Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what estimate she has made of the number of people with terminal illness who will have benefits reduced.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise that people nearing the end of their life are some of the most vulnerable people in society and need fast track and unqualified support at this difficult time.
People who claim, or are in receipt of, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and are nearing the end of their life with 12 months or less to live, will continue to be able to access the enhanced rate of the daily living component of PIP. We will also maintain the existing fast-track route under the Special Rules for End of Life and where claims are currently being cleared in two working days. This fast-track route will not be impacted by the new eligibility requirement for PIP.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people diagnosed as having less than 12 months to live were declined PIP in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not centrally record if a claimant is terminally ill, unless they applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL).
Data on PIP clearances under SREL can be found on Stat Xplore. The requested data can be found in the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset. You can use the ‘Month’ filter to select each month for the last five years and add it as a row or column. You can use the ‘Clearance Type Detail’ filter to select those who were disallowed. You can use the ‘End of Life Rules indicator’ filter to select SREL claimants.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is also available here: Personal Independence Payment data on Stat-Xplore: user guide - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many terminally ill people were declined the Personal Independence Payment in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not centrally record if a claimant is terminally ill, unless they applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL).
Data on PIP clearances under SREL can be found on Stat Xplore. The requested data can be found in the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset. You can use the ‘Month’ filter to select each month for the last five years and add it as a row or column. You can use the ‘Clearance Type Detail’ filter to select those who were disallowed. You can use the ‘End of Life Rules indicator’ filter to select SREL claimants.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is also available here: Personal Independence Payment data on Stat-Xplore: user guide - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 terminally ill people ineligible for PIP.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people with terminal illnesses who are younger than 22 who will lose (a) the health component of Universal Credit and (b) any other form of incapacity benefit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are currently consulting on whether to delay access to the health element of Universal Credit within the reformed system until someone is aged 22 as part of the ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working’ Green Paper.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 enable (a) local authorities and (b) the police to effectively (i) target and (ii) prosecute (A) individuals and (B) businesses engaged in illegal fly-tipping on (1) private and (2) public land.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for taking enforcement action in most fly-tipping incidents. Their powers include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, prosecution action and seizing vehicles. We encourage councils to make good use of their powers, and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. We have also announced a review of local authority powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
We also committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders such as local authorities and the National Police Chiefs Council to promote good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping, including on private land. Various practical tools, such as a guidance on how local authorities can present robust cases to court, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group#.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of US tariffs on the UK pharmaceutical industry.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working closely with United Kingdom pharmaceutical firms and trade associations to understand how United States tariffs may impact the sector and the trade of individual products. As this is an evolving situation, these assessments are ongoing, but we will continue to closely review the potential impact as more information becomes available.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment have a member of their household in receipt of Carer's Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
According to the Family Resource Survey (FRS), in England & Wales during the 2023-2024 financial year, the proportion of people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who have someone in their household claiming Carer’s Allowance (CA) is estimated to be around 18%. These figures are derived from the FRS household dataset on Stat-Xplore.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund budget for the 2024–25 financial had been spent by 31 March 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will enable as many children and families as possible to access the available funding. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. The changes were finalised during Parliamentary recess and the announcement was made during recess to allow the fund to open and minimise further delays to children waiting for therapy. A written statement was laid on Parliament’s first day back after recess.
By 31 March 2025, the ASGSF had spent all its allocated budget.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned changes to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on access to therapeutic support for children and families; and whether she considered communicating those changes to hon. Members prior to the parliamentary recess.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will enable as many children and families as possible to access the available funding. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. The changes were finalised during Parliamentary recess and the announcement was made during recess to allow the fund to open and minimise further delays to children waiting for therapy. A written statement was laid on Parliament’s first day back after recess.
By 31 March 2025, the ASGSF had spent all its allocated budget.