Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of its proposals to replace expiry dates for biocidal active substance approvals with a mechanism to ‘call in’ these substances for review on (a) the safety of active substances on the market and (b) their impact on (i) health and (ii) the environment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) legislative reforms aim to provide greater flexibility to the regulator while maintaining the current high standards offered by chemicals regulatory regimes, including the Great Britain Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR), to human health and the environment.
The proposal to remove fixed expiry dates and introduce a risk-based 'call-in' system for active substance reviews would permit HSE to focus evaluation work where it would have the greatest impact particularly on addressing initial assessments that are required as part of the GB Active Substance Review Programme. Active substances requiring initial evaluation will as yet have had no evaluation, consequently risks are much less well understood than active substances (biocidal approvals) that have already been thoroughly evaluated and deemed acceptable.
This proposed change of approach will enable HSE to continue to make efficient and effective regulatory decisions to address risks to people’s safety, health and the environment.
All decisions on these proposals are subject to an analysis of the consultation responses, which is currently underway, and all final decisions are subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Health and Safety Executive will take steps to align with (a) EU mandatory hazard classifications (under EU Classification, Labelling & Packaging Regulation) and (b) EU decisions to (i) approve, (ii) not to approve, (iii) restrict and (iv) ban biocide active substances.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Great Britain (GB) chemicals are regulated under a framework that was largely inherited from the EU system including the GB Classification, Labelling and Packing Regulation (GB CLP) and the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR).
GB CLP like EU CLP adopts the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals (‘the UN GHS’); a voluntary internationally agreed system, upon which the classification and labelling provisions of GB CLP are based. Divergence between mandatory hazard classifications for chemicals (GB mandatory classification and labelling (GB MCLs)) and EU mandatory hazard classifications has been minimal to-date.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted a public consultation between 23 June and 18 August 2025 on proposals for reforming both GB CLP and GB BPR. The GB BPR proposals included a proposal to adopt approvals from recognised jurisdictions. It is anticipated that the EU would be a recognised jurisdiction which would make it easier to adopt EU decisions where appropriate for GB. The analysis of the consultation responses is underway, and all final decisions including any decisions to align with the EU on GB CLP and GB BPR are subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support offered by the Access to Work Scheme for people that wish to be self-employed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work (AtW) is a personalised grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment including providing support for people who are self-employed. In 2024/5 Access to Work supported 7,080 self-employed customers.
We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the consultation has closed. We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives, on all aspects of our proposals.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish a plan for improving the Access to Work Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following the close of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation,we are considering responses to the consultation and continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) number of (i) Carer’s Allowance and (ii) carer element recipients who will lose their eligibility in Wales by the 2029-30 financial year and (b) the cost to the public purse of these changes; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of eligibility changes on carers in poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility of the impact of the proposed changes on carers was only made for England and Wales as a whole.
The impacts can be found in table A4 here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will consider proposals to support parents of chronically ill children from day 1 of that child's diagnosis.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government understands the difficulties and distress that children with serious health conditions or critical illnesses face. Children and their families who are living with a medical condition will be facing a difficult time in their lives which is why the department provides a wide range of financial support for both individuals and their carers.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is open to new claims for children aged under 16 if a child’s condition or illness is both of a long-term nature and gives rise to care or mobility needs.
The earliest that entitlement to DLA can start is when a three-month qualifying period condition has been met. This qualifying period helps establish that the disability and resulting care, supervision or mobility needs are of a long-standing nature and ensures that disability benefits are targeted to support those with long-term health conditions or disabilities. The qualifying period starts from the point that care, or mobility needs commence rather than the date the condition is diagnosed.
Children claiming DLA under the special rules for end of life do not have to satisfy the three-month qualifying period. In these cases, the claim is fast tracked, and the higher-rate care component is awarded from the date of claim.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the Child Poverty Taskforce will interact with the Welsh Government.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Child Poverty Taskforce Ministers and Officials meet regularly with Ministers and Officials from the Devolved Governments. Working closely with partners across all UK nations and regions is a central part of our approach to developing the strategy, as set out in Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are receiving PIP as a result of having a lung condition; and whether breathlessness is taken into account when conducting a PIP assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In October 2024, there were 107,697 claimants with a respiratory diseased who received Personal Independence Payment (PIP). These figures are for England and Wales only and exclude claimants with Special Rules for End of Life. This figure can be found in Stat Xplore in the “PIP cases with Entitlement from 2019” table found here: Stat-Xplore - Home.
Entitlement to PIP is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Individuals can be affected in different ways by the same condition and so the outcome of a PIP claim depends very much on individual circumstances.
PIP legislation requires decision makers to consider whether individuals can complete each assessment activity “safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period”. These four components are known as the reliability criteria.
When determining whether an activity can be reliably carried out, symptoms such as breathlessness should be considered, as they may indicate that the activity cannot be done to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, or within a reasonable time period. The impact of completing one activity on the ability to complete others must also be considered.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many agricultural workers claim Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not held. We do not systematically collect data on the employment sector background of Universal Credit (UC) claimants because this does not affect entitlement to UC.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for (a) her policies on reducing Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide exposure in wildlife and (b) the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme of the report entitled Lost nature, published by Wild Justice on 12 December 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the previous reply PQ 15550.