Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of delays experienced by families in receiving local authority financial assessments for care home placements; and what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the timeliness of assessment and communications with families while assessments are outstanding.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) guidance. Responsibility for interpreting and applying the regulations and guidance rests with local authorities.
While the CASS guidance does not set specific timelines for completing financial assessments, it does place clear communication duties on local authorities, including providing information relevant to a person’s circumstances and on ways to pay for care, in order to fulfil its duty under section 4 of the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to initiate the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRAG) process for the UK–India Free Trade Agreement by laying the treaty before Parliament.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government laid the treaty text of the UK-India Free Trade Agreement before Parliament on 21 January. The statutory period provided by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 will commence on 22 January. The Government is prioritising bringing the deal into force as quickly as possible. The agreement is expected to significantly accelerate trade between the UK and India – increasing bilateral trade by £25.5 billion every year in the long run. As soon as the agreement comes into force, import duties on UK exports are estimated to reduce by around £400 million, increasing to £900 million after 10 years.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he is drawing on the work of the Independent Palliative Care Commission to develop the strategy for the delivery of palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the independent scrutiny by the Independent Palliative Care Commission. I met the Hon. Member for York Central and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff to discuss the commission’s first report of three and formally responded to that report last year.
The Government is developing a palliative and end of life care modern service framework (MSF) for England. The MSF is be developed in close collaboration with stakeholders, including members from the Independent Palliative Care Commission.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of York Frailty Hub for enabling people to access palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no formal national evaluation of the York Community Frailty Hub’s specific impact on palliative care access has been undertaken, the evidence set out in our 10-Year Health Plan shows that the hub is an effective model for improving timely and appropriate care for older frail people closer to their home, including those who may require palliative support.
The Government is developing a palliative and end-of-life care modern service framework (MSF) for England. As part of the development of the MSF, we are running an open call for evidence from stakeholders for examples of evidence-based interventions that are demonstrated to be effective at improving the quality of, and/or access to, palliative care. We welcome submissions on the York Frailty Hub in response to this call for evidence.
The York Frailty Hub was established in November 2023 to address the fragmented support for older people in the community. The hub is an integrated multidisciplinary initiative designed to proactively manage frailty within the community. This service provides frailty prevention, crisis response, and discharge support, aiming to reduce hospital admissions and improve the quality of life, and health and social care outcomes for frail individuals in York.
The Frailty Hub team is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of co-located frailty nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, general practitioners with a special interest in frailty, and a palliative care nurse, among other healthcare professionals.
The Frailty Hub is delivering impactful, coordinated, and cost-effective care for some of York’s most vulnerable citizens and is being recognised nationally as an example of excellent integrated delivery of community care. Continued investment in this model promises further efficiencies, reduced hospital admissions, better outcomes, and an enhanced community care experience. This integrated service is evolving at pace and finding efficiencies whenever possible.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
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 support local authorities in providing permanent housing for victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Statutory guidance strongly encourages local authorities to give priority for social housing to victims and their families who have escaped abuse and are being accommodated in a refuge or temporary accommodation.
Local authorities are also encouraged to give additional priority to people who are homeless and require urgent rehousing as a result of domestic abuse.
The government has also taken action to remove barriers for victims of domestic abuse to access social housing. Regulations, which came into force on 10 July 2025, mean that victims of domestic abuse moving as a result of that abuse will no longer need to meet a local connection or residency test in order to access social housing.
We also intend to work with partners to update statutory guidance on social housing allocations to ensure that allocations reflect local need and effectively support vulnerable households, such as those with victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Home Ownership for people with a long-term disability scheme will receive funding for the 2026/2027 financial year.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Home Ownership for People with Long-term Disabilities scheme is a specialist form of shared ownership and we have confirmed that it will continue to be funded under the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme where proposals meet programme requirements and deliver value for money.
To support housing association participation, my Department is working with Homes England to publish further guidance on eligibility and delivery, including for specialist shared ownership models such as the Home Ownership for People with Long‑term Disabilities scheme.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps were taken to encourage housing associations to partake in the Home Ownership for people with Long-term Disabilities scheme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Home Ownership for People with Long-term Disabilities scheme is a specialist form of shared ownership and we have confirmed that it will continue to be funded under the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme where proposals meet programme requirements and deliver value for money.
To support housing association participation, my Department is working with Homes England to publish further guidance on eligibility and delivery, including for specialist shared ownership models such as the Home Ownership for People with Long‑term Disabilities scheme.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to (a) remove the cap on the number of days courts can sit, (b) help ensure prisoners are transported to court on time, (c) hold discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service on the removal of cases from the backlog, (d) help support the recruitment of more public sector barristers and (e) help ensure that court buildings are fit for purpose.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard and too many victims waiting years for justice.
In the Crown Court for this financial year (2025/26), we are funding 111,250 sitting days – the highest number of sitting days on record and over 5,000 more than the previous Government funded for the last financial year. The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on allocation for 2026-27, aiming to give an unprecedented three-year certainty to the system. The Deputy Prime Minister has been clear that sitting days in the Crown and magistrates’ courts must continue to rise and his ambition is to continue breaking records by the end of this Parliament. We will provide Parliament with an update on the sitting day allocations in the usual way at the conclusion of the Concordat process.
Prisoners should be produced on time and we are committed to making improvements where we can. Prisoner transport delivery is regularly reviewed and a significant number of contract changes have been made already to adapt to the changing operational requirement. But even if every prison van ran like clockwork tomorrow, we would still be left with a backlog edging towards 100,000 cases. Prisoner transport delays are a symptom of a stretched system, not a cure for it.
There is no quick fix to the criminal courts crisis, and no single lever that can be pulled. It is vital that all system partners work together to deliver swifter justice for victims. We continue to talk to system partners, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), to consider options, including those in Sir Brian Leveson’s Part I report on criminal court reform. In June 2025, the Chancellor announced a landmark increase of £96 million (RDELex) in additional funding for the CPS over the spending review period 2026-2029. This will help CPS protect victims by tackling the backlog, speeding up justice, and delivering a justice system that services victims.
We are investing up to an additional £34 million per year for criminal legal aid advocates. We are also taking forward Sir Brian’s recommendation to match-fund a number of criminal barrister pupillages, with a particular focus on opening a career at the criminal Bar to even more young people from across society.
This Government has also secured record investment of up to £450 million per year for the courts system over the Spending Review period, alongside investing £148.5 million in court and tribunal maintenance and project funding this financial year, £28.5 million more than the previous Government funded last financial year.
But investment alone is not enough – that is why this Government asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. On 2 December, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to the first part of that review and set out why structural court reform is necessary, alongside investment and modernisation.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British citizens were murdered in overseas countries in each of the last five years by country .
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since 2021 we have supported bereaved families in approximately 250 cases of the murder or manslaughter of British nationals abroad. To protect the privacy of the bereaved, we do not publish country‑level figures where fewer than five cases are recorded. Fifteen countries recorded more than five such cases since 2021: Pakistan, Spain, the United States, South Africa, Israel, Australia, Jamaica, France, Thailand, Kenya, New Zealand, Mexico, Turkey, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago. All other countries recorded fewer than five cases individually over that time period.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what guidance has been issued to UK companies regarding involvement in settlement-related construction and infrastructure projects.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Guidance for businesses can be found on the Overseas Business Risk page for Palestine: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-palestine/overseas-business-risk-the-occupied-palestinian-territories. There are clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity.