Written questions by Whately.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of the use of catapults causing harm to wild mammals have been recorded in each of the last five years.

The Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Defra supports the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations. Defra is providing £424,000 for NWCU in the financial year 2025-2026. However, crimes against wildlife using catapults are not ‘notifiable’. This means police forces are not required to record and report figures on this type of crime to the Home Office for statistical and monitoring purposes. Defra therefore holds no official statistics on the number of incidents of the use of catapults causing harm to wild mammals from the last five years. Any decision to make such wildlife offences notifiable sits with the Home Office rather than Defra. Regardless of notifiable status, when it comes to responding to the most prevalent wildlife crimes, police force Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.

Whether her Department has plans to review the regulation of (a) hand-held catapults and (b) slingshots with a wrist-brace attachment.

I have asked Home Office officials to keep the law in this area under review. There are existing powers available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults for anti-social behaviour or against people or property.I understand that there is a particular concern about the misuse of catapults against wildlife. I have therefore written to Dan Zeichner MP, the relevant Minister in DEFRA, which has responsibility for the law protecting animals and birds to highlight this problem.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legislation for (a) deterring and (b) prosecuting people who attack (i) wildlife and (ii) livestock with catapults; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to help tackle this.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect wildlife from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996. Where livestock is concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increased the sentences available for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government takes crimes against animals seriously but there is already sufficient legislation in place which protects them from targeted use of catapults. Defra therefore has no current plans to take further steps to tackle the use of catapults and nor does the Home Office have plans to change the law to make a catapult a specified prohibited weapon.

How many people have had their indefinite leave to remain claim rejected because they have applied to lift no recourse to public funds.

A person applying for settlement in the UK must meet several requirements. Not meeting those requirements will result in a refusal. Having their no recourse to public funds restriction lifted is not currently one of those requirements, so no one should have been refused on this basis.

How many people have asked for their no recourse to public funds to be lifted in each year since 2020.

Quarterly data regarding NRPF - Destitution Change of Conditions Applications and Outcomes is published in tabs CoC_01 – CoC_07 of the Immigration and protection data: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2024

How many people had their claim rejected for (a) Universal Credit, (b) the State Pension and (c) other public funds due to having a no recourse to public funds condition in each year since 2020.

Persons subject to immigration control have no recourse to public funds and so cannot access taxpayer-funded benefits such as Universal Credit. Nationals of countries other than the UK and Ireland may have no recourse to public funds because either their immigration status prohibits this or they do not have an immigration status. The table below gives the number of individuals who have been assessed as ineligible for public funds benefit due to being a ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’, i.e. having No Recourse to Public Funds from April 2022 onwards (data is not held prior to this period). An individual can be a ‘Person Subject to Immigration control’ due to the conditions of their immigration status or because they have no immigration status. Date Decision Entered on Admin SystemNumber of UC HRT ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’ (i.e. No Recourse to Public Funds) DecisionsApril 2022 to March 202326,000April 2023 to March 202435,000April 2024 to March 202538,000Source: DWP internal analysis of UC Dataworks tables, Rounded to the nearest 1,000 decisions. Equivalent information for non-Universal Credit benefits is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The new State Pension is based on National Insurance contributions and payments are not classified as public funds for immigration purposes. Entitlement for any payments of the new State Pension is usually dependent on the individual having a minimum of ten qualifying years of National Insurance when they reach State Pension age.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 29 April 2025, Official Report, col 236, how many sickfluencers have been prosecuted under the (a) Fraud Act 2006 and (b) Serious Crime Act 2007.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given to PQ 50195 on 12 May 2025.

What the average time taken was to process Access to Work claims once an invoice had been submitted in each of the last 12 months.

We do not record, and therefore do not hold, data on the average time taken to process Access to Work claims once an invoice has been submitted. To determine this, we would need to review all claims processed over the past 12 months to compare the date each claim was received with the date it was processed. This exercise would incur a disproportionate cost.

How many households on Universal Credit had (a) five, (b) six, (c) seven, (d), eight, (e) nine and (f) 10 or more children since November 2018.

The latest statistics for the number of children in households on Universal Credit are available on Stat-Xplore for November 2024. As statistics for the number of children are only available from April 2019, the table shows the data for November 2019 to November 2024. Total number of households receiving a Universal Credit payment, with five or more children in the household, November 2019 to November 2024 Number of Children Nov 2019Nov 2020Nov 2021Nov 2022Nov 2023Nov 2024510,84120,59126,13631,31035,12448,95663,1365,8797,7539,34810,27814,89978601,6492,2212,6893,0534,81282865647369149951,82298317026928833766810 or more 4081114169184424Total15,25628,93437,22444,71249,97271,580 Source: Households on Universal Credit dataset Notes:Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied. Award, entitlement and payment information may be missing for a very small number of households on Universal Credit, where more limited information is entered onto IT systems. Users are advised that these statistics have ongoing work to improve the data quality and so are subject to revision. Figures for November 2024 are provisional. These figures will be subject to revision in subsequent releases. It is expected that overall provisional figures will be within two per cent of their revised figure in future releases. Revised figures for households on Universal Credit are published quarterly in February, May, August and November. With each publication, the previous 2 years are revised. This means that the totals in this table may vary slightly from the statistics published on Stat-Xplore for November 2019, November 2020, and November 2021.

How many people with ineligible immigration status applied for (a) Universal Credit and (b) other welfare payments in the last 12 months.

To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to be either a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot pay public funds benefits, such as Universal Credit, to a person if the Home Office has applied a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition to their immigration status. Nationals of countries other than the UK and Ireland who have a valid immigration status and that does not prohibit recourse to public funds are subject to the same eligibility criteria as any other claimant, including the need to be ‘habitually resident’ (meaning they have made the UK their home in addition to having a legal right to claim benefits). The Department has defined ‘ineligible immigration status’ as a claimant with a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition attached to their immigration status or who have no valid UK immigration status. The Department has provided a figure on the number of individuals who undertake the Habitual Residency Test (HRT) and fail due to being a ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’, i.e. having No Recourse to Public Funds. There were 38,000 individuals who were refused Universal Credit due to fail reason: ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’ between May 2024 and April 2025. The Department does not hold equivalent information for non-Universal Credit benefits and to provide it would exceed cost limits.

How many people with no recourse to public funds applied for (a) Universal Credit and (b) other welfare payments in the last 12 months.

To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to be either a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot pay public funds benefits, such as Universal Credit, to a person if the Home Office has applied a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition to their immigration status. Nationals of countries other than the UK and Ireland who have a valid immigration status and that does not prohibit recourse to public funds are subject to the same eligibility criteria as any other claimant, including the need to be ‘habitually resident’ (meaning they have made the UK their home in addition to having a legal right to claim benefits). The Department has defined ‘ineligible immigration status’ as a claimant with a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition attached to their immigration status or who have no valid UK immigration status. The Department has provided a figure on the number of individuals who undertake the Habitual Residency Test (HRT) and fail due to being a ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’, i.e. having No Recourse to Public Funds. There were 38,000 individuals who were refused Universal Credit due to fail reason: ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’ between May 2024 and April 2025. The Department does not hold equivalent information for non-Universal Credit benefits and to provide it would exceed cost limits.

How many non-UK and Irish nationals have applied for (a) Universal Credit and (b) other welfare payments in the last 12 months.

To access public funds benefits, individuals are required to be either a British or Irish citizen or hold an immigration status which does not prevent them from accessing public funds. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot pay public funds benefits, such as Universal Credit, to a person if the Home Office has applied a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition to their immigration status. Nationals of countries other than the UK and Ireland who have a valid immigration status and that does not prohibit recourse to public funds are subject to the same eligibility criteria as any other claimant, including the need to be ‘habitually resident’ (meaning they have made the UK their home in addition to having a legal right to claim benefits). The Department has defined ‘ineligible immigration status’ as a claimant with a ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition attached to their immigration status or who have no valid UK immigration status. The Department has provided a figure on the number of individuals who undertake the Habitual Residency Test (HRT) and fail due to being a ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’, i.e. having No Recourse to Public Funds. There were 38,000 individuals who were refused Universal Credit due to fail reason: ‘Person Subject to Immigration Control’ between May 2024 and April 2025. The Department does not hold equivalent information for non-Universal Credit benefits and to provide it would exceed cost limits.

What the number of outstanding Access to Work applications was in each of the last 12 months.

The number of outstanding Access to Work applications in each of the last 12 months was: June 2024 = 42,403July 2024 = 48,270August 2024 = 50,803September 2024 = 54,530October 2024 = 56,028November 2024 = 58,112December 2024 = 58,129January 2025 = 60,427February 2025 = 61,719March 2025 = 61,674April 2025 = 62,254May 2025 = 62,907 Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It should therefore be treated with caution.

What proportion of Child Tax Credit claimants have been moved onto Universal Credit.

The number and proportion of Child Tax Credit claimants who have made a claim to Universal Credit following a migration notice can be obtained from Stat-Xplore within People invited to Move to Universal Credit dataset. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

How many Child Tax Credit claimants were moved onto Universal Credit in each year since 2020.

The number and proportion of Child Tax Credit claimants who have made a claim to Universal Credit following a migration notice can be obtained from Stat-Xplore within People invited to Move to Universal Credit dataset. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

Whether she has made an estimate of the value of Access to Work claims waiting to be processed.

We have taken claims as those currently awaiting payment.Estimating the value of outstanding Access to Work (AtW) payment claims would incur a disproportionate cost. To produce an estimate, each claim would need to be manually examined to determine the amount being claimed.The number of outstanding payment claims currently stands at 21,304. Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It should therefore be treated with caution.

With reference to the Department for Health and Social Care's press release entitled Crack teams get patients off waiting lists at twice the speed, published on 16 March 2025, what estimate he has made of the associated impact on the reduction in waiting lists on employment.

No formal estimate has been made of the associated impact of the reduction in waiting lists on employment. The Further Faster 20 (FF20) programme continues to support trusts within the cohort to reduce their waiting lists, helping people to return to work. An evaluation across all FF20 schemes will be undertaken and made available later this year. However, we are clear that cutting waiting lists ensures that patients get the treatment they need quicker, supporting them to stay in or return to work wherever possible.

With reference to the report commissioned by the Office of Rail and Road entitled Temple Mills Depot – Independent Capacity Assessment 2025, published on 31 March 2025, what steps her Department is taking to increase the level of capacity available for new operators to run cross-channel services.

The Department welcomes the continuing work by the independent Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to assess the various access applications for Temple Mills Depot, including the Independent Capacity Assessment. We expect the ORR to publish its final determination of the various access applications by the end of the year. The Government recognises the significant interest from a number of new entrants seeking to launch services and is working to establish a thriving and competitive market, which will ultimately benefit passengers.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the debate on the Report stage of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill on 29 April 2025, Official Report, column 236, how many sickfluencers have been prosecuted under the (a) Fraud Act 2006 and (b) Serious Crime Act 2007.

The Department does not use the term ‘sickfluencer’ as a defined term and, as such, does not collect data under this description. Furthermore, the Department is not a prosecuting body; DWP’s role is to refer cases for consideration of prosecution to the appropriate prosecuting authority who are then responsible for taking the case forward, including determining the most appropriate offences to prosecute under.

What recent estimate her Department has made of the number of pensioners who are eligible for Pension Credit but not claiming it.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. In the financial year ending 2023, it is estimated that up to 760,000 pensioner households in Great Britain were entitled to Pension Credit but not receiving the benefit. The next edition of the Pension Credit take-up statistics will be released between September and October 2025. This will cover the financial year 2023 to 2024.