Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of redevelopment-related loss of telecommunications sites on the continuity of mobile coverage in urban areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 124803 on 20 April 2026.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much National Highways has spent on its in-house external affairs work since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways spent approximately £1.9 million on its in-house external affairs function between 4 July 2024 and 31 May 2026. This reflects staff costs and associated contracts for the External Affairs team over that period.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether county courts will have additional sitting hours to deal with Section 8 possession orders following the commencement of the Renters Rights Act.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (including its executive agency His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service) is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to make sure that the courts have sufficient capacity to manage the impact of the Renter’s Rights Act 2025 on the justice system. This includes ensuring sufficient provision of sitting days to deal with case volumes.
This year, there will be 80,200 sitting days in the civil jurisdiction. This is a record allocation, recognising the importance of the civil jurisdiction.
We continue to invest in annual judicial recruitment for c.1000 vacancies across all jurisdictions, including the county courts. The Judicial Appointments Commission reports how many District and Deputy District Judges it has recommended from annual District Judge and c.18-monthly Deputy District Judge recruitment.
The information can be found at - https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/corp-publication/completed-selection-exercises-for-the-2025-26-financial-year/#4-January2026March2026Quarter4. District Judge recruitment is underway for up to 70 candidates and further Deputy District Judge recruitment is planned for later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to tackle illegal gasworks on private properties.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the enforcing authority for gas businesses and engineers (including self- employed gas engineers) who work in private properties. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) requires engineers undertaking gas work to be competent, registered with Gas Safe Register (GSR), to work in accordance with the appropriate standards and in a way that does not put people in danger.
HSE regulate this in private properties through enforcement powers set under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Enforcement powers available to regulators include prosecution, prohibition notices and improvement notices.
GSR also has a dedicated team to investigate allegations of gas work by unregistered engineers and businesses (illegal gas fitters) and provides HSE with evidence of these activities. In addition to this, GSR publishes a range of gas safety information and guidance on its website and regularly runs media campaigns to promote key gas safety messages to the public.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of reducing the qualification time for people to sit on a first tier tribunal.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Judges of the First-Tier Tribunal are required by statute (the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007) to have a specific legal qualification and appropriate legal experience. This must be five years’ post qualification experience (PQE), with a minimum of 20% of each year devoted to law-related activity. These statutory requirements help to safeguard judicial standards by ensuring that judges have the appropriate knowledge and skills to be able to apply the law fairly and effectively. Most candidates have significantly more than the minimum PQE when they apply.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment (PIP) claimants are included in the Transform Decision Making pilot, expressed as both a percentage and number.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is running a small-scale trial of a transformed decision making approach within the Health Transformation Programme's new Health Assessment Service, and we will evaluate the impacts. The initial phase of testing involved around 1% of PIP assessments from 16 March 2026. From 1 June 2026, we began a second phase of testing with around 4% of PIP assessments nationally. We expect the second phase of the test to involve approximately 2,800 to 3,300 PIP customers per month.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the HGV road tax holiday will commence and finish; what the eligibility criteria are for that scheme; and how the application process will work.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government will introduce a 12-month holiday from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, also known as road tax). This will apply to the majority of HGVs renewing their VED between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. Eligible vehicles will pay just £1 for their annual VED, saving £600 for a typical heavy lorry. Tax classes eligible include: standard HGV (tax class 1); trailer HGV (tax class 2); special types (tax class 57); combined transport (tax class 23); and island goods vehicles (tax class 16). If a vehicle is liable for the HGV levy, it will continue to be charged at the existing rate.
This temporary reduction in VED is in recognition of the key role the road haulage sector plays in transporting goods, including food, across the UK and its disproportionate exposure to fuel costs. Fuel costs make up a substantial proportion of HGV operating costs, and this action will help prevent cost pressures from the Iran conflict spreading across the economy.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2026 to Question 187 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Departmental Responsibilities, whether he was accompanied by a special adviser at those Labour YIMBY events.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
He was, in line with the practice of successive administrations.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the characteristics of people living in Houses in Multiple Occupation in England by a) age, b) gender, c) employment status, d) ethnicity, e) care status, f) immigration status and g) criminal record.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide a breakdown of the number of people living in licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in England in the last 5 years by region.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not hold the information requested.