Written questions by Conlon.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support community ownership of local assets.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 22675 on 17 January 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to increase the supply of affordable housing (a) in Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) generally.

I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024.

Communities and Local Government, steps her Department is taking to help improve housing standards in the private rented sector.

The Renters’ Rights Bill includes provisions that will apply a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time and ensure that local councils have proportionate and effective enforcement powers. We are also introducing Awaab’s Law into the private rented sector. We will launch a consultation this year on the content of the Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking with (a) local councils and (b) Bromley Council to tackle homelessness.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. In December, MHCLG announced that £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England through the Homelessness Prevention Grant 25/26, of which £6,499,229 has been allocated to Bromley. This funding represents an uplift of £1,595,200 for Bromley compared with 24/25 allocations, an increase of 32.5%, and will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.This brings total spend on homelessness services to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

What steps her Department is taking to help increase access to high street banking services in Beckenham and Penge constituency.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in Beckenham and Penge, and across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with banks to roll out 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. These will provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services. Over 100 banking hubs are already open.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help leaseholders with (a) service charges and (b) managing agents in Beckenham and Penge constituency.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to healthcare services for children with cerebral palsy.

We want a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition such as cerebral palsy, receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported. We will change the NHS so that it becomes not just a sickness service, but able to prevent ill health in the first place. This will help us be better prepared for the change in nature of disease and allow our services to focus more on the management of chronic, long-term conditions like cerebral palsy. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on care and support for children and young people with cerebral palsy, to support healthcare professionals and commissioners. The guidance recommends service providers develop clear pathways that allow patients with cerebral palsy access to multi-disciplinary teams, specialist neurology services and regular reviews of their clinical and functional needs.  More information on the guidance is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng62 NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme aims to improve care for people with neurological conditions, including those with cerebral palsy, by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across the country. Most services for people with cerebral palsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, which are best placed to make decisions according to local need. Nevertheless, at a national level, the Government is working closely with NHS England to continue to improve services for people with neurological conditions, including those with cerebral palsy.

What steps her Department is taking to help improve support for children with cerebral palsy in education settings.

This government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system for all children and young people, including those with cerebral palsy, to ensure they receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.The department will be improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and colleges, as well as ensuring special settings cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need. This includes strengthening accountability for inclusivity, including through Ofsted, and encouraging schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.High-quality teaching in schools is central to ensuring that all pupils are given the best possible opportunity to achieve. The department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers over the course of this Parliament. To support all teachers, the department is implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with cerebral palsy.The department is providing almost £1 billion more for high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to £11.9 billion. This funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with complex SEND. The department has also announced £740 million of high needs capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to invest in places for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision.The department has also introduced a new mandatory leadership level qualification to enhance the training of special educational needs co-ordinators in mainstream schools.

Whether the child poverty strategy will include specific measures to help tackle child poverty amongst (a) disabled and (b) other groups that are most affected.

The Child Poverty Taskforce, of which my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is Co-Chair, is considering all children across the United Kingdom as it develops the child poverty strategy. We recognise different groups of children, including disabled children, have distinct challenges. The causes of child poverty are deep-rooted, with solutions that go beyond government, and the Taskforce is exploring all available levers in response. The strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. The terms of reference for the Child Poverty Taskforce were published on 14 August 2024 and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-taskforce-terms-of-reference.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including in his 10 Year Plan offering young people pre-participation cardiac screening within the community.

No assessment has been made on the potential merits of including community pre-participation cardiac screening into the 10-year plan.This is because the UK National Screening Committee does not recommend offering screening for sudden cardiac death in peop...

What her planned timetable is for the introduction of the trial kinship carer allowance.

​​​​The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and the role of local authorities to support them.​​The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kin...

What steps her Department is taking with local authorities to help support kinship carers in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.

The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and the role of local authorities to support them.​The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship ...

What steps his Department is taking to (a) to raise awareness of (i) pregnancy and (ii) baby loss and (b) improve bereavement care for (A) mothers and (B) families impacted.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, compassionate, and personalised care, particularly when things go wrong. In February 2024, the Department launched the Baby Loss Certificate service. This service is a non-sta...

What steps her Department has taken to increase the availability of peer support groups in (a) Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) other areas.

As part of the department’s measures to champion kinship care, the government has extended the delivery of over 140 peer support groups across England, available for all kinship carers to access, where they can come together to share stories, exchange adv...

What steps he is taking to improve dementia care and support for (a) patients and (b) families post-diagnosis in (i) England and (ii) Beckenham and Penge constituency.

NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to this is the provision of personalised care and support planning for post diagnostic support.The Department has produced guidance on what to...

What steps she is taking to protect (a) people with dementia and Alzheimer's and (b) other vulnerable people from (i) financial abuse, (ii) fraud and (iii) scammers.

The impact of fraud extends beyond financial losses. It is important that victims of fraud receive the critical support that they are rightly entitled to.Improving support for victims is a key part of the Fraud Strategy and the replacement of Action Fraud...

What steps she is taking to tackle (a) financial scams and (b) fraud nationally.

This Government is committed to working with law enforcement, civil society and industry to better protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime.We have committed to completing the outstanding commitments of the Fraud Strategy set out by the...

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to end rental bidding wars by landlords and letting agents (a) nationally and (b) in Beckenham and Penge constituency.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will prohibit rental bidding practices.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to maternal mental health services.

People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve or need, which is why we will fix the system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, and that people can be confident in accessing h...

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to work with Community Land Trusts in providing affordable housing as part of the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme.

Community Land Trusts can apply to our delivery partners Homes England and the Greater London Authority for funding through the Affordable Housing Programme. If the development includes low cost rented tenures, they will also need to be a registered provi...