Westminster Hall Presses Ministers on Delays and Delivery

High-Level Summary

Westminster Hall considered five topics: residential building safety remediation, ocean conservation and stewardship, grey-belt land, goods trading between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and civil service pension administration. Members discussed delays, financial costs, regulatory capacity and the effects on residents, businesses, landowners and pensioners. Ministers set out current and proposed measures on remediation, marine protection, planning policy, internal-market support and the civil service pension recovery programme. The ocean conservation and grey-belt motions were agreed; the residential-remediation and goods-trading motions lapsed under Standing Order No. 10(6), while the pension debate ended with the sitting adjourned without a Question being put under Standing Order No. 10(14).

Detailed Summary

Residential Buildings: Safety Remediation

Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath), who secured the debate, raised residents’ difficulty selling or moving home, the conditions experienced during remediation, the consistency and competence of assessments under PAS 9980, regulation of fire-safety professionals and the position of non-qualifying leaseholders. He cited constituency cases involving delayed certification, increased insurance costs, poor living conditions and disputed assessments. He said that “Residents’ lives cannot be placed on hold indefinitely”. Members including Jessica Toale, Chris Kane, Fleur Anderson, Jeremy Corbyn, Meg Hillier, Will Forster, Jim Dickson, Jim Shannon, Mike Reader, Brian Leishman and Gideon Amos raised related concerns about regulator delays, capacity, insurance, mortgageability, waking watches, construction defects and reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Amos argued that “If and when is not good enough” where work to reduce a tolerable risk was deferred.

Florence Eshalomi, responding for the Government, said that more than 420 additional buildings over 11 metres had completed cladding remediation since the remediation acceleration plan, with £2.1 billion approved for cladding remediation and more than £1 billion committed to accelerate remediation in the social-housing sector. She said the updated PAS 9980 was intended to improve clarity, structure and consistency without materially changing how risks were assessed, and that the forthcoming remediation Bill would mandate the methodology and auditing of external-wall assessments. She also reported a consultation on establishing a fire-risk-assessor profession, more than £45 million invested in workforce capacity, engagement with insurers and lenders, and measures to recover remediation costs from responsible parties. The Minister did not give a specific timetable for mandatory requirements for fire-risk assessors or a specific proposal on ending the ‘in perpetuity’ status of non-qualifying leases. Pinkerton’s motion lapsed under Standing Order No. 10(6).

Ocean Conservation and Stewardship

Tristan Osborne introduced a debate on marine protected areas, bottom trawling, sustainable fisheries, marine-pollution penalties, habitat restoration and the UK’s international role. He argued that designation did not always provide effective protection, citing suspected bottom trawling in offshore protected areas and poor environmental-status indicators, and asked when the outcome of the Government’s consultation on further protections would be published. Edward Morello supported greater protection, referring to recovery in Lyme Bay. Osborne said that conservation and a viable fishing industry were compatible: “we can do both and they are mutually beneficial”. He also called for marine-pollution penalties to be brought closer to the uncapped regime applying to pollution on land, and for support for small-scale fishers, habitat restoration and marine science.

Stephen Morgan, the Minister, said the Government aimed to balance marine recovery with fisheries, food security, energy security and coastal livelihoods. He confirmed that further fisheries-management byelaws and restrictions on bottom trawling were being considered, with the Marine Management Organisation reviewing consultation responses and intending to announce its response “in due course”. He said the marine-protected-area network was being reviewed and referred to the marine recovery fund and the wider offshore-wind environmental improvement package. On enforcement, he said that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency were engaging with the Ministry of Justice to strengthen the enforcement regime so that environmental offences carried “meaningful consequences”. Internationally, he referred to the UK’s ratification of the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction agreement and said that the Government were committed to reaching an agreement on plastic pollution at the first round of negotiations in March 2027. The motion was put and agreed to.

Grey Belt Land: Definition and Application

Jeremy Wright questioned whether the Government’s definition of grey-belt land differed from earlier descriptions of disused garages, car parks and wasteland. He argued that the National Planning Policy Framework definition could bring agricultural land and open countryside within scope and shift housing pressure from urban to rural areas. Will Forster and Jim Shannon supported the need for more housing but questioned development in less sustainable locations and stressed the importance of brownfield land, infrastructure, food production and environmental protection. Gideon Amos proposed replacing the policy with community-led release, a brownfield-first approach and longer-term protection for locally valued green spaces; he said the policy “could be called a developer’s charter”.

Matthew Pennycook, the Minister, said that the five purposes of the green belt and its general extent had not been changed. He said the approach was intended to be plan-led, while acknowledging a limited route for proposals outside local plans, and that grey-belt development required demonstrable unmet need, a sustainable location and compliance with the golden rules. He said the test of whether the remaining green belt was fundamentally undermined was applied at plan level, and rejected the assertion that grey-belt land would generally be open countryside. He said land likely to qualify was more likely to contain “existing development” or “other urbanising influences”. The Government had awarded more than £9.3 million to 133 local planning authorities for green-belt reviews, and the Minister said further guidance might be considered as planning practice guidance was updated. Wright remained concerned about the policy’s possible effects but welcomed the Minister’s undertaking to reflect on points raised in the debate. The motion was agreed to and the debate was resolved.

Goods Trading: Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Jim Allister argued that the Windsor framework had created additional customs and regulatory processes for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. He cited paperwork burdens, alleged trade diversion, a reported fall in goods carried by Great Britain-registered vehicles and the inability of the House of Commons shop to deliver some products to Northern Ireland. He called for action under article 16 and proposed mutual enforcement instead of the existing arrangements. Sammy Wilson, Jim Shannon and Alex Easton raised related concerns about customs codes, veterinary medicines, small-business supply and effects on consumers. Allister said that “the integrity of our single market has been utterly destroyed”.

Chris McDonald, responding for the Government, rejected the assertion that Government policy was intended to move Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom and said that the Government remained committed to unfettered access for qualifying Northern Ireland goods moving to Great Britain. He cited more than £17 billion in goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in 2024, 96% of goods moving under freight within the internal-market system, and more than 15,000 traders registered for the UK internal market scheme. He acknowledged that experiences varied between sectors and companies, while defending the Windsor framework as supporting the Good Friday agreement and trade. The Government said that trader support would continue beyond 2026 and that a £16.6 million regulatory support service was being developed. The transcript records no decision on invoking article 16. The motion lapsed under Standing Order No. 10(6).

Civil Service Pension Scheme

Ian Byrne introduced a debate on the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, citing delayed retirement quotations and payments, bereavement cases, incorrect information and hardship. Members including Graham Stuart, Henry Tufnell, Jim Shannon, Warinder Juss, Caroline Dinenage, Alex McIntyre, Edward Morello, Lorraine Beavers, Lincoln Jopp, Wendy Chamberlain, John Grady, Julian Lewis, Imogen Walker, Alison Bennett and others described constituents waiting months for pensions or survivor benefits. They questioned Capita’s capability, the Cabinet Office’s contract management and the decision to transfer administration, and called for compensation, stronger oversight and possible insourcing. Byrne asked for “recovery, compensation and accountability”. Alison Bennett cited 1,082 bereavement cases more than 100 days old as at 20 August, alongside other aged retirement, ill-health and death-in-service cases. Members also referred to warnings from the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee before the transfer.

Sally Jameson, the Minister, said Capita had been the administrator since 1 December 2025 and apologised for the delays and distress caused. She said Capita had missed recovery milestones, that nearly £10 million in contractual payments had been withheld, that a Grant Thornton remedial adviser and a Government internal audit agency had been appointed, and that 140 surge staff were supporting operations. The Government had approved more than £100 million for interest-free transitional support loans and had provided more than 4,100 loans. Jameson said Capita had committed to achieving its full service-level agreements by the end of the month, but that the Government were developing their own measures rather than relying on Capita’s reporting. She said complaints would be handled in line with Pensions Ombudsman standards and that she hoped to return to the House in October with a further update. She expressed personal support for insourcing, while saying that any transfer must avoid disruption and that Capita should first pay for and rectify its failures. The sitting adjourned without a Question being put under Standing Order No. 10(14).