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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of consulting on regulating the property management sector.

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

The government is committed to ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents.

Property agents must belong to a government-approved redress scheme. This legislation is currently enforced by local authorities and by the National Trading Standards’ Lettings and Estate Agency Team, who have the power to issue warnings and banning orders to rogue estate and letting agents.

The previous government committed to regulate the property agent sector in 2018 and asked a working group chaired by Lord Best to advise them on how best to do it. However, they failed to respond to the recommendations set out in the working group’s 2019 Regulation of Property Agents: working group report which can be found on gov.uk here.

Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of multi-occupancy buildings and freehold estates, and their importance will only increase as we transition toward a commonhold future. As a result, we are looking again at the 2019 report.

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), the government has made clear it intends to strengthen regulation of managing agents to drive up the standard of their service. As a minimum, this should include mandatory professional qualifications which set a new basic standard that managing agents will be required to meet. We will consult on this matter this year.

We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are covered by the transitional protections for eligibility for free school meals; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending those protections in March 2025 on the children currently protected.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

As with all government programmes, including free school meals, we keep our approach under continued review. Support for children to access free school meals, has additionally been considered as part of the Child Poverty Taskforce’s consideration of how to:

1. Support households to increase their income including considering social security reforms that support people into work and alleviate poverty.

2. Help to bring down essential household costs, build savings and tackle problem debt.

3. Alleviate the negative experience of living in poverty, including through supporting families and the role of public services.

No pupil will see any change because of changes to traditional protections until after the summer and the department will communicate further with schools before that time.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a phased introduction of extended producer responsibility fees.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We have taken a phased approach to implementing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR). Reporting obligations for this scheme were introduced in 2024, and fee obligations for large producers introduced on 1 April 2025. From April 2026 PackUK will modulate fees to incentivise use of easily recyclable packaging material.

The pEPR policy has been under development since 2019, with extensive engagement and consultation providing businesses with a clear indication of the scheme’s design and implementation. This policy underwent consultations in 2019, 2021, and a final consultation on reforms to the Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system in 2022. Additionally, in 2023, the four nations of the UK consulted on the operability of the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, and further amendments were made to address stakeholder concerns prior to final regulations being introduced.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the opinions of people on (a) low and (b) middle incomes are adequately heard in the development of the food strategy.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A key priority for the food strategy is to improve access to healthy food for everyone, including children and those on low and middle incomes, in order to give all children the best start in life and help adults live longer healthier lives.

We are forming a coalition with the food sector, academics and charities and key thinkers to pool our collective ideas, influence and effort, and ensure that a range of voices are heard as we develop the strategy.

We are developing a programme of stakeholder engagement that will include civil society and consumer group representatives. The Food Strategy Advisory Board, announced on 21 March, includes representatives from civil society organisations such as Anna Taylor from the Food Foundation and Ravi Gurumurthy of NESTA. This collaboration will ensure a systems-wide approach and a comprehensive food strategy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many families are receiving support from Healthy Start in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Stafford.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people receiving support from the Healthy Start scheme in March 2025 in Stoke-on-Trent was 2,592, and in Stafford was 566.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will publish a breakdown of how extended producer responsibility fees will be allocated, in the context of transparency in funding for local authority waste management services.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

PackUK will publish annual reports and financial statements, which will provide transparency on the allocation of funds received through the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees. These reports will clarify how the collected fees are distributed and used to support the scheme’s objectives.

St George’s Day 2025

Found: Emily Darlington (Labour; Milton Keynes Central) George Freeman (Conservative; Mid Norfolk) Dr Allison Gardner

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Chi Onwurah (Chair); George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Chi Onwurah (Chair); George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is launching an inquiry into the role of science diplomacy and research and development (R&D) in supporting the UK Government’s growth missions, enhancing the UK’s international influence, and contributing to national security. Science diplomacy encompasses the political support for science in an international context, cross-border research collaborations, science advice for global policymaking, and public engagement activities.