Wendy Chamberlain

Details of changes to Parliamentary Private Secretary post holders since the September 2024 list was published will be included in the next list when it is published on gov.uk.

A list of Parliamentary Private Secretaries was published by the Cabinet Office in September 2024 on gov.uk and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-parliamentary-private-secretaries-pps-september-2024. It will be updated periodically.

The inaugural Council of the Nations and Regions met on 11 October in Edinburgh to discuss growth and investment. On 17 October the UK Government published the Terms of Reference for the Council and a communique summarising the discussion. A communique will be published following each meeting of the Council, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-of-the-nations-and-regions-inaugural-meeting.

The department is dedicated to making education fairer for all. Funding is provided to educational institutions to administer discretionary 16-19 bursaries for vulnerable students, including those who may have caring responsibilities.

Additionally, young carers under 18 and their families have the right to request a holistic assessment of their support needs, ensuring the whole family receive coordinated support from their local authority wherever necessary.

The department continues to encourage schools and local authorities to work closely with young carers and families to identify their needs and provide tailored support for them, ensuring they do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.

The department believes it is very important to make sure young carers can participate in education and get the support they need. This support will vary depending on family circumstances.

The ‘defined vulnerable groups’ face specific issues that mean they are not getting financial support from their families. This will be true of some young carers but not all.

The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment and trips,as well as support for childcare and residential costs where required.

Young carers can discuss their individual needs with their school or college which can provide appropriate support, including from the institution’s discretionary Bursary Fund.

It is for each local authority to decide the best way of delivering effective and cost-effective weed control in its operations without harming people or the environment. We are working with stakeholders in the sector to increase awareness and uptake of Integrated Pest Management to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.

Defra’s post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 considers whether the Regulations have met their original objectives, their impact and effectiveness, including in relation to the protections provided to cats. The review will be published in due course.

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations), anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.

Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) uses several methods of communicating with licence holders to ensure they are kept informed.

The DVLA sends out important documents, reminders, notifications by traditional mail and encrypted email where a licence holder consents to correspond in this way. The DVLA also provides a suite of online driver services, where customers can renew their driving licence or notify a medical condition.

Licence holders can access their information and manage their driving licence, vehicle registration and other services if they have a customer account. Digital tax reminders are already available within the customer account and this is being extended to include digital driving licence reminders. Customers can track the progress of their driving licence application and communicate with the DVLA using this service.

The DVLA also provides customer service via telephone, which allows licence holders to ask questions or resolve issues directly. In addition to these services, the DVLA uses social media platforms to share information and updates with the public about its services.

The DVLA has a dedicated team responsible for the improvement of its driver licensing services and communications.

The table below provides the number of drivers who have been revoked in each month since January 2024.

Group 1 and 2 revocations should not be added together as there will be an element of double accounting. The medical standards for Group 2 driving are higher than Group1 and Group 2 drivers may lose just their Group 2 entitlement or may lose both Group 1 and 2 entitlement.

The government is committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and meeting our climate change obligations, as set out in the Climate Change Act. Delivering greener transport to help make Britain a clean energy superpower is a Department for Transport priority.

We have been clear that any airport expansion proposals will need to demonstrate they contribute to economic growth and can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitment.

DfT analysis shows that we can achieve aviation net zero 2050 under a range of assumptions about future technology development without the Government needing to intervene directly to limit airport expansion.

The Department continues to review the experience of users of its services, and seeks to balance application simplicity with obtaining the information needed for an accurate award. A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme, drawing on end user research, is to assess how applications should be made in the future, and consider the opportunities for more user friendly and easily accessible services.

DWP Agents and third-party organisations are available to support customers with applications. For those without third party support, DWP provides various support to assist with benefit applications. The Department’s Visiting Service offers the most vulnerable applicants help with form completion.

As the Department continues to modernise the Pension Credit service, we review the user experience, balancing simplification of application with capturing the right information to ensure accuracy of award. A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme is to utilise end user research to understand how the application process should operate in the future and consider the opportunities on how services can be more user friendly and easily accessible for citizens. To that end we are streamlining all Pension Credit application routes by using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer.

Claims for Pension Credit can be made online, by telephone or by post. By far, the most popular way to claim is online where a claim can be made 24/7 with the help of a family member, a friend or a third party. Via the online service, the maximum number of questions a person needs to answer is 48; for some customers it can be as few as 35 questions. As a result, the online claim form now takes just 16 minutes on average to complete, with 90 per cent of new customers applying using the simple online form, or over the phone.

With the telephone service, the caller will be guided through the claim process. We will keep the Pension Credit application process under review.

HMRC and DWP already have well established data-sharing processes and procedures, which are governed by the rules on how data can be accessed, shared and used whilst safeguarding individuals’ data and privacy.

DWP officials are currently working with HMRC to explore how to use data more effectively to help identify pensioner households most likely to be eligible for Pension Credit and to target them directly.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is constantly working to improve the way it communicates information and is committed to encouraging older people to claim Carer’s Allowance where they are entitled to it.

Information and advice about entitlement to Carer’s Allowance may be available from a range of outlets including DWP and other helplines, gov.uk and other internet sites, local authorities, Citizens Advice and welfare benefit offices, Social Services, voluntary organisations, such as, Age UK, Carers UK and Carers Trust and MacMillan, public libraries, health clinics, doctors' surgeries and health visitors.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of State Pensions and benefits. Her review for this year will be based on CPI in the year to September 2024, and on earnings growth in the year to May-July 2024.

The Office for National Statistics will publish the average weekly earnings figure for May to July on 15 October and the CPI figure will be published on 16 October. The outcome of the review will be announced in the Autumn – and until the review has been concluded, it would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome. The new rates will take effect from April 2024.

The Government remains committed to supporting pensioners, and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. Through our commitment to protect the Triple Lock, over 12 million pensioners will benefit, with many expected to see their State Pension increase by over a thousand pounds over the next five years; the full new State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,700 this Parliament.

Supporting unpaid carers is a cross-Government issue which requires cross-Government support. I recently met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets in the Department for Business and Trade and the Minister of State for Social Security and Disability in the Department for Work and Pensions to look at how we can work together more closely to support unpaid carers.

The Government has already taken steps to support unpaid carers. From April 2025, we are increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance; this is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

The Government is also committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave.

The final delivery plan for myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, will cover the population of England only.

However, due to the United Kingdom-wide nature of this issue, we have maintained engagement with the devolved administrations during the analysis of the consultation responses on the interim delivery plan, as well as on the ongoing development of the final plan.

We will continue to work closely with those devolved administrations to ensure that policy development and learning across the UK’s nations is shared.

The Government is committed to cleaning up our air and protecting the public from the harms of pollution and plans to introduce a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy which will include a series of interventions to reduce emissions, and in turn everyone’s exposure to air pollution.

There are currently no plans to undertake a general assessment of the potential impact on human health given that it is already well established that even low concentrations of air quality pollutants are likely to be associated with adverse effects on health. Therefore, continued reductions, even where concentrations are below the air quality guidelines, are likely to be beneficial to health.

Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service is clear that a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers is required to improve outcomes for carers, people needing care and the NHS. We will carefully consider these findings as part of our 10-year plan for reforming and modernising the NHS and as we develop plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.

This Government recognises the scale of the reforms needed in social care. That is why we will engage widely with a range of stakeholders, including unpaid carers, to ensure their voices are heard as we develop plans to create a National Care Service. The Government are also committed to reviewing the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examining the benefits of introducing paid Carer’s Leave. We will also keep Carer’s Allowance under review to ensure it meets its objectives.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.5 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23. The NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group, reflecting its high priority. We are committed to furthering our investment and support for high-quality brain tumour research.

In the five years between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the NIHR directly invested £11.3 million in research projects and programmes focused on brain tumours across 15 awards. In addition, our wider investments in NIHR research infrastructure, including facilities, services, and the research workforce, are estimated to be £31.5 million, between 2018/19 and 2022/23, and have enabled 227 brain cancer research studies to take place in the same period. In total NIHR investments have enabled 8,500 people to participate in potentially life-changing research in the National Health Service over this time.

In September 2024, the NIHR launched new funding opportunities for a Brain Cancer Research Consortium and a major new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation.