Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to include policies on autism in the youth employment strategy delivery plan.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department recognises that young people with autism can face significant barriers to seeking and remaining in employment. As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we have ambitious plans to better support our young people to lead fulfilling lives and careers.
The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our approach to supporting young people into employment, including the introduction of a new Youth Guarantee for all 18–21-year-olds in England. As part of this, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education are working with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities who have commenced delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers. These Trailblazers are testing how new local leadership, accountability structures and provision can be integrated into a cohesive education, training and employment support for young people. Several areas are specifically designing support for young people with health conditions and disabilities, including autism.
DWP also provides tailored employment support for 16–24-year-olds on Universal Credit through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes access to work coaches, Youth Hubs, and Disability Employment Advisors, who can offer personalised support to neurodivergent young people.
The Government wants to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace. We are looking to build on the findings of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment and have launched the Neurodiversity Academic Panel – an independent group of experts, many with lived experience—to advise on boosting awareness and inclusion across all age groups.
The Government is committed to consulting with stakeholders, including young people with health conditions and those who are neurodivergent.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the decommissioning of supported housing schemes.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 51474 on 19 May 2025.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NHS 10-Year Plan reflects the specific (a) workforce, (b) training and (c) capacity needs of children's palliative care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative care and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and stakeholders.
The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and children’s palliative care and end of life care services, will have a big role to play in that shift.
A central part of our forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce, including how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the National Health Service needs to care for patients, including those with palliative care and end of life care needs, across our communities.
We will also publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it, including for those with palliative care and end of life care needs.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
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 has taken with Homes England to encourage SMEs to build affordable homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has set Homes England a strategic objective that funding for the Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26 should support use of small and medium-sized enterprise contractors. When Homes England assess a bid to the programme for funding, they will look at how the proposed development meets this strategic objective. Homes England will also include this objective in any grant agreement for the programme.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing emergency funding for temporary accommodation in London.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has increased funding for homelessness services in 2025/26 by £233 million to nearly £1 billion. This includes more than £277 million for London, an increase of more than £78 million from 2024/25.
Councils can draw from the wider local government finance settlement to help meet homelessness and temporary accommodation costs. The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26 makes available a total Core Spending Power of up to £10.14 billion for London Boroughs excluding the GLA, representing an increase of 6.6%.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for the fire and rescue service as part of the upcoming spending review.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Overall, fire and rescue authorities have received around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. The Local Government Funding Settlement was published on 3 February and sets out funding allocations for all Local Authorities including Fire and Rescue. In 2025/26, standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, represent a 3.6% increase in core spending power.
The government has committed to performing a Zero-Based Review of all expenditure, conducting line-by-line scrutiny of spending. This is the first time in over a decade and a half that government departments have been asked to take such an approach, with what’s called a “zero-based review” last undertaken 17 years ago.
The Spending Review will draw on this to ensure funding is aligned with the government’s priorities and the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will remove the 2011 cap on Local Housing Allowance payable for temporary accommodation through the Housing Benefit Subsidy system.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere.
We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. MHCLG are increasing funding for homelessness services this year by an extra £233 million compared to last year (2024/25).
We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and are working closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to explore the impacts of subsidy rates on local authorities.
Any future decisions on subsidy rates will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the current challenging financial environment at the appropriate fiscal event.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
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 include provisions for youths in the upcoming homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a VAT relief scheme for Further Education institutions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Education services supplied by an “eligible body” are exempt from VAT. For VAT purposes, an “eligible body” broadly refers to most regulated, publicly funded, or not-for-profit education providers. This means no VAT is charged on supplies of education made by further education colleges, nor are further education colleges able to recover the VAT they have incurred on their expenditure.
The Government is not currently planning to introduce a VAT refund scheme for further education institutions.
Asked by: Margaret Mullane (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to allow colleges to carry out their own end point assessments for apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In February 2025 the department announced improvements to apprenticeship assessment and published a new set of assessment principles. This will make assessment simpler for employers, providers and apprentices and remove unnecessary duplication.
End-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) will be able to delegate assessment to the apprenticeship training provider, including colleges, where appropriate, in line with the revised assessment plan. EPAOs will continue to shape the assessment and ensure the validity of outcomes.
These changes will make the system more efficient and improve the experience for employers and apprentices, while retaining rigour and quality, and ensuring consistency in outcomes. This will ensure employers can be confident that apprentices have met the standards employers require.
Existing assessment plans will be rewritten on a standard-by-standard basis to reflect these changes. The department is working closely with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to develop and implement these revisions from April 2025. Further detail, including which assessment plans will be revised and by when, will be outlined in due course.