Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to co-produce reforms to the welfare system with (a) disabled people and (b) their carers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to representative organisations that support them. That is why we opened a public consultation that ran until 30 June 2025, for a full 12 weeks after a full suite of accessible versions were published on 7 April.
The consultation welcomed all views, especially those of disabled people, as well as carers, who provide essential support for people with long-term health conditions and disabilities. We held a programme of in-person and virtual consultation events across the country, to hear from people directly.
We continue to facilitate other ways to meaningfully involve disabled people and their perspectives in our reforms, including through collaboration committees, the PIP assessment review and the Disability Advisory Panel.
We are setting up Collaboration Committees announced in the Green Paper, which will help to further develop our welfare reforms. These will involve bringing together groups of disabled people and other experts for specific work areas to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.
Throughout the PIP assessment review, we are working closely with disabled people and organisations that support them to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment, and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.
The Disability Advisory Panel, which we announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, will be a strategic advisory panel consisting of disabled people and individuals with long-term health conditions.
I also continue to regularly meet with stakeholders, including disabled people and their representatives, to discuss our reforms and listen to their views.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Department has taken to consult (a) disabled people and (b) their carers on reforms to the welfare system.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to representative organisations that support them. That is why we opened a public consultation that ran until 30 June 2025, for a full 12 weeks after a full suite of accessible versions were published on 7 April.
The consultation welcomed all views, especially those of disabled people, as well as carers, who provide essential support for people with long-term health conditions and disabilities. We held a programme of in-person and virtual consultation events across the country, to hear from people directly.
We continue to facilitate other ways to meaningfully involve disabled people and their perspectives in our reforms, including through collaboration committees, the PIP assessment review and the Disability Advisory Panel.
We are setting up Collaboration Committees announced in the Green Paper, which will help to further develop our welfare reforms. These will involve bringing together groups of disabled people and other experts for specific work areas to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.
Throughout the PIP assessment review, we are working closely with disabled people and organisations that support them to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment, and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.
The Disability Advisory Panel, which we announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, will be a strategic advisory panel consisting of disabled people and individuals with long-term health conditions.
I also continue to regularly meet with stakeholders, including disabled people and their representatives, to discuss our reforms and listen to their views.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
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 her proposed reforms to PIP on people who (a) travel to work and (b) require (i) practical and (ii) mental health support at work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress
We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
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 her proposed reforms to PIP on (a) employment and (b) health and care needs of disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here: Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper is being developed and undertaken in the coming months.
The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to not to be awarded the daily living component of PIP in future. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, people already in receipt of PIP will continue to be treated under the current rules, with only new claimants having the new criterion applied. As a result of behavioural responses to the change, we expect that a higher proportion of new claimants will score 4 points against at least one activity than happens currently.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress
We will be making changes so no one currently on PIP will lose PIP as a result of the four-point change. The four point eligibility requirement will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims only, subject to Parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to review taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in Baroness Casey’s report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities, including combined authorities, responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
Some important protections have already been put in place since earlier inquiries into Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. All licensing authorities in England now undertake extensive driver background checks, and since 2023
they are required to use a single database to prevent a driver refused a licence in one area on safety grounds going elsewhere. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Health and Social Care and (b) Justice on the potential impact of (i) court backlogs, (ii) waiting lists for NHS services and (iii) levels of access to therapeutic support on levels of demand for local non-statutory victim support services.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is unacceptable that victims requiring support are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for NHS mental health services are far too long. As part of the Government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future, the Department of Health and Social Care is focused on ensuring the NHS is providing the right mental health support to the right people at the right time
For this financial year (25/26), this Government is funding a record allocation of Crown Court sitting days to deliver swifter justice for victims – 110,000 sitting days this year, 4,000 higher than the last Government funded.
However, the scale of the challenge is beyond what increasing sitting days can achieve. That is why we have commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to conduct a review of efficiency that will propose once-in-a-generation reform to deliver swifter justice for victims.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
After years of neglect, this Government has agreed with the sector a record uplift to 3.1 billion pounds for 25/26.Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of NHS patients who have registered to have adjustments made to their patient record under the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act 2010, public sector organisations are required to make changes in their approach or provision to ensure that services are accessible to disabled people, as well as to everybody else, by making reasonable adjustments.
National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must meet the Accessible Information Standard, to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments, across the NHS and social care, wherever the person is seen or treated. Following the launch of the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag Information Standard (2023) DAPB4019, published September 2023, the flag went live in the National Care Record Service and is being rolled out across England.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of provision for 14 to 16-year-olds in further education colleges on (a) student (i) enrollment and (ii) attendance and (b) students in non-mainstream education.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department wants to ensure that all young people receive the education that is right for them. For over a decade now, colleges have been able to apply to directly enrol 14 to 16-year-olds in full time programmes, to enable students who wish it to undertake technical courses as part of a broad and balanced curriculum that includes English, mathematics and science.
To ensure provision is suitable and high quality, a number of criteria are in place. Colleges enrolling 14 to 16-year-olds must have either an Ofsted ‘outstanding’, grade 1, or ‘good’, grade 2, overall effectiveness judgement, have a dedicated space for these young people, and dedicated leadership for them.
The department is clear, in the guidance regarding full-time enrolment of 14 to 16-year-olds in further education (FE) and sixth-form colleges, that colleges should work collaboratively with the appropriate local authorities in order to share information about attendance or absences. Attendance will also form part of Ofsted’s judgement. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges-2023-to-2024-academic-year.
14 to 16-year-olds can also attend FE colleges to access alternative provision to give them access to alternative pathways or to help them re-engage in learning. Placements are usually part-time and short-term, with the child being dual-registered at their home school and the FE college. Alternative provision at FE colleges is reviewed as part of an inspection of the home school at which they are registered.
Asked by: Catherine Atkinson (Labour - Derby North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of NHS England's revision of the Accessible Information Standard on compliance among NHS organisations.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
NHS England has been undertaking a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation. The AIS self-assessment framework is designed to enable enhancements around assurance and allows organisations, commissioners, and the Care Quality Commission to judge performance and compliance.
A revised AIS will be published in due course, and in the meantime, NHS England continues to work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.