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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department provides to (a) Enfield Council and (b) other local authorities on (i) restricting formal call-in procedures to key decisions and (ii) ensuring that such restrictions do not limit the wider powers of overview and scrutiny committees under section 9F of the Local Government Act 2000, as amended by the Localism Act 2011, to scrutinise non-key decisions and other actions taken by those authorities.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Sections 9F(2)(a) and 9F(4) of the Local Government Act 2000 set out how local authorities should make sure their respective scrutiny committees have the power to review and scrutinise decisions made by the executive, commonly referred to as ‘call-in’ procedures. Guidance on ‘call-in’ procedures was published in 2000 alongside the Act. More recent guidance funded by central government was published in 2023 by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny.

Enfield Council has not received additional guidance from HMG on the use of call-in powers. Local authorities are responsible for setting their own rules on how call-in should be used, including the thresholds and procedures for using it, whilst ensuring they comply with their obligations under the Local Government Act 2000.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department collects data on the number of NHS complaints that remain unresolved after (a) six months, (b) nine months and (c) twelve months; and what action is taken where NHS trusts exceed those timescales.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not collect data relating to National Health Service complaints. Data on NHS written complaints is published by NHS England annually at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/data-on-written-complaints-in-the-nhs

The 10-Year Health Plan confirmed our intention to reform the NHS complaints process, setting clear standards for both the timeliness and quality of responses, to ensure the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learnings to improve the quality of care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department collects data on the time taken by NHS trusts to respond to complaints relating to inpatient mental health services; and what steps she is taking to reduce delays in the resolution of such complaints.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not collect data relating to National Health Service complaints. Data on NHS written complaints is published by NHS England annually at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/data-on-written-complaints-in-the-nhs

The 10-Year Health Plan confirmed our intention to reform the NHS complaints process, setting clear standards for both the timeliness and quality of responses, to ensure the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learnings to improve the quality of care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of current NHS complaints procedures in cases where bereaved families have waited more than nine months for a final response from a trust, and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing maximum response times for complaint investigations.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not collect data relating to National Health Service complaints. Data on NHS written complaints is published by NHS England annually at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/data-on-written-complaints-in-the-nhs

The 10-Year Health Plan confirmed our intention to reform the NHS complaints process, setting clear standards for both the timeliness and quality of responses, to ensure the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learnings to improve the quality of care.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether costs incurred by a local housing authority in establishing and maintaining a register under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 may be taken into account when determining the reasonable fee for supplying a certified copy or extract under subsection (5) of that section.

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

Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.

They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.

We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.

There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.

The government keeps licensing regulations under review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of whether data protection legislation prevents local authorities from enabling searches by licence-holder name of public registers maintained under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004, where the name and address of the licence holder are prescribed particulars of that register.

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

Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.

They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.

We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.

There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.

The government keeps licensing regulations under review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Information Commission on updating guidance on the online publication of personal data contained in statutory public registers, including landlord licensing registers.

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

Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.

They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.

We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.

There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.

The government keeps licensing regulations under review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has considered requiring registers maintained under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 to be made available online in a searchable and machine-readable format.

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

Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.

They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.

We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.

There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.

The government keeps licensing regulations under review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued guidance to local housing authorities on the calculation of reasonable fees under section 232(5) of the Housing Act 2004.

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

Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.

They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.

We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.

There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.

The government keeps licensing regulations under review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 and the Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 to ensure that statutory landlord licensing registers are readily accessible to the public in digital form.

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

Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities are required to make their licensing registers available for inspection to the public.

They must also provide a certified copy of their registers (or individual entry/entries from it) to anyone who requests it, subject to the payment of a fee.

We encourage local authorities to consider accessibility requirements in meeting these duties and to ensure that any fees charged for this are reasonable and proportionate.

There is no requirement for local authorities to publish their licensing registers. Where they choose to do so, they should consider any interactions with data protection legislation in respect of personal data contained within those registers.

The government keeps licensing regulations under review.

Planned job losses at Greggs plc