Helen Whately MP: written questions 2025
258 published records · newest first.
Written questions
EmploymentDepartment 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 recordSocial Security Benefits: FraudDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56296More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 29 April 2025, Official Report, col 236, how many sickfluencers have been prosecuted under
Answer: I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 50195 on 12 May 2025.
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: Undocumented MigrantsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56295More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with ineligible immigration status applied for (a) Universal Credit and (b) other welfare payments in the last 12 months.
Answer: To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to be either a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot pay public funds bene...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: MigrantsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56294More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with no recourse to public funds applied for (a) Universal Credit and (b) other welfare payments in the last 12 months.
Answer: To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to be either a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot pay public funds bene...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: Foreign NationalsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56293More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK and Irish nationals have applied for (a) Universal Credit and (b) other welfare payments in the last 12 months.
Answer: To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to be either a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot pay public funds bene...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56292More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households on Universal Credit had (a) five, (b) six, (c) seven, (d), eight, (e) nine and (f) 10 or more children since November 2018.
Answer: The latest statistics for the number of children in households on Universal Credit are available on Stat-Xplore for November 2024. As statistics for the number of children are only available from April 2019, the table shows the data for November 2019 to N...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordChild Tax Credit: Universal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56291More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Tax Credit claimants were moved onto Universal Credit in each year since 2020.
Answer: The number and proportion of Child Tax Credit claimants who have made a claim to Universal Credit following a migration notice can be obtained from Stat-Xplore within People invited to Move to Universal Credit dataset. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplo...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordChild Tax Credit: Universal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56290More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Child Tax Credit claimants have been moved onto Universal Credit.
Answer: The number and proportion of Child Tax Credit claimants who have made a claim to Universal Credit following a migration notice can be obtained from Stat-Xplore within People invited to Move to Universal Credit dataset. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplo...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordHigh Speed 1 LineDepartment for TransportTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55114More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report commissioned by the Office of Rail and Road entitled Temple Mills Depot – Independent Capacity Assessment 2025, published on 31 March 2025, what steps her Department is taking to in
Answer: The Department welcomes the continuing work by the independent Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to assess the various access applications for Temple Mills Depot, including the Independent Capacity Assessment. We expect the ORR to publish its final determinat...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament record
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