Ministers meet with local authorities on a range of issues. Living in a home that is cold or damp can directly impact occupants’ physical and mental health, creating or exacerbating health issues across their life course. The Government is committed to a preventative approach to the public's health. Improving housing standards and addressing hazards such as cold and damp is a key part of this.

We will continue to stand behind vulnerable households this winter. Support includes delivering the £150 Warm Home Discount for low-income households from October, extending the Household Support Fund with £421 million, to ensure local authorities can support vulnerable people and families, ensuring around 1.3 million households in England and Wales will continue to receive up to £300 in Winter Fuel Payments, and through our commitment to protect the triple lock, over 12 million pensioners will benefit, with many expected to see their State Pension increase by more than £1,000 over the next five years.

The Government will also invest an extra £6.6 billion over this Parliament in clean heat and energy efficiency, upgrading five million homes through solutions like low carbon heating and improved insulation. This will help keep people warm and well in their homes, and help reduce pressures on the National Health Service.

The UK Health Security Agency publishes the Adverse Weather and Health Plan for England, which sets out a framework for action to protect the population, including the elderly, from harm to their health from adverse weather, including excess cold, and outlines the health risks of cold homes.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that policies and decisions should ensure that a new development is appropriate for its location. These should take into account the likely effects of pollution on health, living conditions, including the risk of overheating, and the natural environment. Government policy is that by encouraging good design, planning policies and decisions should limit the impact of light.

The National Planning Policy Framework is also clear that planning policies should mitigate, and reduce to a minimum, potential adverse impacts on health and quality of life resulting from noise from new development. They should also identify and protect tranquil areas which have remained relatively undisturbed by noise and have high recreational and amenity value for this reason. Part E of the Building Regulations 2010 requires protection against sound from other parts of a building, adjoining buildings and within a dwelling-house, and prevention of unreasonable reverberation in common internal parts of buildings with residential flats or rooms.

The National Planning Policy Framework also highlights the importance of development creating places that have a high standard of amenity for existing and future users and recommends that planning policies for housing should apply the nationally described space standard where this is justified.

Through the Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those families who need it the most. Healthy Start, the Nursery Milk Scheme and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children.

The Government is investing £12 billion in Help to Heat schemes to help make people’s homes warmer and less costly to heat. This includes £1.1 billion to the Home Upgrade Grant until 2025, of which £500 million has already been granted to local authorities as part of the Sustainable Warmth Competition to provide energy-efficiency upgrades to lower-income, energy inefficient homes.

Children are discharged to their parent or carer when they are medically fit to leave the hospital. If a health practitioner has cause to suspect that the child was at risk of neglect, they would follow the child safeguarding processes. We do not intend to introduce a new screening process at present.

The Department has not provided recent guidance to schools on the health and safety implications for failed heating systems.

Responsible bodies are required to carry out regular inspections on their building and systems. Where necessary, they should seek professional advice. If systems have failed, or are at risk of failure, a risk assessment should be made on keeping the school open.

The Health and Safety Executive have issued guidance on minimum temperatures, which is available here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/employer/the-law.htm#:~:text=Minimum%20workplace%20temperature,work%20involves%20rigorous%20physical%20effort.

The Condition Improvement Fund round for 2023/24 that closed to applications from eligible schools and sixth-form colleges in December 2022, gave high priority to projects replacing expired oil and coal boilers with low carbon alternatives to prevent closure. Applicants were advised to submit an environmental sustainability statement to achieve maximum marks on their applications.

The Department has published guidance on best practice for sustainable heating replacements within its Output Specification for new and refurbished buildings. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief.

The Department has not provided recent guidance to schools on the health and safety implications for failed heating systems.

Responsible bodies are required to carry out regular inspections on their building and systems. Where necessary, they should seek professional advice. If systems have failed, or are at risk of failure, a risk assessment should be made on keeping the school open.

The Health and Safety Executive have issued guidance on minimum temperatures, which is available here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/employer/the-law.htm#:~:text=Minimum%20workplace%20temperature,work%20involves%20rigorous%20physical%20effort.

The Condition Improvement Fund round for 2023/24 that closed to applications from eligible schools and sixth-form colleges in December 2022, gave high priority to projects replacing expired oil and coal boilers with low carbon alternatives to prevent closure. Applicants were advised to submit an environmental sustainability statement to achieve maximum marks on their applications.

The Department has published guidance on best practice for sustainable heating replacements within its Output Specification for new and refurbished buildings. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief.

The Secretary of State has written to social housing providers, setting out his expectation that they act swiftly to rectify damp and mould and be prepared to respond to the Regulator of Social Housing on the extent of these issues.

The annual English Housing Survey publishes data on damp and mould and energy efficiency.

The Secretary of State is conducting his statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates including rates for disability benefits. The outcome of the review will be announced shortly.

The government understands the pressures people, including disabled people, are facing with the cost of living and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost-of-living support announced earlier this year which includes:

• the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme;
• a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people who are receiving additional-needs disability benefits, in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;
• up to £650 in cost-of-living payments (paid in two separate payments of £326 and £324) for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit, including those with a disability;
• a one-off payment of £300 through the Winter Fuel Payment from November to pensioner households, including those with disability or care needs.
• a £150 non-repayable rebate in Council Tax bills which was paid to all households in Bands A-D in England earlier this year.

The Government is not intending to make an assessment of the average additional costs disabled people may incur at home and the level of social security benefits.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to act as a contribution towards extra costs that arise as a result of a long-term health condition or disability. PIP is not means–tested, non-contributory and thus paid regardless of any income or savings.

The Government is providing extensive support to disabled people and those with a health condition to help them live independent lives.

In 2022/23 we will spend over £64bn on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain.

In response to the cost of living pressures, the Government announced over £37bn of cost of living support earlier this year, which includes:

• a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;
• up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit;
• a one-off payment of £300 through, and as an addition to, the Winter Fuel Payment from November to pensioner households;
• the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee from now until April next year.

The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available substantial taxpayer subsidy in 2022/23 for local government in England. The funding we have made available is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding provided through the settlement in the past 10 years.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is providing a discount on energy prices this winter for local authorities whose bills have been significantly inflated by the global energy crisis.

The Government understands the pressures people, including disabled people, are facing with the cost of living and has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year, which includes:

• the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme;
• a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;
• up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit;
• a one-off payment of £300 through, and as an addition to, the Winter Fuel Payment from November to pensioner households.

The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, including disabled children and young adults. Children and young adults with a long-term health condition or disability can be entitled to up to £156.90 a week, tax free, as a contribution to the wide range of extra costs they face through either Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP). These benefits are not means tested, paid in addition to other social security benefits and can also provide a passport to additional support such as premiums and additional amounts in the means tested benefits.

An informal carer, such as a parent or guardian, providing 35 hours or more care a week to a child or adult in receipt of the middle or highest rate care component of DLA or the daily living component of PIP can also be entitled to financial support through Carer’s Allowance (CA). The Secretary of State has an annual statutory duty to review benefits and State Pensions rates, including the rates for CA, DLA and PIP. That review has commenced following the publication of the relevant indices by the Office for National Statistics. The Secretary of State’s decisions will be announced shortly.

Should a household need additional support with day-to-day costs, such as food, they may be entitled to claim a means tested benefit such as Universal Credit.

In addition, the Government has taken further, decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Energy Price Guarantee is supporting millions of households with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made clear it will continue to do so from now until April next year. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes:

• a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 to six million people in recognition of the extra costs they face, including with energy costs;
• up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments for the eight million households in receipt of a means-tested benefit; and
• the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Whilst the Department has not made any such estimates, the government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The new “Energy Price Guarantee” will mean a typical household in Great Britain will pay, on average, around £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next 2 years from 1 October. The consumer saving will be based on usage, but a typical household will save at least £1,000 a year (based on current prices from October). This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

The £37 billion Cost of Living package includes UK-wide support to help disabled people with the extra costs they are facing. The 6 million people who receive non-means-tested extra-costs disability benefits, including Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, are due to receive a one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 before the beginning of October. In addition, households where someone is in receipt of a means-tested benefit will be eligible for up to an additional £650 in Cost of Living Payments and pensioner households will receive a one-off payment of £300 through, and as an addition to, the Winter Fuel Payment from November.

This Government is committed to supporting low-income families, and will spend over £242bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 of which £108bn on people of working age, mainly families with children.

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The new “Energy Price Guarantee” will mean a typical UK household will now pay up to an average £2,500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years from 1 October, saving the average household in Great Britain at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost-of-living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

This includes the current Household Support Fund, in England, which is already providing £421m of support for the period April – September 2022; at least a third of this (£140m) will be spent on families with children. For the same period, devolved administrations have received £79 million through the Barnett formula. For the period October 2022- March 2023, we are also providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials. This brings the total funding for this support, since October 2021, to £1.5 billion.

It remains our firm belief that work is the best route out of poverty and with 1.27 million vacancies across the UK we want to support parents to move into and to progress in work wherever possible. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.

The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works. In 2020/21, there were 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs than in 2009/10.

To help parents into work, our Plan for Jobs continues to provide broad ranging support for all jobseekers. This is on top of the support already provided by increasing the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour, giving nearly 1.7 million families an extra £1,000 a year (on average) through our changes to the Universal Credit taper and work allowances; and the Universal Credit childcare offer which allows working parents to claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month (up to a maximum cap).

The Government understands that some households with a disability or medical condition will have higher heating costs than average. Certain specialised NHS England services do provide rebates on energy costs for patients using medical equipment at home, such as home oxygen concentrators or adult home dialysis. These arrangements are unique to the contracts or service specifications of these conditions. Clinical Commissioning Groups are best placed to support their local populace.

The Government is aware of the impact that high global wholesale energy prices are having on consumers and has put in place additional support worth £9.1bn on top of existing measures to support vulnerable households.

The Default Tariff (Price) Cap currently protects around 22 million households by limiting the unit rate and standing charges that energy suppliers can charge customers on default or standard variable tariffs. Support is also available to eligible households through the Warm Home Discount, the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments.

Additionally, this Government will be providing a £200 rebate for households delivered via their energy bill this autumn, paid back automatically over the next 5 years, spreading the increased costs of global prices over time in a way that is more manageable for households. This is only one part of a wider package of measures to support households in 2022/23, including a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England, and £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction. This support is available to customers irrespective of whether or not they are connected to the gas grid.

Ensuring older people have access to the right homes that suit their needs can help them to live independently for longer and feel more connected to their communities. We are committed to improving the diversity of accommodation available for older people, so that they can choose the best housing option for them, in the places they want to live.

Boosting the supply of a range of specialist housing across the country will be key to achieving this aim. We are investing £11.5 billion in the new Affordable Homes Programme, which includes the delivery of specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing.

A new government taskforce, as announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people. Further details on the scope of the taskforce work will be confirmed in due course.

We are committed to driving up standards in private rented accommodation for all tenants and we will be consulting on introducing a legally binding Decent Homes Standard in the Private Rented Sector and a landlord register. We will publish a White Paper in Spring this year that will set out our proposals for reform of the private rented sector.

The Future Homes and Buildings Standards, when implemented from 2025, will ensure the installation of low carbon technologies such as heat pumps in all new residential and commercial properties. Subject to further technical consultation in 2023, the Government assesses that these new standards will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from buildings, whilst avoiding the need for further costly retrofitting work.

The Government has committed £3.9 billion to decarbonising buildings over the next 3 years, taking our total investment to date during this parliament to almost £6.6bn. Decisions on further public spending will be subject to the outcome of future fiscal events.