Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UK exports of highly hazardous substances listed in Parts II and III of GB Prior Informed Consent Regulation are exported using the waiver from explicit consent from the importing country; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of exports permissible under changes to Article 14 Chemicals (Health and Safety)(Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information about waivers used in the past five years under the Great Britain (GB) Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulations is in the table provided below:
Year | Exports notified | Waivers used for export |
2025 | 962 | 12 (1.2% of exports notified) |
2024 | 853 | 24 (2.8% of exports notified) |
2023 | 914 | 21 (2.3% of exports notified) |
2022 | 919 | 22 (2.4% of exports notified) |
2021 | 1017 | 25 (2.5% of exports notified) |
Prior to 2021, and so during the time when the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union, waivers were issued by the European Commission.
The current waiver provision in the GB PIC Regulations applies hazard criteria to the use of the waiver for those chemicals that are listed under the Rotterdam Convention (i.e., those chemicals listed in Part 3 of the GB PIC list). This goes beyond what the Convention requires and potentially creates a barrier to the export of a chemical that falls within these criteria when the importing country fails to respond to repeated requests for consent to import.
In order to facilitate regulatory decision-making, harmonise conditions, and create greater clarity for businesses, the draft Chemicals (Health and Safety) (Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 includes an amendment to Article 14(7) in the GB PIC Regulations. This will ensure the same waiver conditions apply to all chemicals that require explicit/prior informed consent to import.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 publish a regularly updated list of GB exports of highly hazardous substances listed in Annex II and III of GB PIC that are permitted using the waiver for explicit consent, including (a) the importing country, (b) the UK company, (c) the substance exported and tonnage band and (d) the reasons for which the export met the waiver conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no statutory requirement to publish information on waivers used under the Great Britain (GB) Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulations. However, each year, companies have to report the name of the chemical in the GB PIC list that they have exported or imported during the previous calendar year, the quantity of the chemical, and the name of the importing or exporting country. The Health and Safety Executive, as the Designated National Authority, publishes that information on its website: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pic/annual-reporting.htm.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2025 to question 86273, which variables determine whether the automated system is able to identify two sets of monthly earnings in one Universal Credit assessment period.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In most cases, claimants who receive two sets of monthly earnings in one Universal Credit assessment period are identified automatically and their award is corrected.
This reflects established policy intent and is implemented through system coding based on data received from HM Revenue and Customs. However, a small number of cases are not picked up by the automated process because of the complexity of the claimant’s individual circumstances.
This usually arises in situations where earnings do not follow a consistent or standard pattern, making them harder for automated systems to assess accurately. This can include irregular pay patterns or variations in how employers report earnings through Real Time Information (RTI).
In these cases, earnings may not follow a standard pattern that the system can correct automatically, and manual intervention is required to ensure the claimant receives the correct Universal Credit entitlement.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the written statement of 11 November 2025 on Pension Update, HCWS1044, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Automatic Pension Forecast letters relating to communication of State Pension age changes for 1950's born women.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State announced in his oral statement of 11 November 2025 that we will retake the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age.
This was because findings from a 2007 report had not been drawn to the attention of the previous Secretary of State as its potential relevance to the making of her decision was not evident at the time.
The process to retake the decision is underway and it is important that we give this full and proper consideration. We will update Parliament on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2025 2025 to Question 50550 on Personal Independence Payment: Appeals, what steps he is taking to reduce the median clearance time for mandatory reconsiderations.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We intend to reduce the median clearance time by increasing decision making resource for Mandatory Reconsiderations, including by recruiting new decision makers
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what percentage of (a) personal independence payment awards are open-ended, (b) open-ended PIP awards are for recipients over pension age and (c) open-ended PIP awards are awarded to people who claim under the special rules for terminally ill people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For information on the percentage of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards which are ongoing please see Section 4 ‘Clearance outcomes – Awards’ of the Personal Independence Payment Publication here. Information on the volume of total ongoing awards and ongoing awards for recipients over State Pension age is not published.
The percentage of the total caseload for which claims are made under Special Rules For End of Life (SREL) can be found also be found in Section 4 ‘Clearance outcomes – Awards’
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the consultation entitled: HSE Chemicals Legislative Reform Proposals, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of divergence from European standards on chemicals with compliance with the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The reforms set out in the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) consultation on Chemicals Legislative Reform proposals aim to give HSE greater flexibility and scope to make necessary or appropriate regulatory decisions in Great Britain (GB) at pace with international partners, including the European Union (EU) and rest of the world where appropriate. The proposals are intended to maintain current levels of protection for people and the environment from harmful chemicals and are therefore not expected to impact on the UK’s compliance with the Trade and Co-operation Agreement. Part of this consultation delivered the commitment made in the Regulatory Action Plan (RAP) on how international approvals can be recognised to reduce the time and cost to bring chemicals products, including biocides, to the GB market.
The proposals include a new system to recognize international approvals from "trusted jurisdictions" where the regulatory standards are "similar to and at least as high as" those in GB. This is likely to include the EU given the similarity in the regulatory standards. The proposals are intended to remove the duplicative processes and associated evaluation costs.
A key safeguard is that the Secretary of State with responsibility for HSE would retain the power to refuse an approval from a trusted jurisdiction if it is deemed "harmful to GB interests," such as for the protection of public health or the environment.
No decisions have been made as HSE is currently analysing the consultation responses, following closure of the recent consultation on 18 August, and any changes will be subject to parliamentary approval.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57896 on Funeral Payments, how many applicants (a) responsible for funeral costs and (b) in receipt of a qualifying benefit did not receive a social fund funeral expenses payment because (i) there was an immediate family member or (ii) a close relative of the deceased who was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where an application for a Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment is refused because another family member of the person who died is not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, what assessment her Department makes of that person’s (a) ability and (b) willingness to take responsibility for the funeral costs.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The eligibility criteria for Funeral Expenses Payments are designed to ensure the scheme is fair for taxpayers while supporting the most vulnerable with these costs.
The Funeral Expenses Payment regulations provide for those cases where there is more than one person who could be responsible for a funeral. Where one of these individuals is not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, the Department does not provide a Funeral Expenses Payment.
We do not assess the ability or willingness of this individual to take responsibility for the funeral.
If there is no one able or willing to pay for the funeral, Local Authorities can arrange a public health funeral.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how people who are responsible for funeral costs and in receipt of a qualifying benefit have an application for a Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment refused because of the family tests in the eligibility criteria in each of the last five years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Table 1 shows the number of applicants responsible for funeral cost who were receipt of qualifying benefits but were refused a Funeral Expenses Payment due to the family test reasons below:
Table 1: Funeral Expense Payments- Refusals linked to the Family Test
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Number of Refusals | 1,100 | 900 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,000 |
Notes:
- These figures have been estimated using unaudited internal DWP Management Information which is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics.
- These applicants are assumed to have been responsible for funeral costs and to have been in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
- Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.