Written questions by Hayes.

If he will make it his policy to give (a) local authorities and (b) Councils (i) powers, (ii) responsibility and (iii) resources to accelerate the delivery of the Government’s Warm Homes programme.

The Government’s ambitious Warm Homes Plan will upgrade 5 million homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps. We will partner with combined authorities and local and devolved governments to roll out this plan. We will set out further detail on delivering our Warm Homes Plan in due course.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing support for landlords with increasing the energy efficiency of properties that are difficult to retrofit.

Landlords can use our ‘Help for Households’ GOV.UK page to find available support via the Home Upgrade Grant and the Great British Insulation Scheme. In addition, there is a zero-rate of VAT until March 2027 on energy saving measures. Government will consult this year on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. This consultation will set out proposals on maximum spend required from landlords and the exemptions regime to manage the cost burden placed on landlords, including those who own properties that are difficult to retrofit, whilst still achieving our ambition to lift households out of fuel poverty.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to reform (a) planning policy and (b) permitted development rights to support the high quality retrofit of existing buildings.

Improving energy efficiency and decarbonising buildings is a crucial element in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. The National Planning Policy Framework encourages the reuse of existing resources, including through the conversion of existing buildings. It also expects local authorities to support applications for energy efficiency and low carbon heating improvements to existing buildings, where these do not already benefit from permitted development rights. We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.

What assessment he has made of the potential cost to (a) landlords and (b) housing providers of ensuring that (i) private and (ii) social rented homes achieve a minimum energy performance certificate rating of C by 2030.

The Government will consult on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector and on introducing a minimum energy efficiency standard for the social rented sector. The Government will work closely with both the private and socially rented sectors during the consultations and will consider potential costs for private landlords and social housing providers in our assessment of options for the minimum energy efficiency standards.

With reference to page 13 of the UK Green Buildings Council report entitled 100 days into Government: How Labour can build a better future, published on 15 October 2024, what steps he is taking to support local authorities to (a) address regional disparities, (b) drive sustainable change and (c) safeguard quality.

The Government recognises the importance of local authorities in driving net zero. Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan will support local authorities to increase their capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in their local areas. At Autumn Budget, Government introduced the first integrated settlements with Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities, which include piloting the devolution of retrofit funding from 2025-26, which aims to support economic growth and the net zero transition. The Government will also partner with local authorities to deliver the Warm Homes Plan, which will support investment in insulation, low carbon heating and other home improvements to cut bills.

With reference to page 12 of the UK Green Buildings Council report entitled 100 days into Government: How Labour can build a better future, published on 15 October 2024, if he will make it his policy to introduce retrofit officers in every council to (a) develop local plans, (b) attract wider investment, (c) engage with households and supply chains and (d) oversee local one-stop shop retrofit services.

The Warm Homes Plan will be rolled out in partnership with local authorities, combined authorities and devolved governments. As a first step, the government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency.At Autumn Budget, the government introduced the first integrated settlements with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and West Midlands Combined Authority, which include piloting the devolution of retrofit funding from 2025-26.The upcoming English Devolution White Paper (due for publication in late 2024) will provide more detail on the government’s devolution plans, setting out an ambitious new framework for English devolution, moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best. It will give deeper powers for existing mayors as well as for new areas, including over house building and planning, as well as transport and skills.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to improve the terms of employment as a local authority planning officer.

Proactive planning is vital to delivering the housing we desperately need and to support economic growth. The Government recognise that local authority planning departments face capacity and capability challenges due to prolonged underfunding of services and that this has placed significant strain on the planners that provide these services.Within weeks of taking office, the Government consulted on increasing planning fees to put planning services on a firmer footing and to reflect the real costs. We have now gone further and committed an additional £46 million in the spending review to fund 300 additional planners in local government and to support local planning authorities to deliver the essential reforms to local plans and development management.Planning officers play a vital role, and I wrote to the President of the RTPI to underline the value we place on them and the work they do.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to respond the consultation on Future Homes and Buildings Standard.

The Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024, and a government response has not yet been issued. We fully support the need for low carbon homes, fit for a net zero future. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation and will publish the government response in due course.

Whether his Department plans to take steps to update energy performance certificates to ensure they accurately reflect the actual energy performance of homes.

The Government is reviewing the building physics model and methodology underpinning EPCs to make it fit for purpose to support net zero. A public consultation on the new building physics model, the Home Energy Model, closed on 27 March 2024. We are now reviewing the responses and will publish a response in the coming months. We will also consult shortly on proposals to improve EPCs and aim to consult further on the underlying Home Energy Model for producing them in 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 December 2023 on Planning – Local Energy Efficiency Standards Update, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reversing the effects of that Statement.

The Written Ministerial Statement my honourable friend has asked about sets out that local authorities may set higher energy efficiency standards than the planned Building Regulations. Local authorities must, though, ensure that development remains viable and that the performance targets of increased standards are expressed in the same terms as are used in the Building Regulations.The Written Ministerial Statement was recently the subject of a judicial review. The judgement from the High Court may be appealed and, while legal proceedings are ongoing, I cannot comment further.

If he will take steps to support (a) households, (b) businesses and (c) public sector organisations with the cost of installing heat pumps.

The Government is providing a range of support to encourage the adoption of heat pumps. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 and the Warm Homes: Local Grant help to support privately owned, social and privately rented properties respectively. The BUS also supports businesses to install heat pumps and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is supporting a wide range of public sector organisations to install low carbon heating, including heat pumps. The forthcoming Warm Homes Plan will also include additional measures to support investment in low carbon heating.

What steps he is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations with the costs of increasing the energy efficiency of social housing.

The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (formerly SHDF) will provide grant funding for Housing Associations and Local Authorities to install retrofit measures to improve the energy efficiency ratings of a significant amount of social housing stock currently below EPC C up to that standard. Wave 3 of the fund is open for applications until midday on 25 November 2024. The scheme is expected to begin delivery in Spring 2025 following the allocation of funding to grant recipients. Additionally, the National Wealth Fund has worked with leading banks to make £1bn available to retrofit social housing, which we will build on.

Whether she is taking steps to support local authorities in improving enforcement of licence conditions for street works.

The Department for Transport introduced a performance-based inspections regime in April 2023 to ensure utility companies were incentivised to produce reinstatements that are fit for purpose following works and comply with site safety requirements.  This change allows authorities to inspect utility companies with high rates of defects in their reinstatements and safety checks more often than those who comply with the statutory Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways and the safety code of practice. Utility companies pay for each of these inspections. Highway authorities also have the power to direct utility companies to carry out remedial works at the utility company’s expense if they identify reinstatements that do not meet the standards in the code.The previous Government consulted on raising the level of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) available for some street works offences including breaching permit conditions.  We will publish a response to that consultation in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce disruption to road users from utility companies undertaking road works.

The Government is committed to supporting the effective planning and management of road works by utility companies and local authorities.  Works are needed to install and maintain the services on which we all rely and to, for example, roll out broadband and install electric vehicle charge points and to repair potholes.  We continue to improve our Street Manager digital service, which is used by all utility companies and authorities to raise and approve the permits needed for works.  The service also streams open data on live and planned works which can then be used for journey planning services.  We are supporting the roll-out of more lane rental schemes to reduce congestion from works on the busiest streets at the busiest times. We are keen to explore ways to improve the legislative framework, and I will publish a response in due course to a consultation on raising fines and introducing overrun charges at weekends.

Whether she is taking steps to support local authorities in establishing lane rental schemes.

The Government recognises that lane rental schemes have proven to be an effective way of reducing congestion from works on the busiest streets at the busiest times.  I have just approved a new scheme in East Sussex.  To support local areas who wish to apply for a lane rental scheme, the Department is updating guidance and producing templates to make the process easier. Resources are being allocated to ensure bids are assessed promptly, and officials are currently speaking to local authorities that plan to apply for lane rental.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of pastoral support for (a) children and (b) young people.

Schools and colleges are best placed to decide what pastoral support to put in place to meet the needs of their pupils. Pastoral support should promote good mental wellbeing and respond to emerging issues. There is a range of support available to schools, including a government-commissioned mental wellbeing toolkit, which is available here: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/targeted-support/.This practical guide and tool were designed to help schools and colleges identify and embed the most effective targeted support options for their setting.To ensure the right support is available to every young person that needs it, the department has committed to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. As of April 2024, Mental Health Support Teams cover 44% (4.2 million) of pupils in schools and learners in further education (FE) in England and are expected to cover at least 50% by the end of March 2025. The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.Pastoral support is also available to children and young people in other education settings.The department continues to work closely with the FE sector to promote and support providers to develop and implement a whole college approach to mental health and wellbeing. This is supported by the Association of Colleges refreshed Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter, published in March 2024. The department encourages colleges to sign up to effectively integrate a whole-college approach.To raise standards for mental health support in the higher education sector, the Office for Students has provided £400,000 of funding to the student mental health charity, Student Minds. This has enabled significant expansion of the University Mental Health Charter Programme, with 113 universities now signed up. The programme helps universities to adopt a whole-institution approach to mental health, bringing universities together to drive forward continuous improvement in mental health support for students.For early years, the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe. It sets out the importance of strong, warm and responsive relationships between staff and children. The framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.The EYFS also states that each child must be assigned a key person. Their role is to help ensure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs to help the child become familiar with the setting, offer a settled relationship for the child and build a relationship with their parents and/or carers.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with local authorities on the proposed establishment of a Central South Combined Authority.

In July, the Deputy Prime Minister wrote to places without devolution agreements, including across this area, asking them to come forward with proposals for their areas. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is reviewing the proposals received through this process, in tandem with finalising our new devolution offer to be published soon as part of the English Devolution White Paper.This Government believes that the benefits of devolution are best achieved through the establishment of combined authorities or combined county authorities, supported by a mayor and established over sensible economic geographies. We want to see all parts of England represented by a Mayor on the Council of Nations and Regions, with strong and effective partnerships in place with councils and other partners to deliver through devolution the missions we have set out to transform the country.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) reuse and (b) repair of items that would otherwise be thrown away.

This Government committed in its manifesto to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy. The Secretary of State has committed to developing a new Circular Economy Strategy for England to support economic growth, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to Net Zero. We will work across Government, and with input from all parts of society, to create a Strategy which supports and encourages greater reuse and repair. Defra has also published guidance Guidance on applying the waste hierarchy - GOV.UK on how businesses can use the waste hierarchy – a framework for dealing with waste which promotes re-use. The guidance shows how it works for a range of common materials and products and what businesses and public bodies need to do. It gives top priority to preventing waste in the first place. When waste is created, it gives priority to preparing it for re-use, then recycling, then recovery, and last of all disposal (e.g. landfill).

What assessment he has made of the capacity of domestic ports to facilitate the (a) delivery and (b) maintenance of offshore wind.

Ports play a vital role in the deployment, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind, particularly for floating offshore wind. As it stands, the UK does not have the port capacity to enable the mass deployment of floating offshore wind. That is why the Government has taken the Port of Cromarty Firth and Port Talbot into due diligence and subsidy control assessment as part of the up to £160m Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme. Additionally, at least £5.8 billion of the National Wealth Fund’s capital will focus on the sectors announced in the manifesto, including ports.

What steps he is taking to improve (a) care and (b) treatment for people with Jordan’s Syndrome.

The government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Jordan’s Syndrome. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community: these include better coordination of care and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the Framework and will publish an annual England action plan in 2025 which will report on progress.Jordan’s syndrome is a rare and complex neurodevelopmental disorder and it is important to get a rapid and accurate diagnosis to ensure timely access to treatment and care. Currently NHS England offers genomic testing for two of the genes associated with Jordan’s Syndrome and any healthcare professional can refer their patient for testing based on their clinical indication. The NHS Clinical Genomic Services (CGS) deliver a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service and have a key role in providing care and coordinating care being provided by other clinical specialties to patients and their families. As part of the NHS CGS, the patient and their family will access diagnosis, and management relevant to their condition, but also receive support and guidance so that they are able to understand their condition, its implications, and their options in relation to reproduction, screening, prevention and clinical management.