Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of welfare changes on the mental health of claimants in (a) South East Cornwall constituency, (b) rural areas and (c) coastal areas.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of employment programmes on rates of poverty resulting from changes to Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) coastal and (b) rural areas are not disproportionately impacted by housing insecurity as a result of welfare policy changes.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is providing £1 billion, including Barnett impact, to extend the Household Support Fund in England and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) in England and Wales in 2025-2026. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or UC who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and DHP funding includes over £1m ring-fenced for the most rural LAs in England and Wales.
Alongside delivering on our Get Britain Working White Paper to support people into good jobs and make everyone better off, we’re increasing the Living Wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit (UC) deductions to help low-income households.
Our reforms will ensure we can always protect people who need it. But, for those that can, we know that work is the best route out of poverty. Many sick and disabled people want to work and have been denied the opportunity. They deserve the same chances and choices to work as everyone else, and our £1 billion employment support package will start to provide that across the country, including in coastal and rural areas.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the capacity of Jobcentre Plus to support claimants in South East Cornwall constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, building on our plan for growth. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out the fundamental reforms needed to realise our ambitions, including the vision to reform Jobcentres - to a new Jobs and Careers Service to meet the needs of local labour markets, people and employers.
Across Great Britain, the new service will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. Central to the new service will be our use of technology, enabling us to reinvest time in supporting people more effectively.
We are starting a test and learn approach to develop the new service. We are currently running two large-scale tests testing reducing the frequency of engagement with customers and the mode of mandatory engagement for Universal Credit claimants that are looking for work or are in lower paid jobs. These will help us to better understand what will work best for the individual.
Residents of Southeast Cornwall are served by Liskeard, Launceston and Devonport Job Centres who are responsible for ensuring residents of Southeast Cornwall can access the Jobcentre offer and a wide range of programmes with partner organisations.
This includes the Work Well Pilot, delivering a range of tailored work and health support, the YEP! Programme (SPF), the People Hub working with people who are unemployed or under employed with a range of training and pre-employability help and the Restart Programme.
Area specific needs are met by a range of Jobcentre and partner bespoke offers, which includes Disability Employer Advisor outreach in GP surgeries, working with refugees in Torpoint and Saltash, and the IPS programme delivering support to those with addiction and Mental Health issues.
Recent Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) have assisted residents of Southeast Cornwall into security, retail and care work.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that welfare changes do not disproportionately impact (a) disabled people and (b) people with mental health conditions in South East Cornwall constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
We are taking steps to make sure that people, across the country, are supported. 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.
We hope that a wide range of voices, including from your constituency, will respond to our consultation and as we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of proposed reforms to the Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The reforms to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) eligibility criteria will be brought forward via Primary Legislation, so that Parliament can fully consider, debate and vote on these changes.
We have and will continue to consider the potential impacts of our reforms, including through engagement with other departments. That is why, for those who are affected by the new PIP eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group. We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.
We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead. We will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the budget for (a) UK REACH and (b) GB CLP for 2025-26; and identify (i) income from fees, charges and other sources and (ii) expenditure including staff costs in the (A) Health and Safety Executive, (B) Environment Agency, (C) Office for Product Safety and Standards and (D) UK Health Security Agency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not publish separate budgets for the UK REACH and GB CLP regulatory regimes. For the financial year 2025-26, the full cost of the planned activity is around (a) £6.1m on UK REACH, of which approximately £2.5m are staff costs and (b) £1m on GB CLP, of which approximately £0.44m are staff costs.
These costs will be met by income from several sources, including fees and charges paid by industry and allocations from government which vary each year depending on the activity being carried out. For UK REACH, fees from industry for 2025-26 are forecast to be £1.53m.
The information requested on budgets and expenditures in relation to different agencies are not held by this department. You may wish to contact the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the Environment Agency, the Department for Business and Trade for Office for Product Safety and Standards, and the Department of Health and Social Care for UK Health Security Agency.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to hold a public consultation ahead of the reapproval process for glyphosate in December 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) acts as competent authority for pesticides under delegated powers from Defra and Devolved Governments. As part of the process for all pesticide active substances being considered for renewal in Great Britain (GB), HSE will hold a public consultation ahead of any renewal decision being made. This is a statutory requirement in GB pesticide legislation.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that lessons are learned from the handling of state pension age changes to prevent similar issues in future decisions.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out to Parliament by the Secretary of State in December we are developing an Action Plan, with input from the Ombudsman, so that lessons are learnt. We will publish the Action Plan in due course.
We are committed to providing clear and sufficient notice of any changes in the State Pension age, so people have the notice they need to plan for their retirement.
The Secretary of State has also tasked officials with developing a strategy for effective, timely and modern communication on the State Pension that uses the most up to date methods. This will build on changes that have already been made, for example the launch of the online ‘Check Your State Pension’ service, which gives a personal forecast of your State Pension including when you can claim it, and how much you can get.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with representatives of the WASPI campaign on support available for women affected by state pension age changes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
My predecessor met with representatives from WASPI Ltd in September 2024, the first Minister to do so for 8 years.