Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to include provisions in forthcoming national development management policies to help increase the scaling of stepping stone housing models across local authority areas.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in their planning policies. The Government intends to consult on a revised National Planning Policy Framework this year.
Government planning guidance states that once a planning application is validated, the local planning authority should determine it promptly and, in any case, within the statutory time limit unless a longer period is agreed in writing with the applicant. If a valid application is not determined within the agreed timeframe, the applicant may appeal to the Secretary of State for non-determination.
Setting space standards for homes helps to maintain design quality, promote health and wellbeing, and increase comfort for occupants and other users. Each application is judged on its own individual merit and the weight given to these considerations is a matter for the local planning authority as the usual decision taker in the first instance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he will issue guidance to local authorities on flexibility in the Nationally Described Space Standards when delivering stepping stone accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in their planning policies. The Government intends to consult on a revised National Planning Policy Framework this year.
Government planning guidance states that once a planning application is validated, the local planning authority should determine it promptly and, in any case, within the statutory time limit unless a longer period is agreed in writing with the applicant. If a valid application is not determined within the agreed timeframe, the applicant may appeal to the Secretary of State for non-determination.
Setting space standards for homes helps to maintain design quality, promote health and wellbeing, and increase comfort for occupants and other users. Each application is judged on its own individual merit and the weight given to these considerations is a matter for the local planning authority as the usual decision taker in the first instance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of whether the planning system enables local authorities to approve applications for homes in a timely manner for young people at risk of homelessness.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the homelessness sector to support the development of schemes and policies to tackle homelessness, including stepping stone accommodation.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in their planning policies. The Government intends to consult on a revised National Planning Policy Framework this year.
Government planning guidance states that once a planning application is validated, the local planning authority should determine it promptly and, in any case, within the statutory time limit unless a longer period is agreed in writing with the applicant. If a valid application is not determined within the agreed timeframe, the applicant may appeal to the Secretary of State for non-determination.
Setting space standards for homes helps to maintain design quality, promote health and wellbeing, and increase comfort for occupants and other users. Each application is judged on its own individual merit and the weight given to these considerations is a matter for the local planning authority as the usual decision taker in the first instance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with ger counterparts in Northern Ireland in relation to the second outbreak of blue tongue in Portaferry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK.
Following the first confirmed bluetongue cases in Northern Ireland, Defra is working with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to review policy regarding movement of bluetongue susceptible animals between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. This has included a case conference, and a CVO stocktake attended by the chief veterinary officers and policy leads from Defra, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been admitted to hospital in the last month with Flu A.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England began publishing Winter Situation Reports on 24 November, meaning data on flu-specific bed occupancy is only available from this date onwards.
Between 24 November and 7 December, an average of 2,189 hospital beds were occupied by patients with flu across all acute settings, including both General and Acute and Critical Care beds.
These figures are published in the NHS England Winter Situation Reports which are available at the following link:
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reintroducing a milk strategy for schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only
Milk is an excellent food for children’s growth and development. As part of the School Food Standards, lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk must be available to children who want it for drinking at least once a day during school hours. It is a legislative requirement that milk is provided free of charge to pupils who meet the free school milk criteria, and schools may charge all other pupils.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads the School Milk Scheme Strategy, which supports the provision of milk in schools. The strategy aims to support the consumption of dairy products by children from an early age to promote healthy eating habits and good nutritional health, and support efforts to tackle child obesity by part subsidising, or reimburse in full where relevant, the cost of a daily portion of dairy in line with national guidance. The Strategy also sets out who the support is targeted at and the eligible products that can be supported.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support more young people into work.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is investing in young people’s futures. At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820 million for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy.
Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, including:
Growth and Skills Levy’s £725 million package of reforms includes a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25, and £140 million pilot of new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities. These are important steps in the government’s ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, which will also be supported by expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people.
In Northern Ireland, all DWP policy areas are transferred (apart from the private pensions regulatory regime), including employment support. This is the responsibility of the Department for Communities.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support young disabled people who cannot work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For a small minority of young people, work is not a realistic goal. However, for most disabled young people and young people with a health condition, given the right support, working at some point in the near future is a credible ambition. We know amongst people on health-related benefits those under 25 are significantly more likely to think they could work now if the right job and support was available.
We are delivering the biggest employment support package for disabled people and people with health conditions in more than a generation. Backed by £1 billion a year of new, and additional funding by 2030, we will build towards a guarantee of personalised work, health and skills support to improve returns to work and prevent economic inactivity, as part of rebalancing spending towards work over welfare.
This includes an extra £300 million on top of that announced at the Spring Statement, enabling us to go further and faster on our new planned investment in work, health and skills support offers, building on and learning from successes such as the Connect to Work programme, which is being rolled out over 2025 to provide disabled people and people with health conditions with one-to-one support at the point when they feel ready to work.
Support is also available through the Access to Work scheme - a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment.
A young disabled person may also be eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which provides a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. PIP is non-contributory, non-means-tested, available regardless of whether the recipient is in work or not and can be worth up to £9,747.40 a year, tax free. PIP can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, and help with travel costs to appointments.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are on ENT waiting lists in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of October 2025, there are 613,974 incomplete ear, nose, and throat patient pathways. Patient pathways are not equivalent to the number of people on the waiting list, as patients can be waiting for more than one treatment at the same time.
A dashboard that provides monthly data on patient pathways is also available at the following link:
https://data.england.nhs.uk/dashboard/rtt
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to address extreme flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the last year, this Government has made significant progress by committing record investment in flood and coastal erosion defences; introducing the most significant change in flood and coastal erosion funding policy for nearly fifteen years; and building partnerships to improve flood preparedness and resilience.
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are investing £4.2 billion over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29) to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across England. In our first year in Government, 151 flood defence schemes have been delivered, better protecting over 24,000 homes and businesses.
This Government will invest at least £10.5 billion into our flood defences between April 2024 and March 2036 benefitting nearly 900,000 properties across England.
The Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment data now includes climate change scenarios, providing the best evidence to inform long-term risk assessment and the development of flood mitigation strategies.