Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of removing Sport England’s role as a statutory planning consultee under the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on the consideration of sporting and recreational needs in local planning decisions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill contains no provisions relating to the role of Sports England in the planning system.
The government is committed to reviewing the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510), we intend to consult on removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including Sports England.
We also intend to review the range and type of planning applications on which statutory consultees are required to be consulted and consider whether some types of application could be removed, or addressed by alternative means of engagement and provision of expert advice.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the level of variation between local authorities in the discretionary provision of free bus passes for carers of disabled people; and what steps she is taking to ensure a consistent approach across England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not have any plans to provide advice on offering a discretionary concession to carers of disabled people, as offering this is a choice for the individual local authority to make.
In the year ending March 2025, 66% of Travel Concession Authorities in England outside London offered a discretionary concession for those travelling with a disabled person. The decision on whether to offer discretionary concessions is for the local authority to make depending on their needs and circumstances.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, of which Leicester City Council was allocated £9.4 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include funding discretionary concessions.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to issue guidance to local authorities on the discretionary provision of concessionary bus passes for carers of disabled people.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not have any plans to provide advice on offering a discretionary concession to carers of disabled people, as offering this is a choice for the individual local authority to make.
In the year ending March 2025, 66% of Travel Concession Authorities in England outside London offered a discretionary concession for those travelling with a disabled person. The decision on whether to offer discretionary concessions is for the local authority to make depending on their needs and circumstances.
As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, of which Leicester City Council was allocated £9.4 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include funding discretionary concessions.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Schedule documents associated with the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contracts were removed from public view on the Contracts Finder website; and if she will take steps to make those documents available again.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We confirm the award notices Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts are already published and available on Contracts Finder as follows:
Wales AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder(opens in a new tab)
South AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder(opens in a new tab)
North West AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder(opens in a new tab)
Midlands & Eastern England AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder(opens in a new tab)
North East Yorks & Humber AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder(opens in a new tab)
Northern Ireland AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder(opens in a new tab)
Due to changes in Contract management software Schedules are temporarily unavailable. This will be corrected shortly.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Sickle Cell Disease Quality Improvement Programme will continue when the Department of Health and Social Care takes over the responsibilities of NHS England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Quality Improvement Programme remains committed to improving outcomes and quality of life for people living with sickle cell and thalassaemia. The programme is taking targeted action to align to the commitments within the 10-Year Health Plan to reduce health inequalities nationally, to ensure people in these communities can live longer, healthier lives, spending less time in poor health.
The integration of NHS England into the Department is not due to happen in this financial year, and all programmes of work will be reviewed in alignment with budget setting in future years.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
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 timeliness of Care Quality Commission processing of applications for registration as (a) care providers and (b) registered managers in (i) England and (ii) Leicester East constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not record registration data in the format requested, for the timeliness of registration application processing by constituency.
Dr Penny Dash published her report into the CQC in October 2024. The Government accepted her findings and has since been supporting the CQC to improve rapidly, as well as holding it to account for its performance.
The Department meets regularly with the CQC to review performance. The volume of registration applications and reducing the backlog of registration applications over 10 weeks old is one of the four key priorities discussed at these meetings.
The CQC has been making tangible progress. For all registration application received as care providers and registered managers in England, the percentage of applications older than 10 weeks has reduced significantly, from a peak of 61.1% in May 2024, to 32.9% in July 2025, a reduction of 28.2%.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
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 help improve the Care Quality Commission’s registration process times; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of those processing times on the (a) capacity and (b) continuity of care services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not record registration data in the format requested, for the timeliness of registration application processing by constituency.
Dr Penny Dash published her report into the CQC in October 2024. The Government accepted her findings and has since been supporting the CQC to improve rapidly, as well as holding it to account for its performance.
The Department meets regularly with the CQC to review performance. The volume of registration applications and reducing the backlog of registration applications over 10 weeks old is one of the four key priorities discussed at these meetings.
The CQC has been making tangible progress. For all registration application received as care providers and registered managers in England, the percentage of applications older than 10 weeks has reduced significantly, from a peak of 61.1% in May 2024, to 32.9% in July 2025, a reduction of 28.2%.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve Care Quality Commission processing times for the registration of care providers in (a) England and (b) Leicester East constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not record registration data in the format requested, for the timeliness of registration application processing by constituency.
Dr Penny Dash published her report into the CQC in October 2024. The Government accepted her findings and has since been supporting the CQC to improve rapidly, as well as holding it to account for its performance.
The Department meets regularly with the CQC to review performance. The volume of registration applications and reducing the backlog of registration applications over 10 weeks old is one of the four key priorities discussed at these meetings.
The CQC has been making tangible progress. For all registration application received as care providers and registered managers in England, the percentage of applications older than 10 weeks has reduced significantly, from a peak of 61.1% in May 2024, to 32.9% in July 2025, a reduction of 28.2%.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the National Institute for Health and Care Research will report on its evaluation into the Sickle Cell Disorder Emergency Department Bypass Unit pilots.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England pilot (Oct 2023 - July 2025) is being independently evaluated by the Rapid Service Evaluation Team (REVAL), which is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and based at the University of Manchester. Preliminary findings are due in September 2025, with full results in December 2025.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the compliance of the BBC’s closure of Asian Network News with its (a) service agreement and (b) Charter duties to reflect diverse communities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters, including how it engages and reflects listeners in the UK. However, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and it is solely responsible for all editorial, budgetary and scheduling decisions.
Ofcom as independent regulator, is required to set the regulatory conditions it considers appropriate for requiring the BBC to fulfil its Mission and promote the Public Purposes. It does this through setting an Operating Licence. The BBC is responsible for complying with its Operating Licence requirements, and Ofcom monitors and reports annually on the BBC’s performance and its compliance with its licence conditions.
In October 2024, BBC News announced plans to make changes to some of its services, including closing the Asian Network’s bespoke news service. The BBC did not require Ofcom’s approval to close it because all budgetary and editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the BBC Board. However, in April 2025 the BBC submitted a request to change its news and current affairs quota on BBC Asian Network from 1,224 hours to 675 hours per financial year in the Operating Licence.
On 29 May 2025 Ofcom consulted on this request, and in that consultation Ofcom set out its provisional view that it is minded to approve the change, recognising changing audience habits. Ofcom will announce its final decision in due course.
The Government does not hold information about whether the BBC conducted a race equality impact assessment ahead of closing the Asian Network News Service.