Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the British Youth Council on youth representation at the local authority level.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Whilst the British Youth Council has closed, we will continue to support the UK Youth Parliament as the national programme for democratic participation at the Local Authority Level. In addition, Local Authorities have a Statutory Duty to consult with young people in the planning and delivery of local youth services.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to tackle forfeiture of leasehold properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill delivers the most impactful of the Law Commission’s recommendations on enfranchisement, which will make it cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, and the Right to Manage. This includes increasing the non-residential limit to 50% to give more leaseholders the right to take over management and changing the rules to make each party pay their own process and litigation costs, saving leaseholders many thousands of pounds.
The Government has and will continue to set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the continued progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking ensure Integrated Care Schemes are able to support staff retention schemes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how to improve culture and leadership, to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the National Health Service over the next 15 years. Key to this is the National Retention Programme. The programme builds on the NHS People Promise, and supports integrated care systems (ICSs), regions, NHS trusts, and organisations to improve employee experience to retain their people, and therefore reduce NHS staff leaver rates.
The National Retention Programme provides a suite of evidence-based, targeted, organisational-level interventions, to improve staff engagement and experience, in line with the NHS People Promise. The programme builds on the fundamentals that every organisation should be developing to support a good working environment, providing practical advice and support. It targets activities at the key career points at which staff are most likely to leave, to help improve retention.
Support for organisations and ICSs can be accessed via the Retention Hub, which outlines initiatives mapped against the NHS People Promise, access to tools, guides, and case studies, to enable improvements and contact details for regional colleagues support the retention agenda in each of the seven regions. Further information on the Retention Hub is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/looking-after-our-people/the-programme-and-resources/
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure young people continue to have opportunities for democratic participation at the local authority level following the closure of the British Youth Council.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Whilst the British Youth Council has closed, we will continue to support the UK Youth Parliament as the national programme for democratic participation at the Local Authority Level. In addition, Local Authorities have a Statutory Duty to consult with young people in the planning and delivery of local youth services.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of planning rules on the installation of (a) telecommunications infrastructure and (b) 5G masts.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Permitted development rights have been developed for telecommunications infrastructure. In 2022 the Government made changes to permitted development rights to enable 5G deployment and help extend mobile coverage, following consultations on both the principle and technical detail of changes.
Alongside these changes, the Government published a new Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England. This details considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited. It also covers how they should consult with interested parties throughout the development process, particularly with local residents, and the circumstances where a greater level of community engagement should be considered.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help increase collaboration between (a) network operators and (b) local communities on planning consultations for proposed 5G masts.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Permitted development rights have been developed for telecommunications infrastructure. In 2022 the Government made changes to permitted development rights to enable 5G deployment and help extend mobile coverage, following consultations on both the principle and technical detail of changes.
Alongside these changes, the Government published a new Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England. This details considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited. It also covers how they should consult with interested parties throughout the development process, particularly with local residents, and the circumstances where a greater level of community engagement should be considered.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of 5G masts on trends in the levels of local house prices.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Permitted development rights have been developed for telecommunications infrastructure. In 2022 the Government made changes to permitted development rights to enable 5G deployment and help extend mobile coverage, following consultations on both the principle and technical detail of changes.
Alongside these changes, the Government published a new Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England. This details considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited. It also covers how they should consult with interested parties throughout the development process, particularly with local residents, and the circumstances where a greater level of community engagement should be considered.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he last met with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman to discuss the findings and recommendations of its report on changes to Women’s State Pension Age, published on 21 March 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not met with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman since the report into Women’s State Pension age was published on 21 March 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many of the recommendations made by the Law Commission in its report on leasehold enfranchisement, entitled Commonhold and the right to manage, published on 21 July 2020, have been incorporated into the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill delivers the most impactful of the Law Commission’s recommendations on enfranchisement, which will make it cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, and the Right to Manage. This includes increasing the non-residential limit to 50% to give more leaseholders the right to take over management and changing the rules to make each party pay their own process and litigation costs, saving leaseholders many thousands of pounds.
The Government has and will continue to set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the continued progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he last met the Law Commission to discuss leasehold reform.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill delivers the most impactful of the Law Commission’s recommendations on enfranchisement, which will make it cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, and the Right to Manage. This includes increasing the non-residential limit to 50% to give more leaseholders the right to take over management and changing the rules to make each party pay their own process and litigation costs, saving leaseholders many thousands of pounds.
The Government has and will continue to set out its position on leasehold reform as part of the continued progress of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.