Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were entitled to (a) old style and (b) new style State Pensions in Northern Ireland as of December 2025; and what was the average annual payment paid to each recipient.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold complete information on State Pension entitlement and payments in Northern Ireland, as the majority are administered by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland under the devolution settlement.
The Department holds information on the number of people in receipt of the State Pension, including payments, but not on the number of people with entitlement.
The number of people in receipt of State Pension payments administered by DWP to people resident in Northern Ireland is estimated to be a) 229 for pre-2016 State Pension and b) 279 for new State Pension. The average weekly payment for these people is estimated to be £183.15 overall, a) £178.69 for pre-2016 State Pension and b) £186.85 for new State Pension. These are based on latest figures for the quarter ending August 2025. Source: DWP Stat-Xplore.
These figures do not reflect State Pension payments administered under the devolution settlement by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland publish Benefit Statistics Summaries, with latest data to quarter ending November 2025, at the following link: https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/publications/benefits-statistics-summary-publication-accredited-official-statistics-november-2025
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) basic rate and (b) higher rate tax payers there were in December (i) 2021 and (ii) 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This information is not available on a monthly basis and figures for December cannot be provided.
The number of individuals in the Income Tax rate bands, Basic and Higher rate, for tax years 2021 to 2022 and 2025 to 2026 is published in HMRC’s accredited official statistics. Updated forecasts are published in the OBR’s March 2026 Economic and fiscal outlook.
Projected estimates for the 2025 to 2026 tax year in HMRC's statistics are based upon the 2022 to 2023 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s March 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many ships in UK waters suspected of being associated with the movement of Russian oil have been monitored in the last four years; and what steps her Department took in each instance.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Government monitors all vessels in UK waters which are of interest to the safety of mariners, the marine environment and the UK’s national security.
Since October 2024, the Department for Transport’s Voluntary Insurance Reporting Mechanism has challenged over 700 suspected shadow fleet vessels with unknown insurance, a significant portion of the shadow fleet, to provide their insurance as they transit the English Channel.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have sanctioned over 500 shadow fleet vessels, which prohibits these vessels from entering UK ports, and signals to the global maritime community that these vessels are dangerous and should not be interacted with.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the change in the bowel screening age to 50 on rates of diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what changes have been introduced to postgraduate medical education as a result of the review published in October 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Phase 1 of the Medical Training Review identified key challenges and areas for improvement across postgraduate medical training, alongside what currently works well. Bottlenecks in postgraduate medical training were identified as a continuing concern for resident doctors and medical graduates. The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which became an Act of Parliament on 5 March 2026, seeks to address these bottlenecks and prioritises United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training and UK graduates and other doctors with significant experience working in the National Health Service for specialty training.
Phase 2 of the Medical Training Review is already underway and will involve working with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK to design a package of reform.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will have discussions with motor manufacturers on levels of headlight beam intensity while driving when dark.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In response to public concerns raised about glare from vehicle headlamps an international glare prevention taskforce has been established at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. UK officials and vehicle manufacturers representatives are actively involved in the work of the group which is looking at potential measures to reduce the occurrence of headlamp glare.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue was raised through business rates from charities operating commercial premises in the North East Combined Authority in 2024/25.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As Local Authorities are not required to report the business rates revenue they raise from different types of properties, the Government does not hold this data.
More broadly, properties that are wholly or mainly used for a charitable purpose benefit from 80% business rates relief. Local Authorities can, at their discretion, top this up to 100% relief from business rates.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis his Department has undertaken on the reasons for increases in the numbers of successful applications for Universal Credit in the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People moving from old legacy benefits onto Universal Credit – almost four in every five – account for the vast majority of the increase over the past year. This is a transition we inherited from the previous government, alongside a system that writes people off
We are fixing this. We've already legislated to remove incentives that discourage work, and have redeployed 1,000 work coaches to support thousands of sick and disabled people who were previously left without contact for years.
Alongside this, there has been an increase in the working age population, as a result of population growth and a rising state pension age, as well as an increase in the proportion of the working age population in receipt of incapacity benefits (including ESA and those on the UC Health Journey) over this period.
The latest Universal Credit (UC) statistics published on 17 February 2026 now include a breakdown of those who received a migration notice and have moved from legacy benefits to UC as part of the Move to UC programme, and can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-8-january-2026
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to WPQ 112574 dated 11 February 2026 on the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers scheme, when does he expect to be able to reply.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Parliamentary Question 112574 was answered on 3 March. I apologise for the delay in responding.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2026 to Question 109971 on Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum: Northern Ireland, what indicative dates for re-commencing online sales to Northern Ireland residents were discussed.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Victoria and Albert Museum have indicated that they are aiming to resume online sales to Northern Ireland by the end of the financial year 2026/27. The Science Museum Group has not yet shared a target date, but is exploring options to re-open ecommerce sales in Northern Ireland.