Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the debate on the Report stage of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill on 29 April 2025, Official Report, column 236, how many sickfluencers have been prosecuted under the (a) Fraud Act 2006 and (b) Serious Crime Act 2007.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not use the term ‘sickfluencer’ as a defined term and, as such, does not collect data under this description. Furthermore, the Department is not a prosecuting body; DWP’s role is to refer cases for consideration of prosecution to the appropriate prosecuting authority who are then responsible for taking the case forward, including determining the most appropriate offences to prosecute under.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that will not fall into long term economic inactivity due to funding announced in the Spring Statement 2025.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people that will receive additional (a) employment, (b) health and (c) skills support through funding announced in the Spring Statement 2025.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding. This investment will build on existing support from WorkWell, Connect to Work and the Get Britain Working trailblazers.

As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector organisations in the private, voluntary and charitable sectors, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details about the support offer and how many people will receive support in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners who are eligible for Pension Credit but not claiming it.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. In the financial year ending 2023, it is estimated that up to 760,000 pensioner households in Great Britain were entitled to Pension Credit but not receiving the benefit.

The next edition of the Pension Credit take-up statistics will be released between September and October 2025. This will cover the financial year 2023 to 2024.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) consult and (b) inform businesses importing fruit from non-EU countries of changes to (i) inspection regimes and (ii) risk categorisation; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on ensuring that policy changes do not result in (A) unanticipated costs and (B) supply disruptions for importers.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Changes to plant health import controls are communicated in-line with relevant international obligations, including those under the WTO-SPS agreement and International Plant Protection Convention. This includes submitting a notification to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the UK Chief Plant Health Officer writing to their counterparts in other countries. Details are also published on the UK Plant Health Portal.

Consultation with stakeholders on proposed, and up-coming changes to import controls is primarily through the UK plant health advisory forum.

In line with the WTO-SPS agreement DEFRA ensures that any changes to import controls have a proportionate lead in time to allow trade and trading partners sufficient time to prepare.

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