enforcement activity in the 2026/27 financial year.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 take steps to prevent duplication between the planned landlord database and local licensing schemes to reduce inefficiencies.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Private Rented Sector Database will operate alongside selective licensing to drive improvement in standards in the private rented sector, not as a replacement for these schemes.
We will continue to review the use of selective licensing as we implement the Private Rented Sector Database, including how data may be shared to improve efficiency.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an exemption from the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions for care homes in which more than half of residents are funded by the local authority.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance costs only. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central or local government.
This is the usual approach the Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer National Insurance contribution costs, as was the case with the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care and wider local government spending as part of the Spending Review process.
The Government is providing a 6.8% cash terms increase in core council spending power in 2025/26. To support social care authorities to deliver key services in light of pressures, at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement we announced a further £200 million for adult and children’s social care. This will be allocated via the Social Care Grant, bringing the total increase of this grant in 2025/26 to £880 million, meaning that up to £3.7 billion of additional funding will be provided to social care authorities in 2025/26.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) requiring social media accounts to be linked to a form of ID and (b) preventing people with certain convictions from interacting with users under the age of 18.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to protect users from illegal content and safeguard children.
The Act stipulates that where there is a risk to children from the most harmful types of content (‘primary priority content), in-scope services including social media sites must use highly effective age assurance.
Ofcom’s draft codes also propose additional protections for under 18s to keep their accounts private and prevent them being contacted and groomed by strangers.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 allowing asylum applications from people from Syria.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Home Office has withdrawn the Country Policy Information Notes and Guidance relating to Syria, and has temporarily paused all asylum interviews and decisions from Syrian nationals.
We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review, so we can respond to emerging issues. When there is a clear basis upon which to make decisions on Syrian claims, we will resume the processing of them.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an exemption from the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions for care homes where more than half of residents are funded by the local authority.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance costs only. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central or local government.
This is the usual approach Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care and wider local government spending as part of the Spending Review process.
The Government is providing a 6.8% cash terms increase in council’s Core Spending Power in 2025-26. To support social care authorities to deliver key services in light of pressures, we announced at the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement a further £200 million for adult and children’s social care. This will be allocated via the Social Care Grant, bringing the total increase of this grant in 2025-26 to £880 million, meaning that up to £3.7 billion of additional funding will be provided to social care authorities in 2025-26.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 reason that only 7% of Housing, Health and Safety Ratings System (HHSRS) inspections led to an Improvement Notice being served.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to making sure homes are safe, decent and warm.
Local housing authorities have powers to take a proactive approach to enforcement against unacceptable conditions in rented housing.
Improvement notices are just one of the types of enforcement action that can be taken by local authorities in respect of hazards. Local authorities can use informal as well as formal methods to secure compliance following inspections. Through the Renters’ Rights Bill we are strengthening local authorities’ enforcement powers, including a new power to issue fines of up to £7,000 where a landlord has not taken reasonably practicable steps to remove category 1 hazards from the property.
A review of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) was published in September 2022. The government is considering the outcomes of this review, in line with wider recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry Report to make sure that the guidance is as effective and accessible as possible.