Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy paper entitled Giving every child the best start in life, published on 7 July 2025, what the terms of the review into fairer funding for early years will be.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life.
The department will review early years funding, including the early years national funding formulae, consulting on a set of changes by summer 2026.
We will review how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure the funding system remains fair and effective at reflecting the costs of delivery and supporting those children and parts of the country that have higher levels of additional need.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support is available to homeowners who cannot afford legal representation in disputes with housing (a) developers and (b) associations over structural defects.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are a range of options to support homeowners who cannot afford legal representation in disputes with housing developers and associations over structural defects. Advice organisations, such as Citizens Advice and Shelter, may be able to provide advice or signpost to further support, and leaseholders may be able to get support from organisations that specialise in leasehold issues, such as the Leasehold Advisory Service. Alternatively, ombudsman services may be able to provide support with resolving a dispute.
There are also a variety of ways to fund or support some types of legal action, which may include disputes. These include insurance policies, and homeowners should check whether their insurance policy includes Legal Expenses Insurance, which may provide coverage for certain legal expenses and costs. Homeowners may also be able to fund a legal case through a ‘no-win, no-fee' conditional fee agreement. This is a means of funding litigation, usually entered into by claimants, where the lawyer agrees not to take a fee if the claim fails.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 improve (a) child and (b) adult mental health services in Cornwall.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know people are not receiving the mental health care they need and that waits for mental health services are too long across England, including in Cornwall. We are determined to change that as part of our shift to prevention and earlier intervention, and in line with our Plan for Change.
Nationally, the Government is providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England and roll out Young Futures Hubs to provide open access mental health support for children and young people. At the end of March 2025, 87% of pupils and learners in Cornwall were covered by a mental health support team.
In addition, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to ease the pressure on the busy mental health services. More than 6,700 extra mental health workers have been employed since July, as per the latest data.
Responsibility for the onward commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICB). It is the role of local ICB decision-makers to consider the implications of mental health services, specific to each geography and including the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, and local authorities.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 ensure that housing associations are held accountable for the (a) quality and (b) safety of homes they (i) manage and (ii) build.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Alongside delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding a generation, the government is committed to driving a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of homes.
Registered providers of social housing are required to deliver the outcomes of the standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The Regulator conducts routine inspections of large registered providers to assess whether they are delivering the outcomes set by the standards. The Regulator has a series of powers at its disposal when it identifies serious failings.
On 2 July 2025, we launched consultations on an updated and modernised Decent Homes Standard and on a new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard. These new standards would be binding on registered providers of social housing.
The government will bring Awaab’s Law into force for the social rented sector from October this year. Awaab’s Law is vital legislation that will empower social tenants to hold their landlords to account using the full force of the law if they fail to investigate and fix hazards within their homes within set timescales. It will also allow tenants to access the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord does not adhere to strict timelines for action.
New requirements relating to electrical safety will also require social landlords to carry out electrical safety checks at least every five years, as well as mandatory appliance inspections on all electrical appliances that are provided by the landlord.
In respect of new build homes, all building works must meet the safety and performance requirements set out in the Building Regulations 2010. The building regulations set minimum legal performance standards for new building work including when a building is being designed, constructed, or subject to major re-design. The building regulations are enforced through the building control process. Building control conduct checks to assure compliance with the building regulations.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 plans to expand the (a) remit and (b) powers of the New Homes Ombudsman to include freehold homeowners with unresolved structural issues.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In October 2024, this government committed to establish a statutory New Homes Ombudsman which will give homeowners improved access to redress. The government will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps is her Department taking to tackle misogyny in (a) the bankruptcy and (b) judicial system.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring that the justice system is fair, impartial and free from discrimination. Fair treatment and equality before the law are fundamental principles of our justice system and central to the judicial role. The Lady Chief Justice holds statutory responsibility for the training and guidance of court judges in England and Wales, including oversight of the Guide to Judicial Conduct. This Guide reflects the core values of judicial conduct: independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, equality of treatment, and competence and diligence. We are supportive of the ongoing efforts of the senior judiciary to uphold and embed these values across the judiciary.
In relation to bankruptcy specifically, the process is overseen by the Insolvency Service, an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people on the (a) Homes for Ukraine and (b) Ukraine Family Schemes who are working in the agricultural sector.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 the potential merits of resolving shared ownership arrangements of properties where offshore freehold ownership precludes staircasing.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Leases for shared ownership properties, whether these are grant funded or Section 106 delivery, must follow one of the shared ownership model leases provided by Homes England or the Greater London Authority. These model leases contain a fundamental clause which ensures that staircasing is permitted. In certain types of shared ownership, staircasing is however restricted to below 100%, this is to ensure properties remain as affordable housing in perpetuity.
Properties sold by private developers, and without grant funding or through Section 106, are not required to follow a model lease when sold via a shared ownership arrangement.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations set out in the Fifth Report of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on Shared Ownership, Session 2023-24, published on 26 March 2024, HC 61.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Shared ownership has an important role to play in supporting households into home ownership who would otherwise struggle to purchase a property on the open market that meets their needs.
The Government is aware that some people who have entered shared ownership have faced significant challenges with their properties and there is ongoing consideration of what more can be done to improve the experience of shared owners, including consideration of the former Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee’s report recommendations on shared ownership.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
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 reform the Shared Ownership system.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Shared ownership has an important role to play in supporting households into home ownership who would otherwise struggle to purchase a property on the open market that meets their needs.
The Government is aware that some people who have entered shared ownership have faced significant challenges with their properties and there is ongoing consideration of what more can be done to improve the experience of shared owners, including consideration of the former Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee’s report recommendations on shared ownership.