I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, Helen Maguire, on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 613.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, Helen Maguire, on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 613.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, Helen Maguire, on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 613.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, Helen Maguire, on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 613.

NHS Talking Therapies continues to expand to deliver additional courses of treatment and increase session numbers to boost recovery. In 2024/25, 670,419 referrals completed course of treatment across England. For 2025/26, this figure was 671,262. However, this figure is based on performance data and will be updated when the annual publication is published in September. We are working towards the expectation that a total of 915,000 people will have completed treatment by 2028/29.

Over the last two years, 2024/25 and 2025/26, the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board’s performance on the delivery of NHS Talking Therapies Courses of Treatment for the year to date has improved from 2024/25, with the system delivering above plans in 2025/26. For the full year 2025/26, 31,965 people completed a course of treatment, compared with 30,350 in 2024/25.

NHS Talking Therapies provide National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended, evidence‑based psychological therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), for adults with common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Treatment decisions, including the appropriateness of CBT, are assessed by trained and accredited NHS practitioners, using clinical judgement in line with national guidance.

People can access the NHS Talking Therapies service through general practice referral or self‑referral, and support is tailored to individual need, recognising the variation in severity and the complexity of common mental health conditions.

The Department and NHS England keep the performance of NHS Talking Therapies under continual review, including access, waiting times, and treatment outcomes. The service is currently meeting its waiting time standards, with 98.1% of people starting treatment within 18 weeks and 88.3% within six weeks in March 2026. Outcomes are improving, with 48.4% of people achieving reliable recovery and 68.7% reliable improvement, against medium‑term ambitions of 51% and 69% respectively.

We also continue to strengthen the evidence base for NHS Talking Therapies through ongoing evaluation activity, including independent analysis of specific service components, and will consider these findings as part of further work to improve effectiveness and patient outcomes.

The government recognises that targeted support within schools can play a major role in identifying young people at higher risk of homelessness and providing support to them and their families at a much earlier stage. We continue to engage with Centrepoint on their Upstream pilots as part of our work to prevent youth homelessness.

Losing a child is devastating, and no one deserves to experience such losses alone. I know that my hon. Friend is a keen supporter of the charity Love, Jasmine in her constituency, which provides vital support to families who have suffered child loss. We are making sure that local NHS services provide easily accessible bereavement support, and local integrated care boards should make sure that service provision is tailored directly to the needs of grieving families in their communities.

In the legacy benefits (e.g. Employment & Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Income Support (IS)) there were multiple disability premia (e.g. Disability Premium, Enhanced Disability Premium and Severe Disability Premium). These were complex, fragmented and often underpaid, each with differing and often overlapping rules that made administration difficult and confusing for claimants.

Universal Credit replaces these with a single structure and clearer elements (e.g. disability and caring support), reducing complexity and improving consistency and claimant understanding.

The Universal Credit rate for people who have Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) and meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) or the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) is more than double the equivalent rate of the ESA support group and provides financial support to those with the most severe disabilities and health conditions.

I thank my hon. Friend for raising such an important point. I am continuing my predecessor’s close work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and with local authorities to ensure that veterans receive the support they deserve, and I will soon meet with MHCLG to discuss the matter further. A range of support is available to veterans. All veterans of the regular armed forces have been exempted from the requirement to have a local connection for social housing in England. The reducing veteran homelessness programme funds vital wraparound support for veterans, and Op Fortitude has helped more than 1,000 veterans into housing.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities, which will replace the existing Sector Single Code of Practice. The Department consulted on the Code of Practice last year, including on mitigating circumstances that would warrant the cancellation of a parking charge. Consultation responses are currently being considered, and the Government’s response will be published alongside the new statutory Code of Practice in the autumn.

The Department consulted on the effectiveness of the current enforcement regime in the Parking Code Enforcement Framework consultation in 2021. The government response can be found here Parking code enforcement framework: consultation response - GOV.UK. To address the issues of transparency and the lack of independence, the Government is developing a Certification Scheme to hold operators accountable for not adhering to standards in the Code.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities, which will replace the existing Sector Single Code of Practice. The Department consulted on the Code of Practice last year, including on mitigating circumstances that would warrant the cancellation of a parking charge. Consultation responses are currently being considered, and the Government’s response will be published alongside the new statutory Code of Practice in the autumn.

The Department consulted on the effectiveness of the current enforcement regime in the Parking Code Enforcement Framework consultation in 2021. The government response can be found here Parking code enforcement framework: consultation response - GOV.UK. To address the issues of transparency and the lack of independence, the Government is developing a Certification Scheme to hold operators accountable for not adhering to standards in the Code.

The Secretary of State has not made any such assessment of the longstanding independent appeals process.

Being in work is the best way to avoid poverty. The benefit cap gives a modest but significant incentive to start work and then to progress in work. Some people cannot work, so the cap does not apply to people out of work on disability or caring benefits, but for others it remains in place.

The ten-minute grace period at the end of a paid-for parking period was introduced to recognise that drivers could arrive slightly late to their vehicle for reasons beyond their control. In this situation, a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) would be able to ascertain the precise time from which parking had been paid. This would not be possible with an equivalent concession at the beginning of a paid-for parking period, thus opening up the potential for drivers to delay paying until such time as a CEO is observed.

A requirement for transparency on matters relating to civil parking enforcement is enshrined in the Secretary of State's statutory guidance for local authorities in England on civil enforcement of parking contraventions. The guidance references the applicable legislation regarding debt collections. It applies at local authority owned or operated car parks and at the end of paid-for and free on-street parking in England. Private and off-street parking companies are the policy responsibility of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

The ten-minute grace period at the end of a paid-for parking period was introduced to recognise that drivers could arrive slightly late to their vehicle for reasons beyond their control. In this situation, a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) would be able to ascertain the precise time from which parking had been paid. This would not be possible with an equivalent concession at the beginning of a paid-for parking period, thus opening up the potential for drivers to delay paying until such time as a CEO is observed.

A requirement for transparency on matters relating to civil parking enforcement is enshrined in the Secretary of State's statutory guidance for local authorities in England on civil enforcement of parking contraventions. The guidance references the applicable legislation regarding debt collections. It applies at local authority owned or operated car parks and at the end of paid-for and free on-street parking in England. Private and off-street parking companies are the policy responsibility of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Transitional Protection within Universal Credit is intended to support customers whose entitlement would otherwise be lower at the point of moving from legacy benefits. This includes Transitional Protection provided in respect of the Severe Disability Premium.

Rules apply equally to all forms of Transitional Protection, ensuring that entitlement remains aligned with a customer’s circumstances. This is a standard feature of Transitional Protection and not based on disability status.

The Department keeps all aspects of Universal Credit policy under consideration to ensure it continues to provide effective support.

Transitional Protection is designed to ensure that, at the point of moving onto Universal Credit, eligible customers do not see a reduction in their overall entitlement compared to their previous legacy benefits. These rules apply equally to the Severe Disability Premium Transitional Protection.

All forms of Transitional Protection are a temporary measure and will adjust over time as other elements of a customer’s Universal Credit award change.

Any reduction in the value of Transitional Protection occurs gradually and is offset by increases in underlying Universal Credit entitlement, for example through uprating or the addition of new elements. This means that a customer’s overall monetary entitlement does not decrease as a result of Transitional Protection reducing and will increase once Transitional Protection has fully eroded.

Universal Credit also provides additional support for disabled people, including through elements for those with limited capability for work and work-related activity, which may be included in awards where applicable.