Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 legislate for mandatory licensing of all Houses in Multiple Occupation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 62035 on 4 July 2025.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that children who didn’t reach the water safety section of national curriculum swimming lessons receive the required teaching on water safety.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The PE national curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively, and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. It is for schools to ensure that pupils are taught the nation curriculum. Data suggests that 73% of children can swim 25 metres before they leave primary school.
Our reforms to the PE curriculum will ensure there is a clear emphasis on swimming and water safety, and our new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will bring the expertise of national governing bodies including Swim England directly into schools.
In addition, we have made changes to statutory requirements for relationships, sex and health education in both primary and secondary to ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water. This requirement comes into force from September.
Oak National Academy offers swimming and water safety units as part of its PE curriculum, developed in partnership with Swim England for all age groups. We also work closely with sector organisations like Swim England and the Royal Life Saving Society UK, supporting all schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate the Government has made of the number of children who didn’t reach the water safety section of national curriculum swimming lessons.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The PE national curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively, and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. It is for schools to ensure that pupils are taught the nation curriculum. Data suggests that 73% of children can swim 25 metres before they leave primary school.
Our reforms to the PE curriculum will ensure there is a clear emphasis on swimming and water safety, and our new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will bring the expertise of national governing bodies including Swim England directly into schools.
In addition, we have made changes to statutory requirements for relationships, sex and health education in both primary and secondary to ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water. This requirement comes into force from September.
Oak National Academy offers swimming and water safety units as part of its PE curriculum, developed in partnership with Swim England for all age groups. We also work closely with sector organisations like Swim England and the Royal Life Saving Society UK, supporting all schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made regarding turnaround times for investigations in the recovery from estate department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s Recovery from Estates process does not begin from the date of death. Before recovery activity can commence, probate or letters of administration must generally be granted, and the Department must be notified of the estate administration details. Consequently, there can be a period between notification of a death and the point at which the Department is able to begin Recovery from Estates activity.
Recovery from Estates investigations can vary significantly in complexity depending on the circumstances of the case, the availability of evidence, and the time required to obtain and review historical financial information. The Department seeks to progress cases as efficiently as possible while ensuring that all necessary enquiries are completed.
The Department has taken a number of steps to improve timeliness and customer service within the Recovery from Estates process. These include increasing resource within the service and continuing to provide training and upskilling opportunities to develop staff capability. In addition, a dedicated telephony function has been established to handle customer enquiries. This enables other staff to focus on case processing activities, helping to increase operational capacity and support the timely progression of investigations.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce backlogs in the recovery from estate department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s Recovery from Estates process does not begin from the date of death. Before recovery activity can commence, probate or letters of administration must generally be granted, and the Department must be notified of the estate administration details. Consequently, there can be a period between notification of a death and the point at which the Department is able to begin Recovery from Estates activity.
Recovery from Estates investigations can vary significantly in complexity depending on the circumstances of the case, the availability of evidence, and the time required to obtain and review historical financial information. The Department seeks to progress cases as efficiently as possible while ensuring that all necessary enquiries are completed.
The Department has taken a number of steps to improve timeliness and customer service within the Recovery from Estates process. These include increasing resource within the service and continuing to provide training and upskilling opportunities to develop staff capability. In addition, a dedicated telephony function has been established to handle customer enquiries. This enables other staff to focus on case processing activities, helping to increase operational capacity and support the timely progression of investigations.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what target times are set for investigations in the recovery from estate department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department’s Recovery from Estates process does not begin from the date of death. Before recovery activity can commence, probate or letters of administration must generally be granted, and the Department must be notified of the estate administration details. Consequently, there can be a period between notification of a death and the point at which the Department is able to begin Recovery from Estates activity.
Recovery from Estates investigations can vary significantly in complexity depending on the circumstances of the case, the availability of evidence, and the time required to obtain and review historical financial information. The Department seeks to progress cases as efficiently as possible while ensuring that all necessary enquiries are completed.
The Department has taken a number of steps to improve timeliness and customer service within the Recovery from Estates process. These include increasing resource within the service and continuing to provide training and upskilling opportunities to develop staff capability. In addition, a dedicated telephony function has been established to handle customer enquiries. This enables other staff to focus on case processing activities, helping to increase operational capacity and support the timely progression of investigations.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of long A&E wait times on older patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that emergency departments face sustained demand and that prolonged waits can affect patient experience, clinical outcomes, and the timely delivery of care, particularly for older people and those with complex health needs. To improve capacity and patient flow, through delivering the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, the Government has invested over £450 million in urgent and emergency care services, including Same Day Emergency Care, urgent treatment centres, mental health crisis assessment centres, and ambulance capacity.
Our actions are having an impact, as four-hour and 12-hour performance was better over the winter of 2025/26 compared to the winter of 2024/25, despite rising attendances at emergency departments. Through the Medium Term Planning Framework, we have set out a clear three-year trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year, and at the Spending Review we announced up to £1.9 billion of capital investment to further improve urgent and emergency care infrastructure and patient flow.
In Nottinghamshire, the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, working with local National Health Service trusts, is responsible for planning and delivering urgent and emergency care services for its local population.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of A&E capacities in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that emergency departments face sustained demand and that prolonged waits can affect patient experience, clinical outcomes, and the timely delivery of care, particularly for older people and those with complex health needs. To improve capacity and patient flow, through delivering the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, the Government has invested over £450 million in urgent and emergency care services, including Same Day Emergency Care, urgent treatment centres, mental health crisis assessment centres, and ambulance capacity.
Our actions are having an impact, as four-hour and 12-hour performance was better over the winter of 2025/26 compared to the winter of 2024/25, despite rising attendances at emergency departments. Through the Medium Term Planning Framework, we have set out a clear three-year trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year, and at the Spending Review we announced up to £1.9 billion of capital investment to further improve urgent and emergency care infrastructure and patient flow.
In Nottinghamshire, the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, working with local National Health Service trusts, is responsible for planning and delivering urgent and emergency care services for its local population.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department is taking to reduce A&E wait times in (a) Nottinghamshire and (b) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that emergency departments face sustained demand and that prolonged waits can affect patient experience, clinical outcomes, and the timely delivery of care, particularly for older people and those with complex health needs. To improve capacity and patient flow, through delivering the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, the Government has invested over £450 million in urgent and emergency care services, including Same Day Emergency Care, urgent treatment centres, mental health crisis assessment centres, and ambulance capacity.
Our actions are having an impact, as four-hour and 12-hour performance was better over the winter of 2025/26 compared to the winter of 2024/25, despite rising attendances at emergency departments. Through the Medium Term Planning Framework, we have set out a clear three-year trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year, and at the Spending Review we announced up to £1.9 billion of capital investment to further improve urgent and emergency care infrastructure and patient flow.
In Nottinghamshire, the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, working with local National Health Service trusts, is responsible for planning and delivering urgent and emergency care services for its local population.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support available to children in kinship care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 now requires local authorities to publish a Kinship Local Offer, setting out available support and consulting relevant stakeholders before publication
In February 2026, the department launched seven Kinship Zones which will test the impact of providing kinship carers a weekly financial allowance. The pilot will run for three and a half years, with £126 million confirmed for the first two years
Family Network Support Packages will provide financial help to family members who support children remaining with their birth parents. These initiatives form part of a coherent support pathway from early family help to long-term kinship care.
Peer support for carers is expanding through the charity Kinship, which has supported over 180 groups across England.
Further reforms will extend Virtual School Head support to all children in kinship care from September 2027, while continued investment in the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will help children access therapeutic support.