Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
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.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
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.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
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.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
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.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the overnight holding of perishable fruit consignments at borders on affected businesses; and what steps his Department plans to take to help minimise delays for just-in-time supply chains in the fresh produce sector.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For Plants and Plant Products, APHA will aim to inspect consignments within four hours of them being presented for a physical inspection.
However, a small minority of fruit and vegetables are subject to 100% inspection due to the level of pest and disease risk and may be held in the event that the goods are not available for inspection.
The time taken to conduct checks is subject to a ‘Service Level Agreement’ (SLA), details of which are available on Gov.uk. Our teams have been working closely with traders to ensure checks are completed effectively and swiftly to avoid delays. We are confident BCP capacity, including staff resource, and opening times are sufficient for the current volume of checks. We continue to work with traders to ensure their documentation is accurately filled out before starting their journey and have published guidance to traders and drivers on the requirements of BCP inspections to help reduce waiting times.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that importers of fresh fruit from outside the UK receive timely advance notification of border inspections.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Businesses must notify the competent authorities in advance of a consignment arriving in GB when it contains High risk or Medium A risk plants and plant products as they are subject to phytosanitary controls. Upon completion of the notification an initial risk assessment is provided detailing whether an inspection is required. Drivers and notifiers are informed in one of two ways.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is taking steps to monitor the responsiveness of the Health and Safety Executive to inquiries from hon. Members.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence and keeps this under constant review.
The Cabinet Office publishes statistics on Departmental performance which can be found on the gov.uk website and can be viewed here.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of measures implemented by (a) the Health and Safety Executive, (b) Kent Fire and Rescue Service, (c) Swale Borough Council, and (d) the Environment Agency to mitigate (i) fire, (ii) toxic emissions and (iii) explosion risks associated with the lithium ferrophosphate batteries at Cleve Hill Solar Park.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Battery safety was considered during the Examination of the development consent application and in the Secretary of State’s decision letter (in particular paragraphs 4.139 and 4.148 to 4.176). Requirement 3 of the Cleve Hill Solar Park Order 2020 made Swale Borough Council responsible for approving a Battery Safety Management Plan, after consulting with the Health and Safety Executive and Kent Fire and Rescue Service. Following an appeal by the developer, on 5 July 2024 the Battery Safety Management Plan was approved on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Planning Inspectorate.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Environment Agency responds to requests from the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent on battery safety at Cleve Hill Solar Park.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency works closely with the department at every level to ensure that the Environment Agency maintains high standards of delivery for stakeholders and the public, including when handling correspondence. Members of Parliament are encouraged to deal directly with the Environment Agency on day-to-day operational matters.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to monitor the responsiveness of the Environment Agency to enquiries from hon. Members.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency works closely with the department at every level to ensure that the Environment Agency maintains high standards of delivery for stakeholders and the public, including when handling correspondence.