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 help tackle the use of retrospective planning applications to regularise unauthorised development; and whether she plans to close loopholes that may undermine the effectiveness of local planning enforcement.

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

Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.

The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.

With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.

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 help support local planning authorities to improve the (a) capacity and (b) resourcing of their planning enforcement teams in North Staffordshire.

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

Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.

The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.

With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.

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 improve enforcement of agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

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

Enforcement is at the discretion of local planning authorities. They have a wide range of powers with strong penalties for non-compliance and it is for them to decide how and when they use those powers depending on the circumstances of each case.

The government has no plans to amend local planning authorities’ enforcement powers at this time. We will, however, continue to keep the operation of the enforcement system under review.

With regard to capacity and capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question UIN 67508 on 14 July 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking as part of its role within the Interministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to reduce and prevent homelessness.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and other Departments through the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to develop a new long-term cross-government strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness.

We are continuing to expand our Community Accommodation Service 3 (CAS3) to support more prison leavers at risk of homelessness each year. Our CAS3 service supports prison leavers who are subject to probation supervision, by offering up to 12 weeks of basic transitionary accommodation to provide a stable base on release. This programme has been gradually rolled out nationwide since July 2021 and since then has supported over 23,100 prison leavers who would otherwise have been homeless. We have also employed 50 Strategic Housing Specialists to support prisons in their response to reducing homelessness by working in partnership with probation and Local Authorities to identify suitable accommodation for those released to the area, regardless of the prison they are released from.

We know that a cross-agency and cross-government approach is required to address the challenge of securing long-term accommodation. That is why we are working closely with MHCLG, health partners and other departments at a national and local level, to address barriers to accommodation for prison leavers, drawing on learning from partnership efforts – including the Changing Futures programme – to take a holistic, trauma-informed approach to supporting individuals with multiple unmet needs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing an expanded national programme of Housing First to tackle homelessness.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 72851 on 15 September 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the post-decision move on period on levels of homelessness.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We closely monitor the impact of all our policies, including the move on period, on the number and occupancy of asylum hotels, the overall costs of the asylum accommodation estate, the wider effect on local communities, and any pressures placed on local authorities and public amenities. We remain committed to working closely with our partners to identify improvements and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees move on from asylum accommodation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help tackle illegal sales of semaglutide and (b) regulate unlicensed pharmacists.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the regulation of all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. This also includes applying the legal controls on the retail sale, supply and advertising of medicines which are set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

Public safety is the number one priority for the MHRA and its Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) works hard to prevent, detect and investigate illegal activity involving medicines and medical devices. This year, the CEU and its partners have seized millions of doses of illegally traded medicines, including weight loss products.

The MHRA also works closely with web-based sales platforms and the internet industry to identify and remove non-compliant medicines and medical devices where possible. This has included the suspension of hundreds of websites and social media listings linked to the sale of weight loss products over the last two years.

The MHRA works tirelessly to develop new and innovative ways to tackle the trade in illegal medicines. This includes:

- enhanced collaboration with search engine and UK internet service providers aimed at blocking harmful online content;

- boosted collaboration with Home Office Border Force allowing the MHRA to grow its operational footprint at the border and increase the interdiction rates of illegally trafficked medicines;

- the launch of an online checker that allows users to search if a website offering medicines has been deemed fraudulent by the MHRA;

- implementation of a web-based reporting scheme allowing users to report suspicious websites, online marketplace listings and social media channels directly to the MHRA; and

- the use of cutting-edge technology to identify, track and seize the proceeds of crime, including cryptocurrency.

The MHRA’s FakeMeds campaign provides advice to people in the UK who are considering buying medication online, outlining how products can be accessed from safe and legitimate sources.

Anyone who believes they have had a side effect from a medicine, or think they’ve received falsified stock, can report it to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme.

Most legitimate weight loss products are prescription-only medicines, meaning that a consultation with a doctor or qualified healthcare professional is needed to assess the patient's suitability for the treatment and consider any potential risks. Usually, they should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy against a valid prescription. The General Pharmaceutical Council is responsible for the regulation of pharmacies and pharmacists licensed to practice in Great Britain.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the supply of liquid potassium chloride.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is aware of supply issues affecting potassium chloride 375mg/5ml syrup (Kay-Cee-L^® syrup). We issued comprehensive communications to healthcare professionals which includes guidance on how to manage affected patients during the shortage.

Alternative formulations of potassium effervescent tablets remain available, and the Department has reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed potassium chloride oral solution for patients.

The Department is aware that this product has been divested to another manufacturer. We are working closely with the new manufacturer and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to expedite regulatory procedures where possible to ensure that supplies of licensed potassium chloride syrup are made available as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to increase awareness of (a) Access to Work and (b) other employment support programmes amongst employers.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce.

Access to Work aims to support the recruitment and retention of disabled people into employment. It is a personalised discretionary grant that provides support with workplace adjustments beyond an employer’s obligation as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.

As part of our Plan for Change, and as set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published in March, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the programme to help more disabled people into work and support employers. We will review all aspects of Access to Work after evaluating the findings of the Pathways to Work consultation.

The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. The scheme covers all disabilities, including hidden disabilities. It provides employers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face.

We recognise there are opportunities to improve the scheme, and I have been discussing ideas for making the Disability Confident scheme criteria more robust, and officials are continuing to engage with stakeholders to discuss reform proposals.

In addition, DWP has a digital information service for employers, (www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk), which provides tailored guidance to businesses to support employees to remain in work. This includes guidance on health disclosures and having conversations about health, plus guidance on legal obligations, including statutory sick pay and making reasonable adjustments.

In January this year, we launched an expert academic panel to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations later this year.

In our Get Britain Working White Paper, published November 2024, we committed support for employers to recruit, retain and develop staff. As part of that, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead ‘Keep Britain Working’, an independent review to consider how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver a final report with recommendations in the autumn.

Award of honorary posthumous England cap to Frank Soo

Found: 90.0%) George Freeman (Conservative, Mid Norfolk) (added 21 Oct 2024) 14 of 30 (46.7%) Dr Allison Gardner

With MSD cancelling its £1 billion ongoing manufacturing site in Kings Cross, AstraZeneca pausing its £200 million investment in its Cambridge site, and the latter upgrading its US listing, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is launching a call for evidence on UK life sciences competitiveness.