Sarah Olney
Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park
17,155 (33.3%) majority - 2024 General ElectionFirst elected: 12th December 2019
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
(since September 2024)2 APPG memberships (as of 20 Nov 2024)
Ethnic Minority Business Owners, Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion14 Former APPG memberships
Airport Communities, Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Business Owners, Civic Societies, Conception to Age Two - First 1001 Days, Future of Work, Heathrow Expansion and Regional Connectivity, Infant Feeding and Inequalities, Intellectual Property, Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness, South Western Railway, Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention, Sustainable Finance, TamilsDivision Voting information
Sarah Olney voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 11 Liberal Democrat No votes vs 61 Liberal Democrat Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 330 Noes - 275
Debates during the 2024 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
(11 debate interactions)
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
(6 debate interactions)
(6 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(31 debate contributions)
(16 debate contributions)
(6 debate contributions)
(6 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(3,624 words contributed)
(1,952 words contributed)
(1,330 words contributed)
(1,306 words contributed)
Richmond Park Petitions
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
of 111,458 signatures (1.43%)
of 121,525 signatures (0.83%)
of 59,425 signatures (0.35%)
of 142,041 signatures (0.14%)
of 111,458 signatures (1.43%)
of 121,525 signatures (0.83%)
of 59,425 signatures (0.35%)
of 142,041 signatures (0.14%)
Latest EDMs signed by Sarah Olney
Reform of electoral law
Tabled by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)That this House notes with serious concern recent reports of high-profile individuals and international entities exploring avenues to influence UK political parties and elections, raising questions about the robustness of current electoral laws in preventing foreign interference; recognises the essential role of transparent and accountable political financing in preserving public …
(Most recent: 20 Dec 2024)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 7
Liberal Democrat: 6
Alliance: 1
Plaid Cymru: 1
Green Party: 1
Carers Rights Day
Tabled by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)That this House celebrates Carers Rights Day; recognises the hard and vital work unpaid carers do caring for their loved ones; notes that carers across the country support the wellbeing of millions of the most vulnerable in our society and contribute £184bn to the UK economy; further notes that health …
(Most recent: 10 Dec 2024)
Signatures by party:
Liberal Democrat: 35
Independent: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Green Party: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Sarah Olney, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Sarah Olney has not been granted any Urgent Questions
1 Adjournment Debate led by Sarah Olney
7 Bills introduced by Sarah Olney
A Bill to make provision to increase the energy performance of buildings; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to review the effectiveness of gender pay gap reporting requirements.
Friday 6th May 2022
A Bill to prohibit the use of upward-only rent review clauses in commercial rent agreements; to nullify existing such clauses; and for connected purposes.
Friday 6th May 2022
A Bill to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England; and for connected purposes.
Friday 24th January 2025
Order Paper number: 12
(Unlikely to be Debated - would require unanimous consent to progress)
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to apply for an order for special administration in relation to Thames Water; and for connected purposes.
Monday 22nd April 2024
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the merits of prohibiting scheduled flights from landing or taking off between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am.
Monday 15th January 2024
A Bill to prohibit anti-abortion protests within 150 metres of abortion clinics; and for connected purposes.
Wednesday 11th March 2020
15 Bills co-sponsored by Sarah Olney
Poly and Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances (Guidance) Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Munira Wilson (LD)
Schools (Mental Health Professionals) (No. 2) Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Munira Wilson (LD)
Kinship Care Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Munira Wilson (LD)
Employee Share Ownership (Reform) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - George Howarth (Lab)
Electricity Supply (Vulnerable Customers) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Sam Tarry (Lab)
Carers and Care Workers Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Helen Morgan (LD)
Fire and Building Safety (Public Inquiry) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Daisy Cooper (LD)
Seals (Protection) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Tracey Crouch (Con)
Sewage Discharges Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Tim Farron (LD)
School Toilets (Access During Lessons) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Layla Moran (LD)
Environment (Regulation) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Tim Farron (LD)
Employment (Dismissal and Re-employment) (No. 2) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Gavin Newlands (SNP)
International Development (Women’s Sanitary Products) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Wendy Chamberlain (LD)
Immigration (Health and Social Care Staff) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Christine Jardine (LD)
Demonstrations (Abortion Clinics) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Rupa Huq (Lab)
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)5 Other Department Questions
The number of passes on issue changes constantly, so the following represents a snapshot of data recorded on 10 October 2024:
- MPs: 648
- Peers: 832
- MPs’ staff: 1,589
- Peers’ staff: 333
- Staff of the Administrations - House of Commons, House of Lords, and Parliamentary Digital Service: 4,242
- Metropolitan Police staff including police officers: 565
- Contractors: 3,028 (blue) + 1,170 (yellow) = 4,198
- Former MPs: 419
- Retired Peers: 55
- Political parties and whips: 181
- Partners of MPs/Peers and residents: 680
- Civil servants: 1,515
- Media: 472
- Restoration & Renewal Management: 189
We are unable to provide this information, as the pass issuing system does not categorise passholders in this way. Special advisers are not a specific category of passholder, and therefore this information could not easily be obtained from the pass data system. In any event, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish such a list.
It would not be appropriate to publish the personal data collected for the purposes of security pass allocation as this would not be consistent with data protection principles, therefore we are unable to provide a list of civil servants holding passes. As noted above, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish personal data collected for security purposes in this way, and therefore the Commission is unable to provide such a list.
We are unable to provide this information, as the pass issuing system does not categorise passholders in this way. Special advisers are not a specific category of passholder, and therefore this information could not easily be obtained from the pass data system. In any event, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish such a list.
It would not be appropriate to publish the personal data collected for the purposes of security pass allocation as this would not be consistent with data protection principles, therefore we are unable to provide a list of civil servants holding passes. As noted above, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish personal data collected for security purposes in this way, and therefore the Commission is unable to provide such a list.
The database is a live pass issuing system and does not retain full historical information as data is only retained for three years or less depending on the pass category, so is continually being deleted in line with our records retention policy. The following figures show the number of passes reported as lost or stolen by financial year; however please note all these passes were promptly deactivated and would not allow access to the Parliamentary estate.
Financial year 2021–2022: 43
Financial year 2022–2023: 76
Financial year 2023–2024: 62
The database is a live pass issuing system and does not retain full historical information as data is only retained for three years or less depending on the pass category, so is continually being deleted in line with our records retention policy.
The vast majority of passes are returned promptly after they expire or are invalidated. The following figures show the number of expired passes not returned by financial year; however please note all these passes were deactivated and would not allow access to the Parliamentary estate.
Financial year 2021–2022: 513
Financial year 2022–2023: 432
Financial year 2023–2024: 392
7 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Sarah Olney's Defra questions)The Environment Agency (EA) does not model how resilient water company owned supply systems are to drought. It is the responsibility of the water companies to ensure that their systems can deliver secure water supplies for customers whilst ensuring they meet their environmental obligations and legal requirements during a drought.
Every 5 years, water companies are required to evidence in their statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP) how they will ensure secure supplies for the next 25 years. This includes consideration of resilience to extreme droughts, population growth, climate change and environmental water needs.
The EA is a statutory consultee for water company WRMPs and reviews the technical analysis undertaken by water companies showing how secure supplies are now (known as the baseline) and what actions are needed to ensure secure supplies in the future. The EA has reviewed Thames Water’s latest draft WRMP and is satisfied with the company’s evidence provided alongside its latest draft WRMP.
I attended the National Drought Group meeting earlier this month on Wednesday 16 October 2024 where I outlined the pressure climate change is having on our water system and that we need to be prepared for all eventualities. This Government is taking decisive action to improve the resilience of our precious water supplies.
For more information on water resource system modelling completed on behalf of Thames Water see the following links:
Library | WRSE - Water Resource South East
method-statement-regional-simulation-model-aug-2021.pdf (wrse.org.uk)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) does not model flow at gauging stations using drought event return periods. The modelling of flow under a range of climate scenarios is carried out as part of planning by water companies to assess how resilient their supply systems are to droughts. This assessment is set out in their statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP) and Drought Plans.
Thames Water have worked with Water Resources South East (WRSE) regional group to model flow under a range of climate scenarios as a component of regional system simulation modelling which informs their WRMP.
The EA is a statutory consultee for water company WRMPs and reviews the technical analysis undertaken by water companies showing how secure supplies are now (known as the baseline) and what actions are needed to ensure secure supplies in the future.
The EA has reviewed Thames Water’s latest draft WRMP and is satisfied with the company’s evidence provided alongside its latest draft WRMP.
I attended the National Drought Group meeting earlier this month on Wednesday 16 October 2024 where I outlined the pressure climate change is having on our water system and that we need to be prepared for all eventualities. This Government is taking decisive action to improve the resilience of our precious water supplies.
For more information on water resource system modelling completed on behalf of Thames Water see the following links:
wrse-hydrological-modelling-method-statement-november-2022.pdf
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency operates six river flow gauging stations on the River Thames between Reading and Kingston. These are located at Reading, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines, Walton and Kingston. The recent daily mean flow at these sites on 11 September 2024 ranged from 12.0 to 28.7 cubic metres per second (m3/s).
River level and flow data can be found via the GOV.UK website: https://environment.data.gov.uk/hydrology.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Public water supply reservoirs are the responsibility of the water companies. The Government has not made such estimates; however we are committed to improving water resilience and we are closely monitoring the delivery of their water resources management plans. Their plans set out how they will continue to provide secure water supplies in the long term.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Teddington Direct River Abstraction scheme has been selected by Thames Water in its Water Resources Management Plan from one of 2,400 options modelled at a regional level, by Water Resources South East. The options were put through an options appraisal process to develop a preferred best value plan. Both the Environment Agency and Ofwat have assessed the plan.
Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Ofwat joint guidance sets out how water companies should consider assessing best value in their Water Resources Management Plans. It can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-resources-planning-guideline/water-resources-planning-guideline#section-9--aspects-to-consider-in-compiling-a-best-value-plan.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Teddington Direct River Abstraction (DRA) is a water recycling scheme considered in Thames Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan 2024 (dWRMP24) and Water Resources South East’s (WRSE) Regional Plan as a supply option for 2030/31.
The Environment Agency has scrutinised WRSE’s plan and has responded to Thames Water’s DWRMP24. Any scheme developed will have to meet environmental requirements. The scheme will need environmental permits that the Environment Agency regulate, and planning consents where the Environment Agency is a statutory consultee.
For Teddington DRA proposal to be taken forward Thames Water will be required to obtain an abstraction license and permit to discharge from the Environment Agency. These set out the conditions under which abstraction is authorised to take place and the standards to which the discharged effluent must be treated, ensuring it is treated to a high standard to meet environmental quality standards and ensure water quality in the Thames does not deteriorate. Thames Water will need to ensure any tertiary water treatment for Teddington DRA meets those regulatory requirements and the Environment Agency will regularly inspect Thames Water to ensure that permit standards are met.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The proposed UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) will be focused on delivering holistic and modernised airspace design for the UK.
As is currently the case, the UKADS would still be required to follow the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA’s) CAP1616 Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) process. CAP1616 sets out how sponsors of airspace change must undertake full, comprehensive environmental assessments for airspace options which are under consideration.
All ACPs must also allow for sufficient consultation to take place with those potentially affected by the proposed changes.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests.
DVSA deploys enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.
DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors.
In January 2023, DVSA changed its booking service terms and conditions to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since then, the DVSA has issued 327 warnings, 779 suspensions, and closed 727 business accounts for misuse of its booking service.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The consultation published on 22 October outlines our proposals to set up a UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS), initially undertaken by NATS (En Route) plc (NERL) through a change to its air traffic services licence. NERL is independent and not resourced from existing Departmental staff.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As a public consultation, any interested party is welcome to provide feedback on our proposals to set up a UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS).
The CAA’s Airspace Change Process (CAP1616) sets out how airspace change proposals should be developed and delivered. It includes requirements for the airspace change sponsor to consult those affected by airspace change at different stages of the process and consider their views. The UKADS consultation envisages that once up and running, the UKADS and partner airports would continue to engage and consult with communities on airspace change proposals through a defined process.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government’s plans for the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) have been developed to strengthen delivery in implementing the airspace modernisation programme. They aim to improve delivery confidence of the Future Airspace Integration Strategy (FASI) programme, initially focusing on the complex London area. The plans anticipate that the UKADS will take on existing airspace changes, so it is important that existing airspace sponsors continue to develop their proposals.
The UKADS will act as a single guiding mind to design and implement holistic airspace design in a coordinated and efficient manner. This will create a system that’s fit for the future by delivering quicker routes, easing delays, and reducing harmful emissions.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department will be exploring funding options for a suite of transport related projects at the Spring Spending Review, including the Hammersmith Bridge strengthening works.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Hammersmith Bridge is protected by Historic England. It is a Grade II Listed heritage asset, as it is a 'particularly important' national structure of 'more than special interest'.
The Department has not made any estimates of the cost of replacing the structure as the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is the asset owner and project lead for the Hammersmith Bridge Restoration Project. The Borough has estimated that the cost of dismantling the current bridge and building a new bridge would be significantly more than the repair of the current bridge.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As required by the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State will review a National Policy Statement when she considers it appropriate to do so.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Aviation Night Noise Effects (ANNE) study is a current study examining the relationship of aviation noise on sleep disturbance and annoyance, and how this varies by different times of night. The study is funded by the Department for Transport and is a collaboration between St George’s, University of London, NatCen Social Research, Noise Consultants Limited, and the University of Pennsylvania. The final results of the ANNE study are expected to be published in Autumn 2026.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
An Appraisal of Sustainability and economic assessment were conducted before the Airports National Policy Statement was voted on by Parliament and designated in 2018.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heathrow-airport-expansion#appraisal-of-sustainability-and-supporting-documents
Heathrow Airport Limited will need to provide an assessment of the impacts of any proposed scheme for a third runway, and provide suitable mitigations, as part of any Development Consent Order application. The Government would carefully consider any such application in line with the relevant policies and planning processes.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Heathrow Airport is a designated aerodrome under Section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, for the purpose of limiting, or of mitigating the effect of, noise and vibration connected with the taking-off or landing of aircraft. Noise abatement procedures for Heathrow Airport, specified by the Secretary of State, are set out in the airport’s Aeronautical Information Publication.
Existing policy on noise insulation, which would incorporate sound insulation and double glazing, is set out in the Aviation Policy Framework 2013 and in the 2017 Airspace policy consultation response.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Data on how many Pension Credit applications made between 1 April 2024 and 22 September 2024 was recently published on gov.uk, Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK.
On 28 October 2024, The Department announcedupdated Pension Credit applications and award statistics will be published on 28 November 2024. This publication will provide application volumes after 22 September 2024.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As per the publication of the DWP Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), 77.7% of Pension Credit claims were processed within the Department’s planned timescales in the Financial Year 2023 to 2024. The next publication of the ARA will include claims processed in the Financial Year 2024 to 2025.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As per Gov.uk, the Department has announced it will publish updated Pension Credit application and award statistics on 28 November 2024. Releases will be quarterly, including Pension Credit application, clearance, and award/non-award volumes data from 1 April 2024, up to the most recent data available before each publication.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of 29th July, there were 33,883 claims outstanding and as of 28th October, there were 76,569 claims outstanding.
Since the announcement to means test Winter Fuel payments, to date we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by around five hundred more staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. This is in line with the overall resourcing plan for Pension Credit claims and Winter Fuel payments.
Please note, the claims outstanding figures do not include Advanced claims. This data is sourced from the Pension Credit system and for internal departmental use only. As such, they have not been quality assured to the same extent as Official Statistics.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of 29th July, there were 33,883 claims outstanding and as of 28th October, there were 76,569 claims outstanding.
Since the announcement to means test Winter Fuel payments, to date we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by around five hundred more staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. This is in line with the overall resourcing plan for Pension Credit claims and Winter Fuel payments.
Please note, the claims outstanding figures do not include Advanced claims. This data is sourced from the Pension Credit system and for internal departmental use only. As such, they have not been quality assured to the same extent as Official Statistics.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on how many pension credit applications have been made between 29 July and 9 August 2024 was recently published on gov.uk, Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Because of how we capture our operational data, information on how many claims we received over that period which are still outstanding is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. However, we are actively seeking to develop the data sets to provide that level of information.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not have a target timeframe, but we aim to process Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claims for children within 40 working days, not 50. As published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts 2023 to 2024, which covers April 2023 to March 2024, of the 186,200 claims DLA claims for children processed over that period, 6,500 (3.5%) met the planned processing timescales.
DWP has seen a substantial increase in claims since Covid-19, and this upward trajectory continues. This has resulted in increased pressures on early years services for children with additional needs and neurodiverse conditions, with gathering evidence from educational institutions and the NHS taking longer. We are maximising our resources wherever possible and have ongoing recruitment efforts to mitigate these challenges.
For further details, please refer to the DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 (HTML) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) available on the GOV.UK website.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has seen a substantial increase in claims for Disability Living Allowance (Children) since Covid-19, and this upward trajectory continues. This has resulted in increased pressures on early years services for children with additional needs and neurodiverse conditions, with gathering evidence from educational institutions and the NHS taking longer. We are maximising our resources wherever possible and have ongoing recruitment efforts to mitigate these challenges.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts on 22nd July 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024-html). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The total outstanding Pension Credit claims as at the end of week commencing 30th September 2024 is 77,703. This includes 8,245 advanced claims where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age.
The Department is significantly increasing the resource on Pension Credit to ensure it processes claims as quickly as possible, with over 500 additional staff to support the increase in applications generated from the successful Pension Credit take-up campaign.
If a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have recently published Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) which provides the number of Pension Credit claims received by the department.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department does not hold information on the annual average waiting time for Pension Credit and cannot provide the figures requested.
The Department does publish our annual performance against a 50 working day clearance rate for Pension Credit in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Of 248,000 Pension Credit claims cleared in performance year 2023/24, 192,000 were cleared within the planned 50-day timescale, equating to 77.7%. 56,000, 22.3% were cleared outside of the of the 10-week planned timescale.
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The DWP started sending Migration Notices to Housing Benefit only customers from 17 July 2024 and is committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all individuals.
DWP has processes in place within Universal Credit to help reduce hardship, debt and risk of eviction. For example, people who receive Housing Benefit and then claim Universal Credit will receive a two-week run on of their housing payment while they transition to Universal Credit Housing Payment. Universal Credit customers who require support to adapt to Universal Credit can also have their housing costs paid directly to landlords through an Alternative Payment Arrangement.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The annual Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) Assessments consist of data collected by NHS Digital from local authorities in England, who are the supervisory bodies for authorising deprivations of liberty for adults in care homes and hospitals. The aim of this publication is to inform users about the aspects of DoLS activity. NHS Digital collects data on the average length of time for all completed DoLS applications. The statutory deadline for a standard authorisation is 21 days, and seven days for an urgent authorisation. This data was not routinely collected prior to 2016/17.
The following table shows the number of granted authorisation of standard applications and the mean average number of days for standard authorisation of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards applications, each year from 2016/17 to 2023/24:
Year | Number of granted authorisations from standard applications | Mean duration of actual authorisation period in days for standard applications |
2016/17 | 30,865 | 226 |
2017/18 | 51,995 | 250 |
2018/19 | 63,020 | 264 |
2019/20 | 69,895 | 271 |
2020/21 | 75,995 | 270 |
2021/22 | 68,565 | 269 |
2022/23 | 75,065 | 270 |
2023/24 | 80,150 | 276 |
Source: data is published by NHS Digital, and is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-capacity-act-2005-deprivation-of-liberty-safeguards-assessments
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) Assessments consist of data collected from local authorities in England, who are the supervisory bodies for authorising deprivations of liberty for adults in care homes and hospitals. The aim of this publication is to inform users about aspects of DoLS activity.
Since the Cheshire West court ruling in 2014, the definition of a ‘deprivation of liberty’ under DoLS widened, and so did the number of cases local authorities had to assess. The increase in cases has led to a backlog. The following table shows the number of Deprivation of Liberty Protection Safeguard applications received, completed, and not completed, each year from 2013/14 to 2023/24:
Year | Total number of applications received | Total number of completed applications | Total number of applications not completed |
2013/14 | 13,715 | 13,040 | N/A |
2014/15 | 137,540 | 62,645 | N/A |
2015/16 | 195,840 | 105,055 | 101,740 |
2016/17 | 217,235 | 151,970 | 108,545 |
2017/18 | 227,400 | 181,785 | 125,630 |
2018/19 | 240,455 | 216,005 | 131,350 |
2019/20 | 263,940 | 243,300 | 129,780 |
2020/21 | 256,610 | 246,025 | 119,740 |
2021/22 | 270,650 | 254,215 | 124,145 |
2022/23 | 300,765 | 289,150 | 126,100 |
2023/24 | 332,455 | 323,870 | 123,790 |
Source: data is published by NHS Digital, and is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-capacity-act-2005-deprivation-of-liberty-safeguards-assessments
Data was not routinely collected on applications not completed prior to 2015/16.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 October 2024 to Question 6368.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 October 2024 to Question 6369.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, announced in May 2023, announced an allocation up to £645 million up until March 2024. This supported the launch of Pharmacy First as well as the expansion of the Blood Pressure Checking service and Pharmacy Contraception Service.
Funding from this allocation has been used to pay fees for the Pharmacy First, Blood Pressure Check or Contraception service delivery or invested in the development of IT infrastructure to enable the safe and effective delivery of the services and a mass media campaign to help increase awareness and public engagement. None of the allocated funding has been used for administrating the new services.
The staff costs associated with the development of service specifications, governance and monitoring, and agreeing payments to contractors have been met by extant Departmental and NHS England budgets.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for Value for Money has two primary roles. First, to provide targeted interventions, working with Treasury and departments, so that value for money governs every decision government makes. Second, to recommend system reforms to ensure any changes support the government’s missions and deliver value for money.
The Office for Value for Money will be a time-limited team. Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Office will evaluate the effectiveness of systems reforms, and its impact on the wider spending architecture.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office for Value for Money has one member of staff with a salary of over £100,000. This is within the pay range for Senior Civil Service Directors across government.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office for Value for Money has two primary roles. First, to provide targeted interventions, working with Treasury and departments, so that value for money governs every decision government makes. Second, to recommend system reforms to ensure any changes support the government’s missions and deliver value for money.
The Office for Value for Money will be a time-limited team. Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Office will evaluate the effectiveness of systems reforms, and its impact on the wider spending architecture.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pubs make an enormous contribution to our economy and society, and this is recognised in the tax system.
At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor cut alcohol duty on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint. This reduction increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.
The Chancellor also confirmed her intention to introduce permanently lower business rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs, from 2026-27, and in the interim extend the current RHL relief for 1-year at 40%, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government regularly publishes a breakdown of total public tax receipts and total public sector spending. The most recent of these can be found in Annex B of the Spring Budget 2024 document, which is published on gov.uk here: Spring Budget 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Citizens can also see how this breakdown applies to their tax contributions via the Annual Tax Summary service which can be accessed here: Annual Tax Summary - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
A more detailed breakdown of current receipts, public sector current expenditure (PSCE) and public sector gross investment (PSGI), is set out in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The most of recent of these can be found in Tables A5 and A7 in the EFO published in March 2024, alongside the Spring Budget. This can be found on the OBR’s website here: EFOs - Office for Budget Responsibility (obr.uk).
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Corps of Royal Engineers primarily builds temporary bridges that enable military road traffic to cross dry and wet gaps during operational deployments. The Corps of Royal Engineers has not recently helped to construct road bridges in aid or peacekeeping missions. Although not deploying or constructing bridges, the Corps has remained heavily involved in overseas peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts over the last decade including in South Sudan, Sierra Leone and the Caribbean.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)