theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. \p Sarah Sackman: The table below shows the number of Crown Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed.

Region

Crown Courts closed

London

1

Midlands

0

North East

0

North West

1

South East

2

South West

2

Wales

2

There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.

HMCTS does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Environmental Delivery Plans proposed in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill are compatible with section 17(5) of the Environment Act 2021. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is clear that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will not lead to a reduction in environmental protections.

The Secretary of State, when considering a policy decision to make an Environmental Delivery Plan for an area, will have due regard to the policy statement on environmental principles.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Katie Lam:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made with the Secretary of State for Transport of the potential impact of suspending the Rural Services Delivery Grant on transport services in rural areas. \p Jim McMahon: The Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash-terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced and can be used by local authorities on local priorities, including transport spending.

On average, places with a significant rural population will receive almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, and no council will see a reduction in their Core Spending Power.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which unitary local authority areas she is considering restructuring. \p Jim McMahon: On 5th February I formally invited proposals from councils in all two-tier areas and their neighbouring small unitary authorities. The full list of councils who received an invitation is available on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-invitation-to-local-authorities-in-two-tier-areas.

In the English Devolution White Paper we made clear that Government will also facilitate reorganisation for those unitary councils where there is evidence of failure or where their size or boundaries are impacting on their responsibilities. While some of these councils are included in the invitations for reorganisation in two-tier areas given their geographical boundaries, there will be a different legal process for mergers of existing unitaries. The Government is open to discussions with all areas where structural change will help them get onto a more sustainable footing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 33041 on Local Government: Reorganisation, if she will require the (a) interim and (b) final response to an invitation to restructure to be endorsed by a full council of the local authority before being considered by Ministers. \p Jim McMahon: As set out in my previous answer, I formally invited proposals for local government reorganisation from all the councils in two tier areas and their neighbouring unitary councils.

It is for councils themselves to consider the approval processes they should follow in responding to my invitation in line with their own individual constitutional arrangements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has increased the level of funding for the Greater London Authority in 2025-26 to address the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions; and what representation she has received from the Greater London Authority on this subject. \p Jim McMahon: The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government in England. The Greater London Authority will see an increase in their Core Spending Power of 3.1% in cash terms, or £97.7 million, on 2024-25.

As part of this package, the government confirmed allocations for the unringfenced £502 million Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant for local authorities in England. I can confirm the Greater London Authority will receive £18.8 million from the Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-28 conversation_204

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans she to postpone unitary council elections in 2026. \p Jim McMahon: There are no plans to postpone unitary council elections in 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-28 conversation_205

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31950 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, whether her Department received representations from the Cabinet Office on this matter. \p Alex Norris: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not receive representations from the Cabinet Office on this matter pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31950.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Government Procurement Cards are held by each Ministerial private office in her Department. \p Alex Norris: There are currently two Government Procurement Cards used across all ministerial private offices in MHCLG.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Liam Byrne:To ask the Solicitor General, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) attempted and (b) successful public prosecutions under Section 45 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017, broken down by (a) type or sub-type of offence and (b) prosecuting organisation or agency. \p Lucy Rigby: As Solicitor General I superintend the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The SFO is the lead agency in England and Wales for investigating and prosecuting serious international fraud, bribery, and corruption cases. The CPS also prosecutes bribery offences investigated by the police, committed either overseas or in England and Wales.

General bribery offences (sections 1 and 2 Bribery Act 2010)

The tables below show the number of individuals – British national or UK resident – charged and successful prosecuted (by way of guilty plea or conviction by jury) by the SFO under sections 1 and 2 of the Bribery Act 2010.

British national

UK resident

Individuals charged

13

0

Individuals successfully prosecuted (guilty plea, conviction by jury)

6

0

Bribery Act 2010 counts

Section 1

Section 2

Counts charged

31

5

Counts successfully prosecuted (guilty plea, conviction by jury)

17

4

The CPS does not record or hold the requested data centrally and is not able to disaggregate its data based on nationality of offenders. The information can only be obtained by completing manual case file reviews, which would be at a disproportionate cost.

Section 7 Bribery Act 2010

The SFO has charged and successfully prosecuted (by way of Deferred Prosecution Agreement, guilty plea, or conviction by jury) 12 organisations under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010.

The CPS has charged organisations under section 7 five times. However, this is not an indication of final outcome or if the charged offences were the substantive charges at finalisation. The CPS does not record or hold the requested data on prosecution outcomes at the offence-level centrally. The information can only be obtained by completing manual case file reviews, which would be at a disproportionate cost.

Section 45 Criminal Finances Act 2017

The SFO and CPS have not brought any charges under section 45 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual rent paid by the United States is for the use of (a) RAF Mildenhall, (b) RAF Lakenheath, (c) Ascension Island, (d) Diego Garcia and (e) any other UK base in use by that country. \p Luke Pollard: In accordance with the 1973 Cost Sharing Arrangement (CSA), the US is responsible for bearing the cost for the operational running of the bases it occupies such as utilities, as well as any development in support of its forces at those locations. There are some exceptions to that, where development is a requirement of UK legislation or Ministry of Defence policy and there is no equivalent United States legal or policy requirement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 35454, whether he has made an assessment of the level of defence procurement can be moved to the UK from the US. \p Maria Eagle: The Strategic Defence Review will guide the Ministry of Defence's future investment priorities and will also shape the Defence Industrial Strategy. To support the UK’s Armed Forces we procure a diverse range of systems both domestically and in collaboration with our international allies and partners.

The United States is the United Kingdom's primary defence and security ally. Our collaboration in defence is mutually beneficial, and we maintain robust working partnerships in the areas of intelligence, nuclear, science and technology, and operations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Alex Burghart:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether (a) an open prior information notice or (b) a voluntary ex-ante transparency notice was published in relation to the procurement. \p Luke Pollard: Neither a Prior Information Notice nor voluntary ex-ante transparency notice were published, noting that this procurement is excluded from applicable procurement legislation as it is pursuant to an international agreement between the UK and Ukraine.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual cost to the public purse is of substitute service single accommodation. \p Al Carns: The total cost to the public purse for Substitute Single Service Accommodation for Financial Year 2024-25 is £75,240,044.

This figure includes rent, monthly service fees and utilities costs. However, utilities data for March 2025 is not yet available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to expedite the publication of the Strategic Defence Review in the context of proposals to send a British peacekeeping force to Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: As the Prime Minister reported in his Statement on Defence and Security in the House of Commons, the Strategic Defence Review is advanced, and he will lay it in Parliament as soon as he can. The Report, which will be published in the Spring, will help set the path for Britain’s defence for the next decade.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings his Department has had with representatives of the defence space sector since 5 July 2024. \p Luke Pollard: As discussed during my meeting with the hon. Member on 10 March 2025, the Ministry of Defence engages substantially with the space sector as they are critical to the UK’s status as a global player on space. The Department holds a wide variety of meetings with the space industry. While the exact number of such meetings is unrecorded as records are not kept for all, they range from ad hoc meetings to more formal engagements with industry representatives. These relate to existing contracts for services and equipment as well as other topics such as the opportunities of new space technology. I have also held meetings with officials regarding the space industry. We will continue to engage across the sector to ensure the best approach to achieving growth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral Answer to the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway of 24 March 2025, Official Report, Column 632, if he will list all the candidates he has met with regarding a Jet Trainer replacement from the (a) United Kingdom, (b) United States and (c) any other nation since 5 July 2024. \p Maria Eagle: Ministers and officials from the Ministry of Defence regularly meet for routine discussions with a range of defence sector aerospace companies, including those who produce jet trainer aircraft. The UK’s Hawk T1 aircraft is scheduled to remain in service until 2030 and the Hawk T2 aircraft out-of-service date is in 2040. A decision on the production, sustainment and replacement of the aircraft will not be taken until after the Strategic Defence Review is completed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Army's submission to the Strategic Defence Review, whether it is his policy that the Army (a) fights and (b) operates differently by rapidly integrating technology at every level to multiply (i) lethality, (ii) mass and (iii) effect. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century, including for the British Army. The Review has been considering all aspects of Defence, such as the opportunities for modernisation and transformation, including through the rapid and consistent application of new technologies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the difference in (a) purchase and (b) running cost between the (i) F-35A and (ii) F-35B variants. \p Maria Eagle: The purchase price of an F-35A is estimated to be 15% less than the cost of an F-35B.

The running cost of an F-35A is estimated to be 8% less than an F-35B.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the annual payment for the lease of Diego Garcia under the proposed Chagos Islands agreement will be funded from the defence budget; and what impact this will have on the Government’s commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. \p Luke Pollard: The funding arrangements for the treaty are still being finalised and no decision has been made at this time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Alex Burghart:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether a value-for-money assessment was conducted before awarding the contract. \p Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 35734 on 10 March 2025.

Thales: Northern Ireland (docx, 29.0KB)
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated initial cost to the public purse is of a single ncrewed Air Vehicle Loyal Wingman platform. \p Maria Eagle: There are several military capabilities which are often publicly referred to as 'Loyal Wingmen', however the UK does not currently have a programme or platform defined as this.

There are several projects, mostly at the concepts stage, that are developing Autonomous Collaborative Platforms to deliver a range of additive warfighting capabilities, including in the Air domain. The projects differ markedly in range and scale; which will therefore impact the future costs per platform, which are not yet known.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Brian Leishman:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the purpose is of Project HEZUK; and whether that project (a) is ongoing or (b) has been discontinued. \p Luke Pollard: The Ministry of Defence has a number of active and retired project names, I will not comment further for security reasons.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Army's submission to the Strategic Defence Review, whether it is his policy that the Army harnesses the talent of exceptional people (a) enabling, (b) inspiring and (c) optimising the force. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century, including for the British Army. All Defence personnel-in and out of uniform-are at the heart of Defence's plans, the Review has been considering the approach to recruiting, educating, training, and retaining the people needed for One Defence. This includes Regular, Reserve, Civil Service, and industry and how Service life can be improved for those who commit to serve their country in uniform.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Army's submission to the Strategic Defence Review, whether it is his policy that the Army fights on the land to be the world-class army that (a) NATO is asking for and (b) the UK needs. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century, including for the British Army. The Review has been considering all aspects of Defence, including the major features of the force structure needed to create the necessary integrated multi-domain Defence capability of the future. NATO will remain the cornerstone of UK Defence, the Review has been looking at enhancing the UK's contribution to the Alliance, while protecting vital UK sovereign requirements and strategic reach.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Army's submission to the Strategic Defence Review, whether it is his policy that the Army enhances (a) society, (b) cohesion and (c) resilience with land forces as the framework integrator for national (i) resilience, (ii) defence and (iii) regeneration. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century, including for the British Army. The first duty of Government is to keep the country safe and protect its citizens. The SDR has been examining the Defence capabilities and options to reinforce UK homeland security.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Army's submission to the Strategic Defence Review, whether it is his policy that the Army fights from the land as an enabler for multi-domain operations as part of the Integrated Force alongside allies and partners. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century, including for the British Army. The Review has been considering all aspects of Defence, including the major features of the force structure needed to create the necessary integrated multi-domain Defence capability of the future. The SDR has also been considering the UK's international partnerships and alliances, and how these can be strengthened in the cause of collective security and deterrence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Army's submission to the Strategic Defence Review, whether it is his policy that the Army should be (a) resilient, (b) built upon collaboration with industry, (c) increasing UK prosperity and reinforcing operational independence. \p Luke Pollard: The Strategic Defence Review will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century, including for the British Army. The Review has been considering the state of the defence technological and industrial base, and the contribution of Defence to the Government's Growth Mission.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of housing provision for service personnel. \p Al Carns: Circa 97% of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) meets or exceeds the Government's Decent Homes Standard. Only these properties should be allocated to families.

Investment to maintain and improve the quality of SFA in the United Kingdom continues. Circa £445 million is forecast to be spent for this Financial Year 2024-25.

Despite efforts to improve accommodation quality, challenges persist. Work is underway with the Defence Housing Strategy Review which started following the completion of the Annington Deal in January 2025. The Military Housing Strategy planned for publication in Summer 2025 will set out a roadmap to deliver a generational renewal of military accommodation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Alex Burghart:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release on the award of a £1.6 billion contract to Thales in Belfast for the manufacture of lightweight-multirole missiles, published on 2 March 2025, whether the contract was reviewed by the Single Source Regulations Office. \p Maria Eagle: The Ukraine Government selected the lightweight-multirole missile because it has demonstrated itself to be a highly effective short range air defence capability. Because the UK Ministry of Defence is acting on behalf of the Ukrainian Government in procuring these missiles, pursuant to an international agreement between the UK and Ukraine, and the contract is being funded by the Ukraine Government with support from UK Export Finance, the procurement is excluded from the procurement legislation which would normally be applicable.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of (a) 26 November 2024 to Question 14705 and (b) 21 October 2024 to Question 8434 on Prime Minister: Aviation, whether the Cabinet Office collates information on which flights (i) use Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and (ii) the proportion of SAF used. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office records when Sustainable Aviation Fuel is used, and on which flights. The Government uses sustainable aviation fuel wherever possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to (a) the Answer of 6 March 2025 to Question 34453 on Prime Minister: Aviation and (b) his letter to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East of 13 March 2025 on helicopter travel, if he will publish an aggregate figure for the total cost of the Prime Minister’s domestic air travel since 4 July 2024 that does not reveal granular movements. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 6 March 2025, Official Report, PQ 34453.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25851 on Intelligence Services: Unpaid Work, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for the 2025 M15 and SIS internship schemes; and if he will request the Security Services make internship opportunities available to people from white British backgrounds. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: In recent years, UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and expertise, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government.

Any internship participant wishing to subsequently apply for employment with UKIC or the Civil Service is required to take part in a fair and open competition, in the normal way, with selection based on merit.
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Grahame Morris:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) Departments, (b) agencies and (c) public bodies sponsor staff on skilled worker visas. \p Georgia Gould: This information is not held centrally. However, the Civil Service Nationality Rules govern eligibility for employment in the Civil Service and must be followed by government departments in their recruitment and appointment procedures.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 24882 on Tulip Siddiq, how many staff work in the (a) Independent Adviser’s secretariat and (b) Propriety and Ethics directorate excluding that secretariat. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer of 17 September 2024 (UIN 4672), which sets out the responsibilities of the Propriety and Ethics Directorate.

There are currently 20.47 FTE working on propriety and ethics functions within the directorate. Within that headcount, 2 FTE staff currently work in the Independent Adviser's Secretariat.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8637 on Cabinet Office: Vacancies, whether Mission Senior Responsible Officers have been appointed at a higher salary compared to their previous roles in the civil service. \p Georgia Gould: Senior Responsible Officers for each of the five Missions were selected by the Cabinet Secretary and relevant Permanent Secretary, in consultation with their Secretary of State, on the basis of their expertise and experience. They remain on their current salaries and have not received any increase.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21391 on Cabinet Office: Christmas, if he will publish the guidance on away days, staff days and celebrations. \p Georgia Gould: An internal awayday, staff days and celebrations policy was introduced in September 2023, under the previous administration. The previous administration did not publish this policy externally, and as with many internal staff policies, there are no current plans to publish it.

The policy seeks to provide a framework that delivers benefits of collaborative ways of working whilst prioritising and demonstrating value for money to the taxpayer. This policy is separate from the official hospitality policy.

The policy states that staff must exercise care when spending taxpayers’ money and ensure that value for money can be clearly evidenced. The public rightly expects to see civil servants setting modest standards for all expenditure, especially for internal meetings and events. Budgets holders must demonstrate a clear business justification, value for money and that they have sufficient budget. Approval from the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is also required in some instances.

All public servants are bound by the Civil Service Code, Management Code and must operate within the guidance of Managing Public Money.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the child poverty strategy will set longer term goals beyond the next 10 years. \p Alison McGovern: The Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.

Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the time horizon, will be set out in the strategy publication.

We recognise the critical role Universal Credit has to play in tackling poverty and making work pay. The Department provides extensive information on Universal Credit on Gov.uk that supports claimants to identify what support may be available.
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Alex Easton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential impact of her Department's welfare reforms on people in Northern Ireland. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The department works closely with all the Devolved Governments, including the Northern Ireland Executive, on a range of policy matters.

Proposals for reform to the system of health and disability benefits were set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March 2025. The consultation will run for a full 12 weeks, once all accessible versions are published. Social security and employment support are transferred in Northern Ireland, although the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive work closely together to maintain parity between their respective social security systems, to the extent agreed between them. We welcome comments on the consultation from individuals and organisations in Northern Ireland, which will then be shared with the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.

The Government published the OBR-certified costings of individual measures on the day of the Spring Statement on 26 March.

We will work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure we are helping people in Northern Ireland into work and off benefits, and on the interactions between reserved and devolved areas of responsibility as a result of these proposals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will launch a consultation on proposals to (a) end the Work Capability Assessment and (b) use the single Personal Independence Payment assessment to assess entitlement for the Universal Credit health element. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We urgently need reform to stop people from falling into inactivity, restore trust and fairness in the system and protect disabled people. Therefore, there are some measures announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper on the 18th March 2025, that we will not be consulting on.

Urgently needed changes to PIP will be brought forward via Primary Legislation so that Parliament can fully debate and vote on them. Spending on PIP has increased by £2 billion per year above inflation on average in each of the last five years. We need to take decisive action to make the benefit financially sustainable, so that it can continue to provide vitally needed support. In the Green Paper, we are however consulting on how best to support those who lose benefit as a result of this change.

We will launch a wider review of the PIP assessment, which I shall lead. 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.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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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 impact of her proposed changes to disability benefits on people in Surrey Heath constituency. \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 this week 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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Andy McDonald: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, if she will publish the criteria for membership of the panel to ensure that the views of (a) disabled people and (b) people with health conditions are used in the (i) design and (ii) delivery of reforms. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As part of wider efforts to put disabled voices at the heart of policy, the Get Britain Working White Paper announced a commitment to establishing a panel to consult disabled people. We are in the process of establishing this panel, which will also consider the reforms set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.

We also committed to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ in the Pathways to Work Green Paper to further develop our welfare reforms. These will involve bringing together groups of disabled people and other experts for specific work areas to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.

Both initiatives will include people who have lived experience of disability and representation of a range of disabilities. Further information about both initiatives will be announced soon.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will launch a consultation on proposals to introduce an additional requirement for people to score at least four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living part of PIP. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026.

We will bring forward this change this session via primary legislation, which will enable Parliament to provide full scrutiny of these plans.
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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the (a) equality and (b) poverty impact analysis were not published with the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The equalities analysis and poverty analysis includes detailed information which would have pre-empted the OBR forecast. That forecast is market sensitive until the Spring Statement. The analysis was published alongside the Spring Statement this week.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase (a) Statutory Maternity Pay and (b) Maternity Allowance beyond the rate of inflation over the next four years. \p Andrew Western: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. She announced her decision from the latest review of benefits in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 30 October. From April 2025, the rate will increase by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments. Any changes to the system would need to consider the needs of parents, the availability of resources and the impact on employers, and be made in consultation with businesses and stakeholders. Parental pay is only one element of the support available for parents. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's green paper 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 this announcement on families in poverty. \p Alison McGovern: We will be publishing equality analysis which sets out the impacts on disabled people alongside poverty impacts on all individuals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the change in the weekly rate of Statuary Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance from April 2025 on child poverty in Devon. \p Alison McGovern: Maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provisions for pregnant working women. It is not, and has never been, intended to replace a woman's earnings completely, nor is it intended to help with the cost of having a baby. Rather it provides a measure of financial security to help pregnant working women take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth.

Parental pay is only one element of the support available for parents. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available.

Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change. The causes of child poverty are deep-rooted and complex, and the Taskforce is exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.

Statistics on child poverty are published annually in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics publication, available here: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK. The data is only available at regional level.

Constituency level data is published in the Children in low income families: local area statistics publication, but due the methodological differences, these poverty statistics are not comparable to those from the HBAI publication and are only available on a before housing costs basis (BHC).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total expenditure on electric vehicles through the Motability scheme was in the most recent year for which data is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and is responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme. Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations.

The Department does not hold figures on the expenditure on electric vehicles provided through the Motability Scheme
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to hold a public consultation ahead of the reapproval process for glyphosate in December 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) acts as competent authority for pesticides under delegated powers from Defra and Devolved Governments. As part of the process for all pesticide active substances being considered for renewal in Great Britain (GB), HSE will hold a public consultation ahead of any renewal decision being made. This is a statutory requirement in GB pesticide legislation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Iqbal Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is to process a Personal Independence Payment appeal in Dewsbury and Batley constituency. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The average time to process a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal for all PIP appeals registered in the Dewsbury and Batley constituency since PIP was introduced can be found below.

Mean appeal processing time (weeks)

Median appeal processing time (weeks)

31

29

Source: PIP Administrative Data

Notes:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-28)

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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of future (a) applicants and (b) recipients of personal independence payments in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency as a result of the green paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No such estimates have been made.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course with some information published this week 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.