Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the Apple Hearing Aid feature is not currently permitted in the UK although it is allowed in many other countries.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We published guidance on the 16 January 2025 to clarify the regulatory position and set out case studies on the sale of hearing aids to support people to access innovative devices.
Apple have publicly stated that they intend to launch the hearing aid functionality in the United Kingdom within weeks.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pensioner households were in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment in 2024; and how this compares with the figure for 2023.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For Winter 2023 to 2024, the number of households paid a Winter Fuel Payment was 8.5 million. For further details, please visit Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.
The number of households in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment for Winter 2024 to 2025 is not yet available. Official Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2024 to 2025 are expected to be released by the end of 2025.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many outstanding claims for Pension Credit there were at the end of 2024.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Outstanding Pension Credit claims totalled 92,400 at the end of week commencing 23rd December 2024. This includes 8,500 advanced claims. Advanced claims are where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age. We do not hold this information at regional level.
Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to raise awareness among small and medium-sized enterprises of the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and of the benefits of membership, including by reference to the size and growth of the CPTPP market.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has an extensive programme of engagement to raise awareness of CPTPP, an agreement comprising over 500 million people and a combined GDP of £12 trillion in 2023, when including the UK, among small and medium-sized enterprises.
We aim to reach as many businesses as possible to ensure they have the knowledge needed to take advantage of the commercial opportunities afforded to them in CPTPP markets. This includes running over 60 webinars, workshops, roundtables and events for, and often in partnership with, UK businesses.
The Department has also published 70+ practical CPTPP guides on great.gov.uk, aimed at supporting SMEs.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to establish a unit within the Civil Service dedicated to promoting trade with parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the CPTPP as a bloc.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has a dedicated team focused on the implementation of the CPTPP Agreement now it has entered into force. They work closely with the Free Trade Agreement Utilisation (FTAU) team who exist to promote the benefits of the UK’s FTAs. To coincide with entry into force of CPTPP, the department published 70+ new guides for exporters on great.gov.uk. There is an ambitious programme of business engagement on CPTPP which included over 50 DBT-led events across October and November. Following entry into force, FTAU will continue to deliver practical support in utilising the agreement, including through workshops and webinars.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote trade with Japan, as a fellow member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade has an active programme of FTA Utilisation to promote the benefits of the UK’s Free Trade Agreements with Japan, including CPTPP and the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This includes running Export Academy webinars on our FTAs, training sessions for UK business delegations visiting Japan, podcasts on our FTAs with Japan, and an ambitious programme of business engagement on CPTPP which included over 50 DBT-led events across October and November. On the 15th December, the department published 11 new CPTPP guides with Japan-specific content on great.gov.uk, designed to support UK exporters.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many claims for Pension Credit were made between the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 July (HC Deb, col 1038) of the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment to 30 November inclusive; and how this compares with claims in the same period in 2023.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 28 November we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK, which is the nearest available data to the 30 November.
Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of applications for Pension Credit have not been settled within the 50 working day timescale in the latest period for which data are available; what steps they are taking to accelerate the processing time of such applications; and what plans they have, if any, to mitigate the effects of processing delays.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts on 22nd July 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024-html). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%, which meant 22.3% were not settled within the 10-week timescale.
We are deploying around 500 additional staff to manage the increase in volumes.
Please note, if a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the resources available to settle Pension Credit claims within the 50 working day timescale.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts on 22nd July 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024-html). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%, which meant 22.3% were not settled within the 10-week timescale.
We are deploying around 500 additional staff to manage the increase in volumes.
Please note, if a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
Asked by: Lord Booth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) review, and (2) revise, legislation relating to mobile and park homes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Question UIN 1177 on 31 July 2024.