Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May to Question 904060 on Personal Independence Payment: Reform, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed PIP changes on people in the North East.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the impact of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reforms are made for England and Wales only and not on region or any other geographic area.
The department does not forecast benefit receipt at a regional level, nor have estimates of the behavioural impacts of the policy been produced at a regional level.
There will be no immediate changes. Changes to PIP eligibility and rebalancing of UC aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from April 2026 for UC and November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval.
No one will lose access to PIP immediately. The changes, subject to parliamentary approval, would be brought in from November 2026. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. Someone who didn’t score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment – not least as many conditions tend to get worse, not better, over time.
After taking account of behavioural changes, OBR predicts that 370,000 people who will be receiving PIP at the point of implementation of the four point requirement in November 2026, will have lost their PIP Daily Living entitlement by 2029/30. Of all PIP recipients at the point of implementation, 9 in 10 will not lose PIP during the subsequent 3 years from this change.
The number of people currently on PIP and 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. 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.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions, and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.
We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. 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.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making the wearing of cycle helmets a legal requirement for cyclists.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport considered the case for mandating the wearing of cycle helmets as part of a cycling and walking safety review in 2018. The review concluded that the safety benefits were likely to be outweighed by the fact that this would put some people off cycling. This would, in turn, reduce the wider health and environmental benefits.
The Department recommends that cycle helmets should be worn and this is set out in The Highway Code, but does not intend to make it a legal requirement.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to to help improve access for students to courses at all levels in (a) history, (b) arts and (c) the humanities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to supporting access to creative subjects, such as the arts, history and humanities, in higher education.
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department has allocated around £12.9 million in high-cost subject funding from the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) towards creative and performing arts courses to cover course costs.
The department has also maintained SPG funding for world-leading small and specialist providers at £58 million for the 2024/25 academic year. Of the 20 providers recognised in this way, 12 are creative and performing arts providers.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of visa restrictions on revenue streams in the Higher Education sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are many factors that influence international students when they choose to study abroad. These include the range and quality of available courses, the visa rules that apply in countries they are considering, and the appeal of living and studying in those countries.
Several changes were made to the immigration system in 2024, restricting international students from bringing family members with them to the UK unless they are studying a PhD, doctorate or research-based higher degree. These restrictions will be continued, as confirmed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department in early February, in line with the government’s commitment to manage migration carefully. The Home Office has also published a full impact assessment of changes made to student and work visas in 2024, alongside their introduction.
Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that international students contributed £12.1 billion in tuition fees to UK higher education (HE) providers in the 2022/23 academic year.
This government has made clear its approach to international students. We welcome international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.