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 restricting access to the limited work capability component of Universal Credit for those under the age of 22 on (a) armed forces early service leavers and (b) people who have been medically discharged from the armed forces.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, we announced a broad package of reforms to the health and disability benefit and support system. Importantly, no changes are proposed to Armed Forces Independence Payments (AFIP), which continue to provide support to some of the most severely disabled veterans.

For those in receipt of PIP who may be affected by the proposed eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to ensure health and eligible care needs are met. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment process, bringing together experts, stakeholders, and individuals with lived experience. We will provide further details as plans progress.

As we develop proposals further, we are carefully considering the potential impacts, including on veterans and their families, as part of our broader response to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA), and many others, to contribute their views on how best to support wounded, injured, and sick veterans.

I have also asked my officials to work with their counterparts in the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) to organise a dedicated consultation event for armed forces stakeholders, likely to take place in June. We are also providing detailed briefings on the proposals to Ministry of Defence (MoD) and OVA officials. Once we have completed the consultation we will be building up to a White Paper, where we will once again engage with MoD and the OVA in advance of collective agreement.

We are also welcoming views on raising the age at which someone can access the Universal Credit health element to 22 as part of our Green Paper consultation.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

• There will be no immediate changes. Changes to PIP eligibility and rebalancing of UC aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from April 2026 for UC and November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval.
• The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will ensure that the incomes of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.
• Protecting those most in need is at the heart of our reforms. Our Green Paper outlines why we think removing the WCA and moving to using the PIP assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, is the correct decision for the reformed system.
• We understand that for some people, work is simply not possible. We will work through how, without a WCA, these people can be identified and put in place appropriate protections, such as considering award reviews. Engagement with employment support will be determined on a personal basis, according to needs.
• For new claimants on the UC health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected.
• Those on UC, with the most severe, life-long conditions, which mean a person cannot and will never work, will not be called for review in future.

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 the planned restructuring of the health component of Universal Credit on (a) armed forces veterans and their dependents and (b) armed forces veterans with limited access to employment.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, we announced a broad package of reforms to the health and disability benefit and support system. Importantly, no changes are proposed to Armed Forces Independence Payments (AFIP), which continue to provide support to some of the most severely disabled veterans.

For those in receipt of PIP who may be affected by the proposed eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to ensure health and eligible care needs are met. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment process, bringing together experts, stakeholders, and individuals with lived experience. We will provide further details as plans progress.

As we develop proposals further, we are carefully considering the potential impacts, including on veterans and their families, as part of our broader response to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA), and many others, to contribute their views on how best to support wounded, injured, and sick veterans.

I have also asked my officials to work with their counterparts in the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) to organise a dedicated consultation event for armed forces stakeholders, likely to take place in June. We are also providing detailed briefings on the proposals to Ministry of Defence (MoD) and OVA officials. Once we have completed the consultation we will be building up to a White Paper, where we will once again engage with MoD and the OVA in advance of collective agreement.

We are also welcoming views on raising the age at which someone can access the Universal Credit health element to 22 as part of our Green Paper consultation.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

• There will be no immediate changes. Changes to PIP eligibility and rebalancing of UC aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from April 2026 for UC and November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval.
• The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will ensure that the incomes of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.
• Protecting those most in need is at the heart of our reforms. Our Green Paper outlines why we think removing the WCA and moving to using the PIP assessment as the single assessment for additional financial support, is the correct decision for the reformed system.
• We understand that for some people, work is simply not possible. We will work through how, without a WCA, these people can be identified and put in place appropriate protections, such as considering award reviews. Engagement with employment support will be determined on a personal basis, according to needs.
• For new claimants on the UC health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected.
• Those on UC, with the most severe, life-long conditions, which mean a person cannot and will never work, will not be called for review in future.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to continue funding Level 3 vocational qualifications in music and the arts beyond 2026; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing these qualifications on access to creative careers for students who do not follow A-Level routes.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

On 12 December 2024, the government published the review of level 3 qualifications reform which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-level-3-qualifications-reform-provisional-outcomes. The review aimed to ensure that qualifications reform supports the government’s missions of spreading opportunity and delivering economic growth, and considered all qualifications that were due to have funding removed in either 2024 or 2025.

The routes in scope of this review were:

• Health and science.
• Education and early years.
• Construction and the built environment.
• Agriculture, environment and animal care.
• Digital.
• Engineering and manufacturing.
• Creative and design.
• Legal, finance and accounting.
• Business and administration.

Qualifications at level 3 in other subjects, such as music and the arts, will continue to be funded as before. No decisions have been made to defund these qualifications. When we published the results of this review, we were clear this provided certainty on which qualifications will remain funded up to 2027.

We will consider the future of level 3 qualifications following the recommendations from the Curriculum and Assessment Review, due later in 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the assessment process for veterans for the unemployment supplement; and what steps he is planning to take to ensure veterans with service-related disabilities are not disadvantaged by the replacement of the work capability assessment.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

Unemployability Supplement is one of the supplementary allowances paid under the War Pension Scheme which is assessed and administered by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Where equivalent benefits provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are considered to overlap, in line with longstanding public policy, assessments ensure an individual would not be compensated twice for any single injury or condition.

The MOD and DWP continue to collaborate closely to ensure that any proposed changes to respective schemes and benefits are communicated and considered.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what processes are in place to help ensure that consumers who submit complaints to Trading Standards through Citizens Advice receive feedback on the outcome of their complaint.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Trading Standards are provided by local authorities who operate independently from central government and make enforcement decisions according to local need.

Trading Standards act in the collective interest of consumers rather than resolving individual matters. In most cases, Trading Standards will not need to contact a complainant directly but will use information provided to prioritise intervention or enforcement action against rogue traders causing the most harm.

Citizens Advice consumer service received over 827,000 contacts in 2023-24. Every contact received by Citizens Advice is logged on a national database, which is accessible by consumer enforcement agencies, including local Trading Standards, to analyse trends and inform their enforcement activities.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the Trading Standards system meets consumer needs.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Trading Standards are provided by local authorities who operate independently from central government and make enforcement decisions according to local need.

Trading Standards act in the collective interest of consumers rather than resolving individual matters. In most cases, Trading Standards will not need to contact a complainant directly but will use information provided to prioritise intervention or enforcement action against rogue traders causing the most harm.

Citizens Advice consumer service received over 827,000 contacts in 2023-24. Every contact received by Citizens Advice is logged on a national database, which is accessible by consumer enforcement agencies, including local Trading Standards, to analyse trends and inform their enforcement activities.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Trading Standards complaints process.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Trading Standards are provided by local authorities who operate independently from central government and make enforcement decisions according to local need.

Trading Standards act in the collective interest of consumers rather than resolving individual matters. In most cases, Trading Standards will not need to contact a complainant directly but will use information provided to prioritise intervention or enforcement action against rogue traders causing the most harm.

Citizens Advice consumer service received over 827,000 contacts in 2023-24. Every contact received by Citizens Advice is logged on a national database, which is accessible by consumer enforcement agencies, including local Trading Standards, to analyse trends and inform their enforcement activities.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason consumers in England are not able to deal directly with Trading Standards services; and whether he plans to review this approach.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Trading Standards are provided by local authorities who operate independently from central government and make enforcement decisions according to local need.

Trading Standards act in the collective interest of consumers rather than resolving individual matters. In most cases, Trading Standards will not need to contact a complainant directly but will use information provided to prioritise intervention or enforcement action against rogue traders causing the most harm.

Citizens Advice consumer service received over 827,000 contacts in 2023-24. Every contact received by Citizens Advice is logged on a national database, which is accessible by consumer enforcement agencies, including local Trading Standards, to analyse trends and inform their enforcement activities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Seasonal Worker visa scheme to support labour availability for longer crop cycles.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Seasonal Worker route is already available to growers throughout the full year but there are no plans to extend the maximum visa grant beyond the existing six months.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the Seasonal Worker visa route beyond 6 months.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Seasonal Worker route is already available to growers throughout the full year but there are no plans to extend the maximum visa grant beyond the existing six months.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help (a) ensure that medical aid reaches people who are most in need in and (b) evacuate (i) people and (ii) children who need more extensive medical support from Gaza.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK continues to urge Israel to let Gazans receive urgent healthcare, including allowing the sick and wounded to temporarily leave the Gaza Strip for treatment. On 19 May, the UK, Canada, and France jointly called for Israel to cease its renewed military offensive and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid. It is vital there is a full resumption of aid with Israel allowing the United Nations and other aid organisations to operate independently.

We announced a £7.5 million package of support to bolster medical care in Gaza and the region including additional funding for UK-Med, World Health Organization Egypt, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territories Humanitarian Fund.

The UK has supported an initiative by Project Pure Hope to bring a small number of children from Gaza to the UK for privately funded specialist care. On 1 May, I announced that two children have arrived in the UK to begin privately funded medical treatment.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his speech at the 2025 Oxford Farming Conference on 9 January 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed permitted development rights on farms.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Ministers are holding Ministerial round tables in June with a diverse range of agricultural stakeholders to understand how existing planning measures are supporting farmers and to better understand the key asks to go further.

Found: Shrewsbury) Ellie Chowns (Green Party; North Herefordshire) Barry Gardiner (Labour; Brent West) Anna Gelderd

Found: Sollom Dr Marie Tidball Tom Gordon Dr Al Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd

Found: Mike Martin Ian Sollom Tom Gordon Dr Al Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd

Found: Newbury Mike Martin Tom Gordon Dr Al Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd

Found: Newbury Mike Martin Tom Gordon Dr Al Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd

Found: Collier Josh Newbury Tom Gordon Dr Al Pinkerton Susan Murray Clive Jones Dr Simon Opher Anna Gelderd