Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent estimate she has made of the costs for businesses to train staff on the requirements of the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is independent of government. The purpose of the EHRC’s Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations is to ensure or facilitate compliance with the Equality Act 2010 or an enactment made under that Act. The EHRC has opened its consultation on the draft updated statutory Code of Practice, seeking views from affected stakeholders. We encourage all those affected stakeholders to submit a response to the consultation. We will then consider the EHRC’s updated draft once they have submitted it.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to the Civil Service of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
At this time, no such estimate has been made, as that code remains in draft and is currently subject to consultation.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure that UNWRA's work in Gaza can resume.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our support for United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been unwavering. We have been clear that the United Nations and humanitarian partners must be allowed to operate in line with humanitarian principles to deliver aid and save lives. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Minister for Development met UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on 12 May and reiterated our support for the organisation and its critical role in delivering desperately needed aid and services to Palestinians. In the last financial year, we provided £41 million in support to UNRWA to deliver vital services to Palestinians in the region.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the cost of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations on public transport providers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I am not aware of any such estimates being made of implementing the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations on public transport providers.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to fund a review to explore the extent to which surgical intervention can alleviate the symptoms experienced by individuals with pineal cysts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to fund such a review. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the health and care system on best practice. NICE's interventional procedures programme assesses the efficacy and safety of interventional procedures used for treatment or diagnosis to determine whether they work well enough and are safe enough for use in the National Health Service.
NICE’s interventional procedures programme has not been notified of any procedure for the treatment of pineal cysts. If NICE receives a notification, any such procedure would be considered as part of established appraisal processes.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost of maintaining a consistent interpretation and application of the proposed EHRC Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions, and Associations across different business sectors.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is independent of government. The purpose of the EHRC’s Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations is to ensure or facilitate compliance with the Equality Act 2010 or an enactment made under that Act. The EHRC has opened its consultation on the draft updated statutory Code of Practice, seeking views from affected stakeholders. We encourage all those affected stakeholders to submit a response to the consultation. We will then consider the EHRC’s updated draft once they have submitted it.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with the British Parking Association on the recommended size of car parking spaces.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the British Parking Association on this matter.
The British Parking Association and International Parking Community have launched a new single industry code of practice which aims to improve transparency and consistency. It provides guidance on matters such as the design of designated bays, including those for blue badge holders.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to support research to develop an early-diagnosis test for Lyme disease infection.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any research on early diagnostic tests for Lyme disease. The NIHR welcomes research proposals on Lyme disease and diagnostics.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to build affordable homes for young people.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).
The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.
We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.
Homes England and GLA will assess bids received in the usual way before awarding funding. Exact funding to different places and the locations of homes that will be built will depend on the bids received from local councils and housing associations.
Local authorities are responsible for their own allocation scheme for social housing within the framework of legislation. By law, people who are homeless must be given ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) and local authorities can give ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to those who have urgent housing needs.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local planning authorities should assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including disabled people, and to reflect this in their planning policies. My Department has set out guidance for councils in preparing planning policies on housing for disabled people. This can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the merits of placing job centre staff in supported housing sites.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentre staff provide outreach in a range of community and service settings. This is a valuable way of reaching people who experience difficulties accessing support and promotes partnership working to benefit our customers.
Co-location planning between jobcentres and partners such as housing providers is place-based according to local needs and circumstances. This type of joint working will be strengthened by the localised approach of our plan to Get Britain Working.