Helen Whately MP: written questions
465 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Personal Independence Payment: Medical ExaminationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75514More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many additional staff have been employed to carry out face-to-face PIP assessments since July 2024.
Answer: The number of additional health professionals (HPs) employed to conduct face-to-face Personal Independence Payments (PIP) assessments is not held. This is because the data cannot be split to show the HPs recruited to deliver a specific type of assessment ...
Answered 29 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Medical ExaminationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75513More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many face-to-face PIP assessments have taken place since July 2024, broken down by month.
Answer: The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) face-to-face assessments carried out each month from July 2024 to August 2025 can be found in the table below. MonthFace-to-FaceJul-246,000Aug-243,000Sep-241,000Oct-243,000Nov-244,000Dec-243,000Jan-254,00...
Answered 2 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69971More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) recruit and (b) reallocate staff to deliver the Winter Fuel Payment in 2025-26.
Answer: The Government announced in June 2025 that the Winter Fuel Payment will be made universal in England and Wales from winter 2025. Subsequently, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have confirmed that they will mirror the approach for Eng...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69970More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff will be required to administer the Winter Fuel Payment in 2025-26.
Answer: The Government announced in June 2025 that the Winter Fuel Payment will be made universal in England and Wales from winter 2025. Subsequently, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have confirmed that they will mirror the approach for Eng...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69969More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost of administering Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners with an income of more than £35,000.
Answer: The Government announced in June 2025 that the Winter Fuel Payment will be made universal in England and Wales from winter 2025. Subsequently, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have confirmed that they will mirror the approach for Eng...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69968More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) funding and (b) other resources her Department plans to provide to support the process of recouping the Winter Fuel Payment from pensioners with an income of more than £35,000.
Answer: The Government announced in June 2025 that the Winter Fuel Payment will be made universal in England and Wales from winter 2025. Subsequently, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have confirmed that they will mirror the approach for Eng...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordLabour Market: Coastal Areas and Rural AreasDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69967More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the labour market in (a) rural and (b) coastal communities.
Answer: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUnemployment: Young PeopleDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69966More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the number of young people not in education, employment or training.
Answer: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEmploymentDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69965More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has conducted a sectoral analysis of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on employment levels.
Answer: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordJobcentresDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69964More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the caseload of Jobcentre Plus offices.
Answer: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEmploymentDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69963More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on levels of regional employment.
Answer: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordOffensive Weapons: Animal WelfareHome OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67799More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential merits of introducing (a) specific criminal offences and (b) criminal sanctions for
Answer: In view of the ongoing concerns about the misuse of catapults, especially against wildlife, I have written to Dan Zeichner MP, the relevant Minister in DEFRA, who has responsibility for the protection of animals and birds.
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordOffensive Weapons: RegulationHome OfficeTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66600More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to review the regulation of (a) hand-held catapults and (b) slingshots with a wrist-brace attachment.
Answer: I have asked Home Office officials to keep the law in this area under review. There are existing powers available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults for anti-social behaviour or against people or property.I understand that there is a particu...
Answered 18 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: Offensive WeaponsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66599More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of the use of catapults causing harm to wild mammals have been recorded in each of the last five years.
Answer: The Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Defra supports the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threa...
Answered 18 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: Offensive WeaponsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66598More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the use of catapults in causing suffering to (a) pets and (b) wild mammals.
Answer: The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately a...
Answered 18 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: Offensive WeaponsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66597More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has any plans to review the regulation of catapults in relation to animal welfare concerns.
Answer: The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately a...
Answered 18 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: Offensive WeaponsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66596More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the legal (a) sale and (b) possession of catapults on animal welfare.
Answer: The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately a...
Answered 18 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: ProsecutionsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66237More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legislation for (a) deterring and (b) prosecuting people who attack (i) wildlife and (ii) livestock with catapults; an
Answer: The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately a...
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefit: MigrantsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57678More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people had their claim rejected for (a) Universal Credit, (b) the State Pension and (c) other public funds due to having a no recourse to public funds condition in each year since 2020.
Answer: Persons subject to immigration control have no recourse to public funds and so cannot access taxpayer-funded benefits such as Universal Credit. Nationals of countries other than the UK and Ireland may have no recourse to public funds because either their ...
Answered 16 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMigrants: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57677More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have had their indefinite leave to remain claim rejected because they have applied to lift no recourse to public funds.
Answer: A person applying for settlement in the UK must meet several requirements. Not meeting those requirements will result in a refusal. Having their no recourse to public funds restriction lifted is not currently one of those requirements, so no one should ha...
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMigrants: FinanceHome OfficeTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57676More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have asked for their no recourse to public funds to be lifted in each year since 2020.
Answer: Quarterly data regarding NRPF - Destitution Change of Conditions Applications and Outcomes is published in tabs CoC_01 – CoC_07 of the Immigration and protection data: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2024
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAccess to Work ProgrammeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56300More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an estimate of the value of Access to Work claims waiting to be processed.
Answer: We have taken claims as those currently awaiting payment.Estimating the value of outstanding Access to Work (AtW) payment claims would incur a disproportionate cost. To produce an estimate, each claim would need to be manually examined to determine the am...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAccess to Work ProgrammeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56299More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the number of outstanding Access to Work applications was in each of the last 12 months.
Answer: The number of outstanding Access to Work applications in each of the last 12 months was: June 2024 = 42,403July 2024 = 48,270August 2024 = 50,803September 2024 = 54,530October 2024 = 56,028November 2024 = 58,112December 2024 = 58,129January 2025 = 60,427F...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAccess to Work ProgrammeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56298More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was to process Access to Work claims once an invoice had been submitted in each of the last 12 months.
Answer: We do not record, and therefore do not hold, data on the average time taken to process Access to Work claims once an invoice has been submitted. To determine this, we would need to review all claims processed over the past 12 months to compare the date ea...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordHealth Services: Waiting ListsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56297More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Department for Health and Social Care's press release entitled Crack teams get patients off waiting lists at twice the speed, published on 16 March 2025, what estimate he has
Answer: No formal estimate has been made of the associated impact of the reduction in waiting lists on employment. The Further Faster 20 (FF20) programme continues to support trusts within the cohort to reduce their waiting lists, helping people to return to work...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament record
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