Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of redeveloping heritage properties on meeting housing targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There are no plans to weaken heritage protections in the planning system.
The responsibilities of local planning authorities to recognise and protect their historic assets, making use of built heritage and conservation expertise as necessary, remain unaltered.
But the sympathetic conversion of historic buildings into new homes can support our housing targets, especially if the building is derelict.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to review the 10% commission on the sale of park homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44299 on 16 April 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of adding the removals sector to a minister's responsibility in his Department.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports has overall responsibility for business services across government. The full list of Ministerial Responsibilities is available on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to engage with independent pharmacies to establish the basis for a fair and equitable contract to be offered to community pharmacy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government consults with Community Pharmacy England on arrangements for remunerating and reimbursing community pharmacy contractors. Community Pharmacy England represents all pharmacies in England including independent pharmacies.
For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. Any future contractual framework for community pharmacy will also be developed in consultation with Community Pharmacy England.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 is taking to ensure that contaminated land is remediated prior to new development.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by remediating and mitigating despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated and unstable land, where appropriate.
Planning policies and decisions should ensure that a site is suitable for its proposed use taking account of ground conditions and any risks arising from land instability and contamination.
This includes risks arising from natural hazards or former activities such as mining, and any proposals for mitigation including land remediation (as well as potential impacts on the natural environment arising from that remediation).
After remediation, as a minimum, land should not be capable of being determined as contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and adequate site investigation information, prepared by a competent person, is available to inform these assessments.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
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 is taking to ensure that previously (a) contaminated and (b) hazardous sites are subject to site investigations prior to development.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by remediating and mitigating despoiled, degraded, derelict, contaminated and unstable land, where appropriate.
Planning policies and decisions should ensure that a site is suitable for its proposed use taking account of ground conditions and any risks arising from land instability and contamination. This includes risks arising from natural hazards or former activities such as mining, and any proposals for mitigation including land remediation (as well as potential impacts on the natural environment arising from that remediation.
After remediation, as a minimum, land should not be capable of being determined as contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and adequate site investigation information, prepared by a competent person, is available to inform these assessments.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of incorrectly completed HC3 forms have resulted in penalty to the claimant.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to make an assessment on the adequacy of the application form for the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS), however the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the administrator of the NHS LIS, is trialling a new online service available to those who meet certain criteria.
Incorrectly completing the NHS LIS application form does not result in a penalty for the applicant, but may lead to the result of their claim being delayed. Anyone who is entitled to help will be sent a HC2 certificate for full help with health costs or a HC3 certificate for limited help.
In 2024/25, the NHSBSA received a total of 375,625 applications for the LIS, and 121,428 of those applications are either pending for more information/further contact, or have been abandoned by the claimant.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the ease of use of the HC3 form for people applying for low-income support for NHS costs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to make an assessment on the adequacy of the application form for the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS), however the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the administrator of the NHS LIS, is trialling a new online service available to those who meet certain criteria.
Incorrectly completing the NHS LIS application form does not result in a penalty for the applicant, but may lead to the result of their claim being delayed. Anyone who is entitled to help will be sent a HC2 certificate for full help with health costs or a HC3 certificate for limited help.
In 2024/25, the NHSBSA received a total of 375,625 applications for the LIS, and 121,428 of those applications are either pending for more information/further contact, or have been abandoned by the claimant.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the light-touch review process for PIP claimants with ongoing awards will be included in future reviews of PIP reassessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper we announced plans to launch a review of the PIP assessment, which I shall lead. To make sure we get this right, we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details about the scope of the review as plans progress.
In the meantime, we also set out in the Green Paper that we are exploring ways to improve our communication with people receiving ongoing awards in PIP who are expected to remain on disability benefits for life. We are considering improvements to the information we provide when we write to people about an ongoing award decision, what support is offered to people receiving ongoing awards between ‘light touch’ reviews and looking at the length of time between ‘light touch’ reviews.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that medical aid reaches civilians (a) at the Nasser Hospital and (b) elsewhere in Khan Younis.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain deeply concerned about the impact of Israel's aid block and military operations activity on healthcare in Gaza. Medical staff and facilities must be protected, and civilians should be able to safely access medical treatment. On 21 March, the Foreign Secretary issued a joint statement with the Foreign Ministers of France and Germany, in which they called on Israel to ensure access to medical care and temporary medical evacuations in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. The Foreign Secretary called Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar and Minister for Strategic Affairs Dermer on 20 and 21 March to press Israel to restore humanitarian access and raise serious concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza. Since 7 October 2023, the UK has provided £5.5 million in funding to UK-Med, enabling them to provide vital care to over 373,000 Gazans, including critical limb and life-saving surgeries, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation.