Written questions by Stephenson.

If she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners with a net worth of over £1 million who are eligible for pension credit.

The Department does not collect data on individuals’ net worth.

If she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners with a net worth of over £1 million who will be eligible to receive Winter Fuel Payments.

The Department does not collect data on individuals’ net worth.

When he plans to make a further announcement on social care reform.

The independent commission into adult social care, chaired by Baroness Casey, is looking at what fundamental reforms will be needed as we build towards a National Care Service, including what social care should look like, who it should serve, and who should be responsible for its services.This will be delivered in two parts. The first report will be delivered next year, with work able to begin on implementing its recommendations after publication.We are also making tangible improvements in the short-term and laying the foundations for a National Care Service that will enable more people to live independently and make social care more productive. This includes funding more home adaptations for disabled and older people, the largest ever uplift to the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit, new standards for care technologies, and legislating for the first Fair Pay Agreement for care workers.Meanwhile, the Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment on the potential implications for her policies on New Towns of the decision to end Chartered Town Planning Level 7 apprenticeship funding.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of social care workforce demand on levels of immigration in each of the last ten years.

In February 2022, care workers became eligible for the Health and Care Visa and were added to the Shortage Occupation List. Senior care workers were added to the list of eligible occupations for the Health and Care Visa in January 2021.Published data on entry clearance visa grants for the Caring Personal Services occupation code (613) illustrates the broad trend in international recruitment into adult social care in recent years.This shows that 37,091 Health and Care Worker visas were granted to main applicants under the Caring Personal Services category in 2022. Volumes peaked in 2023, with 107,772 grants, before falling to 9,539 in 2024. This data does not include in-country visa grants.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 3 of the New Towns Taskforce’s interim update Building new towns for the future, published in February 2025, whether sites will be considered which were not submitted as part of the Call for Evidence.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 7 of the New Towns Taskforce’s interim update Building new towns for the future, published in February 2025, what models other than local authority maintenance of assets are being considered.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that New Towns deliver beautiful (a) housing and (b) public realm.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of social care reforms on levels of demand for immigration.

It is the Government’s policy to reduce reliance on international recruitment in adult social care and to improve domestic recruitment and retention. The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to improve the retention of the domestic workforce. We want it to be regarded as a profession, and for the people who work in care to be respected as professionals. That is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector, implementing the first universal career structure, and providing £12 million this year for staff to complete training and qualifications. The Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending the overseas recruitment of care workers and senior care workers. This can be found in the technical annex of the Immigration White Paper, published 12 May 2025. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 6 of the New Towns Taskforce’s interim update Building new towns for the future, published in February 2025, what steps the New Towns Taskforce s taking to assess local support for new towns prior to making their recommendation on potential locations.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 36088 on 14 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking with the Mayor of London to increase the level of construction of affordable housing in London.

On taking office in July 2024, the government acted quickly to agree changes to the Affordable Homes Programme to strengthen the delivery of affordable homes in London, including providing the GLA with flexibilities on completion deadlines and allowing the GLA to fund some intermediate rent homes.At the Spending Review the Chancellor announced £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36; a 10-year rent settlement; an intention to implement a rent convergence mechanism; and £2.5bn in low interest loans to support new development (alongside commercial lending).These measures cover the main elements of our social and affordable housing investment strategy in this Parliament. Alongside other aspects of our reform programme, including forthcoming details on future quality and safety regulation, they will give Registered Providers, including those operating in London, the clarity and certainty they need to quickly ramp up investment in existing and new stock.

Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has consulted with specialist flooding experts on the potential impact of the proposed new town locations on flooding.

The New Towns Programme aims to create environmentally resilient places that support the government’s net-zero agenda through sustainable design, nature enhancement, low-carbon infrastructure, and responsible development, including flood risk mitigation. In developing proposals for new towns, the Taskforce will work with local leaders and communities to consider the different impact of new towns, including any environmental impacts.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to map grey belt land.

It is for individual local planning authorities to assess if land is grey belt and to determine whether and how to amend Green Belt boundaries through the preparation or updating of plans. On 27 February 2025, Planning Practice Guidance was published to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, and to support a consistent approach to determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here. This new guidance will support authorities in producing Local Plans, while also making sure that planning applications and development on suitable grey belt land can proceed in the short-term in areas without an up-to-date plan. The government has also provided 133 local planning authorities with £70,000 of pump priming funding each to contribute towards the costs of carrying out Green Belt reviews in their areas. Any alteration to a Green Belt boundary is reported to the Department and the details published on gov.uk in our annual Green Belt statistical release. In addition, the Department publishes statistics on land use change, including estimates of new residential addresses created in Green Belt and other categories of land.

Communities and Local Government, whether the New Towns Taskforce has consulted with specialist (a) arboriculturalists and (b) ecologists on the potential impact of the proposed new town locations on biodiversity.

The New Towns Programme aims to create environmentally resilient places that support the government’s net-zero agenda through sustainable design, nature enhancement, low-carbon infrastructure, and responsible development, including flood risk mitigation. In developing proposals for new towns, the Taskforce will work with local leaders and communities to consider the different impact of new towns, including any environmental impacts.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 10 of the impact assessment for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, published on 6 May 2025, how her Department calculated the £1.1 billion value for planning fees reforms.

I refer the hon. Member to Annex 11 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill Impact Assessment which can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government during the Twelfth sitting of the Public Bill Committee on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on Tuesday 20 May 2025, Official Report, column 558, what her Department's planned timeline is for consideration of measures to improve the take up of SuDS.

The government is committed to requiring sustainable drainage systems in new development and we have already taken action to support that objective by setting out updated policy in the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024. We are looking carefully at what additional steps might be taken to further improve the implementation of SuDS. A final decision will be made in the coming months.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of Level 7 apprenticeships offered by local authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 58023 on 13 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of planners employed by (a) local authorities and (b) developers who have a Level 7 apprenticeship qualification.

The Department does not currently hold detailed data on the number of planners employed by local authorities or developers who possess a Level 7 Chartered Town Planner Apprenticeship qualification.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to strengthen protections for peatland from development in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Safeguarding peatland plays an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. The National Planning Policy Framework contains a very high level of protection against proposals which might affect peatlands. The Framework is clear that development plans should not identify proposals for new or extended sites for peat extraction, and that planning permission should not be granted for peat extraction from new or extended sites.In relation to other forms of development that could affect peatland, the Framework sets out that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, including habitats with peat soils such as blanket bog and lowland fen, should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy exists.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the press release entitled AI experiments see “Humphrey” help townhalls cut costs and improve services, published on 23 May 2025, if he will publish the quality assurance data her Department receives from its trial of Minute.

Minute is currently undergoing Alpha trials across the public sector, including a discovery with 25 local authorities. After this concludes in July, we will publish a summary of the findings and set the direction for the project.