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.