theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of national insurance increases on privately run children's day nurseries. \p Stephen Morgan: It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.

That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, this government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, we plan to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. The department has also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.

On top of this, the department is providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support privately run children's day nurseries with costs. \p Stephen Morgan: It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

Local authority-maintained schools provide education for no charge, so are outside the scope of VAT. Additionally, some other providers are exempt from VAT. The provision of nursery services by a provider registered with Ofsted, as a supply of welfare rather than of education services, is also exempt. Local authority-run schools and nurseries can recover some of their VAT through the Section 33 scheme, which aims to ensure that VAT does not divert locally-collected taxes away from their intended use. Private nurseries, like private schools, cannot recover their VAT. Any change to this approach would come at a cost to the exchequer and any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS and policing. The government therefore has no plans to change the VAT treatment of nurseries. However, all taxes are kept under constant review.

From this year, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25. The early years pupil premium rate has increased by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. We are also providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant and £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in early years.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the provision of paediatric nursing support in SEND educational settings. \p Catherine McKinnell: Individual schools are responsible for decisions about their staffing. Information on the school workforce, including the number of support staff employed by schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Maintained schools have a statutory duty under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to “make arrangements” to meet the health needs of their pupils. Schools must ensure that pupils with medical conditions have full access to education, including school trips and physical education. In doing so, schools must have regard to the 'Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school' statutory guidance, issued by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

Paediatric nurses are commissioned by the NHS. They are considered as part of the ‘NHS Long Term Workforce Plan’, more on which can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-long-term-workforce-plan/. The department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to clarify the responsibilities expected of schools as part of our wider special educational needs and disabilities reforms.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to incorporate road safety education into the national primary school curriculum. \p Catherine McKinnell: Primary and secondary schools are free to teach about road safety as part of their duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and many do so through their personal, social, health and economic education provision, alongside the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) content. Schools can draw on resources available from many providers, including the THINK! Campaign developed by the Department for Transport.

The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum for primary and secondary pupils and is analysing consultation responses, talking to stakeholders and considering relevant evidence before setting out next steps.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many SEN schools have informed her Department that they require additional funding in each of the last five years. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.

Departmental officials regularly meet with representatives of special schools to discuss a wider variety of matters, including funding levels.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with local councils on funding available for school transport services for SEND children. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Slough to the answer of 30 December 2024 to Question 20796.
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David Davis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on responding to the recommendations of the First Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2024-25 on Support for children and young people with special educational needs, HC 353, published on 15 January 2025. \p Catherine McKinnell: An update is publicly available through the Treasury Minutes, published in April 2025, and accessible here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67ed087598b3bac1ec299b5a/Treasury_Minutes_v02_PRINT.pdf.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in attainment levels between boys and girls in schools in Ashfield constituency. \p Catherine McKinnell: All young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from. That is why, through our work to deliver the Opportunity Mission, this government will improve opportunities across the country for all children and young people.

As in previous years, the latest attainment data shows girls continue to do better than boys across all headline measures. However, the gap has narrowed when comparing 2023/24 to 2018/19. The department publishes attainment data by sex on an annual basis in the autumn term, which can be broken down by specific local authorities, including Ashfield. The relevant data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0b85fb67-0628-414c-95b1-08dd85738b16.

High and rising standards across education are at the heart of this mission and are key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for all children and young people, regardless of their gender. As one of the department’s first steps for change, we are committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers. We have also introduced new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams and launched an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review that is looking closely at the key challenges to attainment.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide a remedy to the Teachers' Pension Scheme following the McCloud judgement. \p Catherine McKinnell: Approximately 596,000 members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme require Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) setting out their choices as part of the transitional protection (McCloud) remedy. Of those, approximately 532,000 RSSs were issued by 31 March 2025.

The remaining RSSs for members who retired before the relevant legislation was in place, are those that cannot be automated due to their complexity. The department is continuing to work with the scheme administrator to identify ways to increase capacity to complete this work.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to meet the demand for specialist SEND school places in Nottinghamshire. \p Catherine McKinnell: The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.

We recognise the vital role that special schools play in catering to those with the most complex needs. We also want more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.

The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.

The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

Nottinghamshire Council has been allocated £14 million for the 2025/26 financial year and it is up to the local authority to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise this funding to meet local needs.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure teachers remain political impartiality in secondary schools in Nottinghamshire. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer the hon. Member for Ashfield to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43267.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of paediatric nurses employed in SEND schools in England. \p Catherine McKinnell: As of November 2023, the latest date for which data is available, 73 people were employed in state-funded special schools in England with a role of ‘nurse’. This is an increase from 66 in 2022 and 56 in 2021.

The figures provided are based on staff roles as reported by the school and, as such, ‘nurse’ may not necessarily indicate a qualified specialist community public health nurse.

Information on the school workforce, including the number of support staff employed by schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 22 April 2025 to Questions 41031, 41032, 41033 and 41034, on Free School Meals: Primary Education, whether her Department’s modelling for the breakfast club early adopter scheme assumes an average take up of 50 per cent. \p Stephen Morgan: The department is funding 750 early adopter schools to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes. Schools will receive a combination of set-up, fixed-term and per-pupil payments to cover staffing, delivery and food. Funding rates vary depending on uptake and pupil characteristics.

On average, a school with 50% take-up would receive around £23,000 for a full year. The funding model is designed to ensure that allocations reflect actual take up in early adopter schools.

A key aim of the early adopter programme is to test and learn about take-up across a diverse range of schools, to help inform future national rollout.

The department used existing programmes and cost data to determine the funding rates and methodology, which have been tested and refined with a number of schools. It is designed to ensure schools can meet the minimum expectations, including a 30 minute breakfast club with food that meets the school food standards.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools ban the use of mobile phones by pupils during the school day in Ashfield constituency. \p Stephen Morgan: Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the department’s ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England show that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of school buildings in Ashfield constituency. \p Stephen Morgan: The department supports academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided bodies, who are responsible for managing the safety and maintenance of their estates, with capital funding, rebuilding programmes and guidance on effective estate management.

We recently confirmed details of £2.1 billion of capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to improve the condition of schools, up from the £1.8 billion committed for the 2024/25 financial year. Allocations are partly informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate collected by the department reflecting the relative need of schools.

This is in addition to the continuing school rebuilding programme, which includes Ashfield Comprehensive School and Outwood Academy Kirkby in Ashfield constituency.

The department also provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.

In March 2025, the department announced that Nottinghamshire County Council has been allocated just over £21.7 million to support it to create the mainstream school places needed by September 2028. This is on top of the just over £55 million we have previously allocated to support Nottinghamshire County Council provide the new school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the document entitled List of schools in the breakfast clubs early adopters scheme, last updated 22 April 2025, for what reason the number of schools participating in the breakfast clubs early adopters scheme fell between the first publication of that list and its most recent published update. \p Stephen Morgan: The total number of schools participating in the breakfast clubs early adopters scheme has increased since the initial list was published on 24 February.

From the start of this term, the first 750 free breakfast clubs are opening in towns and cities across the country, supporting nearly 180,000 children with a healthy, nutritious start to their day.

Over 3,000 schools expressed interest in joining the programme, so some movement was always expected as the department confirmed the final list.

The department built in time between the announcement and the start of the scheme in order to work closely with schools, ensure plans were deliverable, and get clubs up and running from the first day of term.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 42805 on Private Education, on what date she last visited a private school. \p Stephen Morgan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education prioritises visits to state schools, which serve 93% of pupils in England. The Secretary of State for Education and the wider Ministerial team visit a wide variety of education settings, including to private schools.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support care leavers to develop (a) skills, (b) confidence and (c) opportunities to (i) find and (ii) maintain employment. \p Janet Daby: Care leavers up to age 25 are entitled to a personal advisor who works with them to develop a pathway plan. This includes advice and guidance to support career aspirations and further education, training or employment.

As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department will require local authorities to provide ‘Staying Close’ support to care leavers, helping them to find and keep safe and stable accommodation, alongside targeted, intensive support around education, training, wellbeing and living independently.

Care leavers who take up an apprenticeship can claim a £3,000 bursary.

We fund the Care Leaver Covenant, an offer of support from private, public or third sector organisations to care leavers. Over 600 organisations have signed the Covenant, offering pre-employment training, job opportunities and practical support.

The cross-government Civil Service Internship Scheme for care leavers has benefitted around 1,000 young people to date.

Care leavers will benefit from our new Youth Guarantee, which will provide tailored support to young people aged 18 to 21 to help them access high-quality education, training and employment opportunities. £45 million has been allocated to test the guarantee in eight locations.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure children in care are not moved during (a) exam periods and (b) other critical periods in their education. \p Janet Daby: The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the ‘Care planning, placement and case review’ guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. This should include the involvement of the local authority’s virtual school head. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the cost of tourism in school holidays. \p Stephen Morgan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education regularly engages with ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including through the government’s Opportunity Mission, where improving school attendance is a key focus. The cost of tourism in school holidays is a significant challenge for families, and we remain committed to tackling the cost of living.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of declining birth rates on (a) the financial sustainability and (b) capacity of nurseries in England; and what steps she is taking to support early years providers impacted by these trends. \p Stephen Morgan: It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

We use the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates (to 2023) and ONS population projections (2022-based ‘principal’ scenario) to inform our internal national level early years funding forecasts. ONS population estimates suggest that the 0 to 4-year-old population in England decreased by 6% in the five years to 2023, driven by falling birth rates. The ONS principal projections assume that fertility rates decrease slightly in the short-term, remain stable in the medium term and increase slightly in the longer term.

These projections are used to ascertain funding and capacity needs and to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025. From this year, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25. The early years pupil premium rate has increased by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. We are also providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant and £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in early years.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the accuracy of her Department’s impact assessment on the decision to remove the winter fuel payment. \p Torsten Bell: In line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty, an Equality Analysis was produced and considered as part of the ministerial decision-making process. This was published on 13 September and is available online: Equality Impact Assessments produced for targeting Winter Fuel Payment - GOV.UK. The Department will continue to monitor outcomes for pensioners.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to communicate with people who did not receive responses to their queries on voluntary National Insurance contributions before 5 April 2025. \p Torsten Bell: The Department is currently calling customers who registered an interest in Voluntary National Insurance Contributions before 5th April, where they may have a gap to fill. Where no further pension enhancement is possible, we may write to customers instead. We are prioritising those customers above or within 12 months of State Pension age.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to process voluntary National Insurance contributions for people who contacted her Department before 5 April 2025. \p Torsten Bell: The Department has doubled the number of people supporting this important activity and is pursuing digital routes to support processing Voluntary National Insurance Contributions.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 5974 on Universal Credit: Children, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of deductions from Universal Credit payments on trends in the level of (a) relative and (b) absolute child poverty. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Estimating the impact of deductions on trends in poverty is complex as stopping deductions would result in a build-up of arrears of the range of debts a customer has and stop vital obligations such as child maintenance being paid.

The government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK. As announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget, a new Fair Repayment Rate has now been introduced from 30 April 2025, reducing the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million of the poorest households benefit by an average of £420 a year.
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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of freezing Local Housing Allowance on future levels of homelessness. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex; they interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) on homelessness are considered.

This included consideration in last year’s Autumn Budget not to increase LHA rates for 2025/26. Rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context were all considered. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25 and approximately £7bn over 5 years.

We continue to work across Government on the development of the Homelessness and Rough-sleeping strategy. Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the fiscal context.

For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs 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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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, if she will take steps to prevent people with (a) lifelong and severely disabling illnesses and (b) Myalgic Encephalomyelitis from having to undergo repeated reassessments. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Our wide-ranging package of reforms to health and disability benefits, set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will improve experiences of the system for those who need it. The functional impact and severity of a condition can significantly vary across individuals, so we are not planning to exempt specific conditions, but we are planning to reduce reassessments for those with the most severe conditions.

We aim to guarantee that for both new and existing Universal Credit claims, those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will not need to be reassessed in the future. Our plans to improve experiences of Personal Independence Payment also include reducing assessments for this group. We are exploring ways we could use evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for some people with very severe health conditions and disabilities to undergo a full PIP functional assessment.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the Child Maintenance Service being used in coercive and controlling behaviour by abusive ex-partners (a) by malicious reporting to the (i) police and (ii) social services and (b) in general. \p Andrew Western: The Child Maintenance Service is committed to ensuring that it delivers a safe service that is sensitive to the needs of all the parents that use its service. We recognise that some parents may face difficult circumstances, particularly at a time of separation.

All caseworkers receive extensive training and follow a well-managed process with clear steps to support vulnerable clients, including those facing domestic abuse. However, the department has no jurisdiction relating to Police or Social Services investigations.

The CMS has access to a list of resources which helps caseworkers provide signposting to supporting organisations, which is regularly reviewed and strengthened on the basis of customer insight.

A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster and explore how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. This goes further than the proposal in the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act which received royal assent in July 2023.

This proposal would also reduce the ability for perpetrators of domestic abuse to inflict economic control and coercion through withholding child maintenance payments. The consultation closed on 30 September 2024, and the Government will publish a response in due course.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Public Law Project report entitled From pillar to post: barriers to dealing with deductions from Universal Credit, published on 19 September 2024, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of (a) waivers, (b) suspensions, (c) reductions in the rate of recovery and (d) other forms of discretionary relief from overpayment recovery. \p Andrew Western: DWP strives to set affordable and sustainable repayment plans and encourages customers to make contact if they are unable to afford the proposed repayment rate. When a customer makes contact because they are experiencing financial hardship, the rate of repayment can be reduced or, depending on the customer’s financial circumstances, a temporary suspension of repayment can be agreed. In exceptional circumstances a waiver can be considered. Customers are never pressured to pay more than they can afford. DWP has strengthened customer notifications encouraging anyone who cannot afford the proposed rate of repayment to contact the Department to discuss an affordable repayment plan. All appropriate debt notifications also provide signposting to relevant external support.

DWP has also introduced the new Fair Repayment Rate (FRR) which has reduced the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance. This measure will help customers retain more of their UC award.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing the collection charge for receiving parents using the Child Maintenance Service’s Collect and Pay service. \p Andrew Western: A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included:

The consultation was extended by this Government at the end of July and ran until 30 September 2024. We are currently analysing the responses we have received, and the Government plan to publish the response in the summer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance rates until 2026. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are reviewed annually, usually at an Autumn fiscal event.

At last year’s Autumn Budget, the decision to maintain LHA at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024 and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.

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

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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John McDonnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed disability benefit changes on the length of NHS waiting lists. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This Government has already started to bring about change to address health-related economic inactivity. We are injecting almost £26 billion of extra funding next year to get the health and social care system back on its feet and bring down waiting lists.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans to reform the health and disability and employment support system. As we bring forward changes, we will ensure that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people everywhere are protected, so that they can live with dignity and security.

For those affected by the changes to PIP eligibility, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. For new claimants on the Universal Credit health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected.

As we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Andrew Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the average time taken to process claims for transport support through the Access to Work scheme; and what steps she is taking to reduce that time. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. Access to Work does not differentiate between applications. Applications are processed in date order except for applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing, these are prioritised.

We are continuing to streamline delivery practices and have increased the number of staff processing claims. Since May 2024, 118 additional staff have been redeployed to support Access to Work.

In March 2025, DWP published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to consult on the future of Access to Work. Alongside this, we are considering further changes within the existing policy framework to reduce the backlog of applications.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of chiropractors in supporting people in Rushcliffe constituency to return to work. \p Alison McGovern: Whilst no assessment has been made on the potential merits of chiropractors in supporting people in Rushcliffe constituency to return to work, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire & Rutland District offers a range of employment support interventions for individuals experiencing health issues. This includes support from Disability Employment Advisors who offer a Direct Support appointment service, looking into removing barriers, identifying any reasonable adjustments and delivering individually tailored support, including in-work support.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are claiming Carers Allowance to care for someone claiming (a) PIP and (b) other benefits in each region. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As of August 2024, the number of individuals claiming Carer’s Allowance to care for someone in Wales and the regions of England is detailed in the table below. The data is categorised by Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and other benefits, which include Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).

PIP

Other benefits

North East

49,613

33,816

North West

103,770

79,691

Yorkshire and the Humber

77,813

57,633

East Midlands

58,508

46,019

West Midlands

80,861

61,782

East of England

54,677

55,146

London

75,577

68,676

South East

66,769

73,950

South West

47,855

45,875

Wales

50,648

34,350
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are claiming Carers Allowance, by main disabling condition of the person they care for in each region. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment have a member of their household in receipt of Carer's Allowance. \p Sir Stephen Timms: According to the Family Resource Survey (FRS), in England & Wales during the 2023-2024 financial year, the proportion of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who have someone in their household claiming Carer’s Allowance (CA) is estimated to be around 18%. These figures are derived from the FRS household dataset on Stat-Xplore.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Education on the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund on the number of people entering employment. \p Alison McGovern: Adult Skills Funding (ASF) supports people with access to local skills training and provision, helping remove skills barriers to work, which in turn both secures and helps people progress in work. Work Coaches are able to help people access a broad range of local skills provision funded via the Adult Skills funding including; Skills Bootcamps, vocational and essential English, maths, digital skills training, ESOL, as well as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). Jobcentres also work closely with local stakeholders.

The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with the Department for Education given our collective ambition to better align delivery of skills and employment support with both individual need and national and local labour market demand.

As the majority of ASF is devolved to strategic authorities they are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Alison Bennett:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households receive multiple PIP awards. \p Sir Stephen Timms: 9% of households claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in 2023-2024, with 10% of these households claiming multiple awards.

Notes:
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay and (b) Maternity Allowance. \p Andrew Western: Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments.

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. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Chapter 9 of the final stage impact assessment entitled Improve access to Statutory Sick Pay by removing the Lower Earnings Limit and removing the waiting period, if she will make it her policy publish an assessment of the impact of that policy on behaviour in each of the first five years after it is implemented. \p Alison McGovern: The Government intends to conduct a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Employment Rights Bill within five years of implementation. The impact of the measures to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay will be monitored, including how Statutory Sick Pay is used by employers and how effectively it supports employees.