Written questions by Campbell.

What the total amount paid per week is to people who have started claiming Pension Credit since the changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment were announced.

The latest available data shows that, for all Pension Credit recipients, at August 2024, the average weekly amount of Pension Credit paid was £83.01. (Source: Stat-Xplore). The next iteration of the DWP Benefit Statistics publication has a provisional release date of 13 May 2025 which will include data up to November 2024 and will be published on Stat-Xplore. DWP benefits statistics: May 2025 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 23268 on State Retirement Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of people who are (a) eligible for the Category D pension payment and (b) live in the UK who have not yet applied for the pension.

DWP is responsible for the State Pension administered in Great Britain while the Department for Communities is responsible for the State Pension administered in Northern Ireland. As of the quarter ending August 2024, there were a total of 89,360 people in receipt of the Category D pension payment. This represents 87,938 people in Great Britain and 1,418 overseas. Source: DWP Stat-Xplore Please note that numbers do not sum due to rounding. No estimate is available for those living in the UK who have not yet applied for the Category D pension. Those who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain on their 80th birthday and who meet the required residency conditions will receive the increase automatically without having to make a claim if their basic State Pension is less than £101.55 a week (£105.70 from April 2025). Those who are getting no State Pension at age 80 or who get Graduated Retirement Benefit only, will need to make a claim.

Whether she made an assessment of the potential impact of relocating HM Coastguard's mud rescue capability from Coleraine to Bangor on the (a) North Coast and (b) North West.

An operational assessment of the impact of relocating HM Coastguard’s mud rescue capability from Coleraine, including the impact on the (a) North Coast and (b) North-West was undertaken both at Area and Divisional level.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 22254 on Pension Credit, how many new applications for Pension Credit were (a) made and (b) approved between 10 September 2024 and 10 February 2025.

On 27th February we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 23 February 2025. This information can be found at Pension Credit Applications - February 2025

Whether he plans to amend the monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements system for dealing with people who have been convicted of terror-related offences after their release from prison.

The Multi Agency Review Arrangements (MARA) are a devolved matter, led and co-ordinated by the Department of Justice. MARA makes provision for classification of and risk management of Terrorist Risk Offenders following their release from prison. Any changes to MARA would be a matter for the Department of Justice. Individuals released under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 are not managed under MARA, unless they are subject to other sentences which bring them within the MARA arrangements. I am not planning any changes to the arrangements under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 32942 on Northern Ireland: Investment, what estimate he has made of the private sector investment in addition to the fund.

The British Business Bank periodically publishes updated milestone figures on the Nations and Regions Investment Funds. Updated figures for the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland will be published by the end of Q2, which will include private sector investment.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29418 on NATO: Finance, if he will have discussions with his NATO counterparts on the role of non-NATO countries with land borders with NATO countries in dealing with international threats.

We regularly discuss with Allies efforts to secure peace, security, and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. NATO works with numerous partners in Europe to build up their capabilities, deepen interoperability, and strengthen resilience. NATO has formal partnerships with 36 countries, many of which share a border with the Alliance. We are committed to stepping up support to partners most at risk from Russian aggression, so they are better able to protect their own sovereignty.

How many (a) Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETA) were issued and (b) persons were identified as having visited the UK without a valid ETA between 8 January and 8 February 2025.

The Home Office publishes data on Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly release’. Data on outcomes of ETAs are published in table ‘ETA_D02’ of the Detailed Electronic Travel Authorisation dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data covers up to the end of 2024.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.The requested information is not held in a reportable format. To provide this information for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the BBC Board on the airing of the documentary entitled Gaza - How to survive a warzone.

It is essential that the BBC maintains the highest standards of reporting and governance that the public rightly expects. As set out her response to a recent Urgent Parliamentary Question, the Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC Director General and expressed deep concern about the issues around their recent documentary on Gaza, and pressed for answers on the checks and due diligence that the BBC carried out. The Culture Secretary also subsequently discussed this matter with the BBC Chair where she sought assurances that no stone will be left unturned by the fact-finding review.While she appreciates that the BBC apologised for its failings, and the BBC Board acknowledged that the mistakes were “significant and damaging”, it is vital that the BBC now takes action so that trust is restored and a serious error of this magnitude is not repeated.Following requests, the BBC has provided the Secretary of State with further information on their approach to enhanced compliance procedures, and the Secretary of State will update Parliament in due course.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of making atropine eye drops available on the NHS for pre-myopic children.

Decisions on whether medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service are for integrated care systems, considering relevant national guidance where available, including from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE is currently considering whether to develop guidance for the NHS on the use of low-dose atropine eye drops for treating myopia in children aged between three and 14 years old through its established prioritisation process.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 30044 on Individual Savings Accounts: Children, if she will change the rules on eligibility for ISAs to permit grandparents to take out ISAs for grandchildren with the consent of parents or guardians.

To ensure that the ISA regime remains simple and sustainable, placing a restriction on who can open and manage a Junior Individual Savings Account (JISA) prevents more than one JISA of each type (cash or stocks and shares) being opened in error and ensures that there is a single point of contact for the giving of instructions. Given the nature of the role, the ISA rules require this to be someone with parental responsibility for the child. A grandparent who does not have parental responsibility is therefore unable to open or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of their grandchild. While parents or legal guardians must open a JISA on behalf of their children, grandparents can then add funds to the account, up to the value of £9,000 a year. As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the JISA policy under review. Any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider fiscal and economic position.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February to Question 29416 on Investment: Northern Ireland, how much of the funding already deployed is from the private sector; and over what period he expects the total amount to be spent.

The £10 million already deployed is solely from the fund, private sector investment is in addition to that. The fund expects to deploy the £70m over 5 years, until November 2028.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changing cash ISA's to UK-based stocks and shares ISA's on the economy.

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) incentivise greater saving and investment by helping people save for their future goals and build greater financial resilience. The Government recognises the important role that cash savings play in helping households build a financial buffer for a rainy day. The Government wants to see more consumers participate in capital markets and benefit from the long-term financial security and returns that investing can provide. The Financial Services Growth & Competitiveness Strategy call for evidence, which closed on 12 December, identified that increasing retail participation in capital markets could support long-term sustainable growth within the sector and the wider economy. The Government is considering the feedback provided. The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with refence to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 23837 on World Bank: Climate Change, whether he expects all new financial flows to be aligned with the Paris Agreement by July 2025.

The World Bank Group's International Development Association and International Bank of Reconstruction and Development have aligned all their new financial operations with the Paris Agreement since 1 July 2023. The Group has committed to align the rest of its institutions, the International Financial Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, with the Paris agreement in their new financial operations from 1 July 2025.

Whether he has plans to fund a financial incentives scheme to help pregnant women to stop smoking during this Parliament.

Health is a devolved matter. In England, the Government is funding a broad package of measures to support current smokers to quit, including the National Smoke-free Pregnancy Incentives Scheme. The future settlement for the scheme will be confirmed in due course.

If she will review eligibility rules to allow grandparents to take out share based ISAs for grandchildren.

To ensure that the Junior Individual Savings Accounts (JISA) regime remains simple and sustainable, HMRC specify who can open and manage an account to prevent more than one JISA of each type (cash or stocks and shares) being opened in error. It also ensures that there is a single point of contact for the giving of instructions. Given the nature of the role, the ISA rules require this to be someone with parental responsibility for the child. A grandparent who does not have parental responsibility is therefore unable to open or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of their grandchild but can add funds to the account, up to the value of £9,000 a year. The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.

What assessment he has made of the impact of occupational and state pension payments on eligibility for Carer's Allowance.

I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on 14 October 2024 to question UIN 6904, this outlines the interaction between Carer’s Allowance and State Pension. Personal pensions paid to the carer are not treated as earnings and therefore do not affect their Carer’s Allowance award. Some contributions to personal pensions can be deducted from earnings so as to calculate the net earnings figure for Carer’s Allowance purposes. Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with funding bodies on the potential implications for their policies of reports of a recently released hostage having been held in UNRWA premises.

This Government is relieved about the release of hostages, including that of Ms. Damari, and hope all others will also soon return safely to their families. Reports that hostages have been held in United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) premises are very concerning. We welcome the fact that UNRWA has said that they take all allegations extremely seriously, and there should be independent investigations into any misuse of its facilities by Palestinian armed militants, including Hamas. We also note UNRWA's statement that it was forced to vacate all its installations in the north of Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, on 13 October 2023. Following Catherine Colonna's Independent Review, UNRWA set out an action plan with detailed management reforms. As a result, we are assured that UNRWA is taking action to ensure it maintains the highest standards of neutrality. As the Minister for Development told the House on 28 January, she has discussed the issue of neutrality with UNRWA's leadership, including directly with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. She also spoke to UNRWA staff members on their work to implement the recommendations of the Colonna report during her visit to the region on 3-5 December. A Memorandum of Understanding governs UK financial support to UNRWA. We continue to monitor UNRWA's activity through due diligence and annual assessments.

If he will hold discussions with his NATO counterparts on the potential merits of seeking financial contributions from non-NATO countries who are advantaged by their immediate proximity to NATO countries.

NATO partnerships are key for the Alliance in helping promote and maintain global security. They are mutually beneficial and enable NATO and partners to develop and strengthen unity on key issues, including support to Ukraine, and uphold the rules-based international order. The UK has championed NATO’s global outlook and will continue to do so. All NATO Allies have signed up to the Washington Treaty and the principle of collective defence. As part this commitment, Allies contribute to NATO’s common funding in support of the Alliance’s objectives, priorities and tasks. In line with NATO’s Defence Investment Pledge, all Allies agreed to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence – a figure the UK has exceeded every year since 2006. We continue to encourage all Allies to do so.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland since it was established.

The Investment Fund for Northern Ireland was launched in November 2023 with the aim to deliver a £70 million commitment to smaller businesses in Northern Ireland, alongside investment from the private sector. Since its launch, the fund has deployed almost £10 million in debt funding and equity investment to local businesses at differing stages of their growth journey.