Helen Whately MP: written questions
465 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Motability: VATTreasuryTabled 13 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81344More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish the methodology and assumptions behind HMRC’s 2024 forecast that Motability’s VAT reliefs will have cost £1.21 billion in 2024-25.
Answer: HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual Non-structural tax relief statistics publication. The last publication on 5 December 2024 showed an estimate and forecast for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 of £1,210m for the rel...
Answered 21 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordMotability: VATTreasuryTabled 13 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81343More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will release the methodology and assumptions behind HMRC’s estimate that Motability’s VAT reliefs cost £1.21 billion in 2023-24.
Answer: HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual Non-structural tax relief statistics publication. The last publication on 5 December 2024 showed an estimate and forecast for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 of £1,210m for the rel...
Answered 21 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordMotability: Insurance Premium Tax and VATTreasuryTabled 13 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 81342More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the value for money of Motability’s VAT and Insurance Premium Tax reliefs.
Answer: The Government keeps all taxes under review, and the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78366More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will be supported under the Youth Jobs Guarantee.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78365More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of placements that will be available under the Youth Jobs Guarantee.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78364More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the average cost of a Youth Jobs Guarantee placement.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78363More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, whether placements available through the Youth Jobs Guarantee will be in the (a) public, (b) private and (c) voluntary sectors.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78362More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, whether the cost of the placements through the Youth Jobs Guarantee will be funded by the public purse.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78361More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, which employers have agreed to offer placements as part of the Youth Jobs Guarantee.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Schemes: Young PeopleTreasuryTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78360More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, with which employers her Department held discussions on the Youth Jobs Guarantee.
Answer: In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experie...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: ApplicationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78359More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP claims were (a) withdrawn before submitting a PIP2 form, (b) disallowed due to failure to return the PIP2 form, (c) withdrawn after submitting a PIP2 form but before assessment, (d) disallo
Answer: Information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) outcomes for the last five financial years is shown in table 1 below. Table 1: Volume of PIP claims by assessment outcomes for the last five financial years.Outcome TypeFinancial Years2020-212021-222022-2...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment: Advisory ServicesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 78358More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches there are per (a) capita and (b) Universal Credit claimant in (i) England and (ii) each region.
Answer: The requested work coach data for England has been provided at district level. Pure English regional data is unavailable as some English regions are combined with Scotland and Wales for Universal Credit administration purposes. Information on numbers of U...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: UnderpaymentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77114More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of State Pension underpayment corrections in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answer: We do not hold information regarding average waiting times to process State Pension underpayments corrections and to produce it would incur disproportionate costs.
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAccess to Work ProgrammeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77113More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of Access to Work applications in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answer: From April 2025 to August 2025 the average waiting time for the processing of Access to Work applications was 94.9 days and it was 93.6 day for the most recent month of August 2025. While we aim to make payments within 20 working days of receipt of all co...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77112More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of Universal Credit advances in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answer: We do not collect data on advance payment processing times.
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: FraudDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77111More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of investigations into benefit fraud result find no wrongdoing.
Answer: DWP takes all allegations of fraud seriously, irrespective of reporting method, and will take appropriate action on those cases where there is concern about entitlement. For regional fraud investigations, conviction data is not currently available for 24/...
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: FraudDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77110More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of investigations into benefit fraud result in (a) financial penalties and (b) court convictions.
Answer: DWP takes all allegations of fraud seriously, irrespective of reporting method, and will take appropriate action on those cases where there is concern about entitlement. For regional fraud investigations, conviction data is not currently available for 24/...
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75668More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Universal Credit online journal as a substitute for face-to-face engagement with claimants.
Answer: The UC service is designed as a digital-first platform, with the online journal serving as a central communication tool between claimants and DWP. It enables claimants to successfully and securely:Receive appointment reminders and mandatory updates.Commun...
Answered 17 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75667More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims are managed exclusively through the online journal without in-person Jobcentre visits.
Answer: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost to develop the appropriate code and analyse the raw data.
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75666More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants have not attended in-person appointments at Jobcentres in the last (a) three, (b) six and (c) twelve months.
Answer: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost to develop the appropriate code and analyse the raw data.
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75665More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants have not attended a Jobcentre in person since the start of their claim in each of the last five years.
Answer: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost to develop the appropriate code and analyse the raw data.
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Foreign NationalsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75664More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK nationals claiming Universal Credit are affected by the two-child limit.
Answer: Statistics about the policy that provides support for a maximum of 2 children in Universal Credit are published annually. The latest publication is available here: Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2025 - GOV.UK
Answered 25 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Foreign NationalsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75517More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK nationals claiming Universal Credit have (a) three, (b) four, (c) five, (d) six (e) seven and (f) eight or more children in their household.
Answer: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Medical ExaminationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75516More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many face-to-face PIP assessments have been conducted in each region of the UK since July 2024.
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 recordPersonal Independence Payment: Medical ExaminationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75515More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has targets for employing more staff to carry out face-to-face assessments.
Answer: As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we are planning to increase the number of face-to-face health assessments. At the same time, we remain committed to offering alternative assessment channels to accommodate individuals who require a differen...
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament record
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