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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that efforts by local authorities to encourage the restoration of empty dwellings by providing exemptions from long-term empty home premiums do not result in buildings becoming more derelict.

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

Local authorities have discretionary powers to change additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The Government recognises that there are circumstances where it may not be appropriate for a premium to apply and we have introduced a number of statutory exemptions to premiums. These include 12 months exemption for empty homes undergoing major repairs or structural alterations to support bringing empty homes back into use and to prevent buildings becoming more derelict. The taxpayer will have to apply for the exception, and provide supporting evidence to the relevant local authority.

It is for the local authorities to decide where it is appropriate to apply the premium, taking into account a number of factors, including local circumstances and government guidance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the number of nurseries in England restricting free childcare hours due to cost and availability; what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents receive the full free childcare hours they are entitled to; and what support her Department is giving with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to nurseries to sustainably deliver funded places.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure free early education and childcare for eligible children in their area. Eligible children are entitled to 570 or 1,140 hours of free early education and childcare over the calendar year from when they become eligible.

Providers should set out how many free hours parents are getting per day and per week, to ensure parents understand what free hours they are receiving over the calendar year from when their child first becomes eligible.

Providers can also charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a free place.

In 2026/27, we are expecting to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, investing over £1 billion more this year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements and an increase to entitlements funding rates.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans he has to introduce additional incentives for non-domestic buildings to use building energy management systems, with consideration to energy costs, carbon emissions and building occupants health.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Building Energy Management Systems can help landlords meet their obligations under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015.

The Energy Systems Catapult has guidance on Building Energy Management Systems, available to all public sector organisations at https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/public-sector-decarbonisation-guidance/all-tools-and-tutorials/

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 introduce minimum animal welfare standards for all food imports that are in line with British animal welfare standards for domestic farmers.

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

I refer the Hon. Member to the reply given to Mr Lee Dillon on 4 February 2026 to PQ UIN 109910.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 121184 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Apprentices, how many of the Department's 57 apprentices were recruited in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The department offers apprenticeships to internal staff as part of our learning and development offer. Since the original PQ, our records have updated to reflect an additional apprenticeship completion in 2025. We therefore now have 58 members of DSIT staff that are either currently undertaking an apprenticeship or have completed an apprenticeship between 2023 and 2025. (GOV.UK). This information is obtained from our Apprenticeship Employer Account on GOV.UK.

Year by year breakdown:

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many victims of Modern Slavery with a positive conclusive grounds decision were eligible for local authority housing during the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not hold or publish data on whether victims of modern slavery with a positive Conclusive Grounds decision were eligible for local authority housing, as housing eligibility decisions are made by local authorities and are not recorded in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) datasets.

Found: present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Sir Christopher Chope; Lizzi Collinge; Melanie Onn; Mike Reader; Bradley Thomas