Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of applying the triple lock to the uprating of social security benefits in financial year 2024-25.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The triple lock is this Government’s commitment to increase the new and basic State Pensions annually in line with the highest of the increase in prices, the growth in average earnings, or 2.5%.
Accordingly, the Secretary of State has decided that – subject to Parliamentary approval – for the financial year 2024/25, the new and basic State Pensions, along with the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit, will increase by 8.5%, in line with the growth in average earnings. Working-age and extra-costs disability benefit rates will – also subject to Parliamentary approval – increase by 6.7%, in line with the increase in prices and in accordance with the provisions of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
Using 8.5% instead of 6.7% for these benefits would potentially add approximately £2.3bn to the cost of the social security system in that year.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has has with the BBC Board on the future of investigative journalism in the BBC's programming.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State meets the BBC regularly to discuss a wide range of issues.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government. While it is up to the BBC to decide how it delivers its services, the Government is clear that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide the news content required to deliver its remit, as set out in the Charter and Agreement.
The BBC's first Public Purpose in the Charter is to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them. The Charter also makes clear that the BBC has a vital role to play in enabling all audiences to engage fully with major local, regional, national and global issues, and participate in the democratic process, at all levels, as active and informed citizens.
The Government expects Ofcom, as the BBC regulator, to ensure the BBC is held to account in delivering its public service duties.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people that are both economically inactive due to a health condition and on an NHS waiting list.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department monitors trends in economic inactivity and works closely with other departments and organisations to understand the relationship between health and economic inactivity. There are a number of factors that could be contributing to a rise in economic inactivity. However, these factors are complex and may interact with one another and further work is required to establish whether, and to what extent, there is a relationship between the growth in NHS waiting lists and long-term sickness in the labour market.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on implementing the interim delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome; and if she has an expected timeline on when the plan will be fully implemented.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have been consulting on ‘My Full Reality’, the cross-government interim delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which seeks to improve the experiences and outcomes of people living with this condition.
We are analysing the results of the consultation and the views and experiences gathered through this consultation will be used to build a picture of how well the interim delivery plan identifies and meets the needs of the ME/CFS community and to highlight any significant gaps where further action may be necessary.
We will publish the final delivery plan in due course.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many on average Universal Credit claimants' cases are overseen by each Universal Credit Case Manager as of November 2023.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to accurately answer this question. This is because the information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. To calculate an average over time would require development of new code, which we don’t currently have.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which categories of claimants had their contact with work coaches reduced in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A policy change in August 2023 reduced the level of contact Jobcentre work coaches have with Universal Credit (UC) Intensive Work Search (IWS) claimants participating in contracted employment provision, including the Restart Scheme, from fortnightly to monthly. This was to reduce duplication of effort.
The Government announced an investment over 5 years of £3.5bn at Spring Budget to boost workforce participation and £2.5 billion at Autumn Statement as part its Back to Work plan to significantly expand available support and transform the way people interact with the benefits system.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many vacancies there are within his Department; and what recent estimate he has made of the number of full-time equivalent staff that will be employed by his Department by the end of 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP have ambitious recruitment plans over 2023/24 and are filling approximately 4,400 posts a quarter, through internal and external recruitment to manage attrition and also grow key priority areas to respond to changing demand and commitments.
DWP has yet to sign off workforce plans for the period to end 2024, which forms part of the financial year 2024/25. DWP awaits further guidance from HMT on future Civil Service headcount levels following the chancellor’s announcement in October 2023, and will then be in a position to give an accurate estimate of FTEs employed in DWP by end 2024.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of increasing the local housing allowance to the 50th percentile of local market rents.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State has committed to review LHA rates annually and has just completed his review for 2024/25 rates. From April 2024 we are investing £1.2 billion increasing Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This significant investment will ensure 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain on average, nearly £800 per year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to publish the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As with previous years, the government will bring forward its proposals for the Local Government Finance Settlement 2024-25 in the usual way towards the end of the calendar year.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the APPG on Brain Tumours' report entitled Pathway to A Cure, whether his Department has taken steps to implement that report's recommendations on engaging healthcare professionals with research.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department welcomes the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) report, recommendations of which continue to be worked through with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, UK Research and Innovation and the Medical Research Council (MRC), and with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
In February 2023 the APPG report recommended that NIHR and UKRI should build research capacity, encouraging and retaining talent through fellowships and research incentives. In July 2023, NIHR jointly funded with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM), the first two TJBCM Neuro-Oncology Fellowships, a new Fellowship Programme to support high quality training in neuro-oncology clinical practice and research to ensure clinicians are equipped with the relevant research skills needed to lead neuro-oncology trials that change practice.
Other capacity-building initiatives underway include: the designation of 28 TJBCM adult Centres of Excellence within the National Health Service, creating a world-class network of brain tumour treatment and research centres to provide the best care and share best practice; the Tessa Jowell Academy Programme, a free national learning and networking digital platform for NHS brain tumour professionals to share excellence in research, treatment and care; and the TJBCM Brain Tumour Research Novel Therapeutics Accelerator programme, to review and provide guidance on the translation and development of novel treatments, guided by a multidisciplinary international group of experts.
The NIHR is continuing to work with the TJBCM to develop further capacity-building initiatives.