Written questions by Davies.

How many people in Wales are recipients of the (a) old and (b) new State Pension; and how many and what proportion of those recipients receive the full rate of the (i) old and (ii) new State Pension in the latest period for which data is available.

It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts received under the pre 2016 State Pension system and the new State Pension. Under both systems, the amount people are entitled to varies according to their National Insurance record. In addition to the basic State Pension, people on the pre 2016 system may also receive some earnings-related additional State Pension and/or Graduated Retirement Benefit As of the quarter ending May 2023, the number of people in Wales who were the recipients of the:a) Basic State Pension (BSP) was 458,382.b) New State Pension (nSP) was 177,404. The number of those recipients as of the end of May 2023 who received the full rate of the:i) Basic State Pension was 377,303. This is 82% of the people in receipt of the BSP.ii) New State Pension was 93,153. This is 53% of the people in receipt of the nSP. This data is available on Stat-Xplore at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk in the ‘State Pension - Data from May 2018’ dataset. Quarter ending May 2023 is the latest available data, due to data processing issues with the Get Your State Pension service. More information is available in the Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summaries. More information on the data included in the ‘State Pension’ dataset can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistical-summaries. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment to older people in receipt of (a) Housing Benefit, (b) Council Tax support, (c) Attendance Allowance, (d) Disability Living Allowance, (e) Personal Independence Payment and (f) Carer's Allowance.

This Government is committed to pensioners. Everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement. We will do this through protecting the triple lock, keeping energy bills low through our Warm Homes Plan, and bringing real stability to people’s lives. However, given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over. In November we will also be writing to approximately 120,000 pensioners who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these pensioners to claim Pension Credit by the 21 December, which is the latest date for making a successful backdated Pension Credit claim and still qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment. For those with long-term health conditions or disabilities, the “extra costs” disability benefits, including those provided for by the Scottish Government, provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid in addition to any other benefits received For example, Attendance Allowance can be worth around £5,600 a year. Further, receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits for those on low incomes providing they meet the other eligibility criteria. These benefits also give rise to a disability addition in Pension Credit, meaning that disabled pensioners are more likely to be entitled to Pension Credit, and at a higher amount, than those without disabilities. Carers over State Pension age on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Pension Credit. This can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amount for carers. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week, around £2,400 a year, and around 125,000 carers receive it as a part of their Pension Credit award. We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of extending eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment to older people in receipt of (a) Housing Benefit, (b) Council Tax support, (c) Attendance Allowance, (d) Disability Living Allowance, (e) Personal Independence Payment and (f) Carer's Allowance on the number of pensioners living in poverty.

This Government is committed to pensioners. Everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement. We will do this through protecting the triple lock, keeping energy bills low through our Warm Homes Plan, and bringing real stability to people’s lives. However, given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over. In November we will also be writing to approximately 120,000 pensioners who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these pensioners to claim Pension Credit by the 21 December, which is the latest date for making a successful backdated Pension Credit claim and still qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment. For those with long-term health conditions or disabilities, the “extra costs” disability benefits, including those provided for by the Scottish Government, provide a tax free, non-income-related contribution towards the extra costs people with a long-term health condition can face, such as additional heating costs. They are paid in addition to any other benefits received For example, Attendance Allowance can be worth around £5,600 a year. Further, receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits for those on low incomes providing they meet the other eligibility criteria. These benefits also give rise to a disability addition in Pension Credit, meaning that disabled pensioners are more likely to be entitled to Pension Credit, and at a higher amount, than those without disabilities. Carers over State Pension age on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Pension Credit. This can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amount for carers. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week, around £2,400 a year, and around 125,000 carers receive it as a part of their Pension Credit award. We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them.

What recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the development of phase 1 of HS2.

As reported in the last HS2 report to Parliament published in November 2023, HS2 Ltd indicated that its projected cost to deliver Phase 1 would significantly exceed the current Funding Envelope of £44.6 billion (2019 prices). Following the significant scope changes and deferrals made under the previous government, the Department is working with HS2 Ltd to review the Estimate at Completion (EAC) for HS2 Phase 1 and will report to Parliament in due course.