Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to Answer of 16 April 2025 on Question 43378 on HM Land Registry, what recent progress he has made on reducing backlogs in the Land Registry application system.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Improving speed of service remains a top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR). All the services that people need from HMLR before they move property are either instantaneous or within its usual 3-day standard.
Once they have moved, the purchase needs to be registered with HMLR. Around a third of all registrations are automated and near instantaneous. Most take around 12 weeks.
The age of the oldest outstanding registrations has now more than halved from a peak in 2023 to under 11 months today.
HMLR processing times are publicly available on gov.uk here. If a delay to an application may cause financial, legal, or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, it can be fast tracked (expedited) free of charge. HMLR processes over 1,500 expedited applications every day, with more than 95% of these processed within 10 working days.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the shingles vaccine is offered by the NHS to people who turned 65 on or after 1 September 2023 but not those who were born between 1955 and 1958 unless they have a severely weakened immune system.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
From September 2023, the routine shingles vaccination programme changed from the one-dose Zostavax vaccine to the two-dose Shingrix vaccine, to better protect individuals from the effects of shingles, provide better clinical outcomes, and reduce pressures on the health system. The programme was also expanded, and as a result, almost one million more people became eligible for the shingles vaccination.
The expansion to individuals aged 60 years old is being rolled out in phases to maximise cost-effectiveness and population benefit, ensure consistent messaging to maximise coverage, and take account of National Health Service capacity, all while being consistent with the approach taken by all four nations in the United Kingdom. During the first phase, which commenced in September 2023, those who reach the ages of 65 or 70 years old will be called in for vaccination on or after their 65th or 70th birthday. During the second phase, from September 2028, individuals will be called in for vaccination on or after their 60th or 65th birthday. From 1 September 2033 onwards, vaccination will be routinely offered to those turning 60 years of age on or after their 60th birthday.
At this point in the year, the majority of individuals born in 1955 will have turned 70 years old and therefore will now be eligible for their vaccination. Those who have not yet turned 70 years old but were already 65 years old or over before 1 September 2023 will become eligible when they turn 70 years old.
As of September 2025, all severely immunosuppressed individuals aged 18 years old and over became eligible for shingles vaccination. This is because individuals who are severely immunosuppressed are most at risk of serious illness and complications from shingles, and so it is particularly important that they are protected against this disease.
This is a relatively newly expanded programme, and anyone unsure if they are eligible for the shingles vaccination should check online, on the NHS.UK website, or should speak to their general practitioner.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage privatised water companies to increase their financial transparency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All companies need to submit a single, annual performance report to demonstrate compliance with their separate price controls. Annual performance reports should be accessible to all stakeholders so that they show how the sector is delivering for its customers, environment and wider society. This has been a requirement since 2015-16 and replaced the previous ‘regulatory accounts’.
Ofwat plans to consult early next year on requiring companies to publish full details of remuneration received by directors from the regulated, group and parent companies, including explanations of what the remuneration relates to.
More broadly, the Government will set out its response to the recommendations proposed by the Independent Water Commission, alongside the Government’s wider vision for the future of the water sector, via a White Paper. Following this, we plan to introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK will maintain its contribution to the Eighth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 31 July to question 69165.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to help people with CIFAS markers to access banking facilities to enable them to receive (a) wages and (b) welfare payments.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, plays a vital role in protecting individuals and the financial system from fraud and financial crime. Its work supports the Government’s broader efforts to tackle fraud and maintain trust in the financial system.
The Government also recognises the importance of ensuring that individuals can access banking services to receive wages and welfare payments. Where individuals face barriers when accessing banking services, alternative options may be available. The nine largest personal current account providers in the UK are legally required to offer basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or are not eligible for a standard current account. These accounts are fee-free and provide essential banking services, though they do not include overdrafts or cheque books. Beyond the high street banks, other options for people to make and receive payments may include payment and electronic money institutions.
If someone with a CIFAS marker wishes to further understand the information that CIFAS holds against them, they may wish to make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) to CIFAS
Furthermore, if an individual believes that a CIFAS marker has been incorrectly assigned, they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the CIFAS database for them to review. If the organisation does not remove the marker then the individual can reach out directly to CIFAS following the process outlined in its complaints procedure.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she next plans to review the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises the need to review the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, and we are committed to doing so. This will require careful consideration of how such a review might best be conducted to ensure that children are able to continue to access positive performance opportunities in the future, while also making sure that their safety, wellbeing and best interests are protected.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to strengthen statutory guidance related to the legal duty to commission palliative care services included in the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services, available within the ICB catchment. There are no current plans to update the statutory guidance.
The ICBs are expected to follow the statutory guidance in exercising their functions and must pay due regard to it in the planning, commissioning, and delivery of palliative care and end of life care services.
Additionally, NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the (a) evidence base and (b) consultation submissions used to inform the findings and recommendations of the final report of the Independent Water Commission, published on 21 July 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Independent Water Commission was established to operate independently of Government. It is therefore for the Commission, not the Government, to decide whether to publish the evidence base and consultation submissions that informed its final report.
The Independent Water Commission sought to collect a broad range of views on the challenges that the water system faces in England and Wales. As such the Commission ran a Call for Evidence that received over 50,000 responses, from a wide range of individuals, groups and organisations. Further detail on how the Call for Evidence was run and the stakeholders that engaged with it can be found in the Final Summary of Responses in Annex A which is accessible on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average time taken was for a DWP-initiated PIP review to be completed in West Yorkshire in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below provides information on the median number of weeks taken to complete a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Review (AR) for claimants living in West Yorkshire local authority districts. The time taken is measured from the date of AR registration to the date of completion. Figures are presented for each month in which ARs were completed, covering the 12-month period up to and including July 2025.
Table 1: Median time in weeks from PIP Award Review registration to completion, by month of completion, for the West Yorkshire local authority area.
Month AR completed | Aug-24 | Sep-24 | Oct-24 | Nov-24 | Dec-24 | Jan-25 | Feb-25 | Mar-25 | Apr-25 | May-25 | Jun-25 | Jul-25 |
Median time in weeks | 58 | 50 | 46 | 46 | 45 | 41 | 40 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 37 | 32 |
Our aim as always is to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account all available evidence, including that from the claimant. We are taking steps to improve the service by prioritising new claims, to ensure new claimants are paid as soon as possible whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, who have returned their information as required, to ensure their payments continue until their review can be completed.
Notes:
- Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number of weeks.
- Figures are for the following West Yorkshire local authorities: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending eligibility for (a) energy support schemes and (b) the Warm Home Discount to people whose homes are not connected to electric or gas networks.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For schemes such as the Winter Fuel Payment, which helps pensioner households with heating costs, and the Cold Weather Payment, which offers additional support during periods of very cold weather to those on certain income-related benefits, households do not need to be connected to the gas or electricity networks.
To be eligible for the Warm Home Discount a consumer must be named on an energy account with an obligated supplier and be in receipt of a relevant means tested benefit. In February 2025 the Government consulted on broadening the scheme to include households without a direct relationship with an energy supplier, however it was not feasible to take this forward without increasing the cost of the scheme for all consumers.