Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

If he will conduct a modelling exercise to determine how much the NHS should spend on the health elements of children’s palliative care.

I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that the future state of services reduces variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.There are currently no plans at a national level to run a modelling exercise to determine how much the NHS should spend on the health elements of children’s palliative care.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the Housing Benefit earnings disregard from £5 to £57 for young people.

It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment. The Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department will consider the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.Like Universal Credit, Housing Benefit has an income taper. As Housing Benefit may be claimed by those both in work and out of work, there are no rules around the number of hours that someone may work; instead, there are income tapers which apply. The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health. However, the treatment of earnings in Housing Benefit is less generous than that of Universal Credit. Therefore, although customers living in Supported Housing are better off working than doing no work at all, they can be financially better off limiting the hours they work to ensure they retain a small amount of Universal Credit entitlement.Changing the current rules would require a fiscal event and funding at a Budget. As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing the Housing Benefit taper rate from to 55 per cent to bring it in line with Universal Credit.

It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment. The Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department will consider the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.Like Universal Credit, Housing Benefit has an income taper. As Housing Benefit may be claimed by those both in work and out of work, there are no rules around the number of hours that someone may work; instead, there are income tapers which apply. The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health. However, the treatment of earnings in Housing Benefit is less generous than that of Universal Credit. Therefore, although customers living in Supported Housing are better off working than doing no work at all, they can be financially better off limiting the hours they work to ensure they retain a small amount of Universal Credit entitlement.Changing the current rules would require a fiscal event and funding at a Budget. As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.

How many employees paid National Insurance in May 2025.

The ONS and HMRC publish monthly data on Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI): Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - Office for National Statistics The table below sets out the number of Employees from March 2025 to June 2025 (inclusive) who have made Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in that month. March 2025April 2025May 2025June 2025Number of Employees with Class 1 Employee NICs24,512,00024,465,00024,522,00024,658,000 Notes:Data is taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) Real-Time-Information (RTI)Rounded to the nearest thousandData for the 2025/26 tax year (April 2025 to June 2025 inclusive) may be subject to revisions as new data is receivedData has not been seasonally adjusted

If she will consider introducing a 2 per cent levy on football transfers over £10 million.

The government is committed to ensuring the long-term health of English football at all levels. At this moment in time, the government is not considering a levy on football transfers.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding (a) ICBs and (b) NHS trusts to purchase private hospitals.

The Government is committed to delivering an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan. We recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare services requires safe, sustainable, and effective infrastructure. That is why we prioritised investment in healthcare at the recent Spending Review, delivering the largest ever health capital budget.The New Hospital Programme is transforming the design and delivery of new hospital infrastructure and there are no plans for other national programmes of new hospital development or acquisition at this time. At a local level, integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS Trusts are responsible for infrastructure planning, managing the operational capital allocations for their respective local areas, and acquiring new facilities.

How many additional rate taxpayers have left the UK in relation to their tax liabilities in the last 12 months up to 1 August 2025.

Taxpayers are not always required to inform HM Revenue and Customs when they leave the UK. Some taxpayers outside of Self Assessment might file a P85 form after leaving the UK, but only where they are seeking to claim a repayment of income tax. Taxpayers in Self Assessment can indicate that they have become non-resident after leaving the UK, but tax returns for the 2024 to 2025 and the 2025 to 2026 tax years are not due to be received by HMRC until 31 January of 2026 and 2027 respectively.

If she will publish the most recent statement of accounts for the National Insurance Fund.

The most recent statement of accounts for the GB and NI National Insurance Funds were published on 27 November 2024 and relate to the 2023-24 financial year. The respective National Insurance Fund accounts for the 2024-25 financial year will be published shortly.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of existing taxation arrangements on the lending or staking of crypto assets.

The government has engaged in detail with industry on the tax treatment for the lending and staking of cryptoassets, following the previous consultation on this issue. The government will be responding to the industry in due course.

How many employees paid National Insurance in March 2025.

The ONS and HMRC publish monthly data on Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI): Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - Office for National Statistics The table below sets out the number of Employees from March 2025 to June 2025 (inclusive) who have made Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in that month. March 2025April 2025May 2025June 2025Number of Employees with Class 1 Employee NICs24,512,00024,465,00024,522,00024,658,000 Notes:Data is taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) Real-Time-Information (RTI)Rounded to the nearest thousandData for the 2025/26 tax year (April 2025 to June 2025 inclusive) may be subject to revisions as new data is receivedData has not been seasonally adjusted

How many employees paid National Insurance in April 2025.

The ONS and HMRC publish monthly data on Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI): Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - Office for National Statistics The table below sets out the number of Employees from March 2025 to June 2025 (inclusive) who have made Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in that month. March 2025April 2025May 2025June 2025Number of Employees with Class 1 Employee NICs24,512,00024,465,00024,522,00024,658,000 Notes:Data is taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) Real-Time-Information (RTI)Rounded to the nearest thousandData for the 2025/26 tax year (April 2025 to June 2025 inclusive) may be subject to revisions as new data is receivedData has not been seasonally adjusted

How many employees paid National Insurance in June 2025.

The ONS and HMRC publish monthly data on Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI): Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - Office for National Statistics The table below sets out the number of Employees from March 2025 to June 2025 (inclusive) who have made Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in that month. March 2025April 2025May 2025June 2025Number of Employees with Class 1 Employee NICs24,512,00024,465,00024,522,00024,658,000 Notes:Data is taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) Real-Time-Information (RTI)Rounded to the nearest thousandData for the 2025/26 tax year (April 2025 to June 2025 inclusive) may be subject to revisions as new data is receivedData has not been seasonally adjusted

Communities and Local Government, whether the forthcoming long-term housing strategy will address the (a) viability and (b) supply of supported housing.

The government intends to publish a long-term housing strategy later this year. For obvious reasons, we do not intend to share details about tis content ahead of publication.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure there is sufficient future supported housing to meet demand.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 69642, on 4 September 2025.

What administrative steps her Department takes in relation to an overseas care worker whose sponsorship visa has (a) expired or (b) been terminated.

There are no unique arrangements for care workers whose leave has expired and have been unable to find a suitable full-time vacancy in the sector prior to the expiration of their leave.Individuals would be expected to regularise their stay or make arrangements to leave the UK.Where employment has been terminated due to a sponsor being revoked or suspended, the worker is signposted to the relevant Regional Partnership for support.

How many overseas care workers hold sponsorship visas which will expire within the next 12 months.

The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of visas for ‘Caring Personal Services’ occupations, by quarter, are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of June 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

How many overseas care workers are working on sponsorship visas from their employers.

The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of visas for ‘Caring Personal Services’ occupations, by quarter, are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of June 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that the views of (a) patients and (b) the public continue to be heard when the responsibilities of Healthwatch are moved to Integrated Care Boards.

The Department has accepted the recommendation of the Dash review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, to abolish Local Healthwatch.In future, integrated care boards will be responsible for seeking patient, user and wider community input for health along with their existing duties of patient involvement, and local authorities for social care, where it can feed directly into overall strategic planning and be more closely aligned with the commissioning and provision of care.The Dash review recommends that the strategic functions of Healthwatch England are transferred into a new patient experience directorate of the Department.The abolition of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions and the changes to Local Healthwatch will require primary legislation. Timing of this is subject to the will of parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows.

If she will make a statement on how the decision to cut funding for Assistive Technologies within the Disabled Students’ Allowance was made.

The department made the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar (SPAG) software from the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding on the grounds that there are now free-to-access versions available with the required functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. It is therefore not an effective use of public money to continue to fund this type of software through DSA.The department conducted a detailed review of the SPAG functionality available in computer operating systems, free software products and paid-for software products. This review concluded that the SPAG functionality available in products that students can access for free was like that available in paid-for products. While some of the paid-for products had additional features such as plagiarism checkers, these are not in scope for DSA funding, given they are of potential benefit to all students.The department engaged with disability experts to gather their feedback. An Equality Impact Assessment was also conducted, which identified that there is a risk that this decision may have a negative impact on some disabled students who might prefer paid-for SPAG software. However, this impact will be mitigated by the availability of free versions that provide equivalent functionality for the types of support that are in scope of DSA. DSA will still fund SPAG software in exceptional circumstances where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic SPAG software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded.While the SPAG software change took effect from March 2025 for new students, including those starting courses in September 2025, the department does not generally expect that these students will be negatively impacted by the changes as they will be able to access free versions with the required functionality to meet their disability-related needs.

If she will take steps to ensure that the decision to cut funding for Assistive Technologies within the Disabled Students’ Allowance will not affect students starting university in September.

The department made the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar (SPAG) software from the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding on the grounds that there are now free-to-access versions available with the required functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. It is therefore not an effective use of public money to continue to fund this type of software through DSA.The department conducted a detailed review of the SPAG functionality available in computer operating systems, free software products and paid-for software products. This review concluded that the SPAG functionality available in products that students can access for free was like that available in paid-for products. While some of the paid-for products had additional features such as plagiarism checkers, these are not in scope for DSA funding, given they are of potential benefit to all students.The department engaged with disability experts to gather their feedback. An Equality Impact Assessment was also conducted, which identified that there is a risk that this decision may have a negative impact on some disabled students who might prefer paid-for SPAG software. However, this impact will be mitigated by the availability of free versions that provide equivalent functionality for the types of support that are in scope of DSA. DSA will still fund SPAG software in exceptional circumstances where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic SPAG software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded.While the SPAG software change took effect from March 2025 for new students, including those starting courses in September 2025, the department does not generally expect that these students will be negatively impacted by the changes as they will be able to access free versions with the required functionality to meet their disability-related needs.