Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities are able to prevent new employees from joining the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

It is unlawful for local authorities to prevent their new employees from joining the Local Government Pension Scheme. Local authorities are scheduled bodies, as defined by part 1 of Schedule 2 of the LGPS Regulations 2013, and scheduled bodies must offer the LGPS to directly employed staff.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department is able to produce statistics on PIP recipients broken down by (a) Output Areas and (b) lower layer Super Output Areas.

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

Information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants by different geographic breakdowns can be found on Stat Xplore. You can use the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset and the ‘Geography’ filter to narrow down to the breakdowns you require.

For further guidance on how to use Stat Xplore, please see the User Guide here.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 5.83 of the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, how much funding has been allocated to progress the next stage of Midlands Rail Hub West.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Chancellor confirmed Midlands Rail Hub is a priority for the Government and £123m has been committed for the next phase of the Programme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average processing time was for claims for Orchestra Tax Relief in each of the last five years.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC balances the need to ensure that payments for tax reliefs are processed as quickly as possible with the need to ensure that they are claimed only by those who are eligible to do so. All claims for Orchestra Tax Relief are risk assessed on receipt. Where a claim is received and identified as requiring further review, HMRC may open an enquiry and ask for additional information.

The information provided states the average number of days to process a claim, which includes payment of the claim or making a decision to ask for further information or open an enquiry.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 5.83 of the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, CP 1336, whether Kings Norton station will be upgraded as part of the next stage of Midlands Rail Hub West.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The west scope of the Midlands Rail Hub programme includes bringing the island platforms back into use and bringing the footbridge up to modern accessibility standards at Kings Norton Station.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a salary sacrifice car scheme for armed forces personnel.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 June 2025 to Question 57620 to the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) working-age, (b) 18-24 year olds and (c) all Personal Independence Payment recipients that are in work scored less than four points in all daily living activities by (i) local authority, (ii) parliamentary constituency and (iii) region.

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

The information requested is provided in the excel workbook attached. A content of the tables provided in the attached workbook is below:

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

After taking account of behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 in 10 of those on PIP daily living at the point any changes come in will still be receiving PIP by the end of the decade.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed at their award review. The average award review period is about three years. At the award review, claimants will be considered by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstances.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.

No one over state pension age at the time any changes come in will be affected.

Notes:

- The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.

- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.

- People without any employment record in the HMRC data, as well as those who have been confirmed to not be in employment in the data, have been considered not employed.

- The data provided includes both normal rules and special rules for end of life claimants.

- The data provided excludes Scottish and Northern Irish claimants, as these claimants do not fall under DWP policy ownership.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to progress Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

With some 250 million children, and growing, out of school globally, it is very unlikely that Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) will be met by 2030. The UK is working with the humanitarian system, leveraging multilateral institutions' funding, and strategically deploying scarce resources to improve access to quality education through stronger systems.

For example, in November 2024, the UK provided £14 million of earmarked support for Sudanese refugees through Education Cannot Wait. This funding supports 200,000 vulnerable displaced children with education interventions in Sudan and reaches Sudanese refugee populations in Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda.

With a global annual financing gap of $97 billion to deliver SDG4, the UK is working to unlock additional education finance through mechanisms such as the innovative International Finance Facility for Education, which will unlock up to $1 billion in additional and affordable education finance for lower middle-income country governments, providing a seven-fold return on our investment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what sensitivity NHS BMI assessments allow for persons of mixed (a) South Asian and (b) non-South Asian heritage.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on the management of overweight and obesity. This specifies that a lower body mass index (BMI) threshold should be used as a practical measure of overweight and obesity for some adults from ethnic minority backgrounds, including South Asian, as they are prone to higher levels of abdominal fat and have an increased risk of developing certain health conditions at a lower BMI.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to raise public awareness of dyspraxia.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to creating a more inclusive society where neurodiverse people, including those with dyspraxia, are supported to thrive.

Dyspraxia, also known as developmental co-ordination disorder or DCD, is a common disorder that affects movement and co-ordination. Information on dyspraxia assessments and treatment is available to the public on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education on reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools as well as to ensure that special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. The Government is also supporting earlier intervention for children with SEND through Mental Health Support Teams, as well as the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes.

Found: Leighton Buzzard) Baggy Shanker (Labour; Derby South) Rebecca Smith (Conservative; South West Devon) Laurence Turner

Found: Leighton Buzzard) Baggy Shanker (Labour; Derby South) Rebecca Smith (Conservative; South West Devon) Laurence Turner

Found: Steff Aquarone; Catherine Atkinson; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Olly Glover; Alex Mayer; Baggy Shanker; Laurence Turner

Found: Laurence Turner: Thank you.

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Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Maskell Antonia Bance Mrs Elsie Blundell Margaret Mullane Marsha De Cordova Uma Kumaran Laurence Turner

Found: Maskell Antonia Bance Mrs Elsie Blundell Margaret Mullane Marsha De Cordova Uma Kumaran Laurence Turner

Found: Savage Adam Dance Anna Dixon Daniel Francis Andrew Gwynne Matt Western Josh Fenton-Glynn Laurence Turner

Found: Alison Hume Bambos Charalambous Adam Dance Daniel Francis Matt Western Josh Fenton-Glynn Laurence Turner

Found: Catherine Fookes Sarah Owen Kevin McKenna Oliver Ryan Cat Smith Lee Pitcher Josh Newbury Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Found: Harding Dr Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Saqib Bhatti Melanie Ward Anna Dixon Kate Osamor Laurence Turner

Submit Evidence (by 1 Aug 2025)

The Transport Committee is carrying out an inquiry into the Government’s proposal for a revised National Policy Statement for Ports (NPSP).