My Lords, the clean water Bill was announced in the King’s Speech in May, to be introduced during this Session. We have set out our ambitious programme of reforms in the water White Paper, which was published on 20 January, and we are protecting chalk streams, including by reducing the risk of harmful abstraction, by modifying water company abstraction licences and ensuring that chalk streams are prioritised for improvement in our storm overflows discharge reduction plan.

My Lords, the National Planning Policy Framework requires all new development that could affect drainage to incorporate sustainable drainage systems. We recently consulted on changes to the NPPF, including on sustainable drainage systems, and we will respond in due course. We had more than 20,000 responses, so we are still analysing them. By law, planning applications are determined in accordance with a development plan, with each application judged on its own merit. Any weight given to individual considerations is a matter for the local authority. I am pleased to tell the noble Baroness that in 2024-25, 96% of planning applications and 99% of new homes proposed in planning applications complied with Environment Agency advice on flood risk.

My Lords, the Government entirely understand concerns about the affordability of rents. We have inherited a private rented sector that is failing many low-income renters. The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower tenants to challenge unreasonable rent increases, as well as taking practical steps to end the practice of rental bidding and prohibiting landlords from demanding large amounts of upfront rent. In addition, the Government are committed to building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England over this Parliament. This boost to supply is critical to improving housing affordability.

My Lords, I add my tribute to Baroness Randerson and offer my condolences to her family and friends. Her wisdom and experience were greats asset to this House, and she will be missed.

Our Government are committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation; I hope we have shown that through our movement. Our revised National Planning Policy Framework reflects the commitment to building a greater share of genuinely affordable homes and prioritising the building of new social rent homes in particular. It is, though, for local authorities to judge the right mix of affordable homes for ownership and for rent that will meet the needs of their communities.

My Lords, the Government are committed to ending Section 21 no-fault evictions. We introduced the Renters (Reform) Bill in the other place to do this. Without the fear of retaliatory eviction, once Section 21 is abolished, tenants will be more

empowered to act within their legal rights, complain about unacceptable standards and seek improvements. Private rented properties should be warm and decent, and we have several schemes to support energy-saving improvements to provide this.

One new oil field has been granted production consent in the last two years – Horse Hill (in Surrey).

There are currently 47 oil and gas extraction sites in England.

All questions of planning permission for oil drilling extraction sites in the last 5 years have been local planning matters. Therefore central government has not made decisions on this. As planning is a devolved matter, this answer relates to England only.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:

(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;

(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;

(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.

The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.

In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:

Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.

The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.

In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.

The 18 closed theory test centres are:

Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.

Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:

(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;

(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;

(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.

The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.

In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:

Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.

The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.

In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.

The 18 closed theory test centres are:

Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.

Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:

(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;

(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;

(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.

The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.

In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:

Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.

The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.

In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.

The 18 closed theory test centres are:

Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.

Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.

My Lords, I declare my residential and commercial property interests as set out in the register. The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced a database of rogue landlords and property agents as part of a package of measures to tackle poor standards within the private rented sector. This included banning orders, civil penalties of up to £30,000 and rent repayment orders. The database went live on 6 April 2018 and currently contains 43 entries.

The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing online pornography through the new online safety framework. Where pornography sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, they will be subject to the new duty of care.

The government expects that the majority of commercial pornography sites, including those that are most visited, will be captured through the new online safety regime. Only those commercial pornography sites which do not host user-generated content and instead publish their own content will not be in scope. We will continue to review our proposals to ensure we deliver the most comprehensive protections for children online.

The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing online pornography through the new online safety framework. Where pornography sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, they will be subject to the new duty of care. Commercial pornography sites which allow private user to user communication will be in scope. Where commercial pornography sites do not have user-generated functionality they will not be in scope. The online safety regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography.

We expect companies to use age assurance or age verification technologies to prevent children from accessing services which pose the highest risk of harm to children, such as online pornography. We are working closely with stakeholders across industry to establish the right conditions for the market to deliver age assurance and age verification technical solutions ahead of the legislative requirements coming into force.

My Lords, we remain committed to abolishing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to enhance renter security and improve protection for tenants. However, our collective efforts are currently focused on responding to the coronavirus outbreak. We will bring forward a renters’ reform Bill once the urgencies of responding to the pandemic have passed and when parliamentary time allows.

The Benefit Cap aims to provide fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable.

We introduced £9.3bn of welfare measures that benefit those facing the most financial disruption and, in May 2020, less than five per cent of the two million Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claimants living in the private rented sector, 93,830 tenants, had their benefit capped.

From April 2020 Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to cover the lowest 30th percent of local rents. This £1bn investment will benefit over 1 million households with an average increase of £600 this year. This will help alleviate the pressure on Discretionary Housing Payments that claimants can apply for through their Local Authority if they need additional support to meet rental costs.

We have provided £180m in Discretionary Housing Payments to Local Authorities in England and Wales for 2020/21, which includes an additional £40m to help tackle affordability pressures in the private rented sector.

The EWS1 form was introduced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to assist in valuation of high-rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Each lender has their own policies regarding valuation requirements. Some do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. Where requested the EWS1 assessments are commissioned by individual building owners and so the department does not hold data on their use. The Department is working to estimate the potential impact of these requests on leaseholders and sales, and is urging a pragmatic approach by lenders and valuers, especially for lower rise blocks where the Department does not support the blanket use of EWS1.

The External Wall System form (EWS1) and process is designed and implemented by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in conjunction with mortgage lenders to assist with valuation of high-rise residential buildings. Some lenders do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. It is not a Government policy or regulatory requirement and the department does not hold data on its use.

The External Wall System form (EWS1) and process is designed and implemented by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in conjunction with mortgage lenders to assist with valuation of high-rise residential buildings. Some lenders do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. It is not a Government policy or regulatory requirement and the department does not hold data on its use.

I point to my relevant residential and commercial property interests as set out in the register. There has been a six-month stay on repossession proceedings and we have established an unprecedented financial package. This includes spending over £39.3 billion

on the furlough scheme and boosting the welfare system by more than £9 billion. There are now new court arrangements and notice periods of six months, except in the most serious cases, to help keep tenants in their homes over winter.