Jim Shannon MP: written questions 2026
856 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Employment: CarersDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 3 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 6358More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available for carers receiving Carer's Allowance who wish to enter employment.
Answer: Through our Jobcentres, DWP supports unpaid carers who wish to combine their caring responsibilities with paid work. Full time carers who receive Universal Credit can access voluntary employment support from a work coach, which includes identifying skills...
Answered 12 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordEmployment: Chronic IllnessesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 3 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 6357More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of opportunities for employment for people with long-term health conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis.
Answer: Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions have a lower rate of employment. The employment rate for disabled people was 53.1% in Q1 2026 and 64.1% for people with long-term health conditions, compared to 82.2% for non-disabled people. Dis...
Answered 18 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPension CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5934More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase uptake of Pension Credit among eligible households.
Answer: The Government is committed to ensuring that all pensioners receive the support to which they are entitled. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign across Great Britain, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensio...
Answered 15 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: CostsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5933More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the projected cost is of maintaining the state pension triple lock over the next five years.
Answer: Expenditure on State Pension, which includes triple lock, for the years up to and including 2030/31 is available in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables.
Answered 11 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: DisqualificationDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5932More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sanctions were applied to benefit claimants in the most recent reporting period.
Answer: The department regularly publishes monthly Universal Credit Full Service (UCFS) adverse sanction decisions statistics for Great Britain as part of the benefit sanction statistics. The latest adverse sanction decision statistics to January 2026 are availab...
Answered 16 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordJobcentre PlusDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5931More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of employment support programmes delivered through Jobcentre Plus.
Answer: DWP has conducted a number of evaluations that looked at the effectiveness of employment support programmes. This includes: Qualitative research (2021–2023) on the effectiveness of Work Search Review (WSR) meetings delivered through Jobcentres - a core wa...
Answered 22 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: UnemploymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5930More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the claimant count is for people receiving unemployment-related benefits.
Answer: The independent Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance and out of work Universal Credit. This can be found here: CLA01: Claimant Count - Office for National Statistics
Answered 10 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: AutismDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5929More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of decision-making in cases involving Autism Spectrum Disorder in disability benefit assessments.
Answer: The Personal Independent Payment (PIP) assessment is a functional assessment, which focuses on how an individual’s health condition or disability affects their ability to carry out a range of daily living and mobility activities. PIP is not awarded based ...
Answered 16 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Medical ExaminationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5928More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are awaiting reassessment for Personal Independence Payment.
Answer: The total number of cases outstanding at all stages of the Personal Independence Payment Award Review (PIP) process, at the end of May 2026 is 300,000. Please note this data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for inter...
Answered 11 Aug 2026
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Medical ExaminationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5927More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for an assessment for Personal Independence Payment.
Answer: Information on the average time a claim spends with the assessment provider is publicly available in the Department’s Personal Independence Payment statistics release (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-ja...
Answered 26 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5926More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of households affected by the benefit cap.
Answer: One of the core principles of the benefit cap is to encourage work, with an exemption to the cap in place for households who are working and earning at least £881 each month. Households may also be exempt for a period of nine months if they have had earni...
Answered 15 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5925More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time is for new claims for Universal Credit.
Answer: Monthly Universal Credit payment timeliness statistics for new claims are published in UC Households 6 - Payment Timeliness New Claims table in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to February 2026. Users ...
Answered 10 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: DeductionsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5924More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households receiving Universal Credit are subject to deductions for advance repayments and other debts.
Answer: Statistics related to deductions for households on Universal Credit are published. The relevant figures can be found in tables 6 and 7 of the Universal Credit deductions statistics March 2025 to February 2026, supplementary data tables here: Universal Cre...
Answered 10 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Cost of LivingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5923More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of payment levels under Universal Credit in meeting essential living costs.
Answer: The Government has taken important steps to improve the support available to help people with their living costs. This includes legislating to deliver the first sustained above inflation rise to the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced, ...
Answered 15 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordRetirement: Personal SavingsTreasuryTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5922More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to encourage greater levels of household savings for retirement.
Answer: The Government wishes to encourage pension saving, to help ensure that people have an incomethroughout retirement. This is why, for the majority of savers, pension contributions are tax-free. This makes pensions tax relief one of the most expensive relief...
Answered 10 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordBank of England: Inflation and Interest RatesTreasuryTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5921More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Bank of England on inflation and interest rates.
Answer: The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England meet regularly to discuss economic developments. There are also regular discussions between the Bank of England and the Treasury on the drivers of inflation at official level.
Answered 10 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordInfrastructure: InvestmentTreasuryTabled 2 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5920More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal incentives are available to encourage private investment in infrastructure.
Answer: The government will continue to work with the private sector to unlock the significant increase in private investment required to deliver the full ambition of the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy and to maximise the value of the extensive public investment...
Answered 10 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPakistan: GirlsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5333More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Pakistani counterpart on the protection of minority girls from abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage.
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave him on 13 October 2025 in response to Question 77037.
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordCuba: ProtestantismForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5332More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the Government of Cuba on (a) the detention of Jonathan Muir Burgos and (b) independent Protestant churches in the last 12 months.
Answer: The UK continues to champion Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, including the many Christians facing persecution because of their faith around the world.We are concerned by reports of the detention of Jonathan Muir Burgos and wider restrictions...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordRespiratory Diseases: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5331More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration his Department has given to the potential impact of a respiratory Modern Service Framework on health inequalities in long-term respiratory conditions.
Answer: Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental i...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordMedical Equipment: TechnologyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5330More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department and NHS England define a product's value to the NHS for medical technologies; how that value is assessed; and what criteria are used in that assessment.
Answer: For medical technologies, value to the National Health Service is assessed through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) independent, evidence-based evaluation processes. NICE assesses whether a technology offers benefits and valu...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordEconomic Growth: Small BusinessesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 20 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3247More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of small businesses on economic growth.
Answer: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 5.7 million businesses, representing over 99.9% of the business population, and make a substantial contribution to UK economic activity. They generate around 51% of UK private sector turnover (£2.8 tri...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordStamp Duty Land TaxTreasuryTabled 20 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3246More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of stamp duty changes on housing market activity.
Answer: Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is an important source of Government revenue, raising around £14 billion each year to help pay for essential public services.The Government considers the impact of tax on market activity across all sectors, including housing, as...
Answered 3 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordMortgages: Government AssistanceTreasuryTabled 20 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3245More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with mortgage lenders on support available for homeowners experiencing financial difficulty.
Answer: The Government recognises the pressure facing mortgage borrowers across the UK. On 26 March 2026, the Chancellor met with the six largest mortgage lenders alongside UK Finance, to discuss the outlook for mortgage rates following the latest global developm...
Answered 4 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPublic Expenditure: Cost EffectivenessTreasuryTabled 20 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3244More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on improving value for money in public spending programmes.
Answer: This government is committed to ensuring that every penny of public money is spent wisely, driving out low value spending and ensuring the state becomes more productive. At Spending Review 2025, the government announced that it would deliver total annual...
Answered 5 Jun 2026
Original Parliament record
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