Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 bringing town and parish councils into scope of the local government ombudsman.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) provides members of the public with a vital complaints resolution service for when things go wrong with the public services they rely on. Their investigations provide the public with personal redress and improve the delivery of these services by local authorities. Most of their complaints are about key public services, such as children’s services, adult social care and homelessness.
The Government has no plans to bring town and parish councils within the LGSCO’s scope.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 effectiveness of audit requirements for town and parish councils following the abolition of the Audit Commission in 2015.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In December 2024, the government launched a strategy to overhaul the local audit system in England. Through the strategy and subsequent consultation response, the government has committed to a number of measures in relation to smaller bodies including to review the effectiveness of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return process for smaller bodies. The government will introduce legislation to move away from audit regimes based solely on thresholds to ensure a risk based and proportionate approach. As part of the wider reforms, the government is establishing the Local Audit Office (LAO) to streamline and oversee the currently fragmented system. In the longer term, the LAO’s appointment and contract management function will expand to include the smaller authorities’ appointment and assurance framework to minimise fragmentation in the system.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 effectiveness of sanctions available to local government standards committees for the actions of town and parish councillors.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In December the Government launched a consultation seeking views on a range of measures to strengthen the standards and conduct framework that applies to all types and tiers of local authorities in England. The proposals consulted upon included a requirement for all principal authorities to convene formal standards committees to make decisions on code of conduct breaches, and the introduction of suspension of members for serious misconduct. We are now in the process of analysing the responses to the consultation to ensure we are taking full account of sector views on all of the measures proposed, and the Government Response will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of compliance with the Mental Health Investment Standard by ICBs in each of the last four years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of integrated care boards (ICBs), formerly clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), meeting the Mental Health Investment Standard, meaning that their investment in mental health services increased in line with their overall increase in funding for the year, from 2020/21 to 2024/25:
Year | Number of CCGs/ICBs meeting the Mental Health Investment Standard |
2020/21 | 135 out of 135 CCGs |
2021/22 | 106 out of 106 CCGs |
2022/23 | 41 out of 42 ICBs |
2023/24 | 42 out of 42 ICBs |
2024/25 | Information not yet available |
Source: NHS Mental Health Dashboard, NHS England
Note: between 2020/21 and 2021/22 there was a methodology change in how ICB/CCG base allocation was calculated.
The calculation of the Mental Health Investment Standard does not include spend on learning disabilities, autism, dementia, and specialised commissioning.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 requiring the Land Registry to (a) record and (b) publish a property owner's Company Registration Number on title register documents.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry (HMLR) requires that the registration number of a company is supplied when a UK company is being registered. Company registration numbers are recorded in the proprietorship entry of the title register.
Copies of title registers are normally available from HMLR’s Search for land and property information page on gov.uk here.
HMLR publishes information about registered land and property in England and Wales owned by UK companies on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 safeguard young people from (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most effective and sustainable approach to safeguarding children and young people from drug and alcohol harm is by giving them the best start in life, and by keeping them safe, well, and happy. Our mission-based approach will ensure that every child has the best start in life and that we create the healthiest generation of children ever.
Statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with alcohol and drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop lesson plans on alcohol and drugs and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year.
The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information is available on the Talk to FRANK website, which is available at the following link:
Children and families affected by parental alcohol and/or drug use can experience adverse health, social, and economic outcomes, which can continue for generations without effective interventions to break the cycle. The Department is continuing to invest in improvements to local alcohol and drug treatment services to ensure that those in need can access high quality help and support.
In addition to the Public Health Grant, local authorities have had a further £267 million from the Department this year to improve the quality and capacity of treatment. This is alongside the additional investment of £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to improve treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by alcohol and drug use.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including political education in the national curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For secondary schools, democracy and politics is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom, the power of government and how citizens and parliament hold it to account. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2.
Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by this autumn. Oak resources can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.
The Review Group has now published its interim findings and clarified that its next phase of work will consider coverage of key knowledge and skills within every subject. The interim report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report.
The government will respond to the review’s final recommendations in the autumn.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect young people from drink spiking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Spiking is an appalling crime that undermines the public's right to feel safe when they are simply enjoying a night out. It can happen to anybody regardless of age, gender or sexuality. We are taking tough new action to prevent spiking incidents, ensure that victims of spiking receive enhanced protection and support when they are out and about - creating a safer night out for everyone.
The Government has introduced new legislation, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.
We have also rolled out specialist spiking training for staff in the night-time economy to ensure they have the skills to detect possible spiking incidents, support victims who have been spiked and to support law enforcement with evidence collection.
Additionally, we are committed to supporting the Office for Students and Department for Education in implementing a new registration condition which, from August 2025, will require all higher education providers to implement policies and procedures to prevent and tackle sexual misconduct and other forms of harassment affecting their students; including all forms of spiking.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a national water fluoridation strategy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Water fluoridation is an effective population measure that reduces tooth decay. It should be used to complement other effective methods of increasing fluoride use, as set out in the statement by the UK Chief Medical Officers, which is available at the following link:
On 7 March 2025, we confirmed plans, following public consultation, to expand provision of water fluoridation in the north east of England. The outcome report is available at the following link:
There are no current plans for a national water fluoridation strategy. Any decisions on the future expansion of water fluoridation will be based on oral health needs, funding, and will be subject to public consultation.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the potential merits of conducting cross-conditional testing in the NHS when assessing for a neurodivergent condition to determine the potential co-occurrence of (a) autism and (b) ADHD to help (i) increase early diagnosis rates and (b) improve outcomes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The framework notes that autism should not be assessed without also considering the possibility of differential or co-occurring diagnoses.
In respect of ADHD, we are supportive of a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors, and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support. The ADHD taskforce will also work closely with the Department for Education’s neurodivergence task and finish group.