theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Adam Thompson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make e-cigarettes available on prescription for smoking cessation. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to delivering on its ambition for a smoke-free United Kingdom, and is supporting smokers to quit through a range of services. This includes an additional £70 million investment in 2025/26 for local Stop Smoking Services in England. We are also working to ensure all National Health Service hospitals offer ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation services.

Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, can be an effective quit tool for adult smokers, particularly when combined with behavioural support. Currently, all vapes supplied to the UK are done so through the consumer market, as there is no medicinally licensed vaping product. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is ready to support a future medicinally licensed vaping product if the industry comes forward with a successful candidate. The MHRA continues to provide technical and scientific advice to companies interested in developing medicinal vapes.
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Amanda Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes in Portsmouth. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is investing £10 million of new funding into Trading Standards for 2025/26, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales in England, and the implementation of the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The Trading Standards South East region, which includes Portsmouth, has been allocated funding for new apprentices to boost workforce capacity, alongside further funding for the storage and recycling of seized illicit vapes. The new funding will also support other activity, including additional work to identify and seize illicit vapes consignments at ports, and training for Trading Standards officers on the new single use vapes ban.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of research on the long-term effects of covid-19 on his Department's public health strategies. \p Ashley Dalton: In October 2024, the Department hosted a roundtable on long COVID research with the Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Lucy Chappell, discussing the relevance of the research to other post-viral syndromes and strategies to stimulate further research in the scientific community.

The Department regularly reviews evidence on the health and economic impact of diseases and conditions. Where appropriate, this evidence is used to produce impact assessments which inform the development of new policies to address the needs of the population.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, remain committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment for long COVID.

Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, through the NIHR and the MRC, we have invested over £57 million on research into long COVID, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The funded projects aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to streamline diagnostics pathways for (a) companion and (b) other diagnostics. \p Ashley Dalton: The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, announced that the integrated care boards (ICBs) will make optimal use of the new diagnostic capacity by implementing the new standards for community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital-based diagnostic services, in particular increasing direct referrals and rolling out at least 10 straight-to-test pathways by March 2026.

To date, NHS England has agreed three national CDC diagnostic pathways which ICBs will be expected to implement by March 2026. These are: breathlessness; children and young people’s asthma; and unscheduled bleeding on hormone replacement therapy.

NHS England is working with clinicians to best determine other priority straight to test pathways, including in CDCs. Implementation of these pathways will deliver the expectations in the Elective Reform Plan for significant elective care reform to be delivered in at least five specialties, those being: ear nose and throat; gastroenterology; respiratory; urology; and cardiology. Wider clinical pathway optimisation work will also centre around these specialities.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately bringing this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.  The plan will also look at how we can maximise our impact through the most up-to-date technology and innovations. It will ensure that we continue to maximise the access to, and the impact of, clinical trials in diagnostics and treatments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

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Steve Barclay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to provide for motor neurone disease research in 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation. Since the start of 2022/23, the Government has allocated £47.8 million to motor neurone disease research.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including motor neurone disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on motor neurone disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve testing for chronic urinary tract infections. \p Ashley Dalton: Diagnostic tests for chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs), such as urinalysis and urine culture, are widely available across all pathology networks in England. Ensuring accurate diagnostic testing not only aids in the effective identification of infection, but can also reduce the unnecessary prescribing and overprescribing of broad-spectrum antimicrobials, directly benefitting patients who get the right treatment sooner.

General practitioners can request testing for chronic UTIs via several pathways, including at point-of-care, via community diagnostic centres, or via laboratories. Laboratories across England adhere to stringent quality standards for diagnostic tests, including the UK Accreditation Standard ISO 15189, and implement robust internal and external quality assurance schemes. Together, these measures ensure the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic testing.

The development of new products to diagnose infections more accurately is essential to ensuring we can continue to treat infections and protect public health. NHS England is also supporting research into newer, more accurate point-of-care tests for UTIs, such as via the Toucan study. Furter information on the study is available at the following link:

https://www.phctrials.ox.ac.uk/recruiting-trials/toucan-platform-for-uti-diagnostic-evaluation
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of (a) third-party organisations and (b) quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations that charge for facilitating access to free government services. \p Georgia Gould: Information on third-party organisations and quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations that charge for facilitating access to services provided free of charge is not held by the Cabinet Office.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team has issued guidance on the council tax second homes premium for ministerial residences. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Ministers who are allocated an official residence are reminded of their responsibility for all personal tax liabilities, including council tax. The Propriety and Ethics team does not provide advice on personal tax arrangements.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority on tackling misleading advertising by commercial intermediaries offering access to government services. \p Georgia Gould: The Minister for the Cabinet Office has not had any recent discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority specifically relating to this topic.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether decisions on Civil Service equality, diversity and inclusion expenditure will be published in Departmental annual reports; and whether his Department has had discussions with Departmental accounting officers on this matter. \p Georgia Gould: Due to the timing of the publication of the EDI Expenditure Guidance, reporting external equality, diversity and inclusion spend in Annual Reporting Accounts will be possible from the 2025/2026 financial year.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will create an offence of (a) lying in office and (b) using (i) media and (ii) social media to mislead (A) followers and (B) the public. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office has no plans to create such an offence. All public office-holders are expected to adhere to the Seven Principles of Public Life which includes the principle of honesty.

In addition, ministers are expected to uphold the high standards of conduct set out in the Ministerial Code. MPs and members of the House of Lords must adhere to the relevant parliamentary code of conduct and in the course of their parliamentary duties have a responsibility to provide accurate information to the public and to Parliament, correcting any errors at the earliest opportunity.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post. \p Georgia Gould: In the central Cabinet Office communications team, there are a total of 37 Full Time Equivalent Government Communication Service professionals.

Of this total, 14 are in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities.

This is the latest available data from June 2024.

Information on Cabinet Office salary bands can be found in the Statistical tables - Civil Service Statistics: 2024 found here.
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Alison Bennett:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unpaid carers concurrently on Personal Independence Payments and Carers Allowance are awarded less than four points in all daily living activities. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) made an application for Pension Credit and (b) were new claimants of Pension Credit in each of the last 24 months. \p Torsten Bell: On 27 February 2025 we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 23 February 2025 Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK The next update of the Pension Credit applications and awards data is due to be published on 29 May 2025.

All applications received are treated as new claims. Therefore, we do not hold information on details of previous claims applicants may have submitted.

Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total annual administrative cost was of implementing the 25p weekly age addition to the state pension for recipients over 80; and whether this cost exceeds the total amount paid out in such additions. \p Torsten Bell: The Age Addition is designed to be simple to administer. Payments are made automatically as part of the person's ongoing State Pension entitlement. The administration costs are therefore negligible.

In 2024, 474,239 letters were issued to inform people that they were now entitled to the Age Addition, costing £278,030 in printing and postage. In 24/25, the annual cost of the 25p Age Addition to the State Pension for those eligible 80+ is estimated to be £50.8m. Administrative costs therefore do not exceed the total amount paid.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of waiting times for cases to be allocated to a Resolution Specialist at The Pensions Ombudsman. \p Torsten Bell: The Pension Ombudsman (TPO) has experienced a significant increase in complaints over the past several years, and this trend is continuing. This has impacted on waiting times for cases to be allocated to a resolution specialist. In response to this pressure, TPO has implemented an Operating Model Review (OMR) programme.

DWP are working closely with TPO to rigorously monitor the impact the OMR is having on waiting times and case allocation to resolution specialists.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the Winter Fuel Payment on living standards for pensioners in Harpenden and Berkhamsted. \p Torsten Bell: The Government is, protecting pensioners on the lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or other qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 or over.

The last Labour Government lifted over one million pensioners out of poverty, and this Government – despite having to make the tough decisions to deal with our dire inheritance - remains absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. Our commitment to the Triple Lock means that spending on State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion over this Parliament.

While the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people, other help is also available for low-income pensioners. This includes Cold Weather Payments in England & Wales and help with energy bills via the Warm Home Discount scheme, as well as the Household Support Fund in England, which we extended for a further year with funding of £742 million, with corresponding funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the level of uptake of Pension Credit in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) the rest of England. \p Torsten Bell: The Government wants all pensioners to get the support to which they are rightly entitled. That is why we ran the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign across the whole of Great Britian. This included adverts on television; radio; social media; on YouTube; on advertising screens in Pharmacies, Post Offices and leisure centres (including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted). The campaign also featured on train advertising panels (including on Chiltern, Greater Anglia, and Thameslink services) as well as in the press.

As part of the campaign, the Department engaged with all councils in Great Britain, including Hertfordshire council, through the regular Local Authority Welfare Direct bulletins. We also directly targeted 120,000 pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit inviting them to claim Pension Credit. More recently, around 11 million pensioners will have received a leaflet promoting Pension Credit along with their State Pension uprating letter.

Building on the success of our campaign, we are now writing to all pensioners who make a new claim for Housing Benefit, and who appear to be entitled to Pension Credit, encouraging them to make a claim.

The latest Pension Credit applications and awards statistics were published on 27 February and are available at: Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK. The statistics show that the Department made almost 50,000 extra awards on the comparable period in 2023/24. The next set of statistics will be published on 29 May.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners who are eligible for Pension Credit but not claiming it. \p Torsten Bell: 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. In the financial year ending 2023, it is estimated that up to 760,000 pensioner households in Great Britain were entitled to Pension Credit but not receiving the benefit.

The next edition of the Pension Credit take-up statistics will be released between September and October 2025. This will cover the financial year 2023 to 2024.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of cuts to (a) Personal Independence Payments and (b) the health top-up in Universal Credit on people with (i) moderate and (ii) fluctuating conditions. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has been made on the impacts of the reforms on claimants with particular health conditions.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).

The Pathways to Work Green Paper sets out a number of planned improvements to the assessment process for Personal Independence Payment. Our aim is to improve the quality of decision making, including for those whose conditions are fluctuating.
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Steve Witherden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 44809 on Local Housing Allowance: Wales, what (a) metrics, (b) data points and (c) analysis were used to determine the impacts of Local Housing Allowance rates referenced his Answer; and whether the effect on the number of households becoming homeless was factored into that analysis. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The impacts referenced in the previous answer were determined using a wide variety of metrics, data and analysis. These included:

As covered in the previous answer, the causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and interact dynamically. This makes it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors such as individual benefit rates. But interactions with key measures such as Temporary Accommodation were considered with input from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

At Autumn Budget the Government prioritised a downpayment on poverty, by introducing a Fair Payment Rate for Universal Credit (UC) customers with deductions to retain more of their benefit award. We have invested £1bn in extending the Household Support Fund and maintaining Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) at current levels (including Barnett impacts) for 2025/26.

We continue to work across Government on the development of the Homelessness and Rough \Sleeping strategy in England. Housing and homelessness policy is devolved to Wales.

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

DHPs are available from local authorities and can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to remove the two-child benefit limit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This government has been clear that all our policies are costed and fully funded, and we will only make commitments we know we can keep.

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.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support people with long covid into work. \p Alison McGovern: Our ambitions are to reverse the trend of inactivity, and to raise both productivity and living standards whilst improving the quality of work. To help achieve this, we have set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, demonstrating our commitment to bringing those furthest away from the labour market into it, increasing local labour supply. Backed by £240million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the 80% employment rate.

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with long covid, and have range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.

The Government also announced in the recent 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 £1billion of new funding.

Employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. To build on this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support vulnerable people into work in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. \p Alison McGovern: The Get Britain Working White Paper set out the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation to support our ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate.

The Department for Work and Pensions will shift from being a department for employment support and welfare to being a department for work. This means a new, locally led system of work and health support being available for those who are unemployed, bringing together existing locally delivered employment support as a single coherent offer that is part of areas’ local growth plans.

Our Jobcentre teams work closely with the Local Authority as well as employers, local colleges and providers in Harpenden and Berkhamsted to promote employment opportunities for our customers, including those who are vulnerable. Jobcentres also have a range of specialist roles to work with vulnerable customers. These roles include Disability Employment Advisers, Prison Work Coaches, Supporting Families Employment Advisers, Visiting Officers and more.

There is a range of employability support options such as face to face or group sessions, job fairs and career events to help engage with vulnerable customers in a setting to suit their needs. There is also Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP) and Mentoring Circles where our Jobcentre teams work closely with employers and providers to give customers the skills they need to enter employment. An example is that we are currently running a Care Sector SWAP for full and part time roles which can be completed at home to support lone parents and those with health conditions to participate.

The Jobcentre teams also have a range of contracted support which is available to our vulnerable customers to help them move closer and in to work. This includes Restart, Work and Health Programme, CV help from NCS, Disability Forums and Jobclubs.
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Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full time equivalent work coaches were working in JobCentres in each month since July 2024. \p Alison McGovern: The table below shows the monthly number of full time equivalent work coaches working in Jobcentres since July 2024:

Month

Jul-24

Aug-24

Sep-24

Oct-24

Nov-24

Dec-24

Jan-25

Feb-25

Mar-25

FTE

16,780

16,850

17,020

17,240

17,210

17,190

17,240

17,280

17,160

Notes:
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claims for Disability Living Allowance were processed within the 50 working day target between April 2024 and April 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The most recent information on processing times for Disability Living Allowance for children was published in the DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (ARA) on 22nd July 2024. This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 3.5% of Disability Living Allowance for children claims within the planned 40 working day timescale. The next publication of the ARA will include the percentage of claims processed in the Financial Year 2024 to 2025, which is due for publication in the summer.

Although, DWP has seen improvements in processing times across many service lines during 2023-24, continued high demand has meant that the Department’s ability to process claims consistently in a timely manner across all its services has come under considerable pressure, with performance remaining below standard in some areas including in Child DLA where demand has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes. During 2020-21 DWP deferred reviewing existing cases to focus on processing new claims. Since then, the high volumes of both new claims and the deferred renewal work has resulted in longer processing times. Additional resources have been deployed and cases are being cleared in date order to ensure fair customer service.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that will receive additional (a) employment, (b) health and (c) skills support through funding announced in the Spring Statement 2025. \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. This investment will build on existing support from WorkWell, Connect to Work and the Get Britain Working trailblazers.

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 organisations in the private, voluntary and charitable sectors, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details about the support offer and how many people will receive support in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.
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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of her proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment on people with (a) Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and (b) other fluctuating illnesses. \p Sir Stephen Timms: In January 2025, there were around 25,000 working age claimants in England and Wales that have their main disability recorded as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, excluding those treated under Special Rules for End of Life. Around 12,000 received less than 4 points across all daily living descriptors. The primary health conditions recorded on the PIP computer system are not classified according to whether they are fluctuating or not, therefore information can only be given for specified conditions.

The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment looks at how a long-term health condition or disability impacts on daily life across 12 activities, taking into account fluctuations over a 12-month period. The activities are grouped into two components, daily living and mobility, and within each activity a descriptor must be chosen to score an individual depending on whether an individual can complete the activity, the manner in which they do it, and whether they can complete each activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.

The assessment is designed to reflect the impact of variations in an individual's needs for all health conditions, not only those which more typically fluctuate. Health conditions may be physical, sensory, mental, intellectual or cognitive, or any combination of these, and the assessment is designed to take a comprehensive approach to disability, reflecting the needs arising from the full range of impairments.

Health professionals are expected to be mindful of the fact that many conditions fluctuate, producing symptoms that vary in intensity from mild to severe, and are instructed not to base their opinion solely on the situation as observed at the assessment. Health Professionals also have access to Condition Insight Reports (CIRs)/EBM Protocols which are developed specifically to enable them to gain further insight into clinical and functional information, relating to specific conditions.
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_168
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_168

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to help tackle underpayments of the State Pensions in the last five years. \p Torsten Bell: The Department has undertaken a range of steps over the past 5 years to address underpayments of State Pension. Details about this activity can be found online via the following link: State Pension underpayments: progress on cases - GOV.UK
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_169
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_169

Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraphs 139 and 140 of her Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what evidence base was used to determined that claimants who score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity have higher needs. \p Sir Stephen Timms: PIP provides a contribution to extra costs, but, over recent years, claims have increased significantly, outstripping the growth in disability prevalence. Changes are needed to put benefit spending on a sustainable footing so it can be there for people who need it in the future, while continuing to support those people with higher needs relating to their long-term health condition or disability.

Some people get PIP from scoring 1, 2 or 3 points, arising from needs which could individually be managed with small interventions or the addition of an aid or appliance. Focusing PIP on those with a higher level of functional need in at least one activity - people who are unable to complete activities at all, or who require more help from others to complete them – will ensure that PIP is sustainable now and into the future.

Our intention is that the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. For those already on PIP, the changes to PIP eligibility will only apply at their next award review.   We are also 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.

Alongside the introduction of this new requirement, in the Green Paper, we promised to review the PIP assessment by working with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations, and other experts. As announced by the Secretary of State in the House of Commons on 12 April, we have started the first phase of the review. I will be meeting with stakeholders to develop the scope and terms of reference of the review and will keep the House updated as this work progresses.

On decision making more broadly, we ensure a high standard is maintained for PIP assessments through having an Independent Audit function that continually monitors the performance of assessment providers. At the decision-making stage, we have a multi-tiered Quality Assurance Framework to ensure decisions are legal and payments are accurate.
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_170
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_170

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Office for National Statistics' data entitled The night-time economy, UK: 2022, published on 24 January 2023, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the health and safety of the 76,300 workers in Lambeth identified as working at night. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 all employers have a duty, so far as it is reasonably practicable, to protect the health, safety, and welfare at work of all their employees. Specifically, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess health and safety risks to employees and to put in place arrangements to control those risks. This applies to all employers in Great Britain.

Having considered the impact of shift work on health and safety, Health and Safety Executive has published guidance for employers to support them in managing the risk (Managing shift work [HSG 256]). Therefore, if an employer assesses shift work as a risk they should introduce control measures including those outlined in the guidance.

The Government recognises that night working can increase stress levels and can have an impact on both physical and mental health. In Great Britain, working hours, including working at night, are governed by the Working Time Regulations (WTR). These provide protections to night time workers including by establishing the maximum working hours and minimum rest breaks that workers are entitled to.

Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. The frequency of the health assessment should be guided by an assessment of the specific risks to each individual worker.

A record of the health assessments and the dates when assessments were offered must be kept by the employer. If a worker suffers from health problems that are caused or made worse by night work, employers must offer suitable other work where possible.
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_171
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_171

Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that will not fall into long term economic inactivity due to funding announced in the Spring Statement 2025. \p Alison McGovern: We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_172
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_172

Paul Waugh:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people in receipt of the (a) enhanced and (b) standard PIP who were awarded less than four points in all 10 of the daily living activities in the assessment criteria in Rochdale constituency. \p Sir Stephen Timms: For the volume of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants in Rochdale who scored less than four points in all 10 daily living activities in their most recent assessment by award see Table 1 below.

After the reforms PIP expenditure is forecast to rise from £29 billion this financial year to £35 billion in 2029/30, but would be £4 billion higher without these reforms. After taking account of behavioural changes, OBR predict 370,000 claimants at the point of implementation will be affected by 2029/30, equating to 1 in 10 of the PIP caseload in November 2026.

Table 1: Volume of PIP claimants in Rochdale Parliamentary Constituency who scored less than four points in all 10 daily living activities by award rate (January 2025 caseload)

Daily Living Award Rate

Volume of PIP claimants

Standard

3,300

Enhanced

500

Notes:
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_173
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_173

Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure that pensioners who are earning below £11,400 are able to obtain winter fuel allowance. \p Torsten Bell: Pension Credit provides extra money to help with living costs for people over State Pension age and on a low income. The Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit tops up a person’s other income and also prompts recipients to receive a Winter Fuel Payment to a minimum of £227.10 per week for a single person and £346.60 per week for couples with extra amounts paid in respect of severe disability, caring responsibilities and certain housing costs. We want to ensure as many people as possible who are entitled to this support receive it, which is why the Government has taken action to maximise the take-up of Pension Credit by undertaking the biggest ever awareness campaign. This has included promoting Pension Credit on television, radio, social media as well as directly contacting pensioners who we think could be eligible alongside working with stakeholders and partners.

The latest Pension Credit applications and awards statistics were published on 27 February. Details can be found at: Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK.

The statistics show that the Department received 235,000 Pension Credit applications in the 30 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement – an 81% increase on the comparable period in 2023/24 and made 117,800 new Pension Credit awards – a 64% increase or 45,800 extra awards on the comparable period in 2023/24.
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_174
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_174

Luke Myer:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help improve support for people in former industrial communities who have been diagnosed with (a) mesothelioma and (b) other asbestos-related diseases. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides a range of specific support for people with asbestos-related conditions.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) provides a non-contributory, “no-fault”, weekly benefit for disablement because of an accident at work, or because of one of over 70 prescribed diseases known to be a risk from certain jobs. DWP also provides one-off lump-sum compensation payments under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 (the ‘1979 Act scheme’) to individuals who suffer from one of the dust-related diseases covered by the scheme, subject to the wider eligibility criteria being satisfied. This scheme is designed to cover people who are unable to claim damages from any relevant employers because they have gone out of business.

Asbestos-related diseases covered by IIDB and the 1979 Act scheme include pneumoconiosis (including asbestosis), diffuse mesothelioma, unilateral or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening and asbestos-related primary carcinoma of the lung.

Eligible individuals with diffuse mesothelioma who are not entitled under the 1979 Act scheme, for example those whose exposure was not work-related, may instead be entitled to a one-off lump-sum compensation payment under Part 4 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (“the 2008 Act Scheme”).

The value of weekly IIDB awards were uprated by 1.7 per cent from April this year. Awards under the 1979 and 2008 Act Schemes were also uprated by 1.7 per cent and new rates apply to those who first become entitled to a payment on or after 1 April 2025. The Department recognises the importance of providing support to customers with asbestos-related conditions and we continue to work with stakeholders to identify improvements where possible.
wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_175
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-14 conversation_175

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46071 on Personal Independence Payments: Veterans, whether her Department has invited specific organisations to participate in its Green Paper consultation; and where her Department has advertised that consultation. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As outlined in my answer to Question 46071, we strongly welcome the thoughts of veterans and representative organisations.

The Pathways to Work consultation invites people to share their views on our proposals, and we hope that a wide range of voices will respond before it closes on the 30 June 2025. Our schedule of virtual and in-person public consultation events across the country will further facilitate input and help us to hear from disabled people and stakeholder organisations directly. Full details of how to respond to the consultation and join the events can be found via this link: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK.