theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_241

Darren Paffey:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to (a) support a repair and reuse economy and (b) prioritise waste reduction measures; and whether his Department plans to help reduce advertising of disposable products. \p Mary Creagh: This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will map our transition to a circular economy, supported by a series of roadmaps that detail the interventions that the Government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.

Defra recognises that reuse and repair are fundamental tenets of any circular economy, and a successful transition aims to eliminate waste and promote sustainability through reuse and resource efficiency. We will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy as we develop the Strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Health and Safety Executive on the provision of waste disposal bins in male toilets for people experiencing incontinence due to (a) prostate cancer treatment and (b) other medical conditions. \p Mary Creagh: Officials are working across the Government to deal with this important issue. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reviewing the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 regarding provision of disposal facilities in workplace toilets. This work is included within the Government’s wider plans under Make Work Pay, and HSE will hold appropriate consultation in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2025 to Question 32541 on the Chalk Stream Recovery Plan, whether any of the chalk stream projects in receipt of funding from the Government's Water Environment Improvement Fund in the 2024-25 financial year are located in the Newbury constituency. \p Emma Hardy: This financial year, there are over 45 chalk stream projects receiving funding from the Government's Water Environment Improvement Fund, each leveraging private investment and delivering on our commitment to ensure clean water for the future.

The River Shalbourne is a chalk stream within the Newbury constituency. In 2024/25 £80,000 of WEIF Capital funding was granted to Action for the River Kennet to deliver the River Shalbourne River and Floodplain Restoration project. This project restored a section of the river to more natural conditions by ‘remeandering’ (creating bends in the river) and reconnecting the river to the floodplain. These new wetlands will provide benefits including increased water storage, drought resilience and reduction of sediment and nutrient run-off. This work has addressed pressures which will support WFD (Water Framework Directive) element improvements (currently at Moderate WFD status).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take with (a) the Environment Agency and (b) Ofwat to ensure water companies comply with the terms of their permits. \p Emma Hardy: The Environment Agency's (EA) annual water company inspections have intensified, with 4,000 planned for the end of March 2025 already completed, and a further 10,000 inspections in 2025/26. The evidence they gather will inform future annual performance assessments, investment plans and proactive enforcement action.

The Water Special Measure Act will enable the EA to build on its biggest ever transformation in the way it regulates the water industry, enabling them to uncover more non-compliance and ultimately drive better performance. The Act will enable them to take action faster and with more impact.

Ofwat does not have a role in monitoring or enforcing individual environmental permits, that is a matter for the EA. Ofwat may have a role if a water company is breaching legal obligations that Ofwat is responsible for enforcing.

Ofwat has an on-going enforcement action against wastewater companies relating to compliance with wastewater obligations that Ofwat is responsible for enforcing, details of which can be found online: Investigation into sewage treatment works and sewerage networks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Amanda Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to help protect communities that are vulnerable to flooding. \p Emma Hardy: As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, a record £2.65 billion will be invested over two years in building, maintaining and repairing flood defences, better protecting 52,000 properties by March 2026. Around 1,000 projects will receive funding in 24/25 and 25/26.

An additional £50 million has been allocated to internal drainage boards for flood resilience in rural areas, while £60 million has been distributed to farmers affected by severe weather.

From the investment programme, £108 million is being redirected for the maintenance and repair of flood assets, including £36 million for repairs following recent storms.

The Government inherited an outdated funding formula for allocating money to proposed flood defences. The existing formula slows down the delivery of new flood schemes through a complex application process, and also neglects more innovative approaches to flood management such as nature-based approaches and sustainable drainage

A consultation will be launched in the coming months which will include a review of the existing formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection.

Additionally, in September 2024, the Government established the Floods Resilience Taskforce to improve preparedness and coordination across national, regional, and local levels.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Animal Welfare Committee Opinions on specialised dog reproductive practices and cat breeding practices, published on 19 December 2024, whether his Department is planning to take steps to tackle the health and welfare issues caused by the breeding for extreme conformations of (a) dogs and (b) cats. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinions on the welfare implications of specialised canine reproductive practices and on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations in both Opinions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh government on the provision of support for the cost of water supplied by Dŵr Cymru for the Monmouth and Brecon canal. \p Emma Hardy: Water abstraction licensing in Wales, and conditions that may be attached to licences, are a devolved matter for Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Government. Defra and the Environment Agency do not have a role in that. Issues of concern about the supply of water for the Monmouth and Brecon Canal are an operational matter for the Canal and River Trust, as the independent charity owning the canal, to resolve with Natural Resources Wales.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Jas Athwal:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with local authorities to help tackle fly-tipping. \p Mary Creagh: Fly-tipping is a serious crime which blights local communities and the environment.

Local authorities have enforcement powers to help them tackle fly-tipping, including fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, and prosecution action which can lead to significant fine or even imprisonment. We encourage councils to make good use of their fly-tipping enforcement powers and we are also taking steps so that we may develop further guidance to support local authorities to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers.

We committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment, and other actions to tackle fly-tipping, in due course.

In the meantime, Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage which is available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group#.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of all (a) ancient and (b) veteran trees included in the Ancient Woodland inventory. \p Mary Creagh: The Ancient Woodland inventory (AWI) identifies the location of ancient woodland sites and does not map individual ancient and veteran trees therein or outside of ancient woodlands. The Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI) is hosted and managed by the Woodland Trust and records the number and location of ancient and veteran trees. It currently has 190,000 trees mapped for the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Navendu Mishra:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of vegetable oils not included in the due diligence regulations under Schedule 17 of the Environment Act 2021 on deforestation and whether he plans to extend due diligence obligations to cover these oils. \p Mary Creagh: The Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption Indicator, funded by Defra, estimates that UK-linked deforestation driven by soy and palm oil was 7-9 times and 15-20 times greater respectively than deforestation linked to sunflower and rapeseed oil in 2022.

We recognise the need to take action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation and we will set out our approach to addressing this in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of limiting protections within designated (a) Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and (b) National Parks on the tourism sector. \p Mary Creagh: This Government is committed to retaining the existing protections in national planning policy for National Parks, National Landscapes and The Broads (Protected Landscapes). We have committed to supporting our Protected Landscapes to become greener, wilder and more accessible for all. In delivering on this commitment we will consider impacts on all sectors, including tourism, businesses and communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of sewage discharges at (a) Charmouth West Stream and (b) Lyme Regis Church Cliff beach on (i) public health (ii) local businesses and (iii) marine ecology. \p Emma Hardy: For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

It is the responsibility of water companies to invest in infrastructure and other improvements to reduce untreated wastewater pollution incidents. The Price Review 24 programme, which runs from 2025-2030, will see Wessex Water investing £580 million to reduce the use of storm overflows. This investment includes the following actions to protect the River Lim and Church Cliff bathing water in Lyme Regis:

There are no improvements identified in the Price Review 24 programme specifically for the West Stream in Charmouth.

The Environment Agency (EA) is not currently pursuing any enforcement action in the Charmouth Lyme Regis area. However, water company assets in the Char and Lim catchments may be inspected as part of the EA’s new water industry regulation inspection programme. The EA will continue to monitor all this work to ensure the quality of the River Lim and Church Cliff beach further improves.

Full details of the storm water overflows in the area are available here and information on Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach is available here.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on developing a food strategy that addresses both (a) public health and health inequalities and (b) affordability. \p Daniel Zeichner: Our ambitious food strategy will set and deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, and in doing so will consider elements of the food system that can contribute towards those outcomes.

In developing the strategy, we are establishing a new way of working with the sector and building on strong partnerships across the food system to pool our expertise, influence and effort and develop collective commitments, backed by a clear vision and framework for change from the Government, to improve the outcomes the food system delivers. We will provide details of process, engagement and milestones in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Andrew Pakes:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of educational access visits to farms over the last five years; and what plans he has to support educational visits to farms in future. \p Daniel Zeichner: Educational access features as part of the wider Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes and we are developing it further as a new 3-year capital item; we expect this to be available later in 2025. It will be a stand-alone capital item, though applicants must have an agri-environment or woodland agreement with management actions for this capital item. In countryside stewardship, currently eligible visitor groups are school age children and care farming groups only, but in the new educational access capital item, more diverse groups of people will be able to visit and benefit from an educational experience on farms and woodland across England.

The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL) provides grant funding for farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies in England to deliver projects achieving positive outcomes for climate, nature, people, and place. Between July 2021 and March 2024, the programme delivered over 3,400 educational access visits and engaged over 600 schools to create more opportunities for diverse audiences to explore, enjoy and understand farming in these unique landscapes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on establishing a chemicals strategy; and whether this strategy will help phase out animal testing. \p Emma Hardy: Delivery of a Chemicals Strategy was a commitment set by the previous Government. This commitment is being considered as part of the Government’s revision of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

Beyond delivery of a Chemicals Strategy, the Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. The Labour Manifesto includes a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal, and will likely take many years of scientific and technical advancement and validation to reach this point.

Our current approach is to support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), and to ensure that the UK has a robust regulatory system for licensing animal studies and enforcing legal standards.

In line with the Government’s Manifesto commitment, we are currently engaging with partners from sectors with interests in animal science and on a cross-Government level as to how we will take this commitment forward, including the publishing of a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. We expect to publish this strategy later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislation to prohibit the slaughter of animals without being stunned for Halal meat. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. There are no plans to bring forward legislation to prohibit the slaughter of animals without prior stunning when slaughtered in accordance with religious rites.

Existing legislation sets out the main requirements to protect the welfare of animals when being slaughtered and there are additional rules that apply when animals are slaughtered by either the Jewish or Muslim method without prior stunning to ensure that animals are spared avoidable pain, suffering, or distress during the slaughter process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her international counterparts on raising animal welfare standards within (a) zoos and (b) aquariums internationally. \p Daniel Zeichner: While the UK has a wider programme of international engagement on animal welfare, there have been no recent discussions with international counterparts on raising animal welfare standards within zoos or aquariums specifically.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of raising the standard rate of Universal Credit on the number of people claiming incapacity benefits. \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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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of applying conditionality to disabled people in receipt of Universal Credit who are exempt from conditionality. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Currently, customers with disabilities receiving UC may have to meet certain requirements in return for the benefit they receive. Those with the most severe health conditions and disabilities however are not subject to conditionality requirements.

Today the Government has published a green paper which sets out a new guaranteed offer of high-quality tailored support and a new baseline expectation of engagement for those with health conditions and disabilities and seeks views on which individuals or groups of individuals should be exempt from requirements to engage with this.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) number of PIP recipients and (b) average PIP award amount received each month is in each (i) local authority area and (ii) constituency in Wales for the most recent period for which data is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be found on Stat Xplore. The requested data can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset. You can use the ‘Month’ filter to select the latest data available. You can filter by Local Authority and Constituency in Wales by using the ‘Geography’ filter to select either ‘National – Regional – LA – OAs’ or ‘Westminister Parliamentary Constituency 2024’ and to select Wales you will need to filter by ‘DWP policy ownership’ and then select ‘England and Wales’ and then ‘Wales’.

To look at the average award amounts, you can use the ‘Measures’ filter to select ‘Financial Award’ to get the award amount received.

You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the population of (a) Wales, (b) England and (c) the UK received (i) PIP, (ii) Disability Living Allowance, (iii) Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity and (iv) attendance allowance in the most recent period for which data is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Table 1 below contains the proportion of the population of England and Wales receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).

Table 1: The percentage of the population of England and Wales receiving the different disability benefits

England

Wales

PIP

5%

8%

DLA

2%

2%

LCWRA

2%

3%

AA

2%

3%

The Department for Work and Pensions only administers PIP in England and Wales and is therefore unable to provide figures for the UK. In Scotland, Adult Disability Payment (ADP) has replaced PIP from summer 2022 and in Northern Ireland, PIP is administered by the Department for Communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure advice sector staff receive adequate training to deal with potential changes to the welfare budget. \p Sir Stephen Timms: DWP is not responsible for funding the welfare advice sector which receives funding from a range of sources.

DWP does fund Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver Help to Claim which provides support to people to make a new claim to Universal Credit. DWP provides Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland. DWP constantly reviews the funding for Help to Claim and has increased Help to Claim funding to meet forecast additional demand from people in receipt of Employment Support Allowance who are being invited to move to Universal Credit. The funding includes money to train staff to deliver Help to Claim.

DWP publishes benefit guidance in the House of Commons library so that it is available to individuals and organisations, and it can be used to develop appropriate training.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the target timeframe is for completing investigations into estates of deceased individuals where benefits may need to be recovered following the grant of probate; and what measures are in place to prevent prolonged delays. \p Andrew Western: There is no target timeframe for completing investigations into estates of deceased individuals, some cases are more complex than others and take time to conclude. The Recovery from Estates (RFE) team within Debt Management contacts executors to provide historic financial information in order to carry out posthumous reviews of benefit entitlement. This often takes time to progress, which can extend the customer journey.

There has been an increase in the number of DWP RFE cases which has impacted on the length of time to respond to customers. More staff have been trained to deal with the increase in cases and delays to customer responses are being reduced. We are also reviewing our current processes to identify any further improvements to continue to reduce the time to process RFE cases.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP recipients in (a) Wales, (b) England and (c) the UK live in post-industrial areas. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Data on the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients in each region broken down by areas can be found on Stat-Xplore. There is no official definition of post-industrial areas for use in official statistics. This recent article published by the House of Lords Library references academic research which has produced a working definition of former industrial areas, which may be of use.

The PIP recipients in (a) Wales and (b) England can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset. Figures for England and Wales can be broken down by Census Output Area 2011 to the Local Authority level using the categories under ‘DWP policy ownership’ within the ‘National - Regional - LA – OAs' variable.

You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user, and if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

The Department for Work and Pensions only administers PIP in England and Wales and is therefore unable to provide figures for (c) the UK. In Scotland, Adult Disability Payment (ADP) has replaced PIP from summer 2022 and in Northern Ireland, PIP is administered by the Department for Communities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is for an appeal against a decision following an application for Universal Credit childcare support; and what steps her Department is taking to expedite cases in which the time taken to appeal those decisions is causing financial hardship for families. \p Sir Stephen Timms: DWP is not solely responsible for the wait time. Appeals are lodged by claimants with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), which the claimant may take up to 13 months to do. DWP have 28 days to respond to the appeal when notified by HMCTS, after which, the time taken to list the appeal is dependent on HMCTS, who administer tribunal hearings.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of dispensing PIP payments on a weekly basis. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Payments of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are made every four weeks in arrears, other than SREL (Special Rules, End of Life) cases, which are paid weekly in advance.   These are set out in legislation.
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Jas Athwal:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve access to pension information and (b) introduce the Pension Dashboards Scheme. \p Torsten Bell: The Government ensures everyone has access to free impartial pension guidance through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). Their MoneyHelper service provides guidance to the public on all areas of UK pensions. In September 2024, MaPS launched a new digital service to give individuals more choice on how to access guidance from Pension Wise, which is part of MoneyHelper.

Pensions dashboards will improve access to pensions information by allowing people to view information about their pensions, including the State Pension, securely and in one place online. This will help promote greater engagement with pensions information, empowering people to better prepare for retirement. MaPS oversees the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) which is responsible for designing and implementing the digital architecture that will make pensions dashboards work.

The PDP continues to test the connection journeys with around 20 volunteer participants. This activity will help support the connection of pension schemes and providers to the dashboards digital architecture from the end of April 2025, in line with the published timetable. The connection of schemes and providers in line with the dates in guidance will enable MaPS and the PDP to undertake user testing, in turn helping to inform the launch of dashboard services at the earliest possible point. Further information on dashboards delivery progress is set out in the update report, published biannually on the PDP’s website: www.pensionsdashboardsprogramme.org.uk/progress-update-report.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the financial impact of the Access to Work scheme to the UK economy. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department has not made an estimate of the financial impact of the Access to Work scheme to the UK economy and currently does not have plans to do so. It’s impact is important, however, in enabling people to work who would not otherwise be able to do so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff their Department has seconded from Hakluyt since July 2024. \p Andrew Western: Secondments is one way of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and has been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and data is held at Business Unit Level.

There have been no staff seconded into DWP from Hakluyt since July 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that women on maternity leave are not subject to discrepancies in their pension employer contributions. \p Torsten Bell: The Government is committed to raising labour standards and protecting workers' rights.

Employer compliance with Automatic Enrolment is high with over 2.4 million employers complying with their duties to date. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has a statutory objective to maximise and enforce employer compliance with Automatic Enrolment.

Some employers can make common errors in relation to Automatic Enrolment by missing important steps in respect of calculating pensions contributions and communications to staff. These errors can include miscalculating contributions for staff receiving maternity pay. DWP does not hold data on how many women have been affected by any specific error.

TPR provides guidance and engages with employers, pension schemes and advisory bodies to raise awareness of common errors and maximise employer compliance. Where the Regulator is made aware of an error or discovers one in its regular on-site visits and data monitoring, it will work with the employer where possible to notify them of their error and how to correct it. Pension scheme managers and trustees also have a responsibility to ensure the correct management of schemes including monitoring the payment of accurate and timely contributions. Where employees themselves identify errors, they can raise these with their employer in the first instance and should they need to, they can report issues and seek resolution by contacting The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) or The Pensions Regulator.

Individuals can find guidance on pension entitlements during maternity and paternity leave via the Money Helper website Maternity and paternity leave and your pension | MoneyHelper

We would encourage any women who find discrepancies in their employer pensions contributions to alert their employer, and TPR or TPO if necessary, so that they can receive the pension contributions they are entitled to. MoneyHelper also provides further information as to what to do if you think your employer is failing to pay into your pension correctly: Help if your employer fails to pay into your pension | MoneyHelper
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_271

Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of her Department's officials have been seconded from (a) the Institute for Economic Affairs, (b) the Policy Exchange, (c) the Adam Smith Institute and (d) Labour Together since July 2024. \p Andrew Western: There have been no inward secondments from (a) the Institute for Economic Affairs, (b) the Policy Exchange, (c) the Adam Smith Institute or (d) Labour Together to the Department for Work and Pensions since July 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_272

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the removal of the additional Limited Capability for Work payment in 2017 on the likelihood of claimants applying for the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity payment. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The removal of the Work-Related Activity Component in the 2017 change made the financial distinction between those found to have Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and those with Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity (LCWRA) sharper.

The Department has not made an assessment of whether this led to rising LCWRA claims. Although, in their “Welfare trends” report for October 2024, the Office for Budget Responsibility did mention this issue. Specifically, the OBR noted an increase of people’s claims to incapacity benefits being approved from 2018-19 to 2022-23, nearly entirely in the more severe incapacity group. They say that this might be in part explained by the reduced generosity of the 2017 policy for the less severe incapacity group creating higher incentives to be placed in the more severe group, as well as a reflection in claimants having more serious health conditions than in the past.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_273

Jon Trickett:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of their Department's officials have been seconded from (a) the Institute for Economic Affairs, (b) the Policy Exchange, (c) the Adam Smith Institute and (d) Labour Together since July 2024. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Information about secondments in the Ministry of Justice is not held in a central location and therefore we are not able to report on the number of employees seconded from the Institute for Economic Affairs, Policy Exchange, Adam Smith Institute or Labour Together since July 2024.

All Civil Servants are subject to a Loans and Secondments policy and the provisions of the Official Secrets Act. HR policies outline the Department’s stance on political activity, with declaration requirements varying by grade. All Civil Servants are expected to abide by rules governing political activities and to avoid situations that lead to conflicts of interest, such as the non-disclosure of sensitive information.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_274

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to work with faith groups to support victims of violent crime. \p Alex Davies-Jones: All forms of violent crime, including religiously aggravated violent crime, are completely unacceptable, which is why the Government is committed to making sure that victims of these crimes are properly supported, and this Department continues to engage with faith groups.

Under the Victims’ Code (the Code), all victims are entitled to be referred to support services when they report a crime. However, the Code also explicitly acknowledges that victims of hate crime are more likely to require specialised assistance, and this means they are entitled to enhanced support under the Code.

The Ministry of Justice also provides funding for victim and witness support services, to help victims cope and recover from the impact of crime, through a mix of local and nationally commissioned services. At a national level, the Department provides Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types.

More broadly, the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat racially and religiously motivated hatred. The Government is working with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_275

Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 29896 on Sexual Offences: Crown Court, whether she plans to engage with victims and survivors in the evaluation of the pilot scheme. \p Sarah Sackman: Since May 2024, the Ministry of Justice has been running a one-year pilot to enable victims of rape and sexual offences, whose cases were heard at the Crown Court, to request a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks free of charge.

An assessment of the pilot is underway. This includes collecting applicant survey feedback, shared by victims or by those applying on their behalf. The results of the assessment will be published, and presented at victims’ sector groups, after the pilot has ended in May 2025. In this way victims’ voices will be at the heart of the pilot’s evaluation and any consequent decisions.

Surveys were sent to applicants, who gave consent to being contacted for survey purposes, asking for their views, and this information will inform the final assessment of the pilot.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_276

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the annual cost of imprisonment due to cannabis-related offences. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: As at 31 December 2024, the number of prisoners with cannabis-related offences recorded as their main offence was 1,073. This figure only includes cases where a cannabis offence (offence which directly involves and specifies cannabis) was recorded as the main offence and will cover prisoners held for varying lengths depending on their sentence.

The overall average annual cost for keeping an individual in a prison is £51,108, which is taken from the latest published Prison Unit Cost statistics for 2022-23.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_277

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to support pregnant women in prison. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: There are now dedicated Pregnancy and Mother and Baby Liaison Officers in all women’s prisons, as well as mandatory multidisciplinary care planning for pregnant women. We have introduced additional training for prison staff on the care of pregnant women, and are piloting the introduction of social workers in women’s prisons to support pregnant women and mothers.

The Lord Chancellor has launched the Women’s Justice Board to address the distinctive needs of women in the criminal justice system, with the aim of reducing the number of women in prison. While there will always be some women, including some who are pregnant, who need to be in custody, we must ensure they are given the best possible chance to address the causes of their offending, so that they are able to contribute positively to society.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_278

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme allows anyone to request that Law Officers consider referring certain serious sentences to the Court of Appeal if they believe the sentences are unduly lenient.

Between 2019 and 2024, the number of sentences reviewed by the Law Officers have increased. In 2019, the Law Officers reviewed 577 requests, increasing to 831 in 2024, with a steady referral rate to the Court of Appeal. These increases are likely due to both greater awareness of the scheme and the expansion of offences covered by it.

The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of the laws governing criminal appeals. Last month, they launched a public consultation which invites views on a range of reforms to the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme. The consultation is open to all and runs until 30 May: Criminal Appeals Consultation Paper - Law Commission.

The Government will carefully consider the recommendations made in the Law Commission final report in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_279

Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department consulted on the contents the suicide prevention training provided to prison and probation staff. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: All new members of prison staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention, and all staff who undertake key roles relating to risk assessment and case management also receive specific training relating to those roles. An e-learning module has also recently been made available for all staff to access on postvention support following a self-inflicted death in custody. These products have been developed by the HM Prison and Probation Service learning design team in conjunction with policy leads and subject matter experts. They include material developed in partnership with Samaritans, and consultation on elements of the content has taken place with healthcare and other partners and the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody.

There are two suicide prevention learning packages for probation staff: a Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) package for all staff, and a package aimed at new entrant Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and Probation Service Officers (PSOs) which was developed internally as part of a broader introduction to mental health. The former was developed externally by the ZSA (a suicide awareness and prevention initiative funded via Mersey Cares NHS Charity) in conjunction with HMPPS subject matter experts, and the latter builds upon this and tailors it to the needs of new entrants.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-18)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-18 conversation_280

Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel entitled Protecting Children and Responding the Child Sexual Abuse within the Family Environment, published in November 2024, what steps she is taking in the context of the findings of that report on child sexual abuse in private family law proceedings. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Child sexual abuse is among the most vile and damaging of crimes, which is why at the King’s Speech we committed to restricting parental responsibility for perpetrators sentenced for child sex offences. The Government is focused on delivering meaningful change for victims impacted by these horrendous crimes, including within the Family Court.

The Panel’s report highlighted specific recommendations for the President of the Family Division and Cafcass to consider in relation to the Family Court and the Government will respond fully to the Panel’s report and its recommendations in due course.