Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of payments received by unpaid carers for people harmed by sodium valproate.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People in Great Britain who provide unpaid care of 35 hours a week or more can receive financial support from the benefit system through Universal Credit (UC) or Pension Credit (PC). Carer’s Allowance (CA) is also available to those in England and Wales. UC and PC are means-tested and include additional amounts for carers worth around £2,400 a year. CA is not means-tested and is worth around £4,300 a year.
Payments to the unpaid carer are linked to the extra costs disability benefit received by the person with care needs. This is most commonly the Daily Living Component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the middle or highest rate Care Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA), or the equivalent rates of Child Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment in Scotland. Receipt of PIP, DLA or AA is based on functional ability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Individuals can be affected in different ways by the same condition, and so the outcome of a PIP claim from somebody harmed by sodium valproate would depend on individual circumstances. The amount of the carer additions in UC and PC, and the rate of CA, do not depend on the reason that the extra costs disability benefit is in payment.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the average (a) distance travelled and (b) cost incurred by (i) children and (ii) young people from Scotland when attending cancer treatment in England; and what financial support is available to support people travelling cross-border.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is responsible for healthcare in England. In Scotland, health is a devolved matter. The Department has not made an assessment of the average distance travelled or the cost of travel for young cancer patients from Scotland when attending cancer treatment in England, as patient-level data on patient travel is not collected at a national level.
However, the Department recognises that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
In England, NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring that the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.
Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
NHS England does not collect national patient-level data on uptake of the HTCS, therefore it is not possible to provide an estimate of how much financial support is provided annually to specific patient groups, such as children and young people with cancer and their families.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much financial support his Department provides annually to children and young people with cancer and their families travelling for treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is responsible for healthcare in England. In Scotland, health is a devolved matter. The Department has not made an assessment of the average distance travelled or the cost of travel for young cancer patients from Scotland when attending cancer treatment in England, as patient-level data on patient travel is not collected at a national level.
However, the Department recognises that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
In England, NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring that the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.
Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
NHS England does not collect national patient-level data on uptake of the HTCS, therefore it is not possible to provide an estimate of how much financial support is provided annually to specific patient groups, such as children and young people with cancer and their families.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of children and young people with cancer from Scotland who have received some or all of their treatment in England within the last five years; and whether his Department provides support for travel costs for those patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients first and providing speedy and high-quality care, irrespective of where patients are treated in United Kingdom. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments to drive forward its objective of supporting people, including children and young people with cancer, to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.
DHSC knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families in England.
The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or a Personal Independence Payment. There are also several charities in the UK who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
On 4 February 2025, DHSC relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients in England. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve experience and outcomes for children and young people with cancer in England.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure equity of access to cancer treatment and care for children and young people with cancer from Scotland who may receive some or all of their care in England; and what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on this matter.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients first and providing speedy and high-quality care, irrespective of where patients are treated in United Kingdom. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments to drive forward its objective of supporting people, including children and young people with cancer, to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.
DHSC knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families in England.
The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or a Personal Independence Payment. There are also several charities in the UK who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
On 4 February 2025, DHSC relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients in England. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve experience and outcomes for children and young people with cancer in England.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants in a contract with the Motability Scheme to receive a vehicle, broken down by primary medical condition in a) the East Midlands, b) East of England, c) London, d) North East, e) North West, f) South East, g) South West, h) West Midlands, i) Yorkshire and the Humber j) Wales k) Scotland l) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including older people in receipt of Attendance Allowance who have significant mobility needs and who are not eligible to claim Personal Independence Payment due to having reached State Pension age in the Motability Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Qualifying benefits for the Motability Scheme are the enhanced rate mobility component Personal Independence Payment (enhanced rate mobility component Adult Disability Payment in Scotland), higher rate mobility component Disability Living Allowance (higher rate mobility component Child Disability Payment in Scotland), Armed Forces Independence Payment and War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement.
Attendance Allowance is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs which arise after reaching State Pension age. It has never included a mobility component, and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability Scheme vehicle. There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids.
Asked by: Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people currently receiving personal independence payments live in Scotland.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The powers to make provision for extra costs disability benefits were devolved to the Scottish Parliament under the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Government has replaced Personal Independence Payment (PIP) with Adult Disability Payment (ADP). There have been no new claims to PIP in Scotland since the end of August 2022. Since Summer 2022, all existing PIP claims in Scotland have been transferring from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland and ADP has been put into payment.
As of July 2025 (the most recent available data), the number of people who live in Scotland receiving personal independence payment is 2,568. This data can be found on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml).
From July 2025 onwards, any data appearing in Stat-Xplore for PIP activity in Scotland relates to cases where a person moves to Scotland from England or Wales while in receipt of PIP and are in the process of having their benefit transferred.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in the Scottish government on the potential long-term impact of changes to PIP eligibility on (a) people in Scotland who are in receipt of Adult Disability Payment and (b) the interaction between reserved and devolved systems.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government has launched a comprehensive review of the PIP assessment, to ensure it is fair and fit for the future. I shall lead the review, and it will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard.
We are committed to working closely with the devolved governments throughout the Timms review.
In the course of my stakeholder engagement, I have spoken to disability stakeholders from Scotland, to draw on devolved government perspectives in designing the work of the review. We will continue to engage disability stakeholders from across the UK throughout the review.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill on the Scottish Government's block grant.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Universal Credit is a reserved matter, while in Scotland Adult Disability Payment, a devolved benefit, replaced Personal Independence Payments.
This Government will deliver the first permanent, above-inflation rise in the Universal Credit standard allowance since the 1970s, meaning nearly 4 million households will receive an income boost worth £725 by 2029/30 for a single household 25 or over. Individual block grant adjustments linked to individual policy decisions will be published in due course.
The Spending Review set a three year envelope and guarantees that the block grant will be at least £52 billion by 2029, with an additional £9.1 billion in Barnett consequentials over that time period.