Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will review the maximum value of fixed penalty notices for breach of permit conditions, relating to offences under the New Roads and Street Works Act to provide a stronger deterrent to utilities companies against breach of those conditions.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government is taking decisive action to reduce unnecessary disruption caused by street works by increasing the value of Fixed Penalty Notices. For certain offences, such as undertaking works without a permit, breaching permit conditions, or failing to provide timely notifications of reinstatements or start/stop notices, the penalties will be doubled. This measure is intended to strengthen compliance and ensure that street works are carried out responsibly and with minimal impact to road users and the public.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for attendance allowance are processed each year; and what proportion of those applications do not proceed to assessment.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The number of Attendance Allowance (AA) applications cleared are measured weekly. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

In 2022/23, 415,800 applications were cleared.

In 2023/24, 508,200 applications were cleared.

In 2024/25, 517,200 applications were cleared.

Because of how we capture our operational data, information on if a claim has progressed to assessment is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Special Notes:

The Applications Cleared figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Please note that data is missing for w/c 18^th December 2023 as such the figure for 2023/24 has a small undercount.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of people who pass away before their attendance allowance appeal is concluded.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

For Attendance Allowance Appeals raised in the 2024/25 year, 10 claimants died before their appeal was concluded.

Please note that the figure supplied is derived from unpublished information and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It should therefore be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.

Notes:

Figure has been rounded to the nearest 10

Found: Q76 Adam Thompson: Thank you.

Found: present: Dame Chi Onwurah (Chair); Emily Darlington; Kit Malthouse; Steve Race; Dr Lauren Sullivan; Adam Thompson

Found: 30 (73.3%) Dr Lauren Sullivan (Labour, Gravesham) (added 21 Oct 2024) 24 of 30 (80.0%) Adam Thompson

Found: Emily Darlington; Dr Allison Gardner; Tom Gordon; Kit Malthouse; Steve Race; Dr Lauren Sullivan; Adam Thompson

Found: Emily Darlington; Dr Allison Gardner; Tom Gordon; Kit Malthouse; Steve Race; Dr Lauren Sullivan; Adam Thompson

With MSD cancelling its £1 billion ongoing manufacturing site in Kings Cross, AstraZeneca pausing its £200 million investment in its Cambridge site, and the latter upgrading its US listing, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is launching a call for evidence on UK life sciences competitiveness.