Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase funding for (a) free school meals and (b) universal infant free school meals to help source school meals from British produce.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department spends approximately £1.5 billion annually on free lunches for 2.1 million school age pupils under benefits-based free school meals, over 90,000 disadvantaged students in further education, and around 1.3 million infant pupils under the Universal Infant Free School Meal scheme to ensure they receive a nutritious lunchtime meal.

Funding is not ring-fenced, meaning that schools have autonomy over delivery, including entering into catering contracts with suppliers and allocation of funding within their budgets.

The department regularly speaks to food industry representatives on a range of issues including sector challenges such as funding.

As with all government programmes, the department will keep our approach to free school meals, including funding, under continued review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential impact of the 50% Buying British ambition on school caterers.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have met to discuss a range of issues and projects.

The government is committed to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers, and upholding ethical sourcing practices across public sector contracts. The department is considering the policy options available to deliver these aims. Any future policies will be informed by the review of the provenance of food sourced by the public sector, announced recently. Schools and caterers can additionally voluntarily follow the government buying standards.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ringfence school meal funding.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department spends approximately £1.5 billion annually on free lunches for 2.1 million school age pupils under benefits-based free school meals, over 90,000 disadvantaged students in further education, and around 1.3 million infant pupils under the Universal Infant Free School Meal scheme to ensure they receive a nutritious lunchtime meal.

Funding is not ring-fenced, meaning that schools have autonomy over delivery, including entering into catering contracts with suppliers and allocation of funding within their budgets.

The department regularly speaks to food industry representatives on a range of issues including sector challenges such as funding.

As with all government programmes, the department will keep our approach to free school meals, including funding, under continued review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to expand the statutory obligation for local authorities to include welfare advice.

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

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities in England have a duty to establish and maintain information and advice services relating to care and support for all people in their area.

Local authorities must ensure that information and advice services established cover more than just basic information about care and support; and that they cover a wide range of care and support related areas. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance states that local authorities must ensure that the subject matters covered by their information and advice available to people in their areas go much further than a narrow definition of care and support, including:

• availability of intermediate care entitlements such as aids and adaptations;
• eligibility and applying for disability benefits and other types of benefits;
• availability of employment support for disabled adults; and
• availability of carers’ services and benefits.

Therefore, there are currently no plans to review the Care Act 2014 or the supporting Care and Support Statutory Guidance.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with multiple sclerosis who receive a Personal Independence Payment daily living award do not score more than four points in any of the daily living activities.

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

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Multiple Sclerosis receive Universal Credit.

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

The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with (a) deaf and (b) disabled people’s organisations on the potential impact of proposed disability benefit changes.

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

I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 20 March to PQ 37556

A full suite of accessible versions is now available, and the consultation will close on 30 June 2025, to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to engage with and respond to the consultation. We are also running a programme of accessible virtual and face to face events on the consultation, to hear from members of the public directly, including disabled people and their representatives. More information about these events and registration is available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Multiple Sclerosis who receive income-based Employment and Support Allowance do not also receive Personal Independence Payment.

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

In August 2024 there were 6,480* people in receipt of Income-related ESA whose main condition was multiple sclerosis. 1,490* of those in receipt of Income-related ESA whose main condition was multiple sclerosis were not in receipt of PIP, the remaining 5,000* were.

* Rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Multiple Sclerosis get contributions-based Employment and Support Allowance.

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

In August 2024 there were 14,620* people in receipt of contributions-based ESA whose main condition was multiple sclerosis.

* Rounded to the nearest ten.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Multiple Sclerosis who receive Universal Credit do not also receive Personal Independence Payment.

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

The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to provide additional support to (a) deaf and (b) disabled people’s organisations.

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

I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 20 March to PQ 37556

A full suite of accessible versions is now available, and the consultation will close on 30 June 2025, to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to engage with and respond to the consultation. We are also running a programme of accessible virtual and face to face events on the consultation, to hear from members of the public directly, including disabled people and their representatives. More information about these events and registration is available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether funding for personalised employment support for individuals with (a) health conditions and (b) disabilities will be made accessible to independent advice agencies to help disabled people into work.

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

As the Green Paper notes, we will explore how to make the best use of capabilities at national and at local levels, so that individuals receive seamless support from a coherent system. We want to work with the health system, local government, Mayoral Strategic Authorities, skills providers, employers, private and voluntary sector providers and service users to design our ‘Pathways to Work’ offer. We are committed to making sure the help on offer is appropriate to local needs and local labour markets.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the measures set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on people claiming Disability Living Allowance who are being migrated to PIP.

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

The impact in each case will depend on an individual’s circumstances. For those already on PIP, the changes will only apply from November 2026 at their next award review, subject to parliamentary approval. People will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstance. More information on the impacts and equality analysis for these changes published on 26 March can be found here: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK.

People in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) aged 16 to 64 on 8 April 2013, or who reach age 16 after that date, are being invited to claim PIP and will be assessed against the PIP criteria. People in receipt of DLA who are in scope of PIP, but have yet to be invited to claim, can do so at any point.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of the measure set out in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025 on PIP claimants of retirement age.

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

Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In keeping with existing policy, people over State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to (a) increase in-person assessments and (b) uphold claimants' rights to (i) fair treatment and (ii) reasonable adjustments.

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

As announced in Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, we will be carrying out more face-to-face assessments while continuing to ensure we meet the needs of those who may require a different method of assessment because, for example, a reasonable adjustment is appropriate for them.

We are also consulting on a new DWP safeguarding approach, to make it clear what the department and its staff are expected to do to in order to safeguard the public.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with (a) professional bodies, (b) disability organisations and (c) experts on changes to the PIP (i) descriptor points reallocation and (ii) scoring change.

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

We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026.

We are also consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement to Personal Independence Payment due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

Seperately we have also announced plans to launch a review of the PIP assessment, which I shall lead. To make sure we get this right, 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.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will develop a cross-Departmental advice sector strategy to ensure accessible social welfare advice across (a) health, (b) housing, (c) justice and (d) social care.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have established the Legal Support Strategy Delivery Group, comprised of key stakeholders from across the advice sector and academia to jointly develop and implement a long-term legal support strategy. The strategy aims to deliver a more sustainable and effective legal support system for social welfare issues covering health inequalities, housing and social care, so people can resolve their legal problems at an early stage. As part of this work, we will continue to engage strategically with other government departments to drive improvements in the cross-government commissioning, funding and evaluation of advice services.

We are also providing over £6 million of grant funding from April 2025 to March 2026 to identify what works best in the delivery and provision of legal support and advice for people with social welfare legal problems.

Legal protection of the nurse job title

Better Jobs, Better Services campaign

Climate and Nature Bill

47th anniversary of the murder of Altab Ali

Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week

Launch of The Rational Policy-Maker’s Guide to Rebuilding the NHS report

Foster Care Fortnight

Black Maternal Health Awareness Week 2025

War Widows/Widowers Pension compensation and medical discharge

Spring Statement 2025 and young disabled people

Travel-related restrictions and haemoglobin tests for blood donations

Second state visit by Donald Trump

Restless legs syndrome

Close season for hare shooting

Collapse of Rana Plaza, Bangladesh

NHS parking charges

Practical driving tests in the South West

Anniversary of the death of Stephen Lawrence

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 protect blue carbon habitats from damaging human activities.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Poole, Neil Duncan-Jordan, in February 2025, PQ 28248.

In England, we have established a comprehensive network of 181 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which cover the majority of our saltmarsh and seagrass habitats. While blue carbon habitats may not always be an explicitly designated feature, MPA protection may still yield benefits.

Our focus is now on ensuring that these MPAs are effectively protected to allow the designated features to achieve favourable condition. Three Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMAs) designations in English waters came into force in summer 2023. Two of the three designated sites, Allonby Bay and North East of Farnes Deep, contain blue carbon habitats.

Defra set up the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership in partnership with DESNZ and the Devolved Administrations to address evidence gaps around these important habitats. We are funding a multi-year research project to increase our understanding of UK seabed sediment carbon storage and sequestration, the impact of human activities and to model potential management interventions. Initial outputs from this work were published in January 2025.

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