Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed reforms to Personal Independence Payment on people above over state pension 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 of State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.
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.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made on people who will no longer be eligible to receive Personal Independence Payment by 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 of State Pension Age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by the proposed changes.
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.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings he has had with representatives of (a) small and medium-sized enterprises, (b) large food manufacturers and (c) public health organisations on the composition of the Industry Expert Panel for the National Food Strategy in the last six months.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Members of the Food Strategy Advisory Board were selected through identifying senior leaders who represent important elements within the food system and reflect the diversity of the sector.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there are obligations on landlords in relation to the rent they charge if their property has been improved with a grant under the (a) Energy Company Obligation, (b) Boiler Upgrade Scheme and (c) Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Energy Company Obligation schemes do not place obligations on landlords in relation to the rent they charge if their property has been improved.
Currently, private landlords in England and Wales are eligible to apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with regulations setting out the full eligibility criteria. These do not place any requirements in relation to rent.
Warm Homes: local grant requires landlords to declare that they will not raise rents as a direct result of the upgrades being installed funded by government grants. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is monitoring the impact of this scheme including on rents and may make changes if needed.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what eligibility criteria his Department is using to appoint members to the Industry Expert Panel for the National Food Strategy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Membership of the Food Strategy Advisory Board has been selected through identifying senior leaders who represent important elements within the food system and reflect the diversity of the sector. The Government has sought to keep it a small group while reflecting the scope of the food supply chain and the interests of consumers.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration is given to home Energy Performance Certificates by the first-tier tribunal in determining a market rent assessment.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A market rent decision in the First-tier Tribunal is a judicial decision. In reaching a decision, a tribunal will take into account all relevant factors in a given case including, amongst others, those relating to the condition of a property such as energy efficiency or an Energy Performance Certificate, if that evidence is before the Tribunal.
Tribunal market rents decisions are published at Residential property tribunal decisions - GOV.UK and can be searched using free text terms such as “EPC” or “energy efficiency” within the “Rents” category of decisions.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has commissioned an impact assessment on the proposed PIP reforms on household income with (a) at least one person in work and (b) at least one recipient of PIP, whether that be the person working or not.
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, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found here ‘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.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP recipients were in some form of (a) work and (b) training on 25 March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
You can find the proportion of PIP recipients in employment in the evidence pack that was provided alongside the ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’, which shows that 17% of PIP claimants were in employment in March 2024.
Data for March 2025 is not currently available for analysts to access; the latest relevant data is for the financial year ending March 2024.
The department does not hold data regarding PIP recipients in training.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 her Department's proposed social security reforms to PIP on trends in the levels of child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to PIP on households in which a PIP recipient is exempt from the benefit cap.
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, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.