Chris Hinchliff MP: written questions
4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025
How these years work
Our reporting years run from 4 July to 3 July, starting with the 2024 general election. They are not official parliamentary sessions. Office costs keep IPSA’s April–March financial years. Records may cover only part of a year; a missing record does not mean no work was done.
Read what this MP said, asked and contributed in Parliament.
11 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Personal Independence PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 25 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62850More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of Personal Independence Payment claimants who use some of their Personal Independence Payment to pay for housing costs.
Answer: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to provide a financial contribution towards the extra costs faced by disabled people and people with long-term health. Claimants are free to use PIP according to their own needs and priorities. Information o...
Answered 7 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: British Nationals AbroadDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 9 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 58449More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overseas voters from North East Hertfordshire constituency are impacted by frozen British Pensions; and whether she is taking steps to help tackle this.
Answer: There are no plans to change the policy on frozen State Pension. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality, and are only up-rated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have ...
Answered 16 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMotor Neurone DiseaseDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 49639More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to consult people living with motor neurone disease on the development of the health and disability green paper.
Answer: This government strongly values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, and that is why we have brought forward this Green Paper and opened a public consultation. The consultation welcomes their views, and we hope that a wide range...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPension Credit: ApplicationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 3 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28292More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the time taken for Pension Credit applications to be approved and what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken for Pension Cred
Answer: DWP works to a planned timescale of 50 working days to clear Pension Credit claims. The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (ARA) on 22nd July 2024. This ...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 31 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 27911More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of qualifying benefits for the Winter Fuel Payment.
Answer: The Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. Linking Winter Fuel eligibility to Pension Credit and other means tested benefits for pensioners ensures the least well-off pensioners still receive the help they...
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordBirds of Prey: RodenticidesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 15550More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of Wild Justice's report entitled Collateral Damage: The Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme - is it working?, published in Novem
Answer: The Rodenticides Stewardship Scheme was developed by The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK to promote responsible use and is overseen by the Government Oversight Group for Rodenticide Stewardship (GOG), chaired by the Health and Safety Executive...
Answered 28 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordPension CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7159More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) potential merits and (b) viability of auto enrolment for pension credit.
Answer: It is not currently possible to accurately identify people who may be entitled to Pension Credit nor to determine how much they may be entitled to on the basis of the data which DWP holds. Like all means-tested benefits, a person’s eligibility for Pension...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPension Credit: Take-upDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7157More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure adequate resources to support the surge in applications for pension credit.
Answer: Prior to the Winter Fuel announcement, Retirement Services Directorate (RSD) had 352 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff deployed on Pension Credit claims. Since the announcement, a deployment plan has been agreed to deploy an additional 537 FTE into RSD to ...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPension CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 7156More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of moving the qualifying week for Pension Credit to (a) 30 September, (b) 31 October and (c) 30 November 2024 on the number of eligible claimants.
Answer: There is no qualifying week for Pension Credit. A claim for Pension Credit may be made at any time and may be backdated for up to three months as long as the entitlement conditions are met during that period. This means that a pensioner who was eligible f...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: WomenDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 23 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1451More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to help support women affected by the rise in the State Pension age in North East Hertfordshire constituency.
Answer: DWP offers employment support for eligible customers of all ages, including those below State Pension age, through the network of Jobcentres across the UK, and through contracted employment programmes.A dedicated offer for older workers seeks to provide t...
Answered 31 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: ChildrenDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 23 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1447More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential (a) financial cost and (b) impact on levels of child poverty of introducing a child element of Universal Credit of (i) £287.92, (ii) £191.95 and (iii) £14
Answer: We are committed to tackling child poverty and are introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school to ensure children are fed a nutritious breakfast and are ready to learn. The new Ministerial Taskforce will drive cross-government action on child...
Answered 8 Aug 2024
Original Parliament record
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4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025. One record per UIN and tabled date; the named department is not a measure of answer quality.
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