theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Kate Osamor:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of allegations of serious human rights abuses and atrocities committed by the Ethiopian Government in Amhara. \p Anneliese Dodds: The UK is aware of reports of human rights violations in Amhara, and we are engaging all sides to call for peace and accountability. The Minister for Africa raised the issue when he met Prime Minister Abiy in October 2024. To help alleviate suffering, we co-hosted a humanitarian pledging conference in April that raised $610 million, including a £100 million UK contribution, with funds raised providing lifesaving support to civilians across Ethiopia, including in Amhara. We are working to assist delivery of this support to those most in need, and we are also supporting the implementation of the Government of Ethiopia's Transitional Justice policy, including by improving the investigative capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 December 2024 to Question 19309 on Syria: Women, what plans he has to support education for women and girls in Syria. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: Education in Syria, especially for girls, has been a continuing priority for the UK. The UK is a leading donor to the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait, providing critical support to children across Syria. Since 2017, our Syria Education Programme has supported over 625,000 children, 50 percent of which are girls. The programme prioritises inclusion and enhanced access to education for girls, including through building girls' confidence and reducing dropout risks. We remain committed to supporting education and are considering how changes in Syria present opportunities and risks.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to raise case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah at the upcoming Universal Periodic Review session for Egypt at the United Nations. \p Mr Hamish Falconer: The UK Government remains committed to securing the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah. We continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian Government.

The FCDO will use the upcoming Universal Periodic Review session on Egypt in January to raise issues relating to human rights.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the (a) impact of the proposed pay rise for teachers on school budgets and (b) potential merits of providing additional funding to cover such a pay rise. \p Catherine McKinnell: On 10 December 2024, the department published its written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, to inform their recommendations for school teachers’ pay in the next academic year. This included a proposed pay award of 2.8% for teachers for the 2025/26 academic year. In the context of the challenging national economic picture, a 2.8% award would be appropriate, ensuring teachers’ pay remains competitive and continues to reflect the vital contribution they make to children’s life chances.

The whole public sector, including schools, is being expected to drive better value from existing budgets to help rebuild public services. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 pay award from the additional investment provided at the Budget, alongside their existing funds. The department will support schools to use their funding as efficiently as possible with a suite of new productivity initiatives. The department will soon publish a national affordability estimate for schools in the School Cost Technical Note. This estimate will be equivalent to the position of an average school.

Final decisions on the teacher’s pay award for 2025/26 will be made following recommendations from the independent pay review body process, which is on-going. The government will consider its response to the Pay Review Body’s recommendations with regard to the overall financial position. The written evidence sets out the department’s expectations about what schools will want to consider in their budget plans.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to section 7.2.12 of her Department's publication entitled School workforce census guide 2024: Guide for schools including academies within a Multi Academy Trust, published on 11 October 2024, how many and what proportion of teacher posts in publicly-funded schools in England were paid on each pay range record for which data was returned in the most recent workforce census period broken down by (a) academy schools, (b) free schools, (c) local authority maintained schools and (d) all publicly-funded schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The attached table provides the pay ranges reported for teacher contracts broken down by school type in the November 2023 school workforce census, which is the latest data available.

Teacher_Pay_By_School_Type (xlsx, 23.0KB)
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Derek Twigg:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school days were lost due to weather conditions in each year since 2010. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department does not specifically collect data on school days lost due to weather conditions.

From the start of the 2024/25 academic year, it became mandatory for schools to share attendance data with the department. Attendance data can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-attendance-in-schools.

Other attendance statistics and past releases are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-pupil-absence. This shows pupil absence statistics from May 2010 onwards and pupil attendance statistics from September 2022.

It is for individual settings and responsible bodies to determine their approach to closure based on their own risk assessment. Closures should be considered a last resort, and the imperative is for settings to remain open where it is safe to do so. Where a school was planning to be open for a session but then has to close unexpectedly, for example due to adverse weather, the attendance register is not taken as usual because there is no session. For statistical purposes this is counted as a ‘not possible’ attendance.

Where settings are temporarily closed, individual settings and responsible bodies should consider providing remote education for the duration of the closure in line with departmental guidance. Providing remote education does not change the imperative to remain open, or to reopen as soon as possible. Pupils who are absent from school and receiving remote education still need to be recorded as absent using the most appropriate absence code. Schools should keep a record of and monitor pupil’s engagement with remote education, but this is not formally tracked in the attendance register. Guidance for schools on providing remote education is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools. Additional guidance for parents on remote education is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-information-to-parents-template.
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Dr Allison Gardner:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for children with (a) autism and (b) SEND in mainstream settings in Stoke-on-Trent South. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. ​The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with Local Area Partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

To support this, the department has brought together a group of leading neurodiversity experts in a new Neurodiversity Task and Finish Group, led independently by Professor Karen Guldberg from the University of Birmingham, to work closely with the department to help improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings in a way that works for neurodivergent children and young people.

Additionally, the department’s Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme brings together Integrated Care Boards (ICB), local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children and their families and enable an inclusive school environment. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces into 10% of mainstream primary school settings, which is approximately xx-xxxx-xxxx schools. PINS is building teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including those with speech and language needs, through whole-school interventions. The programme is being evaluated, and the learning will inform future policy development around how schools support neurodiverse children.

The department’s Universal SEND Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. As part of the contract, the Autism Education Trust (AET) provides a range of training and support for staff on autism. Since the contract began in May 2022, over 200,000 professionals have received training from AET training partners.

Following the last Ofsted SEND inspection in January 2024, officials have been working with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors.

The areas were:
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to incorporate educational resources from the National Crime Agency into the National Curriculum in order to inform children about the dangers of online child sexual exploitation. \p Catherine McKinnell: As part of statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. This includes being taught about what positive, healthy and respectful online relationships look like, the effects of their online actions on others, how to recognise and display respectful behaviour online and where to get help and support for issues that occur online. The guidance emphasises that schools should keep aware of issues such as grooming and sexual exploitation, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and that these should be addressed sensitively and clearly.

Teaching about online safety also complements the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face.

The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. The department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders, before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence. As part of this process, the department will explore whether additional content is required, including on online harms, and how this can complement the government’s wider actions to tackle harmful behaviour, sexual violence and exploitation.

As with other curriculum subjects, the department does not advise schools on which resources, external speakers or organisations to use, not least because schools operate in a variety of different contexts and have both the expertise and knowledge that makes them best placed to make these decisions. However, in 2023, the department published guidance on teaching online safety in schools, which sets out how to teach about all aspects of internet safety in a coordinated and coherent way across the curriculum, and also includes links to further sources of information, including the National Crime Agency’s resources. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to provide (a) training and (b) other support to special educational needs coordinators in schools in Surrey. \p Catherine McKinnell: All mainstream schools (including academies and free schools) must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO). The SENCO must be a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, working at the school. SENCOs play a vital role in setting the direction for their school and leading on the day-to-day special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

Schools should ensure that the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out these functions. This should include providing SENCOs with sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in a similar way to other important strategic roles within a school.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ must be completed within three years of taking up a SENCO post. The new NPQ will play a key role improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training.

The £12 million Universal Services programme also helps the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively.

The programme offers online training, professional development groups, bespoke school and college improvement projects, sector-led research, autism awareness training and an embedded focus on preparation for adulthood, including employer-led webinars for college staff.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that local councils can (a) recruit and (b) retain educational psychologists in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, providing statutory input into education, health and care assessments and advising the school workforce on how to support children and young people with SEND.

As the employers of educational psychology services, it is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that their services are adequately staffed. The department is however taking measures to support local authorities by investing in building the pipeline.

The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024. This builds on the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.

To support retention, following graduation, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. For trainees beginning their course in September 2024, this requirement has increased to three years.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to increase the opportunities for young people at (a) school, (b) college and (c) university in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) Staffordshire to visit museums, theatres and art galleries. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department wants all children and young people to have access to a variety of enriching experiences as an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Educational visits are part of this ambition. The decision to undertake any educational visit is a matter for individual schools, colleges and higher education institutions to determine. As part of studying GCSE drama and A level drama and theatre studies, students are entitled to experience live theatre.

More broadly, the government supports children and young people’s access to theatres, museums and galleries, for example through the Museums and Schools programme. The programme builds partnerships between schools and museums, including The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent. 79% of Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations, which include theatres, museums and galleries, work with children and young people.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of schools that will be impacted by the extension of statutory pay and conditions arrangements to Academy teachers in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. \p Catherine McKinnell: There are currently 11,245 academies in England that would be in scope of the measure in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor trends in Education Health and Care Plan applications by local authority area. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information on applications for education, health and care (EHC) plans is collected from local authorities via the annual SEN2 data collection each January. SEN2 is a statutory return. It includes information on requests for assessment for an EHC plan made to each local authority and the outcome of that request, the assessments for an EHC plan made by each local authority and the outcome of that assessment, as well as information on the EHC plans maintained by the authority.

The information collected also contains characteristics of the individual, such as sex, ethnicity and age.

This information is subsequently published for each local authority in the ‘Education, health and care plans’ statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This publication includes the number of requests for assessment for an EHC plan and the number of assessments for an EHC plan as returned by each local authority.

In addition to the SEN2 data, the department also monitors trends using more timely operational data directly from local authorities.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s social care final report (MacAlister,2022), published on the 23rd of May 2022. \p Janet Daby: Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the best start in life. This government has already moved quickly to set out its plans for a whole-system and child-centred approach to reform and our actions are informed by the findings of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.

In November, the department published its ambitious, wide ranging plans in ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’, setting the wheels in motion to break the cycle of crisis intervention and rebalance the system back towards earlier help for families. In addition, in December the department introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This is a landmark piece of legislation, introducing a series of measures with a focus on delivering a joined up system to stop vulnerable children falling through cracks in services.
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Mims Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase the number of white working-class boys taking up apprenticeships. \p Janet Daby: Meeting the skills needs of the next decade is central to delivering all of the government's five missions – economic growth, opportunity for all, a stronger NHS, safer streets, and clean energy. Through delivering the Opportunity and Growth Missions, we will ensure that we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs, aligned with the Industrial Strategy and break down the barriers to opportunity for learners.

The department is developing new foundation apprenticeships to give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives, whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth.

Foundation apprenticeships will be a work-based training offer that will provide young people with clear progression pathways into further work-based training and employment.

The department is engaging with relevant stakeholders to inform our thinking to maximise the positive impact of foundation apprenticeships on young people, including those in disadvantaged areas. More detail on foundation apprenticeships will be set out in due course.

The department continues to pay additional funding to employers and training providers to support them to take on young apprentices, apprentices with learning difficulties and disabilities, and care leavers.

The department also continues to promote apprenticeships through the Skills for Life campaign and in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) Programme. Through the ASK Programme, the department increases awareness of apprenticeships amongst students in years 10 to 13, as well as parents, carers, teachers and careers advisers. During the 2023/24 academic year, ASK engaged with 2,366 schools and colleges and reached over 575,000 students.

There were 82,080 apprenticeship starts by white male apprentices that were aged under 25 in the 2023/24 academic year.
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Mims Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase the number of white working-class boys attending university. \p Janet Daby: This government will act to address the persistent gaps for different groups and break down the barriers to opportunity. Opportunity should be available to all but too many people across our country do not get the chance to succeed.

Whilst many higher education (HE) providers have demonstrated positive examples of supporting all working-class students, including targeted outreach, on course bursaries and mentoring, we are keen to see the sector to go further. By summer, we will set out our plan for HE reform and we expect providers to play an even stronger role in improving access and outcomes for all disadvantaged students.
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Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference page 36 of the publication entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, what level of qualification will be considered higher-level. \p Janet Daby: The Plan for Change sets out the government’s long-term plan to improve the lives of working people and deliver a decade renewal across our country through ambitious, but achievable, milestones by the end of this Parliament.

As part of the Plan for Change, the government will build skills for opportunity and growth so that every young person can follow the pathway that is right for them. Whether through high-quality apprenticeships, colleges or universities, skills give people the power to seize opportunity. The department will measure progress through the proportion of young people in education or employment with training, and through the number achieving higher-level qualifications. Higher-level qualifications covers qualifications which are at level 4 and above.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure young girls who are unaccompanied children seeking asylum are (a) able to access education and (b) supported to stay in school. \p Janet Daby: Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.

The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.

The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.

All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.

As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.

The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to support applications for apprenticeships for students on Homes for Ukraine visas that expire before the course concludes. \p Janet Daby: Students on Homes for Ukraine visas are eligible to undertake an apprenticeship where they are able to complete the apprenticeship within the time they have available. All apprenticeships must be at least 12 months in duration.

We want learners to be able to complete their apprenticeships within the time they have available. Where the learner’s residency permit does not extend to the entire length of the apprenticeship, they are not eligible for funding. The department will keep this under review, as it does with all of its rules.

In determining student eligibility for 16 to 19 funding, including for Ukrainians aged 16 to 19 living in the UK under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine), institutions must satisfy themselves that there is a reasonable likelihood that the student will be able to complete their study programme before seeking funding for the student. However, when a student applies for a study programme where their current legal permission to remain in the UK expires six months or more after they start, then institutions may allow them to enrol. The department considers it sufficient for institutions to rely on confirmation from the student, and/or family, that they intend to apply for the necessary extension to their permission to remain for the duration of their study programme.

The situation is similar for adult learners who wish to undertake courses funded via the Adult Skills Fund. Where the learner’s visa will expire before the end of the course, the provider can use their discretion to fund the learner if, and only if, they have a high degree of certainty that the learner intends to, and will be eligible to, apply to extend their permission to remain for the duration of their study programme. The department would expect that individuals who are not yet eligible to apply for the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, but intend to apply for it, would be eligible for funding under this rule.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students took higher technical education courses at Institutes of Technology in each academic year between 2018-19 and 2023-24. \p Janet Daby: The collaborative approach between further education, higher education and employers developed by Institutes of Technology (IoTs) is valued. The department will be working with the sector as we develop our strategy for post-16 education and skills.

Information on the number of students that took higher technical education courses (those at, or above, level 4) at IoTs are set out in the table below.

Academic Year*

Level 4+ learners

Background

2018/19

0

The first IoT opened in September 2019 therefore no learners were recorded in annual year 2018/19

2019/20

916

Based on 6 IoTs open to learners

2020/21

1901

Based on 8 IoTs open to learners

2021/22

3089

Based on 11 IoTs open to learners

2022/23

4512

Based on 15 IoTs open to learners

2023/24

6381

Based on 19 IoTs open to learners (This data is incomplete as the Higher Education Statistic Agency data will not be available until April 2025.)

*The department changed the way the data was collected and presented from 2021/22 academic year. The figures for 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years are for learner starts at levels 4 and 5. The figures for 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years are for learner cohorts for level 4+ (including level 6 and above).
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of including grief education in the relationships and sex education curriculum. \p Catherine McKinnell: The statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance, which sets out the specific topics pupils should be taught, makes clear that teachers should be aware of common adverse childhood experiences and understand when and how these may be affecting their pupils. This will help teachers to tailor their lessons accordingly, taking decisions on appropriate resources and support to enable them to teach the curriculum effectively. Teachers are free to draw on the support and expertise of subject associations and other providers of curriculum support. The RSHE statutory guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. The department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence. As part of this process, the department will explore whether additional content is required, including on grief education and bereavement.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department plans to take to help (a) deaf and (b) other disabled people to find work. \p Alison McGovern: Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, Support with Employee Health and Disability service a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals, including those who are deaf, to stay in work and get back into work, including those initiatives that join up employment and health systems.

Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new applications for Pension Credit were (a) made and (b) approved between 10 September 2024 and 21 December 2024. \p Emma Reynolds: Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes were published on 28 November 2024. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK.

Please note, the next publication of Pension Credit application statistics is due around the end of February 2025 and will cover the data up to week commencing 10 February 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_203

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people who emigrate to (a) Canada and (b) Australia are aware that their state pensions will be frozen. \p Emma Reynolds: For a number of years, advice has been provided to the public that the UK State Pension is not uprated overseas except where there is a legal requirement to do so - for example where there is a reciprocal agreement that allows for uprating.

Information on moving or retiring abroad is available on GOV.UK and this includes advice on how State pension is affected.

Advice can also be obtained by calling the International Pension Centre on 0191 218 777 or from the Pension Service on xx-xxxx-xxxx
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_204

Colum Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her statement of 17 December 2024 on Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report, Official Report columns 167 to 169, whether her Department has made an estimate of the annual cost of implementing a compensation scheme for affected women in Northern Ireland. \p Emma Reynolds: The State Pension is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland. These matters are the responsibility of the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_205

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are waiting for their pension credit application to be processed in each region. \p Emma Reynolds: We do not currently hold this information at regional level. Outstanding Pension Credit claims totalled 88,500 at the end of week commencing 30th December 2024. This includes 8,500 advanced claims. Advanced claims are where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age.

Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_206

John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Pension freedoms and DWP benefits, published on 27 March 2015, what assessment she has made of the impact of that policy on defined contribution pension savers. \p Emma Reynolds: The Government is committed to enabling savers to achieve security in retirement. We’ve announced as part of the King’s Speech that the Pensions Bill will include measures to give savers the benefit of guided retirement products, with a retirement income; this will change the experience of Defined Contribution savers as our approach would provide a secure income over retirement as a default, unless the member chooses something different.

We have also committed to assess adequacy for future savers as part of the second phase of the pensions review. We closely monitor the decumulation decisions of Defined Contribution savers. This has included research on retirement planning and decumulation decisions, such as Planning and Preparing for Later Life and analysis of Pensions Freedoms.

Planning and Preparing for Later Life - GOV.UK

Pension Freedoms: a qualitative research study of individuals’ decumulation journeys - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_207

John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of defined contribution pensions were accessed after a Pension Wise guidance appointment in each of the last five years. \p Emma Reynolds: The information is not available. There are two sources which provide relevant data in relation to the request. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publish the number accessing a pension pot in the contract-based market (from 2015/16 to 2023/24) and whether this was accessed following financial advice, a Pension Wise appointment (and no financial advice), or no financial advice or guidance: Retirement income market data 2023/24 | FCA.

The Money and Pension Service (MaPS) have previously published survey data on outcomes of Pension Wise appointments. A copy has been attached (see figure 12).

Attachment (pdf, 624.6KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_208

Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanction regime will be used for young people under the Youth Guarantee; how that regime will differ from the conditionality regime; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that new regime on vulnerable young people with (a) mental ill-health and (b) SEND. \p Alison McGovern: The Youth Guarantee will be available to all young people in England aged 18-21, not just those on benefits, and therefore sanctions are not relevant for many in scope of the Guarantee.

Young people on benefits can access DWP’s Youth Offer and Jobcentre Plus support offer. If young people on benefit do not engage with activity mandated by a work coach, without good reason, they may be subject to a sanction. However, emphasis is placed on protecting vulnerable claimants and decision-makers always take all the individual circumstances of the case into account before making a decision. Our work coaches regularly explain benefit conditions and the consequences of failing to meet agreed requirements to our claimants to ensure understanding.

As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we will explore a new approach to the benefit rules for young people to ensure they support the intent and design of the Youth Guarantee. For example, supporting young people to focus on improving their skills. We will engage widely on this issue to ensure all young people, including those with mental health or Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, have access to opportunities in employment, education or training.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_209

Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in England and Wales received discretionary housing payment after qualifying for local housing allowance in 2023-24. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We do not hold this information.

Local authorities administer the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) scheme as they are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the funds are targeted effectively. As such, DWP do not hold administrative data on households in receipt of a DHP and thus cannot state how many awards were made for households who received housing support via the Local Housing Allowance in 2023/24.

The Department publishes Official Statistics on the use of DHPs twice a year, based on information supplied by local authorities: Discretionary Housing Payments statistics - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_210

Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6515 on Social Security Benefits: Disability, if she will publish the consultation responses from organisations. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We will not be publishing organisational responses to the previous Government’s consultation, as it is for each organisation to choose whether or not to publish its response. Many organisations have already published their own responses.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_211

Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of pensioner poverty levels in each region following changes to the eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment. \p Emma Reynolds: The latest available data on pensioner poverty levels by region is published by the Department here Households below average income:Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK

On 19 November, Secretary of State wrote to the Work and Pensions Select Committee to share internal government modelling produced by the Department outlining estimates of the number of pensioners in the UK estimated to move into poverty as a result of the Winter Fuel Payment policy change. This letter is available here Winter Fuel Payments eligibility change - Letter from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions It is not possible to provide regional breakdowns of the poverty impacts of this change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-13)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-13 conversation_212

Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Child Poverty Taskforce holds first Scottish summit, published on 22 November 2024, if she will publish a list of (a) attendees and (b) speakers at that summit. \p Alison McGovern: The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish the child poverty strategy in Spring 2025 and further details on the engagement which helped develop the strategy will be outlined as part of the publication. Working closely with partners across all UK nations and regions is a central part of our approach to develop the strategy, as set out in Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy.