theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate how the target of 80 percent employment will be supported via the co-ordination of (i) employment support and (ii) skills services. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Our Get Britain Working strategy set out plans to increase participation and progression in the workforce by transforming Jobcentre Plus into the Jobs & Careers Service, introducing a new Youth Guarantee, and increasing activity to tackle health and disability related inactivity, including through the new Pathways to Work guarantee set out in the March Green Paper.

Coordination of employment support and skills services is key to delivering these plans and meeting the Government’s long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. The Get Britain Working White Paper set the blueprint for joined up work, health and skills services to tackle inactivity at a local level and built on national models such as the Sector Based Work Academy Programmes, which help employers with their workforce needs by upskilling benefit claimants to fill local job vacancies, and Skills Bootcamps for sector-specific training.

We have published our Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper which includes plans to address priority skills gaps and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training through joined up employment and skills support. We have also brought adult skills into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to maximise the opportunities of aligning employment and skills support, with the Minister for Skills retaining oversight of skills across DWP and DfE.

We will report on our progress towards reaching our 80% employment rate ambition through a range of metrics annually. Our first report was released in April 2025 with the first update planned for next year. We will measure our success through the following metrics:

DWP published its Evidence and Evaluation Strategy in July 2025 Evidence and Evaluation Strategy 2025 - GOV.UK', with Goal 1 covering how DWP will evaluate its labour market agenda. The strategy details both current and planned research and evaluation activities.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of benefits claimants who require translation support during appointments; and at what cost to the public purse. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Department does not hold data on the number of individual claimants who require interpreter support.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help support women affected by increases in State Pension age in South Shropshire constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Government believes the best way to support women who will be affected by the rise in State Pension Age is to help them to retrain, return to or progress in work.

DWP currently offers employment support for eligible women of all ages, through the network of Jobcentres across the UK, and through contracted employment programmes. A dedicated offer for older customers seeks to provide tailored support for those affected by low confidence, health and disability or caring pressures, and out of date skills or qualifications.

Through initiatives like Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK, and online, we support older women to assess their health, finances and skills to support effective later life planning. As part of the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Government is also committed to supporting women experiencing menopause to stay in work.

In South Shropshire, Employer and Partnership Teams in Jobcentres work with a range of employers and partners to enhance the skills and employment support available locally for customers including women.

The Government is reforming employment support to ensure it helps everyone who needs it, including women affected by the increase in State Pension age. By bringing together Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service in England, there is an opportunity to create a greater awareness and focus on skills and careers as well as better join-up between employability and careers provision.
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Mohammad Yasin:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) highly skilled and (b) experienced jobseekers are able to access suitable employment opportunities; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of perceptions of being overqualified on those jobseekers. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The government is committed to supporting customers into secure employment, including highly skilled and experienced jobseekers.

DWP currently offers tailored, flexible advice and employment support through its network of Jobcentres across the UK. Work Coaches offer all customers a comprehensive menu of help, including referral into skills provision and job search support.

In addition, the National Careers Service provides free, up to date, impartial information, advice and guidance on careers, skills and the Labour Market in England. Further information about the National Careers Service can be found online by visiting https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk.

As part of our plans to Get Britain Working, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new, more personalised, Jobs and Careers Service. This will enable everyone, including experienced and skilled jobseekers, to access support to find good, meaningful work. It will support people to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers.

We are also transforming DWP’s employer commitment and working with a broader range of employers, including those requiring skilled and specialist talent, to offer customers jobs that match their skillset and qualifications.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families with children relying on emergency food parcels. \p Dame Diana Johnson: We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We are expanding Free School Meals to every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament, and introducing a new £1 billion package (including Barnett impact) to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time.

This comes alongside £600 million for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme across the next three financial years as well as expanding free breakfast clubs, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.

We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty. Our Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by an initial £240 million investment in 2025/26, will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help remove barriers to work faced by young disabled people with complex needs in Birmingham Perry Barr constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group. Access to the right support, in the right place, at the right time, is crucial.

Jobcentre Plus provides tailored, person-centred support to young disabled people, focusing on their individual needs. Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) provide personalise support for people with health conditions and disabilities to enable them to achieve appropriate and sustainable employment. DEAs work closely with Youth Employability Coaches (YECs), who deliver longer-term support, specifically for young people facing with complex to work. Both DEAs and YECs work with partner organisations to ensure access to expert advice.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education continue to work closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) on the design and delivery of their Youth Guarantee Trailblazer. WMCA has actively engaged its seven Local Authorities, which includes Birmingham, to co-develop and test place-based solutions aimed at tackling high youth unemployment, economic inactivity, and declining apprenticeship opportunities. Examples of programmes being delivered through the Trailblazer include work experience placements, pre-apprenticeship training, and NEET prevention. This locally tailored support is also accessible to young people with health conditions and disabilities. Insights from the Trailblazer will inform future national policy and delivery.

In addition, young people with health conditions and disabilities can benefit from other locally delivered programmes such as Connect to Work and Workwell. Connect to Work, is a voluntary, high-fidelity programme, connecting work, health and skills support for people with challenges to employment, including health and disability. Workwell, provides a light touch intervention which focuses on prevention and support for people in work to sustain employment. It also supports people who have fallen out of work due to health and disability to return to the workplace.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of public information campaigns on levels of benefit-related fraud. \p Andrew Western: DWP will be launching a new campaign at the end of January 2026. This campaign will focus on the three greatest key loss areas for the Department – living together, self-employed, and capital & savings. It will run across a range of channels, including on demand video, out-of-home, digital display, paid search and paid social.

The campaign’s communications objectives are to increase awareness of the consequences of not reporting changes of circumstances to DWP and to increase understanding of the types of changes of circumstances that need to be reported amongst Universal Credit customers.
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Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the freeze on local housing allowance on levels of homelessness in Wales. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex; they interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. Responsibility for housing and homelessness is devolved to the Welsh Government, while social security is reserved to the UK Government.

In April 2024, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was increased to the 30th percentile of local market rents, including across Wales, costing an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25 and approximately £7bn over 5 years.

The Secretary of State reviews LHA rates annually in the Autumn, this includes consideration of latest rental data, stakeholder evidence from organisations across GB, including in Wales, homelessness levels and the current challenging fiscal environment. Future funding decisions will be taken in the context of Government priorities.

For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the processing times for disability benefit (a) applications, (b) reviews and (c) mandatory reconsideration requests. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Managing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the department and we are working constantly to improve our service.

Our aim is to make an award decision, including on an award review decision, as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all the available evidence, including that from the claimant, and ensuring that the decision is robust.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of foodbank use by (a) working age and (b) pension age people in Poole constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Statistics on food bank use by working-age and pension-age people are published annually in the Households below average income statistics report. The most recent publication is available here: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024 - GOV.UK

National and England regional breakdowns should be calculated using three-year rolling aver-ages via Stat-Xplore. Due to small sample sizes, it is not possible to produce estimates of food bank use at the constituency level, including for Poole.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape.

To further support struggling households, we are providing £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food.

Starting from 1 April 2026, we have announced a further £842 million a year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, supporting our wider mission to reduce child poverty by reducing dependence on food parcels, preventing homelessness and making sure people can access urgent support when they need it.
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Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many registered food banks were created between 2010 and 2024. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Department does not hold official statistics on the number of registered food banks created between 2010 and 2024.

Food banks are independent organisations, often run by charities, faith groups, or community organisations, and are not regulated or registered centrally by the Government.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape.

To further support struggling households, we are providing £742 million to extend the House-hold Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food.

Starting from 1 April 2026, we have announced a further £842 million a year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, supporting our wider mission to reduce child poverty by reducing dependence on food parcels, preventing homelessness and making sure people can access urgent support when they need it.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of child poverty in Poole constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Statistics on the number of children living in relative poverty on a before housing costs basis for Poole constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication.

An assessment of trends in child poverty in Poole can be made using Table “5_Relative_ParlC” in the latest published version, available here: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish our ambitious, UK-wide Child Poverty Strategy this autumn, that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82834 on Social Security Benefits: English Language, what the total cost was for English language courses as a work preparation activity in each of the last five years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This information is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to visit the job centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Ministers regularly visit job centres across the country and look forward to continuing to do so.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Department of Work and Pensions Youth Offer provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.

The Chancellor has announced that the Youth Guarantee, currently being developed, will include a jobs guarantee, where every eligible young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without earning or learning will be offered guaranteed paid work. Participants of the scheme will receive support to take advantage of available opportunities, with the aim of helping them transition into regular employment. Further details, including eligibility criteria and the structure of placements, will be confirmed at the Budget following further engagement including with employers and the Devolved Governments.

Newcastle-Under-Lyme work with alongside local stakeholders to support young people such as local authorities, colleges and universities as well as organisations such as The Kings Trust, Shaping Futures, YMCA, and New Avenues.

Staffordshire has much of the offer of Newcastle-Under-Lyme plus working with Shropshire Youth Support Trust, Acorn Training and Landau who is part of the YES (Youth Employment Skills) programme supporting all 16 to 24-year-olds across Stoke on Trent that are Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), about to become NEET or long term Unemployed or Economically inactive. There is also support from The Mencap Training Academy for 16 to 24-year-olds, who have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to help to secure a place on the supported internships or pre-internship programme in Staffordshire.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available to help small hospitality businesses engage with (a) apprenticeship and (b) training schemes. \p Andrew Western: There are a number of apprenticeships available to support employers of all sizes in the hospitality sector to benefit from and develop the skilled workforces they need.

The government has reduced the apprenticeship minimum duration to 8 months so that shorter apprenticeships are possible from August 2025. Employers in the hospitality sector will be able to make use of this flexibility where this is appropriate for the role or the apprentice.

To support apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.

In addition, the government is delivering a hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) pilot, launched in partnership with UKHospitality. This pilot is being rolled out to 26 new areas in need of jobs and opportunity. These SWAPs support participants to gain accreditation for a digital Hospitality Skills Passport which is designed to provide proof that a person is qualified to perform their job effectively and safely, giving them a universal entry standard into the sector.

Apprenticeship starts within the Hospitality and Catering sector can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/649e785b-9332-4f3c-f886-08de0724494a
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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of foodbank use in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The latest statistics on the number of individuals in UK households who used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months are available in the Households Below Average Income publication: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

National and England regional breakdowns should be calculated using three-year rolling averages from Stat-Xplore Stat-Xplore - Home. Due to small sample sizes, it is not possible to produce estimates of food bank use at the constituency level, including for Ely and East Cambridgeshire.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape.

To further support struggling households, we are providing £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food.

Starting from 1 April 2026, we have announced a further £842 million a year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, supporting our wider mission to reduce child poverty by reducing dependence on food parcels, preventing homelessness and making sure people can access urgent support when they need it.
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Rebecca Long Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to include targets on reducing child poverty within the planned child poverty strategy. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

The publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy from this year and in future years. Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year Strategy for lasting change. More details will be set out in the strategy publication.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the Crisis and Resilience Fund and rural areas. \p Dame Diana Johnson: My Department have actively engaged with stakeholders on design for the new Crisis and Resilience Fund through a structured co-design process. This has involved a representative group of local authorities —including a mix of urban and rural areas, third-party organisations and academics. The process culminated in a concluding event on 22 October 2025, attended by over 750 stakeholders.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Department is taking to support young people into training in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Department of Work and Pensions Youth Offer provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that the Youth Guarantee, currently being developed, will include a jobs guarantee, where every eligible young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without earning or learning will be offered guaranteed paid work. Participants of the scheme will receive support to take advantage of available opportunities, with the aim of helping them transition into regular employment. Further details, including eligibility criteria and the structure of placements, will be confirmed at the Budget following further engagement including with employers and the Devolved Governments.

In Hexham, there is a strong network of supportive employers who are providing work experience opportunities. This hands-on experience is invaluable for young people as they navigate their career paths.

There is also a well-established partnership with the Newcastle United Foundation (NUF) who is one of the biggest providers of training and skills in the area, running courses focused on employability, confidence building and teamwork

Young people are further encouraged to explore apprenticeship opportunities. With regular referrals to the National Careers Service for additional support and guidance, ensuring young people have access to the best advice and resources available.

In Newcastle. As well as the NUF (as detailed above) work is ongoing with other partners who are delivering training such as Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service in partnership with The Kings Trust and YMCA.

In the North East and Northumberland, Jobcentres collaborate with local authorities, colleges, and partners to support young people through targeted programmes. These include Durham Works, helping 16–24-year-olds not in education, employment or training; the Pre-Employability Sports Programme, which builds essential skills through sports and workshops; and Club Elevate, supporting 16–25-year-olds in North Tyneside who face challenges such as poor mental health, substance misuse, or risk of anti-social behaviour.
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Stephen Flynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much and what proportion of the £25 million funding for Youth Hubs will be allocated to Scotland; and what estimate he has made of the number of youth hubs that will be supported. \p Dame Diana Johnson: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 200 within the next three years, including in Scotland, to provide more accessible and joined-up employment support for young people. This investment ensures that young claimants, particularly those on Universal Credit, can access tailored employment and skills services in their local communities.

While employment and skills support remain central to the Youth Hubs offer, the expansion will also ensure a core minimum blueprint across all locations. This will connect young people to a wider range of services such as health, housing, and wellbeing support, based on local needs and partnerships.

This expansion will build on the strong foundations of existing Youth Hubs operating in Scotland, which will continue to evolve and align with the Youth Hub blueprint, ensuring young people benefit from high-quality, locally tailored services
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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of child poverty in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Statistics on the number of children living in relative poverty on a before housing costs basis for Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication.

An assessment of the trends in the level of child poverty in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency can be made using Table: “5_Relative_ParlC” in the latest published version, found here: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish our ambitious, UK-wide Child Poverty Strategy this autumn, which will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

In addition, we are taking further steps to support children and families through our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools, extend Free School Meals to every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit.

From September, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and above can now access 30 hours a week from the term following their child turning 9 months to when they start school. This means working parents could save on average £7,500 per year, transforming the costs of having children for families.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on getting more people into work. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This Government is committed to supporting growth across the United Kingdom, including through our long-term ambition to reach an 80% employment rate.

Through our Get Britain Working Strategy, we are reforming employment, health, and skills support to tackle economic levels, support people into good work, and create an inclusive labour market based on the unique needs of local communities, in which everybody can participate and progress in work.

In Northern Ireland, health, skills, careers, and all aspects of employment support are transferred matters. Ministers and officials continue to work closely with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive, with a view to maintaining parity on social security matters and sharing best practice in the development of employment support.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support the roll-out of youth hubs in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England. \p Dame Diana Johnson: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 200 locations across Great Britain within the next three years to provide more accessible and joined-up employment support for young people. This investment ensures that young claimants, particularly those on Universal Credit, can access tailored employment and skills services in their local communities.

While employment and skills support remain central to the Youth Hubs offer, the expansion will also ensure a core minimum blueprint across all locations. This will connect young people to a wider range of services such as health, housing, and wellbeing support, based on local needs and partnerships.

Hexham and Newcastle are already served by Youth Hubs.

In Hexham, DWP works with the Northumberland Rural Employment Hub, which recently ran a successful session for 18–24-year-olds on job searching and CV building, with plans for future events.

In Newcastle, the Newcastle United Foundation Youth Hub provides tailored employability support, including job fairs, mentoring, and access to DWP systems. It serves a wide area and works with partners to address skills and employment barriers.

These hubs will continue to evolve and align with the Youth Hub blueprint, ensuring young people benefit from high-quality, locally tailored services.

Across Northumberland and the North East, DWP is planning to expand Youth Hubs in areas of highest need over the next two years.
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Jo White:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many users of the Motability scheme there are in Bassetlaw constituency. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department is unable to provide figures for the number of Motability Scheme users there are in Bassetlaw constituency, because only information related to PIP claimants with an active Motability Scheme contract is held centrally for analysis.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_132

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish a breakdown of the number of Personal Independence Payments claims by type of mental health condition for the last 3 years for which data is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The complete breakdown of PIP claims by type of mental health condition from April 2013 to July 2025 (the most recent available data) is available on Stats-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml). Guidance on how to use PIP data on Stat-Xplore is also available here: Personal Independence Payment data on Stat-Xplore: user guide - GOV.UK. An account is not required to use Stat-Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

The relevant information can be found in the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset. To customise the reporting period, use the ‘Month’ filter to select the months you wish to include.

Next, under the ‘Disability’ category, click the arrow beside ‘Psychiatric disorders’ and select ‘Disability’. This will ensure all disabilities under psychiatric disorders are included in the output.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_133

Alex Ballinger:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to suspend driving licences immediately for people arrested on suspicion of driving offences carrying mandatory disqualification. \p Simon Lightwood: This Government takes road safety seriously. We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads.

The Government is listening closely to the concerns of those affected by tragic cases of death or serious injury on our roads.

We are considering a range of policies under the new strategy; the first for 10 years. This includes the case for changing motoring offences.

More details will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_134

Daniel Zeichner:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time is for the DVLA to (a) review and (b) reinstate driving licences suspended on medical grounds following a head injury. \p Simon Lightwood: Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated can take longer as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including doctors, other healthcare professionals or the applicant themselves, before a licensing decision can be made.

In the current financial year to September, the average time taken to make a licensing decision in cases where a medical condition needed to be investigated before a licence could be issued was 47 working days. Information is not held by specific medical conditions (for example, head injuries).

The DVLA understands the impact that not having a driving licence can have on a person’s everyday life. However, when the DVLA is made aware of a condition that could affect an individual’s ability to drive safely, they must ensure that the required medical standards for driving are met before a licence is issued.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_135

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2025 to Question 76344 on South Western Railway: Personnel Management, what the total cost to the Department for Transport Operator was of assuming (a) management and (b) payroll responsibilities for South Western Railway since it was brought into public ownership. \p Keir Mather: There was no cost to Department for Transport Operator (DFTO) of assuming management of South Western Railway (SWR). SWR pays DFTO an annual management fee.

DFTO did not assume payroll responsibilities for SWR, therefore there was no cost incurred. SWR manages its payroll internally and has its own payroll team. This was the case both before and after public ownership.

Since the pandemic, the Government has been covering the costs of DfT-contracted operators, in addition to paying private sector operators a management fee. As a result, there are no additional costs to the public purse from terminating contracts as they expire or if operators are found to be in breach.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_136

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that passenger (a) fare data and (b) service performance from operators outside the Office of Rail and Road’s are independently verified. \p Keir Mather: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the official source of most rail fare data and service performance statistics. ORR does not publish statistics in respect of light rail/tramways, heritage railways, London Underground and Eurostar (although ORR receives some performance data from Eurostar as part of its regulation of London St. Pancras Highspeed and these are published in ORR’s Annual Report).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_137

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82734 on Railways: Industrial Disputes, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of industrial action relating to new technology payments for ticket scanning on passengers. \p Keir Mather: It is for a train operator, as employer, to negotiate terms and conditions that are fair to staff and affordable for taxpayers. Operators have kept officials informed on the progress of their negotiations with the RMT on this matter.

CrossCountry and RMT recently reached agreement on a number of issues in dispute including this one. Consequently, the RMT suspended industrial action on 18 October and 1 November.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_138

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78728 London, Tilbury and Southend Line: Standards, what performance targets her Department has agreed with c2c on (a) service reliability and (b) the permitted number and proportion of (i) cancellations and (ii) over-running engineering works. \p Keir Mather: Under the Services Agreement, c2c is required to publish actual performance against agreed targets on its website. This includes both punctuality (T-3) and cancellations (Stations Cancellations). c2c is currently working with its website supplier to have this data added, and we are expecting publication imminently. As further operators come into public ownership, they too will be expected to publish such data.

Over-running engineering works is not a KPI that train operating companies are measured against. As noted in our previous correspondence, the Department expects c2c to collaborate closely with Network Rail to minimise the impact of any over-running engineering works and holds it to account on this.

GBR is being set up precisely to ensure track and train are integrated so that issues can be managed and resolved faster across both. Ahead of GBR’s formal establishment, integrated management is being put in place in the Anglia region over the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_139

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Great British Railways or the Office of Rail and Road will be responsible for (a) granting and (b) monitoring open access rail applications under the new rail structure. \p Keir Mather: The Government has consulted on establishing GBR as a new directing mind for the railway, able to take access and charging decisions in the public interest in a framework based in primary legislation. As set in the consultation, new statutory duties will ensure that GBR access decisions are transparent and accountable, enabling fair treatment for all operators wishing to access the GBR-managed network. The ORR will ensure fair access to the GBR managed network through a robust appeals process. The Government will respond to the consultation in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_140

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of conventional (a) pothole repair and (b) resurfacing techniques on levels of carbon emissions. \p Simon Lightwood: The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is determined to support local highway authorities in adopting new and innovative technologies to maintain and improve their highway networks in a way that is cost effective and reduces carbon impacts.

The Department has funded Live Labs 2, a three-year, £30 million programme designed to support the local highways sector to adopt innovation and reduce its carbon impacts. Projects funded under the programme include the trialling and demonstration of sustainable materials and processes and the creation of toolkits and databases so that all local highway authorities can access findings and lessons learned from the programme.

The Department is also supporting a new Carbon Leadership Programme, which will support local highway authorities in benchmarking the carbon intensity of their operations and gain insights into actions they could take to reduce carbon emissions.

Where road and pothole repair forms part of a capital investment project, the Department requires a carbon management plan (CMP) (in line with the Department’s policies for retained schemes) which would include a comprehensive whole life carbon assessment, and a plan to reduce carbon across the project lifecycle in line with PAS2080 principles.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-04 conversation_141

Melanie Onn:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to encourage competition between independent MOT testing garages and large national chains. \p Simon Lightwood: The MOT is a vital part of the regulations that keep our roads safe, and I greatly appreciate the work of skilled mechanics in both independent garages and larger businesses that are essential to testing.

It is one of the strengths of our testing regime that independent garages across the country provide assurance to millions in their community's while providing value to drivers in a competitive market.