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 steps he is taking to i) support local authorities in managing temporary accommodation costs and ii) ensure value for money in capital investment programmes.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government has increased funding for homelessness services to over £1 billion, including a £50 million top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant announced in December 2025. We are also investing £3.5 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping services over the next three years, through more flexible multi-year funding arrangements that enable councils to invest more in prevention.
We are also providing £950 million capital for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund - the largest round of the fund to date - to support local authorities in England to increase the supply of better-quality temporary accommodation and to support resettlement.
At Autumn Budget 2025, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced he will work across government to improve the value for money of homelessness services and achieve better outcomes so that we can improve the supply of good-value-for-money and good-quality temporary accommodation and supported housing.
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 he has made of the potential impact of above inflation council tax increases on the delivery of local public services in a) England and b) Leicester.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has not made specific assessments on the impacts of council tax increases on the delivery of local public services. It is for individual councils to set their own level of council tax. The government intends to maintain a core 3% referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept and will consult on this at the provisional local government finance settlement. Local authorities who wish to set their council tax level above the referendum threshold must obtain the approval of local voters.
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 recent assessment he has made of the financial sustainability of local authorities projecting significant drawdowns from reserves within the next three years.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government considers reserves to be an important part of the resources available to local authorities.
We encourage local authorities to consider how they can use their reserves to maintain services in the face of pressures, taking account, of course, of the need to maintain appropriate levels of reserves to support their financial sustainability and future investment.
Data from the 2024-5 financial year can be found on gov.uk here.
Further information about an individual local authority's reserves can be found in the financial accounts published by that authority. The government will continue to monitor the level of local authority reserves.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average waiting time for SEND assessments in each local authority in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, is part of the latest statistical release published on 26 June 2025 at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.
The table linked below shows the number and proportion of plans issued within, and over, the statutory 20-week deadline, excluding where statutory exceptions to that deadline apply, for each local authority in England during the 2024 calendar year: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/adbf152d-5d22-42d2-c78b-08de38576300.
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 permanent exclusion of people who have used tanning injections is consistent with the current evidence base on the persistence of bloodborne infection risks.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The safety of blood is of the utmost importance. Donor exclusion policies are in place to maintain safety and are mandated in the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005: The Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005, which are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/50/schedule/part/3/paragraph/2n3
Similarly to individuals with a history of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV, those with a history of non-prescribed intravenous or intramuscular drug use are permanently deferred from donating blood.
The Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services’ Professional Advisory Committee produces guidance documents for UK blood services which outline the risks posed by tanning injections in the Addiction and Drug Abuse guideline and the Blood Safety Entry guideline, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/ad001-addiction-and-drug-abuse
https://www.transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/bl008-blood-safety-entry
Their Whole Blood and Component Donor Selection Guidelines, which includes the guidance relating to injectable tanning agents, were last updated on 18 July 2025.
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 he has made an assessment of the potential impact of not referencing biological sexes in some maternity care guidance on the safeguarding of patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department’s longstanding position is that health information should be as clear as possible and language should be used that appropriately reflects sex as defined in the Equality Act 2010.
National maternity guidance and key documents, such as the Three-Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services, reference women throughout.
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, if he will take steps to review NHS communications to ensure that language on (a) pregnancy and (b) breast feeding reflects biological sexes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to working with NHS England to ensure health communications are as clear as possible and appropriately reflect sex as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010. This includes communications about pregnancy and breast feeding.
In April, in its judgment in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v. The Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court announced that it had reached a unanimous decision that the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’, and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. We welcome the clarity this brings.
We recognise that there will be occasions when National Health Service providers want to specifically acknowledge patients with differing characteristics, including the transgender community. This may mean that trusts and providers decide to use additive language, for example “women and trans men”, to ensure health communications reach the largest audience.
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 NHS Blood and Transplant has made an assessment of the potential impact of the use of tanning injections more than (a) 12 months (b) three months prior to donating on blood safety.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The safety of blood is of the upmost importance. Patients that receive blood donations can be particularly vulnerable to infections. In the United Kingdom, the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 mandate permanent deferral from blood donation for anyone with a history of non-prescribed intravenous or intramuscular drug use. The Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/50/schedule/part/3/paragraph/2n3
This includes those in receipt of tanning injections, for any period prior to donation. NHS Blood and Transplant has provided guidance on blood safety by the Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC). JPAC guidance reflects the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 in the Addiction and Drug Abuse guideline and the Blood Safety Entry guideline, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/ad001-addiction-and-drug-abuse
https://www.transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/bl008-blood-safety-entry
Injections can carry a risk of blood-borne illness. To preserve the safety of patients who receive blood donations, measures are taken to reduce the risk of transmitting blood-borne infections, including cleanliness and safety standards. However, as tanning injections are not well regulated, measures that would normally be used to prevent blood-borne infection cannot be assessed.
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, for what reason people who have used tanning injections are permanently unable to donate blood.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The safety of blood is of the upmost importance. Patients that receive blood donations can be particularly vulnerable to infections. In the United Kingdom, the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 mandate permanent deferral from blood donation for anyone with a history of non-prescribed intravenous or intramuscular drug use. The Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005 are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/50/schedule/part/3/paragraph/2n3
This is also reflected in the Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) guidelines, the Addiction and Drug Abuse guideline and the Blood Safety Entry guideline, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/ad001-addiction-and-drug-abuse
https://www.transfusionguidelines.org/dsg/wb/guidelines/bl008-blood-safety-entry
Injections can carry a risk of blood-borne illness. To preserve the safety of patients who receive blood donations, measures are taken to reduce the risk of transmitting blood-borne infections, including cleanliness and safety standards. However, as tanning injections are not well regulated, measures that would normally be used to prevent blood-borne infection cannot be assessed.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that local authority taxi and private hire licensing enforcement policies are brought into line with the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We are currently reviewing licensing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance issued by the Department on actions they should take on licensing matters including safety. Where key safety recommendations from the guidance are not being followed, licensing authorities will be held to account.