Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the State Pension age to 60.
Answered by Paul Maynard
As stated in our previous response to the same question published on 24 April 2024, the Government has no plans to make such an assessment.
Changes to State Pension age were made over a series of Acts by successive governments from 1995 onwards, following public consultations and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament.
Further changes were introduced through the Pensions Acts 2011 and 2014 in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the State Pension over the long term.
Under the 2011 Pensions Act the State Pension age for women and men rose to 66.
The rise in State Pension age to 67 has been planned since 2014. Since then, the Government has undertaken two statutory State Pension age reviews, one in 2017 and one in 2023. These reviews both considered whether the existing rules about the timetable for State Pension age rising to 67 remained appropriate.
Both reviews, including the Independent Reports that supported them, concluded that the rules concerning the increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 should continue as planned.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not increasing pupil premium funding in line with inflation on disadvantaged students.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Pupil premium funding is rising to over £2.9 billion in 2024/25, an increase of around £90 million from 2023 to 2024. In 2024/25 the pupil premium funding rate for primary pupils is £1,480, and £1,050 for secondary pupils. Looked-after, and previously looked-after, children attract a higher rate of £2,570.
These rates for 2024/25 were an increase of 1.7% on those for 2023/24. This increase was in line with inflation as measured by the GDP deflator forecasts when the rates were announced for 2024/25. As the inflation forecast for 2024/25 has since reduced, the increase in pupil premium rates of 1.7% is now higher than the latest inflation forecast.
This increase ensures that this target funding continues to help schools to support disadvantaged pupils and close attainment gaps.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the personal allowance threshold for pensioners to £15,000.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the Personal Allowance under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for publishing the revised NHS Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England remains committed to publishing the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) as soon as possible, with the intention of publishing it within the first quarter of 2024/25. The standard is within the publication process, and NHS England are working to both progress the documentation through the publication approval process, as well as ensuring that, when published, the AIS and supporting documentation are available in accessible formats.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the State Pension age to 60.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The Government has no plans to make such an assessment.
Changes to State Pension age were made over a series of Acts by successive governments from 1995 onwards, following public consultations and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament.
Further changes were introduced through the Pensions Acts 2011 and 2014 in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the State Pension over the long term. Under the 2011 Pensions Act the State Pension age for women and men rose to 66.
The rise in State Pension age to 67 has been planned since 2014. Since then, the Government has undertaken two statutory State Pension age reviews, one in 2017 and one in 2023. These reviews both considered whether the existing rules about the timetable for State Pension age rising to 67 remained appropriate.
Both reviews, including the Independent Reports that supported them, concluded that the rules concerning the increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 should continue as planned.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to undertake a review into the potential merits of issuing compensation to all women impacted by changes to the State Pension age.
Answered by Paul Maynard
In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting state pension from tax; and if he will make an assessment of whether state pension should be classified as income.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Personal Allowance is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decision on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of freezing the level of the tax-free Personal Allowance on the economy; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing this level.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support people to keep more of what they earn. The Personal Allowance has nearly doubled since 2010 and is over 20% higher in real terms.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the Personal Allowance under review and any decisions on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) blind, (b) partially sighted, (c) deaf and (d) hearing impaired patients receive (i) care and (ii) communications related to their heath in an accessible format; and if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of missed appointments due to (A) inaccessible and (B) missed communications.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people, including blind, partially sighted, deaf, and hearing impaired patients, are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers in England are required to comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS).
NHS England is responsible for the AIS, and have completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. The AIS review included input from individuals with lived experience and voluntary sector organisations for blind, partially sighted, deaf, and hearing impaired patients.
One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services, to measure their performance against the AIS and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation. The AIS self-assessment framework is designed to enable enhancements around assurance and allows organisations, commissioners, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to judge performance and compliance.
NHS England will publish a revised AIS in due course. Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
NHS England collects data on the total costs of missed appointments, but that data is not broken down sufficiently to enable us to make an estimate of appointments missed due to inaccessible or missed communications.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to protect (a) hedgerow habitats and (b) associated species.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Hedgerows are important ecological and environmental building blocks across our landscapes. As set out in the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP), Defra will support farmers to create or restore at least 30,000 miles of hedgerows by 2037, increasing to 45,000 miles of hedgerows by 2050.
On the 16 April the Government laid before Parliament new regulations that will place management practices for hedgerows on agricultural land into legislation. These practices include a cutting ban between 1 March and 31 August to protect nesting birds during this period, and a 2m buffer strip around a hedge where green cover must be established and maintained to protect the health of the hedge and the wildlife that use it.
The new regulations will be supplemented by actions being undertaken by many through Environmental Land Management schemes. There are now over 55,920 miles of hedgerows with one or both sides managed under 16,000 Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farm Incentive agreements.