theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that disabled people receive support following reforms to PIP. \p Sir Stephen Timms: There will be no immediate changes. Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.

The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward. We are mindful of the impact of this change and, as such, in the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we are consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to amend local housing allowance rates to reflect actual rental market costs (a) on the Isle of Wight and (b) in other areas. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are reviewed annually, usually at an Autumn fiscal event. Rates are set based on the area of the country a person lives and their bedroom entitlement

The Secretary of State’s decision at last year’s Autumn Budget to maintain LHA rates at current levels for 2025/26 considered a range of factors including: rental data in areas across the country, the impacts of LHA rates, the challenging fiscal environment and the rate increases the previous April which cost an additional £7bn over 5 years.

Any future decisions on the LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the fiscal context.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those reforms on people with ADHD. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK receive the maximum award from PIP. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department regularly publishes Personal Independence Payment (PIP) statistics. The 'PIP Cases with Entitlement' dataset on Stat-Xplore, which contains the number of people entitled to PIP by geography including Parliamentary constituency and components received, can be used to calculate the number of people receiving PIP at the highest level. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: Introduction to the Stat-Xplore User Guide.

PIP has been devolved to Scotland since April 2020 and existing claims are currently being moved to the Scottish replacement benefit Adult Disability Payment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK receive the health rate top-up for Universal Credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Quarterly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work in Great Britain are published on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides figures up to December 2024 which can be broken down by country, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and Local Authority.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. Universal Credit statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Department for Communities.

Note: the Universal Credit health element is paid at a household level, not to individuals, and Households on Universal Credit statistics can be broken down similarly, by the numbers receiving the Limited Capability for Work Entitlement and by geography.
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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what support will be available for new claims for Universal Credit health rate. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of 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

As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.
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Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, whether people with terminal illnesses will be affected by the new PIP eligibility threshold of four points in a single category. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Claimants of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who are nearing the end of their life will be unaffected by the reforms to the PIP assessment criteria. Claims made under the special rules for end of life are automatically awarded the enhanced rate of the daily living component without having to take part in an assessment and without having to meet the required period condition. The majority of claimants are also awarded the mobility component.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, if she will make it her policy to publish an evaluation of the effectiveness of her proposed reforms once implemented in increasing long-term employment outcomes for disabled people. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We anticipate that we will assess effectiveness of Pathways to Work measures in the usual way, including through evaluation of their implementation and the impacts that they have on employment, incomes, benefit receipt and other indicators. We will publish more information on our evaluation strategy in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed reforms on labour market participation by people with (a) disabilities and (b) long term health conditions. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are registered under the Motability Scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Motability Scheme operates throughout the UK and is open to recipients of enhanced mobility Personal Independence Payment, higher rate mobility Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment (including equivalent Scottish benefits).

We recently announced plans to make changes to eligibility for the Daily Living component of PIP.

In our Green Paper: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working we also set out our intention to carry out a longer-term review of the whole PIP assessment, working closely with stakeholders and those with lived experience.

Motability’s latest annual report shows that there are approximately 815,000 individuals participating in the Scheme.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what measures her Department will use to assess the effectiveness of the additional funding for employment, health and skills support. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We anticipate that we will assess effectiveness of Pathways to Work measures in the usual way, including through evaluation of their implementation and the impacts that they have on employment, incomes, benefit receipt and other indicators. We will publish more information on our evaluation strategy in due course.
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Yasmin Qureshi:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will exempt payments from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme as income when calculating means-tested benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 5 December 2024 to question UIN 16635.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of Personal Independence Payment assessments in ensuring support for people in need. \p Sir Stephen Timms: It is important that all people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are able to access our services and that they do not face obstacles in applying and communicating with the Department and its providers.

In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we outline plans to improve the experience for people who use the health and disability benefits system, including recording more assessments to improve people’s trust in the assessment process through greater transparency and using recordings as a learning opportunity to consider potential improvements to the quality of the assessment process and to be available to people who are appealing the initial award given.

We also announced plans to launch a process to review the PIP assessment. We will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.

The Health Transformation Programme is also transforming the entire PIP service, including introducing the option to apply and track applications online. The transformed service will improve how we gather health information, and tailor the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances, offering a better customer experience and improving trust in our services and decisions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a Commissioner for Older People to amplify the voices of older demographics in policy-making. \p Alison McGovern: DWP offers employment support for eligible older people through the network of Jobcentres across the UK.

The White Paper published on 26 November focuses on support for people who are economically inactive, people who are looking for work or want to progress, and people who are at risk of economic inactivity despite having a desire to stay in work. This includes and goes beyond people who are claiming benefits. The new national jobs and careers service will be instrumental in achieving this objective. This service will be available for anyone, including older people, who wants to look for work, wants help to increase their earnings, or who wants help to change their career or re-train. The service will be tailored to local needs.

We are committing to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ to further develop the reforms set out in our Pathways to Work Green Paper. These we will bring together groups of people for specific work areas, collaborating with civil servants to provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations. Each group will have a different mix of people including older people.

My department also engages with employers to ensure their recruitment practises attract and support the retention of older people and encouraging employers to sign the Age-Friendly employer pledge.
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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made, using the same static microsimulation model as in the Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit impact assessment, of the number of additional (a) people and (b) children who will be in (i) relative and (ii) absolute poverty after housing costs in Wales in 2029-30 as a result of modelled changes to social security, compared to baseline projections. \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

These estimates have been made at Great Britain level. It is not possible to provide figures for Wales because the static microsimulation model uses survey data and sample sizes are not large enough to provide robust estimates.
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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to modernise Job Centres in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency. \p Alison McGovern: This Government’s number one mission is to grow the economy and drive up living standards right across the country as part of its Plan for Change. Building a thriving and inclusive labour market – which spreads the benefits of good work to as many people as possible – is central to achieving that goal.

Linking to the government’s missions of Kickstarting Economic Growth and Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunities, the Department is working to ensure that the DWP estate is more flexible and responsive and can react to the changing demands for services and economic changes. As set out in the ‘Get Britain Working White Paper’, the Department is transforming the Jobcentre Plus network across Great Britain to create a new national jobs and careers service that will enable everyone to access tailored support through an enhanced focus on people’s skills and careers, rather than merely monitoring and managing benefit claims.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the additional funding for employment, health and skills support on the number of people who will return to work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the universal credit assessment period; and whether she plans to change the frequency of that assessment. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The first payment of Universal Credit is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made.

The first calendar month is the initial assessment period, during which information is verified to ensure accurate payments. At the end of that period, entitlement for that month is calculated and paid seven days later. Payments thereafter are made monthly in arrears. Assessment Periods, once made, are set and cannot be changed.

Universal Credit is designed to top-up earnings from employment, adapting to changes in the amount of earnings received each month. Assessing UC monthly ensures that we receive at least one update of earnings information for each working member of a household, meaning that the benefit calculated accurately reflects the needs of the household.

There are currently no plans to change Universal Credit assessment periods.
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Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether people affected by changes to the Universal Credit health element will be able to appeal reassessments under the new system. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Decisions made by a decision maker on entitlement to benefit generally confer a right of appeal.

The outcome of any WCA will lead to a decision about the customer’s capability for work, which would have appeal rights. If the customer disagrees with that decision, they may request a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) and can lodge an appeal if they remain dissatisfied following the MR process.
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Alex Sobel:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what accessibility adjustments are in place for the consultation on the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper; and whether her Department consulted with disabled people on accessibility requirements for that consultation. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. Throughout the consultation period we will listen, learn and take feedback through an online form, email, post and through accessible in-person and online events.

We will publish a full suite of accessible versions of the Green Paper, to ensure that everyone can engage with the consultation. The consultation will close 12 weeks after the point at which all the accessible versions are available, to ensure that all stakeholders have sufficient time to engage and we hear from as many people as possible. We will also be holding a full schedule of public events which we will publish along with the accessible versions in the coming weeks. The public consultation events will accommodate any reasonable adjustments for individuals who wish to attend, including re-imbursing travel costs and arranging accessible venues and interpreters for attendees.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, how much and what proportion of the additional funding for employment, health and skills support will be allocated to each region. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As the Pathways to Work Green Paper sets out, we are keen to engage widely on the design of our proposals for new employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions. We will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. Therefore, at this stage no decisions have been taken or estimates made of how spending may vary across regions.
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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, whether she plans to amend the work allowance for people in receipt of the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The work allowance for individuals who are found limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA) will remain unchanged to continue to incentivise people to try work.

In the reformed system, work allowances will continue to be available to those who receive the UC health element. We want to enable people to take advantage of this strong financial incentive to work, which means they can earn up to £404 a month (or over £673 if they don’t get help with housing costs) without their benefits being affected.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the press notice entitled Nearly fifty thousand extra pensioners receiving vital Pension Credit support following surge in claims processed, published on 27 February 2025, if she will make an estimate of the number of people who were (a) eligible for and (b) not in receipt of Pension Credit on 24 March 2025. \p Torsten Bell: The Department does not have this data for the period up to March 2025.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Oral Statement of 29 July 2024 on Public Spending: Inheritance, Official Report, columns 1033-1040, how many Pension Credit claims have been awarded since the changes in the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment were announced. \p Torsten Bell: On 27 February 2025 we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application and award volumes up to 23 February 2025. Pension Credit Applications and Awards - February 2025.
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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has conducted an equality impact assessment on proposals in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We published an Equality Analysis and Policy Rationale impacts alongside the Spring Statement.

Further analysis for the measures in the Green Paper, not included in the Spring Statement, will be published in due course.
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Kevin Bonavia:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the minimum floor cap for self-employed individuals receiving universal credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) encourages self-employed customers to progress in work and grow their earnings to a sustainable level.

The Government has committed to reviewing Universal Credit to ensure it is supporting the Government’s objectives to make work pay and tackle poverty.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, whether her Department plans to publish statistics on the number of claimants who lose their (a) Personal Independence Payment and b) Universal Credit health entitlement following these reforms. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision not to consult on all the measures listed in Annex A in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on disabled people's organisations. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. We want to improve and refine our reform plans by consulting on certain measures as described in the Green Paper. The consultation will close 12 weeks after the point at which all the accessible versions are available, to ensure that all stakeholders have sufficient time to engage and that we hear from as many people as possible

However, we urgently need this reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and promote the interests of disabled people. This means we need to take decisive action to tackle a situation in which PIP claims are set to double from 2 million to over 4.3 million this decade. We are consulting on how best to support those affected by the changes. We will also consider improvements to the PIP assessment. We will launch a wider review of the PIP indicators, which I shall lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

We will rebalance payments in Universal Credit, reducing the health top up for new claims and delivering the first ever permanent, above inflation rise to the standard allowance of UC – actually offering help for people to get into work as quickly as possible.

We will be bringing forward the PIP and UC changes in a Bill so Parliament can fully debate and vote on them.
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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to PIP on households in which a PIP recipient is exempt from the benefit cap. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what criteria she plans to use to assess the effectiveness of a reformed Access to Work scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March 2025, we want to improve accessibility and support more disabled people into work. This includes helping employers increase productivity by supporting their employees with disabilities and health conditions. We want to do this through, in part, a reformed Access to Work. We are keen to ensure that, through future evaluation, we can demonstrate the value for money delivered through a new model as well as the positive impact it is having.

We will determine the nature of the evaluation as part of further policy development, reflecting on consultation responses.
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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an impact assessment of the potential impact of changes to Personal Independence Payments on under 35's who claim Local Housing Allowance at the 1 bedroom rate. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed reforms to the personal independence payment on the employment (a) rights of and (b) obligations of employers to disabled employees. \p Sir Stephen Timms: PIP is a non-means tested benefit that can be paid to those in or out of work, it therefore does not directly link with employment rights.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what estimate she has made of number of claimants receiving contributory Employment and Support Allowance who will be affected by the proposed replacement with Unemployment Insurance. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make a comparative assessment of the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, and the Chance to Work Guarantee. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months alongside the consultation.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department uses to assess the value for money of the Motability scheme's investments in electric vehicles. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Motability Foundation is independent of government, and regulated by the Charity Commission, so is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, including assessing the value for money of its investments and charitable donations.

Questions about the operations of the Motability Foundation should be addressed to the Foundation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

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Mr James Frith:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the average amount of money families would receive if the two-child limit was rescinded. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring how we can harness all available levers to reduce child poverty, including considering social security reforms, before publishing a strategy that will deliver lasting change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_287

Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under 22 in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK will be impacted by changes to the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No decision has been made on this policy. The key principle of our focus for 18-21 year olds should be helping them to be earning or learning, because of the long-term scarring effects for young people of a period of unemployment. That is why we are consulting on delaying access to the UC health top up until age 22 with savings reinvested into work support and training opportunities.

Universal Credit Health caseload statistics are available on DWP Stat-Xplore and were most recently updated with December 2024 data.

In December 2024, 13,650 and 68,350 16- to 21-year-olds in Great Britain were in the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) groups respectively.

Table: 16–21-year-olds in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar, (b) Scotland and (c) Great Britain on the UC Health caseload (December 2024)

LCW

LCWRA

Total

(a) Dunfermline and Dollar

20

110

130

(b) Scotland

1,380

7,460

8,830

(c) Great Britain

13,650

68,350

82,000

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/ (opens in new window). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_288

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) restricting eligibility for PIP, (b) reducing the health component of Universal Credit and (c) removing the health component of Universal Credit for 18-21 year olds on the unemployment rate. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_289

Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help expedite Pension Credit claims from South Shropshire constituency. \p Torsten Bell: The Government put in place the biggest ever pension Credit take-up drive. To help ensure it has the capacity to assess all claims within reasonable timeframes, the Department deployed over 500 additional staff.

On 27 February 2025 we published Pension Credit Applications and Awards - February 2025 statistics up to 23 February 2025. This shows Pension Credit processing times have improved and outstanding volumes returned to normal levels, 33,700 in February 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_290

Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the levels of tax evasion by of cash-only high street businesses and (b) support small businesses to adopt card payment systems. \p James Murray: HMRC is committed to ensuring the tax system operates fairly and efficiently, creating a level playing field for compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe, but a minority fail to register or only declare a portion of their earnings for tax. This minority deprives our vital public services of funding, affects fair competition between businesses, and places unfair burdens on everyone else.

Cash is a legitimate means of paying for goods and services and continues to be used by many people across the UK. The Government’s position is that individuals and businesses can choose whether to accept or decline any form of payment, and this choice can be based on factors such as customer preference and cost. If a person or business receives cash payments, it is their responsibility to ensure they meet their tax obligations, including registering for and paying the right taxes.

At the autumn budget in October 2024 the government introduced the most ambitious package ever to close the tax gap, raising £6.5 billion in additional tax revenue per year by 2029-30. The government built on this at Spring Statement in March 2025, announcing a package of measures to further close the tax gap and raise over £1 billion in additional gross tax revenue per year by 2029-30.

HMRC’s approach to tax compliance includes a range of activities that aim to both detect and tackle current non-compliance and change future behaviours. We aim to help and support customers to understand their tax obligations and promoting compliance by simplifying policies and procedures, providing clear guidance to make it easy for them to get things right, providing accessible digital services to make it easier to register to pay the appropriate taxes, providing targeted support and guidance, and intervening early to reduce mistakes.

HMRC are making it increasingly difficult for people and businesses to hide their income, using improved targeting with new data sources, third-party data and focused compliance activity. We will not hesitate to use stronger sanctions against those who deliberately choose not to comply. This includes potential criminal prosecutions for the most serious cases involving tax evasion.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_291

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to alter her policies on the (a) eligibility (b) use (c) thresholds for London house prices and (d) withdrawal penalties criteria for the Lifetime ISA. \p Emma Reynolds: The Lifetime ISA remains narrowly focused on supporting people to achieve the aspiration of home ownership, or to build up savings for later life.

The property price cap supports most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that may find it most difficult to get onto the property ladder. Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased since the introduction of the Lifetime ISA, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values

Any unauthorised withdrawals are subject to a 25% withdrawal charge. This recoups the Government bonus, any interest or growth arising from it, and a proportion of the individual’s initial savings.

The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_292

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the impact of changing the tax free personal allowance to £20,000 on tax receipts. \p James Murray: The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.

The Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost of many billions of pounds per annum. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on. It would also undermine the work the Chancellor has done to restore fiscal responsibility and economic stability, which are critical to getting our economy growing and keeping taxes, inflation, and mortgages as low as possible.

The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process. The Chancellor will announce any changes to the tax system at fiscal events in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_293

Stuart Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support the hospitality sector in South Shropshire constituency. \p James Murray: The Government is committed to supporting the hospitality sector and we recognise the significant contribution they have on the UK economy.    Delivering on our manifesto pledge, we will introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. In the meantime, we have prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.    The Chancellor also announced a duty cut on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year. This reduction increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.    The Government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.  More than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package and eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

The Government has funded a wide range of community assets, including pubs, through the Community Ownership Fund. On 23 December 2024, this Government announced the outcome of Round 4 of the Community Ownership Fund, the largest ever round to date, where we awarded £36.2m to 85 projects across the UK, including projects in Shropshire.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_294

Richard Burgon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, what estimate she has made of how much revenue will be raised by changes to the rules for (a) non-domiciled tax status, (b) capital gains tax and (c) inheritance tax in the 2025-26 financial year. \p James Murray: Estimates of the exchequer impact of measures announced at Autumn Budget 2024 can be found in table 5.1 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-2024. This includes the revenue raised in each year of the forecast period.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_295

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a clawback option for agricultural property relief and business property relief where 100% relief is reinstated but inheritance tax is applied where assets are disposed of and the resulting wealth is not re-invested in the business. \p James Murray: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-31 conversation_296

Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) tax incentives to help reduce packaging waste. \p James Murray: There are a several tax incentives already in place to reduce plastic waste. These include the Plastic Packaging Tax, which encourages use of more recycled plastic in packaging and Landfill Tax, which encourages waste to be diverted from landfill to more sustainable options, such as recycling.