Darren Paffey MP: written questions
150 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Local Government FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82549More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to announce new burdens funding for local authorities associated with the passage of the Renters Rights Bill.
Answer: My Department will set out the funding we intend to make available to local authorities to meet new burdens arising from the Renters’ Rights Bill in due course.
Answered 24 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordBuilding Safety RegulatorMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82548More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the new Fast Track Process for Building Safety Regulator applications will be live; and what the criteria for it will be.
Answer: The Innovation Unit (previously referred to as the Fast Track process) was launched on the 4th August with the majority of cases on track to meet the 13-week target. The Innovation Unit has initially been used only for new-build applications. As its capac...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPrescriptions: Fees and ChargesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82547More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Penalty Charge Notices issued for maternity exemption certificates that could not be validated but who were eligible for the exemption on preg
Answer: The maternity exemption, known as matex, and penalty charge notices (PCNs) are administered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) on behalf of the Department. The NHS BSA has adopted a policy of waiving the penalty charge for the matex, if a pa...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Tribunals Service: EnforcementDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82546More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing further recourse in situations where an employment tribunal award (a) relating to (i) wages, (ii) holiday pay, (iii) compensatory noti
Answer: The Government is not planning such an assessment; however, we are committed to our ambitious agenda to deliver our Plan for Change by ensuring employment rights are fit for a modern economy, empowering working people and contributing to economic growth a...
Answered 24 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordBuilding Safety RegulatorMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82545More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on when the remediation enforcement unit within the Building Safety Regulator will be set up.
Answer: The remediation enforcement unit is currently recruiting and intends to begin operations in December 2025. The purpose of this unit is to enforce compliance by holding building owners to account, accelerate remediation works and support local enforcement.
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordTenants: Universal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80552More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) homeless people, (b) people in temporary accommodation and (c) other people who are eligible for, but are not in receipt of, the housing eleme
Answer: The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring that vulnerable adults and those with temporary accommodation are adequately supported in securing and managing their benefit. We offer a variety of support for these customers, much of which i...
Answered 21 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordRevenue and Customs: Small BusinessesTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80551More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) waiting times for (i) appeals and (ii) repayments and (b) other delays in HMRC processes on (A) investment in and (B) the growth of small busine
Answer: HMRC recognises the importance of tax repayments in supporting business confidence and growth. While appeals and repayments are subject to necessary checks to mitigate fraud and error, HMRC continues to improve processing times through increased staffing ...
Answered 17 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: Living WageDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80550More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that increases in the National Living Wage are matched by sustainable funding for local authority social care budgets.
Answer: The Spending Review 2025 allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.The Government took the cost pressures facing adult social care, including increases to the National Living Wage, ...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDiseases: ScreeningDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80549More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential (a) merits of introducing a preventative screening programme for (i) kidney and (ii) chest conditions and (b) impact of such a programme on (A) ea
Answer: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed the evidence to screen for kidney disease (glomerulonephritis) in 2011 and recommended against screening becausethere is no evidence that screening would be effective at improving outcomes for those wi...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordADHD and Autism: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80548More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Dpartment holds on the average waiting times for (a) ADHD and (b) autism diagnosis for (i) primary school age and (ii) secondary school age children.
Answer: The information is not held centrally in the format requested, but some data on waiting times for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism assessments for children aged 0-17 is available on the NHS England website at the following link:h...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: SafetyDepartment for EducationTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77376More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on water safety education for primary school children.
Answer: Departmental officials had discussions with their Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs counterparts in drawing up the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. The department has made water safety and the Water S...
Answered 14 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordMotor Insurance: FraudHome OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76910More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle (a) insurance fraud and (b) ghost brokers in the motor insurance industry.
Answer: The Government recognises the harm caused by insurance fraud, including ghost broking. This is why we have launched an Insurance Fraud Charter with key firms setting out a series of voluntary measures to disrupt and deter insurance fraud. As part of the S...
Answered 1 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordFlats: InsulationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76755More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of unsafe cladding on the ability of leaseholders to sell their flats; and what steps his Department plans to take to
Answer: Ten major mortgage lenders have pledged to consider lending on properties in buildings which are 11 metres or above even if there are unresolved building safety issues. The building must be in a remediation scheme, and/or the leaseholder must qualify for ...
Answered 19 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordFire Prevention: Southampton ItchenMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76754More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has independently reviewed the most recent Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls completed by Vistry for French Court, SO14 2DZ.
Answer: The Department has not commissioned an independent review of a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls for this building.
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordLeasehold: InsuranceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75831More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with insurance companies on costs for (a) residents and (b) leaseholders in buildings with (i) cladding and (ii) fire safety defect
Answer: As set out in the Remediation Acceleration Plan published in July 2025, the department has been regularly engaging with the insurance industry to test the feasibility and scope of any potential options to reduce high insurance bills for some leaseholders ...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAccess to Work ProgrammeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75830More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for access to work applications.
Answer: As set out in the Green Paper, we are reforming Access to Work to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people into and on in work. We are committed to reducing waiting times for claims and we prioritise customers starting a job in four weeks....
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordChildren: MaintenanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75526More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her planned timetable is for the review of the child maintenance calculation.
Answer: The Government is conducting a review of the child maintenance calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This includes updating the underlying research and considering how to ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends. Option...
Answered 19 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Tribunals Service: EnforcementDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75499More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recourse is available in situations where an employment tribunal award has been made but cannot be enforced because the company is no longer trading and has not gone into formal insolvency.
Answer: In the absence of any formal insolvency proceedings, the Redundancy Payment Service, which is part of the Insolvency Service, can pay redundancy pay awarded by the Employment Tribunal to a former employee.It is unable to consider payment of any other elem...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: SafetyDepartment for TransportTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75498More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what options her Department is considering to reduce fatalities involving young drivers through the Road Safety Strategy; and when that strategy will be published.
Answer: The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies. More details will be set out in due co...
Answered 15 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: InsulationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75497More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the (a) results of the Remediation Programme Insurance Survey and (b) Government response to that survey will be published.
Answer: The Remediation Programme Insurance Survey closed on 31 July. We are using the data collected to test the feasibility and scope of any future possible government intervention to reduce high insurance bills for some leaseholders while their building underg...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: Fire PreventionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75494More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support is available to leaseholders to meet the costs of remediating non-cladding related fire safety defects (a) of fire doors and (b) in general.
Answer: Qualifying leaseholders are protected from the costs of non-cladding defects, with the maximum amount that can be charged capped at £15,000 in Greater London (or £10,000 elsewhere in England). In certain circumstances that cap may be zero, such as when th...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSolar PowerDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69480More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential benefits of permitting (a) homeowners, (b) renters and (c) small businesses to install sub-1kW grid-tied solar systems without r
Answer: In line with the Government’s commitment to unleash a rooftop revolution, households and businesses are permitted to connect small-scale generation (3.68kW or less) to the grid without prior approval from their Distribution Network Operator (DNO). They mu...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: BillingDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 8 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66046More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with Ofgem on ensuring that consumers are treated fairly in relation to historic overpayments to energy network operators; and whether he has considered opt
Answer: The unexpected inflation shock of 2022-23 increased equity value for network companies due to fixed-rate debt financing. Following a public consultation, Ofgem took action to adjust how it regulates network company investment, deliverables and returns, so...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordWater Supply: FluorideDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65068More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of (a) the potential merits of adding fluoride to drinking water and (b) the potential impact of this on oral health for children.
Answer: Water fluoridation is an evidence based, effective public health intervention for improving the oral health of children and adults. The 2022 Health Monitoring Report showed that five-year-olds were less likely to experience dental caries, and less likely ...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPrivate Rented Housing: Tenancy Deposit SchemesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 24 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62502More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of using (a) no-deposit and (b) deposit alternative schemes in the private rented sector on tenants; and wha
Answer: The government is aware of the issues raised in 2023 by the Competition and Markets Authority in relation to deposit products.While my Department has not conducted a detailed assessment of ‘zero-deposit’ or ‘deposit alternative’ products, we continue to m...
Answered 2 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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