Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the level of change in the number of households exempt from the benefit cap following the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions 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: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2025 to UIN 96251, whether his Department plans to make an estimate of the level of change in the number of households exempt from the benefit cap following the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions 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: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals are waiting for their Access to Work application to be processed, and how does this compare to each month since June 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 October 2025 to Question UIN 80759.
The number of Access to Work applications increased from approximately 5,340 in April 2021 to 42,403 in June 2024.
We are committed to reducing waiting times for new applications and have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims. Applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.
In March 2025, the Department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, launching a consultation on the future of Access to Work and how the scheme can better support disabled people in employment. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Budget 2025, what assessment he has of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the salary sacrifice policy for employee pension contributions on the number of hours worked by NHS employees.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the salary sacrifice policy announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on hours worked by people near tax cliff edges.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) sets out that there is not expected to be a material impact on labour supply from this measure. The OBR also do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.
The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the salary sacrifice policy announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on overall hours withdrawn by employees.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) sets out that there is not expected to be a material impact on labour supply from this measure. The OBR also do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.
The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the salary sacrifice cap policy announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on employee hours worked in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) sets out that there is not expected to be a material impact on labour supply from this measure. The OBR also do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.
The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the salary sacrifice policy announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on pensions and hours worked by (a) sex, (b) age and (c) NUTS region.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) sets out that there is not expected to be a material impact on labour supply from this measure. The OBR also do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.
The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the salary sacrifice policy announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on individual pension savings.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) sets out that there is not expected to be a material impact on labour supply from this measure. The OBR also do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.
The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of community benefit levels provided by NSIP-scale solar developers (a) relative to the profits generated and (b) in comparison with non-NSIP solar developments.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We believe that, where communities do the country a service by hosting clean energy infrastructure, they should benefit from it directly.
No formal analysis has been carried out to compare the community benefit funds of proposed NSIP projects with those of non-NSIP projects. However, we are aware that the current voluntary provision can be variable and inconsistent.
That is why we recently published a working paper proposing to make it mandatory for developers to contribute to community benefit funds. A government response setting out next steps will be published shortly.