Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the mean processing time was for Carer's Allowance applications in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times are measured weekly. For the Carer’s Allowance figures shown here, Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) is calculated as the average length of time (working days) from the receipt of a claim to the date the first payment was issued. Please see attached annex for details of weekly Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times from week commencing 2 January 2023 to week commencing 2 June 2025.
Special Notes:
The Average Actual Clearance Time figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Transport Secretary acts to make thousands of extra driving tests available each month, published on 23 April 2025, whether an estimate has been made of the number of number of DVSA staff members who will return to examining roles by region.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On the 23 April, the Secretary of State (SoS) for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.
Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.
The measures announced by SoS to make additional driving tests available each month were implemented on 1 June. It is too early to evaluate those measures, or their impact at a national or regional level.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the under reporting of young carer numbers in the school census 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The impact of caring on education has been hidden for too long. The school census data is already shining a light on this issue despite the underreporting. It has given the department hard evidence on young carer’s attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and we are aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment at both key stage 2 and key stage 4 this autumn.
The department expects this data to continue to improve over time as the collection becomes better established, but we are looking at the ways the data is entered to see if there are technical changes that can be made to support more accurate reporting without overly burdening schools.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Care's Allowance have been processed by her Department in each month since 1 November 2023; and how many and what proportion of those applications took (a) between six and nine months and (b) more than nine months to be processed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of Carer’s Allowance new claim applications cleared in each month, starting November 2023, is shown below in Table 1 below. This is based upon weekly data, starting week commencing 30th October 2023 (see ‘Notes to Table 1’ for more information).
For all other questions, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Table 1: Number of Carer’s Allowance new claim applications cleared, by month, November 2023 to April 2025.
Month | Number of Carer’s Allowance New Claim Applications Cleared |
Nov-23 | 36,300 |
Dec-23 | 21,800 |
Jan-24 | 33,800 |
Feb-24 | 29,700 |
Mar-24 | 28,700 |
Apr-24 | 25,700 |
May-24 | 37,400 |
Jun-24 | 30,400 |
Jul-24 | 35,600 |
Aug-24 | 25,600 |
Sep-24 | 28,200 |
Oct-24 | 35,500 |
Nov-24 | 29,900 |
Dec-24 | 25,200 |
Jan-25 | 32,400 |
Feb-25 | 26,200 |
Mar-25 | 26,000 |
Apr-25 | 33,700 |
Source: DWP Management Information
Notes to Table 1:
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the median processing time for Carer's Allowance applications was in each of the first five months of 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of Carer’s Allowance new claim applications cleared in each month, starting November 2023, is shown below in Table 1 below. This is based upon weekly data, starting week commencing 30th October 2023 (see ‘Notes to Table 1’ for more information).
For all other questions, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Table 1: Number of Carer’s Allowance new claim applications cleared, by month, November 2023 to April 2025.
Month | Number of Carer’s Allowance New Claim Applications Cleared |
Nov-23 | 36,300 |
Dec-23 | 21,800 |
Jan-24 | 33,800 |
Feb-24 | 29,700 |
Mar-24 | 28,700 |
Apr-24 | 25,700 |
May-24 | 37,400 |
Jun-24 | 30,400 |
Jul-24 | 35,600 |
Aug-24 | 25,600 |
Sep-24 | 28,200 |
Oct-24 | 35,500 |
Nov-24 | 29,900 |
Dec-24 | 25,200 |
Jan-25 | 32,400 |
Feb-25 | 26,200 |
Mar-25 | 26,000 |
Apr-25 | 33,700 |
Source: DWP Management Information
Notes to Table 1:
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of applications for Carer's Allowance received in each month since 1 November 2025 were processed in (a) under 20, (b) 21 to 40, (c) 41 to 50, (d) 51 to 60, (e) 61 to 70, (f) 71 to 80, (g) 81 to 90, (h) 91 to 100, (i) 101 to 110, (j) 111 to 120, and (k) 121 or more days.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of Carer’s Allowance new claim applications cleared in each month, starting November 2023, is shown below in Table 1 below. This is based upon weekly data, starting week commencing 30th October 2023 (see ‘Notes to Table 1’ for more information).
For all other questions, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Table 1: Number of Carer’s Allowance new claim applications cleared, by month, November 2023 to April 2025.
Month | Number of Carer’s Allowance New Claim Applications Cleared |
Nov-23 | 36,300 |
Dec-23 | 21,800 |
Jan-24 | 33,800 |
Feb-24 | 29,700 |
Mar-24 | 28,700 |
Apr-24 | 25,700 |
May-24 | 37,400 |
Jun-24 | 30,400 |
Jul-24 | 35,600 |
Aug-24 | 25,600 |
Sep-24 | 28,200 |
Oct-24 | 35,500 |
Nov-24 | 29,900 |
Dec-24 | 25,200 |
Jan-25 | 32,400 |
Feb-25 | 26,200 |
Mar-25 | 26,000 |
Apr-25 | 33,700 |
Source: DWP Management Information
Notes to Table 1:
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government support for independent veterinary practices.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently investigating the companion animal veterinary sector. Defra will consider any recommendations from the CMA once their work has concluded.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that the whole financial services sector is involved in the delivery of the Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The development of the Financial Inclusion Strategy is being informed by a committee of industry and consumer representatives I chair, (including banks), ahead of its publication later this year. The strategy will examine the barriers consumers face and further action what more industry and Government can take in partnership to address them, including a focus on how to increase access to affordable credit. This workstream is being considered by a dedicated sub-committee which includes both financial services firms and consumer representative organisations.
Action to improve financial inclusion will require a joined-up approach across the Government, the financial services sector, and civil society. The Government is engaging extensively on this agenda to ensure the strategy is informed by a wide range of expertise and frontline perspectives.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with mainstream banks on the supply of affordable credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The development of the Financial Inclusion Strategy is being informed by a committee of industry and consumer representatives I chair, (including banks), ahead of its publication later this year. The strategy will examine the barriers consumers face and further action what more industry and Government can take in partnership to address them, including a focus on how to increase access to affordable credit. This workstream is being considered by a dedicated sub-committee which includes both financial services firms and consumer representative organisations.
Action to improve financial inclusion will require a joined-up approach across the Government, the financial services sector, and civil society. The Government is engaging extensively on this agenda to ensure the strategy is informed by a wide range of expertise and frontline perspectives.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring sustainable fishing by boats operating in UK waters.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on a wide range of issues related to fisheries, including ensuring that vessels operating in UK waters do so legally and in a sustainable manner.