Every parliamentary written question tabled by Siân Berry this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 161–180 of 398 · this parliament
How many (a) households, and (b) children, will not receive an overall increase in benefit support from the abolition of the two-child benefit cap from April 2026 due to being subject to the overall benefit cap (i) across England, (ii) in Sussex, and (iii) in Brighton Pavilion constituency.
The requested information is not available.
How many (a) households, and (b) children, will not receive the full potential increase in benefit support they would be entitled to from the abolition of the two-child benefit cap from April 2026 due to being subject to the overall benefit cap after any increase provided through the abolition of the cap (i) across England, (ii) in Sussex, and (iii) in Brighton Pavilion constituency.
The requested information is not available.
Whether ideas for reforming the Personal Independent Payment assessment criteria and processes requiring additional expenditure will be permitted under the terms of reference of the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment.
The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts.The Review is focussed on ensuring we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence. We are committed to spending public money as effectively as possible to support disabled people in living independent and fulfilling lives.It will be for the Steering Group to determine the Review’s recommendations, subject to the Terms of Reference which specify that the Review will operate within the OBR’s projections for future Personal Independence Payment expenditure.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Motability Foundation on an accessible transition to EVs.
The Department works with Motability on an accessible transition to EVs. This includes initiatives to ensure public charging infrastructure is accessible for drivers with disabilities, such as the joint sponsorship of the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1899:2022 for chargepoint accessibility.
What steps she is taking to ensure that the Cycle to Work scheme supports equitable access for employees, including (a) those with disabilities who require specially adapted bicycles, (b) individuals undertaking longer or rural commutes, and (c) older employees who may benefit from electric bicycles.
The Cycle to Work Scheme has helped millions of people choose a healthier, greener way to travel while boosting local economies and supporting jobs. It is for employers to decide whether and how to provide cycles for their workforce under the Cycle to Work Scheme. Any scheme must operate within rules set by HM Revenue and Customs, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority.
What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Motability Scheme in addressing transport accessibility gaps.
The Motability Scheme supports many disabled people and families, by enabling them to lease a car, wheelchair accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for an eligible disability benefit allowance. The scheme helps people with significant mobility issues participate in society, including by breaking down barriers to work. The Motability Foundation have published its strategy to support and empower disabled people by improving their access to transport. The plan sets out how they will act directly and work with others to drive change.
Which prisons have humanist pastoral support provided through prison chaplaincy services.
We recognise and respect the right of prisoners to register and practice their faith or belief while in custody. Chaplaincy plays a critical and unique role in the work of prisons and the life of prisoners. It not only provides advice on faith and belief matters but also offers pastoral care regardless of an individual’s faith or belief, in support of HM Prison and Probation Service’s commitment to decency, safety and rehabilitation.Specifically Humanist/Non-Religious pastoral support is available from chaplains at the following prisons:AylesburyBullingdonChannings WoodDovegateDurhamFranklandHighpointIsisPentonvilleStaffordWaylandWormwood Scrubs
What steps she is taking to mitigate the mental health impact of proposed changes to settlement routes.
On 20 November, we launched a public consultation on our proposed earned settlement model.This consultation provides a means for all members of the public to express any concerns about the proposed new system are considered as we finalise policy. We are also running a separate, focused survey of visa holders to make sure their specific concerns are fully captured.
What assessment he has made of trends in the level of job vacancies in key professions within his Department’s responsibilities, including contractor organisations.
The Ministry of Justice has not undertaken a central assessment of trends in job vacancies across key professional groups. Workforce planning is devolved to individual business groups, which are responsible for assessing their own staffing requirements and monitoring vacancy levels in line with operational priorities. This includes oversight of contractor organisations supporting the department, who are similarly responsible for overseeing their own workforce needs. Through established governance and performance-management arrangements, the department maintains oversight to ensure that services continue to be delivered effectively.However, the ONS publishes information on the number of vacancies from the Vacancy Survey. These headline accredited official statistics are published monthly on a rolling three-monthly basis at UK-level, by industry sector, and by size of business, as part of the ONS's Vacancies and jobs in the UK release.Further insights into labour demand are provided in the ONS's Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK dataset, which includes official statistics in development sourced from Textkernel data. These tables are published monthly and contain the number of online job adverts split by local authority and occupation (SOC 2020).Be advised the ONS caution use of these alternative data sources because the data is not seasonally adjusted or directly comparable to their headline estimates.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support humanitarian aid and climate resilience in Somaliland.
Climate resilience is a priority across Somalia, including Somaliland. The UK is the largest contributor to the Somaliland Development Fund (SDF), providing nearly £50 million since 2012 and an additional £4 million in Financial Year 25/26 to improve water access, promote sustainable agriculture, and protect livestock-dependent incomes vulnerable to climate change.The UK also supports climate adaptation through the Sinaan programme, which helps Somaliland's growing cities manage unplanned urbanisation driven by climate pressures.On humanitarian aid, the UK contributes to the Somalia Humanitarian Fund, which has responded to Somaliland's drought emergency, and the UK also supports partners such as the Red Cross/Red Crescent working locally on disaster response.
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of a centralised Probation service.
A unified Probation Service operates throughout England and Wales, under the leadership of the Chief Probation Officer, who provides both professional guidance and system oversight for probation staff. We recognise that probation works best when delivering in partnership, and Regional Probation Directors and their teams have significant flexibility to collaborate with local partner agencies. Examples of that local collaboration and innovation include joint delivery of Integrated Offender Management with police forces and co-commissioning of services for offenders with metro mayors. The probation service needs investment and strong leadership – which we are delivering. It is our assessment that further structural changes at this time would be disruptive and detrimental.
What assessment he has made of trends in the level of job vacancies in key professions within his Department’s responsibilities, including contractor organisations.
The independent Office for National Statistics publish monthly estimates of online job adverts by occupation Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK - Office for National Statistics and vacancies across each industrial sector VACS02: Vacancies by industry - Office for National Statistics.
Whether he plans to remove the work capability assessment.
We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we are abolishing the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and that following this, eligibility to the new Universal Credit Health Element would require the claimant to be in receipt of a Daily Living award on Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Work is continuing to determine the detail of how this reformed system would work and discussions are also under way with the Scottish Government about the interactions between the devolved and reserved systems. We will set out further details of the reformed system, and the timing of WCA abolition, once we are in a position to do so.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Motability Scheme on supporting disabled people into employment and training.
The Motability Foundation report that 27% of Scheme users have improved access to education and 21% have improved access to employment opportunities. Scheme customers in employment report working an extra 14 hours a week, on average.
Whether she plans to develop a National Integration Strategy for asylum seekers and refugees as part of proposed reforms to the asylum system.
The Government’s Asylum and Returns Policy Statement published on 17 November 2025 announced transformative changes to the asylum system and safe and legal routes.Successfully integrating refugees remains a key Government priority. Work is underway to operationalise the proposals set out in the statement, with careful consideration being given to how integration is prioritised in implementation. Further details will be provided in due course.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Motability Scheme on transport barriers experienced by disabled people.
The Motability Scheme supports many disabled people and families, by enabling them to lease a car, wheelchair accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for an eligible disability benefit allowance. The scheme helps people with significant mobility issues participate in society, including by breaking down barriers to work. The Motability Foundation have published its strategy to support and empower disabled people by improving their access to transport. The plan sets out how they will act directly and work with others to drive change.
Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of job vacancies in key professions within her Department’s responsibilities, including contractor organisations.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes information on the number of vacancies at UK-level, by industry, and by size of business as part of the vacancies and jobs in the UK release. Using that data, we see that in August to October 2025 there were 15,000 vacancies in arts, entertainment and recreation, 33,000 vacancies in information and communication and 76,000 vacancies in accommodation and food service activities. Parts of these industries are included in DCMS sector definitions.Compared to August to October 2024:Arts, entertainment and recreation vacancies are down 14.0%Accommodation and food service activities vacancies are down 16.5%Information and communication vacancies are down 13.5%DCMS uses a more granular industry classification (4-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes) to define our sectors and ONS vacancy data is not publicly available at this level.DCMS publishes official statistics in development estimating the number of vacancies, alongside skills shortages and skills gaps, based on the Department for Education’s (DfE) Employer Skills Survey. Two regular data releases have been published so far: DCMS Sectors Skills Shortages and Skills Gaps: 2019 and DCMS Sector Skills Shortages and Skills Gaps: 2022, UK, as well as additional analysis for the Creative Industries. The 2022 data showed that 25.5% of DCMS Sectors businesses in the UK had at least one vacancy open at the time of the survey. This was significantly higher than All Sectors (23.2%).Further insights into labour demand are provided in the ONS’s Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK dataset, which includes official statistics in development sourced from Textkernel data. DCMS has published additional estimates by SOC code for the Creative Industries using the DfE’s Employer Skills Survey.
What assessment she has made of trends in the level of job vacancies in key professions within her Department’s responsibilities, including contractor organisations.
The independent Office for National Statistics publish monthly estimates of online job adverts by occupation Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK - Office for National Statistics(opens in a new tab) and vacancies across each industrial sector VACS02: Vacancies by industry - Office for National Statistics(opens in a new tab).
What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of the Kingdon review of children's hearing services; and if he will set out a timetable for the implementation of (a) actions and (b) additional funding and resources required.
We are grateful to Dr Kingdon for the review into children’s hearing services published on 4 December 2025. No assessment has yet been made of the potential implications on policies. We are progressing an early analysis of implementation requirements for each of the 12 recommendations made by Dr. Kingdon. We will provide further updates once this initial assessment has been completed and a detailed timetable has been established.
Media and Sport, if she will support making the agent of change principle statutory to safeguard grassroots music venues from the impact of new residential developments and ensure that developers take full responsibility for mitigating noise and other environmental conflicts at the planning stage.
Grassroots music venues are vital to the UK’s music culture, offering emerging artists a platform and supporting local economies and creative jobs.This Government wants to enable new developments such as housing to co-exist with cultural infrastructure, including music venues. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that new development should be integrated effectively with existing businesses and community facilities, such as music venues. Existing businesses and facilities should not have unreasonable restrictions placed on them as a result of development permitted after they were established.MHCLG intends to consult on the National Planning Policy Framework, including the agent of change principle, this year. DCMS are working with MHCLG to consider how the agent of change can be implemented as effectively as possible as part of this review, to ensure the principle works well for music venues.In August 2025, the joint industry and HM government licensing policy sprint taskforce recommended stronger guidance or a mandatory requirement for licensing authorities to ensure that the agent of change principle is considered when making licensing decisions. The Government is reviewing the findings of the taskforce and the recent call for evidence on licensing, to inform how the agent of change principle could be considered in licensing.