Steve Darling MP: written questions
651 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Pathways to Work: Impact AssessmentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44646More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will produce an impact assessment of the proposals outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, published in March 2025.
Answer: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get ...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44645More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of consulting on the introduction of changes to the eligibility requirement for the daily living part of the Personal Independence Payment
Answer: Since the pandemic, the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards has more than doubled – up from 13,000 a month, to 34,000 a month. Action is needed now to target support better, so that we can protect this important safety net for future gene...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWork Capability Assessment: Chronic IllnessesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44644More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what definition her Department plans to use to identify people with severe lifelong health conditions who wil
Answer: We will ensure that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected, and that this group will face no future reassessment. We will set out further information on this in due course.
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordCommunications and Training Working GroupMinistry of DefenceTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44643More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's response to the Quinquennial Review of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme 2023 published on 21 March 2024, what progress he has made on establishing the Communications and Tra
Answer: The Government response to the Quinquennial Review (QQR) of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme 2022-23 was published on 21 March 2024 under the previous administration. The Communication and Training Working Group was not recommended in the QQR, but was...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNeighbourhood BoardsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44642More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Town Deal Board model will be used as a foundation for the development of Plan for Neighbourhoods Board;, and what changes to (a) structure and (b) governance would b
Answer: Neighbourhood Boards should bring together residents, local businesses, grassroots campaigners, workplace representatives, faith, and community leaders and those with a deep connection to their area to work with the local authority to develop their Regene...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Plans: Public ConsultationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44641More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues on whether community engagement should be carried out through distinct channels from business engagement as part of local development planning
Answer: Planning Practice Guidance on plan-making, which can be found on gov.uk here, highlights the importance of local communities and interested parties being able to track the progress of local development plans through Local Development Schemes. These must b...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordRegional Planning and DevelopmentMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44640More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department provides guidance on the (a) core principles and (b) culture expected of local development boards.
Answer: I would kindly ask the hon. Member to write to me with more details on ‘local development boards’, so my officials can look into this matter.
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordRegional Planning and DevelopmentMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44639More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued on whether board members of local development boards should have (a) full access to and (b) summaries of (i) tenders and (ii) business pla
Answer: I would kindly ask the hon. Member to write to me with more details on ‘local development boards’, so my officials can look into this matter.
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordMembers: CorrespondenceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 3 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44062More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to reply to correspondence of 17 January 2025 from the hon. Member for Torbay on local government reorganisation; and if she will meet with the hon. Member for Tor
Answer: I will respond to the letter imminently.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordMusicians: EU CountriesDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43783More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support British musicians touring in the EU.
Answer: We are working closely with the music industry to tackle the challenges facing UK musicians and their support staff when touring in the EU. We remain in open and constructive dialogue with the EU, with a view to improve arrangements across the European co...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43208More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of households no longer eligible for both PIP and other passported benefits.
Answer: No estimate has yet been made.Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reformin...
Answered 9 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: UnderpaymentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43136More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many letters she has issued to people who registered details of deceased family members on underpaid state pensions in 2025; whether her Department holds other records to assist with validating clai
Answer: The Next of Kin / representatives of a deceased State Pension customer had the opportunity to contact DWP if they thought the customer may be in scope for the State Pension Underpayments exercise. In reviewing these enquiries, the Department has identifie...
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: UnderpaymentsTreasuryTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43135More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if HMRC will provide (a) National Insurance records, (b) historic income tax records showing taxable payments of state pensions and (c) any other related records of deceased people to bereaved family members for cla
Answer: His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates a strict duty of confidentiality to protect customers’ data. Therefore they can only supply information regarding the deceased to family members in certain circumstances permitted in law, for example to en...
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: Private SectorDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42367More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that the private sector is used to help reduce NHS waiting lists for the (a) most urgent procedures and (b) patients with the greatest clinical need
Answer: We have committed to tackling waiting lists and getting back to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We will use every lever to do this, an...
Answered 4 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDoctors: RefugeesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41979More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of offering (a) guidance or (b) funding support for charities who are assisting refugees with medical qualifications into the NHS.
Answer: The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of offering guidance or funding support for charities who are assisting refugees with medical qualifications into the National Health Service.Many regulators, royal colleges, and other organisa...
Answered 4 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Carer's AllowanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 27 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41966More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment qualifying criteria and the consequential effect on Carer's Allowance eligibility
Answer: We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independ...
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: Carer's AllowanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 27 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41965More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing carers to keep Carer’s Allowance if they are providing over 35 hours of care to someone who has eligible health needs bu
Answer: We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independ...
Answered 3 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence Payment: CarersDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 27 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41963More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment qualifying criteria on unpaid family carers.
Answer: We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independ...
Answered 3 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security benefits: ReformDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 24 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40904More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what basis her Department decided which aspects of the proposed reforms to the benefits system would be subject to consultation.
Answer: This consultation sets out plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. We urge...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordProstate Cancer: Research and ScreeningDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40877More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of recommendation on (a) screening and (b) research on prostate cancer in Council of the EU recommendation on
Answer: The United Kingdom is not bound by the Council of the European Union's recommendations. The UK National Screening Committee is currently looking at the evidence for prostate cancer screening in accordance with its published processes. This work will evalu...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordRefugees: UkraineHome OfficeTabled 24 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40876More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department were working on the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme on 24 March 2025.
Answer: Specific resource has been allocated to process Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) Scheme applications, which will allow for fluctuations in application volumes. As of 24 March, we had 30.9 full time equivalent staff working on UPE.
Answered 1 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Independence PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 24 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40867More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure changes to the eligibility of Personal Independence Payments don't disproportionately impact individuals with fluctuating conditions.
Answer: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published here alongside the Spring Statement.A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper ...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: ReformDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 24 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40865More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to ensure that disabled people who do not receive Personal Independence Payment but have work-related limitations are not adversely impacted by welfare reforms.
Answer: We are committed to protecting disabled people who can't and won’t ever be able to work and support them to live with dignity. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we are proposing that the incomes of those with the most sev...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39988More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Pathways to work: reforming benefits and support to get Britain working green paper, published on 18 March, when accessible versions will be published.
Answer: Further accessible formats will be published on GOV.UK in due course. The consultation will close 12 weeks after the point at which all accessible versions of this Green Paper are available, to ensure that all stakeholders have sufficient time to engage a...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordTorbay Hospital: VacanciesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39987More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department has on the (a) number of unfilled vacancies, (b) cost for using (i) locum and (ii) bank staff to fill vacancies at Torbay Hospital in the most recent period for whic
Answer: The Department does not hold information on the number of unfilled vacancies or the costs of using locum or bank staff to fill vacancies at Torbay Hospital. NHS England published vacancy rates by trust as of June 2024, with further information available a...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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