theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_3
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_3

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the White House's factsheet entitled President Donald J. Trump adjusts imports of automobiles and automobile parts into the United States, published on 26 March 2025, what steps the Government plans to take to respond to the proposed tariffs on UK car and car parts exported to the United States. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The UK automotive sector is an integral part of driving our economic growth and, like industry, the Government is concerned about the potential impact of automotive tariffs.

We are disappointed by this decision by the United States to impose global tariffs on the automotive industry and know this will be extremely concerning for businesses and consumers. We are keeping all options on the table and will always respond in the national interest. We continue to have productive discussions on securing a wider economic deal.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_4
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with manufacturers on the potential impact of US tariffs on (a) finished and (b) semi-finished aluminium derivative products. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The Department for Business and Trade is working closely with the UK’s steel and aluminium industries to anticipate and assess the potential impacts of the US tariffs on UK exports, and we continue to engage closely with affected industries.

We have committed up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector and recently welcomed the Trade Remedies Authority’s (TRA) urgent review of the Steel Safeguard. We are also discussing what interventions might be similarly required to protect the Aluminium sector from any harmful effects of trade deflection UK-US trade teams will continue to have constructive discussions to agree a UK-US economic prosperity deal in the coming weeks and beyond.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the industrial strategy and (b) skills policies provide green skills across sectors. \p Sarah Jones: The government is working hard to ensure that the current and future skills system supports the low carbon economy. We will support workers in high-carbon industry by creating good green jobs in our country’s industrial heartlands – enabling people to move into low-carbon roles by drawing upon their wealth of skills and experience. Skills England will work closely with the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council to understand the skills needs of high-growth sectors, including Clean Energy Industries, and will bring together key partners to better meet these needs.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_6
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Dave Doogan:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the Investment Fund for Scotland management fees paid to (a) DSL Business Finance, (b) FSE Group and (c) Maeven (i) to date and (ii) during the life of the Fund. \p Gareth Thomas: The British Business Bank routinely commissions independent evaluations of its programmes to quantify their impact and an overall assessment of performance and value for money. An interim evaluation of the Investment Fund for Scotland (IFS) programme is expected to be commissioned during the first five years of the Fund’s operation. Fees paid to individual managers is commercially sensitive information and therefore not able to be published.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_7
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of the trends in the level of cash only barber shops on high streets. \p Gareth Thomas: There are no official statistics on trends in the level of cash only barber shops. Cash continues to be used by many people and is a legitimate means of paying for goods and services.

Businesses that primarily accept cash must ensure they meet their legal obligations, and the Government is working with the hair industry to ensure good tax compliance.

HMRC will investigate evidence suggesting businesses have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. Money laundering through cash-based high street businesses is also a known issue, and Government collaborates closely with law enforcement to monitor criminal behaviour.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_8
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Mr Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the food and beverage sector in the West Midlands. \p Gareth Thomas: DBT offers extensive support for food and drink businesses in the West Midlands and across the UK. This includes educational programmes via the Export Academy, one-to-one advice from International Trade Advisors, and participation in global trade shows and missions. UK Export Finance provides financial assistance, with dedicated managers in the Midlands. Businesses can access support through the Business Support Service, Gov.UK, local Growth Hubs, Help to Grow Schemes, and the Small Business Council. This package reaffirms government’s commitment to making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, particularly in the food and beverage sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Munira Wilson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 29915 on Parental Pay, how many people were in receipt of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay, (b) Statutory Paternity Pay, (c) Statutory Adoption Pay and (d) Statutory Shared Parental Pay in 2023-24. \p James Murray: Counts of employees receiving Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, and Statutory Shared Parental Pay in 2023-24 have been published in response to an earlier Parliamentary Question. They can be found at the following location:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-12-18/21027
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether some public sector pension schemes have a retire and return option. \p Darren Jones: It is possible for members of the main statutory Public Service Pension Schemes to return to public service employment after retiring and taking pension. The rules on further employment of individuals who are in receipt of relevant pension benefits are set out in scheme regulations for each of the workforces. Some Public Service Pension Schemes also allow for partial retirement, where a member can draw their accrued pension and continue working.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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David Chadwick:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) raising the annual capital borrowing cap for the Welsh Government and (b) introducing a mechanism where it rises with inflation. \p Darren Jones: We remain committed to working in partnership with the Welsh Government to ensure the Fiscal Framework continues to deliver value for money while upholding our shared commitment to fiscal responsibility. Discussions regarding the Welsh Government’s request to amend the budget management tools outlined in the Framework are ongoing.

As set out in the Welsh Government Fiscal Framework agreed in 2016, a full review is triggered if the Welsh Government’s relative funding falls below 115% of equivalent UK Government spending per head in the rest of the UK.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_12
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average delay in payment for businesses applying for R&D tax relief was in the latest period for which data is available. \p James Murray: In October 2024, HMRC released operational data in the Approach to Research & Development Tax Reliefs 2023-2024 publication. This includes data from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 on the number of R&D enquiries, the proportion of claims requiring adjustment and data on appeals. This publication represents the most comprehensive data on R&D compliance activity and is not available for previous years.

This publication also included customer service data on processing times and the average time to complete a compliance check. HMRC processed 92% of claims within 40 days in 2023-2024. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.

The table below provides final and illustrative estimates of the cost of error and fraud in the R&D tax reliefs since 2020-2021.

Final estimates 2020-2021 (£m)

Final estimates 2021-2022 (£m)

Illustrative estimate 2022-2023 (£m)

Illustrative estimate 2023-2024 (£m)

SME scheme

1,038

1,203

1,003

475

RDEC scheme

90

134

48

125

Overall

1,127

1,337

1,050

601

The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme approach introduced for small and medium sized enterprises represents good practice in the measurement of error and fraud, and involves a detailed inspection of a representative sample of claims filed. These estimates are published in HMRC Annual reports and Accounts and previous reports can be found at gov.uk at: HMRC’s Annual reports and Accounts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Ian Roome:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending business rate relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses beyond March 2026. \p James Murray: Retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) relief has been extended year-by-year by previous governments since the pandemic. It has been a stopgap measure, and we recognise that businesses need longer term certainty on their liabilities.

Without any government intervention, RHL relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to provide a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26, ahead of introducing permanently lower rates for RHL properties, with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Vikki Slade:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on investment by businesses. \p James Murray: The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances and fund public services.

One of the toughest decisions we took was to raise the rate of employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%, whilst reducing the per-employee threshold at which employers start to pay National Insurance (the Secondary Threshold) from £9,100 to £5,000.

The Office for Budget Responsibility published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

We acknowledge that, as the OBR set out, employers will pass on some of the costs of this change, as well absorbing some themselves, and employers have a choice about how they respond.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025, to Question 37217, on Energy: Shops, whether the installation of energy efficiency measures to meet the minimum energy efficiency standards are a positive material change for the purposes of (a) business rate valuations and (b) revaluations. \p James Murray: In assessing the effect of energy efficient measures, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) must first consider the occupancy. If a shop is owner-occupied, then an Energy Performance Certificate is not required.

If the shop is let, the extent and nature of any works being undertaken are considered, to determine whether the installation of energy efficiency measures impact the rating assessment. These include where Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) works are required to replace existing facilities with a modern equivalent. While MEES exemptions may apply, new installations such as heating and air conditioning are considered an improvement and may increase the rating assessment.

Improvement Relief may apply to support the occupiers of shops for rating assessment increases that occur following improvement works carried out after 1 April 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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James Wild:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make a comparative estimate of the cost to pubs of (a) the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme, (b) VAT and (c) beer duty compared to other major European countries. \p James Murray: Policies related to packaging alcohol taxation vary between European countries.

In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers. It has worked closely with industry, including the brewing sector, throughout the development of the scheme.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps alcohol duty rates under review during its Budget process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing Business Rates relief to nurseries. \p James Murray: The early years system has a central role to play in driving economic growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity, which is why the Government wants to make childcare more affordable and accessible.

At the Budget in October, the Government committed to increasing spending on early years and family services to over £8 billion in 2025-26. This includes an additional £1.8 billion which will be paid to early years providers to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare and help more parents, particularly women, stay in and return to work.

Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties including nurseries. To protect small businesses, the government announced at the Autumn Budget that it would freeze the small business multiplier for 2025-26. Taken together with Small Business Rates Relief, this intervention ensures that over a million properties will be protected from inflationary increases.

In addition to this support, standalone nurseries are also eligible for charitable rate relief where they have a ‘charitable purpose’.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Catherine Fookes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the number of disabled people unable to claim an exemption on vehicle tax due to being over the age limit to access a benefit with a mobility component; and whether she has plans to reduce this gap. \p James Murray: The Government does not hold statistics on the number of disabled people who are not eligible for the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) exemption due to being above the state pension age.

The aim of the VED exemption is to provide additional help for people who become disabled early, or relatively early, in life and as a result experience economic disadvantage. These allowances are therefore only available to people who become disabled before the age of 65 and who claim before their 65th birthday.

For individuals who develop a disability after the State Pension age, Attendance Allowance (AA) is a non means-tested benefit which provides targeted help with the extra costs of disability and helps them maintain their independence. The AA does not have a mobility component, and therefore does not include an exemption from or reduction in VED. While the intention is for AA to cover the need for care or supervision an individual requires as a result of their disability, individuals may choose to use their AA to fund mobility aids. The Government also provides Pension Credit for pensioners with low incomes and who, for whatever reason, have been unable to save for their retirement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Chris Hinchliff:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the National Farmers Union entitled APR and BPR reform alternative, published on 19 February 2025, on changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief. \p James Murray: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with HMRC on the potential impact of flexible working arrangements on (a) length of call wait times, (b) stability of phone and WiFi connections, (c) privacy and (d) ease of call escalation for customers. \p James Murray: HMRC supports flexible working. HMRC expects most colleagues to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office. They can spend up to 40% of their time working at home if they wish, provided they can do their job effectively from home and this fits with the department’s needs.

Analysis shows that HMRC customer advisers are similarly productive at home and in the office. Advisers answered 15.9 calls on average per day at home, compared to 16.3 in the office (based on data between October 2022 to December 2022).

Staff working from home connect to the HMRC Network via wi-fi (or a wired connection), using a secure and performant VPN Connection. Robust monitoring is in place that provides full visibility of both the connection performance and call quality, for all HMRC devices and calls.

HMRC colleagues are held to the same performance expectations whether they are working in the office or at home, and receive the same induction and mandatory learning around data protection and security.

Escalations/ call transfers can take place between a variety of HMRC teams in multiple locations. The systems used by colleagues working from home have the same functionality as those used when working in the office. Therefore there is no impact on call escalation for customers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Andy Slaughter:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) value and (b) quantity was of seafood imported from (a) Cameroon in (A) 2023, (B) 2024 and (C) 2025 and (b) Trinidad and Tobago since October 2023. \p James Murray: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.

These tables include country of dispatch (CoD) which gives information on the country of export.

To build a table you will need to use a commodity code. Commodity codes identify the goods being imported or exported. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. Commodity codes for the various types of seafood would come under Chapter 03.

If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact xxx@xxx.xx.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_22
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs' Policy paper entitled Alcohol Duty uprating, published on 30 October 2024, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the 3.4% increase in alcohol duties on the pub sector. \p James Murray: At Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced that she would uprate alcohol duty in line with RPI inflation on 1 February 2025. This decision weighed the impacts on businesses, cost-of-living pressures on people who drink moderately and responsibly, and the public health case for higher duties to tackle increasing alcohol-related deaths, as well as economic inactivity.

However, in recognition of the economic and cultural importance of pubs, and the wider “on trade”, the Chancellor announced a duty cut on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This is reducing alcohol producers’ duty bills by over £85m a year and has cut 1p off the duty on an average strength pint.

A Tax Information and Impact Note was published alongside this Budget announcement. This includes an assessment of the impact on businesses, including alcohol retailers. This is available here: Alcohol Duty uprating - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Stephen Gethins:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to reply to correspondence from the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry of 31 January and 25 February 2025, reference SG00234. \p James Murray: The correspondence from the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry was transferred to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. This transfer was confirmed by email on 03 March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Claire Hanna:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the orchestra tax relief to include choirs. \p James Murray: The Government supports the creative industries, including orchestras, through funding and through the tax system. Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) provides tax relief on productions costs and provided £33 million of support in 2022-23.

To qualify for OTR, a concert must be performed by a group of at least 12 instrumentalists. The voice is not considered to be an instrument. However, orchestra concerts with a vocal element are eligible for the relief providing that the orchestra also contains at least 12 instrumentalists, not including the voice, and the instrumentalists are the primary focus. These rules help ensure OTR fulfils its objective of supporting and incentivising orchestra concerts specifically.

Whilst the Government has no plans to extend OTR to choirs, all taxes are kept under review. The Chancellor makes announcements on tax at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure off-payroll working rules support (a) entrepreneurs and (b) small business growth. \p James Murray: The off-payroll working rules, also known as IR35, are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees, but through their own company, pay broadly the same income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) as those who are directly employed. They do not apply to the genuinely self-employed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer,  with reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Private school fees — VAT measure, last updated on 15 November 2024, for what reasons the Government didn't model the potential impact of the policy on economic growth. \p James Murray: At the Budget the Government published the costing methodology for the measure. This included thorough analysis of the static costing and behavioural effects of the measure. In addition, the economic impact of the measure is included in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), also published at the Budget.

The OBR's economic forecast in October modelled the macroeconomic impacts of the Budget package, including the private schools measure.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Mark Garnier:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) scope and (b) remit is of the Treasury review into Financial Ombudsman Service. \p Emma Reynolds: The Treasury will examine whether the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), is delivering its role as a simple, impartial dispute resolution service which quickly and effectively deals with complaints against financial services firms, and which works in concert with our Financial Conduct Authority which regulates the sector.

The review will focus, in particular, on a range of points that have been raised through the recent Call for Evidence on the Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This will include addressing concerns around:

The review builds on the announcements the Chancellor made at Mansion House, as well as modernising the FCA’s rules for dispute resolution. As part of the review, the government will consider whether any legislative changes are necessary to ensure that we have a dispute resolution system in the UK which is fit for a modern economy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the compensation provided to Equitable Life policyholders. \p Emma Reynolds: The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Mark Garnier:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has a planned timeline for the implementation of digital gilts; and when she expects to lay legislation before the House. \p Emma Reynolds: On 18 March 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer launched the procurement process for the pilot Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuance.

Following the announcement, HMT and UK Debt Management Office published the first step in the process, which seeks views from industry to inform the development and delivery of the pilot DIGIT issuance. HMT issued a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice through the contract finder service. These publications provide further information on the scope of the pilot and seek views from potential suppliers and the financial services sector, to inform the development and delivery of DIGIT. This includes information on the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance.

The market engagement exercise is the first step in our process. A formal tendering process is expected to be launched in late Spring 2025, with DLT suppliers being appointed by late Summer 2025.

The government bought forward secondary legislation at the end of the last year that will enable changes to be made to existing regulations relevant to issuing Government debt within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). The current regulations may be unsuitable for a digital issuance and need to be temporarily modified to enable an issuance. Our market engagement is also intended to assist with understanding what elements of these laws need to be changed. Any necessary amendments will require HMT to lay a Statutory Instrument.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_31
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Noah Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the cost effectiveness of the outsourcing the (a) assessment and (b) administration of welfare. \p Andrew Western: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help full-time carers return to work after a prolonged period of absence. \p Alison McGovern: Our Get Britain Working plan aims to reduce economic inactivity levels and take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive, to succeed and flourish. This includes unpaid carers, too many of whom are excluded from the labour market because of their caring responsibilities.

Support includes identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry. Unemployed customers who require more intensive employment support can also be referred to the Restart programme.

Customers providing care for fewer than 35 hours a week receive personalised support through their Jobcentre Plus work coach to help them find work and their work expectation is tailored to fit caring responsibilities. Full-time carers who also want to work who are eligible for additional financial support through the Carers Allowance will benefit from a 30 % increase to the earnings limit to 16 hours at National Living Wage from this month, allowing them to earn up to £196 per week.

DWP also provides information to help carers and potential unpaid carers make informed decisions about combining work and care through their JobHelp Care choices site.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to require profitable companies to increase pre-1997 occupational pensions in line with inflation. \p Torsten Bell: Members of defined benefit pension schemes with non-indexed pre-1997 pension accrued, are now understandably concerned at seeing inflation erode the value of their retirement income. The Government’s recently announced reforms on the use of surpluses in defined benefit schemes will make it easier for individual schemes to make decisions that improve outcomes for both sponsoring employers and members, which could include discretionary benefit increases.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to reach decisions on Attendance Allowance applications. \p Torsten Bell: Attendance Allowance is currently undergoing a significant modernisation through the piloting of an online digital claim process. We are using customer feedback to design a transformed application that is shorter and easier, which focuses on collecting only the information we need to make a decision. This pilot will also support decision makers to handle claims more quickly with a significant reduction in requests for further information from customers.
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Yuan Yang:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's data on the gender pensions gap in private pensions of the ONS's latest release of the Wealth and Assets Survey, published on 24 January 2025. \p Torsten Bell: The Department is committed to both monitoring and narrowing the Gender Pension Gap and we are currently exploring the latest Wealth and Asset survey, provided by the ONS, with the aim of publishing an update on the Gender Pension Gap publication in due course.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_36
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_36

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Nearly fifty thousand extra pensioners receiving vital Pension Credit support following surge in claims processed, published on 27 February 2025, how much her Department spent on promoting Pension Credit uptake. \p Torsten Bell: The Pension Credit campaign budget is £5m for the 2024/25 financial year. This supported the development of an expanded Pension Credit campaign encouraging all eligible pensioners to claim.

Activity has included TV and video on demand; radio; national and regional press; paid social media and website adverts; GP and Post Office screens; train panels; digital street displays; podcasts; and a partnership with ITV regional weather.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_37

Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact of introducing the Youth Guarantee Scheme on (a) Greater London and (b) the UK. \p Alison McGovern: As announced in the “Get Britain Working” White Paper, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Youth Guarantee will build upon and enhance existing entitlements and provisions with the aim of tackling the rising number of young people who are not participating in education, employment or training. This spring we will be launching trailblazers in eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities, one of which is the Greater London Authority, and will use the learning from the Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

The additional employment, and education and training in which young people will participate, as a result of the Youth Guarantee, will bring economic benefits to the young people themselves and to wider society through earnings, economic output and through increased skills which open the way to longer term sustained employment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_38

Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 32770 Employment: Special Educational Needs, whether her Department has identified West London as one of the trailblazer areas for the Youth Guarantee scheme. \p Alison McGovern: The Youth Guarantee Trailblazers will test a new, more localised delivery framework to help young people access education, training and employment support, providing important learnings to inform the future development of the Youth Guarantee in England.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to begin delivery of Youth Guarantee Traiblazers in the following areas: the West of England, Tees Valley, East Midlands, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Liverpool City Region, West Midlands and two areas within the Greater London Authority. This will include parts of West London.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_39
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_39

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35774 on Pension Credit: Staff, what steps she is taking to ensure that the work previously undertaken by internal redeployed staff is continued. \p Torsten Bell: My previous response reference 36448, advised redeployed colleagues to support Pension Credit were from Child Maintenance Service and Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt. Since the redeployment, both services have continued with no deterioration in service or performance.

Further to this, the Autumn Statement includes additional investment in Fraud and Error, which means we can increase our resourcing levels. We will also be increasing Child Maintenance Service resources as demand for that service continues to grow. In the meantime, we are continuing to transform Child Maintenance Service with our 24/7 online service and also with further automation, reducing the need for human intervention.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_40
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_40

Will Stone:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support young people into (a) employment, (b) education and (c) training in Swindon North constituency. \p Alison McGovern: As part of the Great Britain Working plan, we are launching a Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship, or help to find work. The Youth Guarantee will build upon and enhance existing entitlements and provisions with the aim of tackling the rising number of young people who are not participating in education, employment or training. This spring, we will be launching trailblazers in eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities and will use the learning from the Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside our partners. For example, in Swindon DWP’s Employment Advisors are working with employers to deliver the Ready to Launch Your Career open day event on 8th April in Swindon town centre, where the focus will be to help young people into estate-agent roles with many employers from this sector involved.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_41

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimant households included people who have (a) not worked for (i) five, (ii) ten, (iii) twenty and (iv) more than twenty years and (b) never worked in each year since 2010 in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by local authority. \p Alison McGovern: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_42

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35774 on Pension Credit: Staff, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of using (a) external providers and (b) external recruitment to process pension credit applications during Winter 2024-25. \p Torsten Bell: My previous response (UIN 35775) advised we had deployed over 500 additional staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment.

The 24/25 forecast cost of (a) external providers is £1.9 million, and (b) external recruitment is £2.2 million.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_43

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Social Metrics Commission's report entitled Measuring Poverty 2024, published in October 2024, if she will undertake a review of the finding that 47 per cent of families with at least one disabled child or adult were in poverty compared to 19 per cent of those families without a disabled person in 2022/23. \p Alison McGovern: The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts.

As part of our Plan for Change we're introducing the most far-reaching reforms in a generation, with £1 billion a year being invested to give people the best possible chance with tailored support that can be adapted to meet their changing circumstances - including their changing health – while also scrapping the failed Work Capability Assessment in Great Britain.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_44

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by the Trussell Trust entitled Almost one in five people receiving Universal Credit and disability benefits used a food bank in the last month, published on 7 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the finding that 19% of people claiming universal credit and disability benefits report using a food bank. \p Alison McGovern: No one should have to turn to a food bank. This is why we are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty. As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and provide health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities. Alongside this, our plan to Make Work Pay will help more people stay in work, make work more secure, and improve living standards including by increasing the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April, boosting pay for 3 million workers.

The Government recognises the critical role Universal Credit plays in tackling poverty and making work pay. Change is needed, which is why we are actively reviewing Universal Credit. We will introduce the Fair Repayment Rate in April, reducing the cap on deductions from 25% to 15%. The benefits rate will increase by a further 1.7% from April onwards, in line with inflation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_45

Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers National Insurance contributions on trends in the levels of unemployment benefit claims. \p Alison McGovern: The potential impacts of the changes to employers National Insurance Contributions, have been assessed by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

This assessment is publicly available and can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2025 - Office for Budget Responsibility
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_46
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_46

Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to provide personalised support to jobseekers. \p Alison McGovern: We are ending the one-size-fits-all approach by reforming both the welfare and employment support systems to Get Britain Working, opening-up employment opportunities in a fair and more sustainable way to boost economic growth.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of personalised support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding.

This is alongside our Connect to Work and WorkWell programmes that provide support to disabled people, those with health conditions, and those with complex barriers to employment.

Our new jobs and careers service will help more people into work and to progress in their careers with an enhanced digital offer and self-serve options whilst our Youth Guarantee will ensure that all young people aged 18-21 in England have access to quality training opportunities, apprenticeships, or employment support. Through our local Get Britain Working plans we are asking local government and Jobcentre Plus leaders to work collaboratively to join up the local work, health, and skills provision and tailor this to local needs because places, like people, need tailored support.
wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_47
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_47

Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of working days that were lost due to the effects of sickle cell disorder in the last 12 months. \p Alison McGovern: The Office for National Statistics publish annual statistics on sickness absence in the UK labour market, which includes the reasons for sickness absence. However, the reasons are not provided in this data at the level of detail of specific conditions, such as sickle cell disorder.

The latest statistics for sickness absence in the UK labour market can be found here: Sickness absence in the UK labour market - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)