Written questions by Darling.

How many people in each region are experiencing delays in processing their applications for Access to Work grants.

The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including financial inclusion in the terms of reference of the Child Poverty Taskforce.

‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Policy’ describes the Government’s approach to developing the Child Poverty Strategy. This sets out how increasing financial resilience for low-income families is one of the four key themes where the Child Poverty Taskforce is working to develop policies to reduce child poverty. The Taskforce is working with a range of stakeholders, including financial institutions, charities, and consumer representatives to find solutions to problem debt and enable families to build savings.

Media and Sport, when her Department plans to introduce a short-term let registration scheme.

Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and we are committed to introducing such a scheme as soon as possible. We will soon publish the government’s response to the 2023 consultation on how the scheme will work and on the legislative process that will bring the scheme to life.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the State Pension.

Our system of state, private, and workplace pensions provides the basis for security in retirement. Our commitment to increase the State Pension by the Triple Lock is helping both today’s pensioners and the pensioners of tomorrow. Over the course of this Parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,900. Together, the new State Pension and Automatic Enrolment provide a robust system for retirement. Those on low incomes are supported by Pension Credit which continues to provide a safety net.

What steps she is taking to improve access to (a) university and (b) other further education and training opportunities for people living in coastal resorts in (i) the South West and (ii) the rest of the country; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of educational attainment in those areas.

This new government will be mission-led, with the Opportunity Mission building opportunities for all by giving every child the best start in life, helping them achieve and thrive, build skills for opportunity and growth and ensure family security.Building skills for opportunity and growth is key to the Opportunity Mission. The department will ensure every young person around the country, including in coastal areas, can follow the pathway that is right for them. Whether built through high quality apprenticeships, colleges or universities, skills give people the power to progress into good jobs and seize opportunity. We will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances. Opportunity should be available to all, and it is our aspiration that no groups are left behind.Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) support the department’s long term priority to drive local economic growth by reshaping the skills system to better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs and to support learners to gain the skills they need to get good jobs.Over 50% (20 out of 38) of LSIP areas have coastal towns and communities within their geographies and in these areas, the designated employer representative body leading the LSIP may have engaged with coastal industry businesses and businesses and supply chain links operationally based in coastal towns and communities, as well as relevant local leaders and national sector and trade bodies.For example, the Dorset LSIP has identified skills gaps within the marine industry and is in consultation with local providers around the introduction of Level 3 Marine Electrician and Marine Engineer Apprenticeships. These qualifications would help to resolve skills and labour shortages in coastal areas and build clusters of expertise in priority local industries.A Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) was introduced to support local action. For example, the Cornwall and Isle of Scilly LSIP identified a need to improve sustainability skills in the local construction sector. As a result, Truro and Penwith College received £1.07 million to fund the development of a Level 3 Design, Installation and Commissioning of Electrical Energy Storage Systems, as well as the development of an industry-led Higher Technical Qualification for Construction in Cornwall.In the South West there are a number of colleges within coastal locations or who are close enough to readily attract learners from coastal areas. All colleges have specialisms to complement a general offer delivering programmes from foundation level through levels 1 to 3 and then, in most cases, offering higher education provision. Further education colleges often work in partnership with key employers and stakeholders to ensure specialist provision meets local and regional need.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality. The review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve, in particular those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, or with special educational needs or disabilities.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of eligible older people claiming (a) Pension Credit and (b) other pension-aged benefits.

Our communications campaign to promote Pension Credit has been running since September. The latest phase of the campaign takes a new approach targeting friends and family - asking them to tell people they know about Pension Credit, encourage them to check their eligibility, as well as help them make a claim. It will appear on TV, radio, social media such as Facebook and Instagram, on YouTube and on advertising screens, including on GP and Post Office screens.We continue to focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment or the pension age winter heating payment in Scotland.The Government has also written to around 11.5 million pensioners about the change to the eligibility rules for the Winter Fuel Payment and informing them about Pension Credit. We have also directly targeted 120,000 pensioner households in receipt of Housing Benefit, identified as being potentially entitled to, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.As part of our wider stakeholder outreach campaign and in order to get the message out through as many channels as possible, we have engaged with key stakeholders and partners, including other government departments, local councils, housing associations, community groups, local libraries and service providers as well as charities and third sector organisations.The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. DWP uses a wide range of channels including information on Gov.uk, in letters, leaflets and via telephone to communicate information to older people about pensioner benefits.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle digital exclusion.

Digital inclusion is a priority for this Government and we have already set up a Digital Inclusion and Skills Unit to ensure that everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances.This country has been without a digital inclusion strategy for 10 years, and during that time other countries have leapt ahead of us. This Government is determined that that will no longer be the case. I hope to say more on this soon.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will ensure that all policies which potentially impact on fisheries are assessed by his Department in a holistic manner, considering their potential interactions with related policies, before implementation.

Development of all policies within Defra, including on fisheries, is undertaken holistically. We work across the public sector, private sector and society to make policy that works for citizens, and to help the Government achieve its missions and priorities. This includes collaborating closely across policy areas in Defra (such as fisheries management plans, offshore wind and the Marine Protected Areas programme), as well as with different Government departments and levels of Government, to fully explore linkages with other areas of policy delivery by Defra and beyond.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of disregarding military compensation payments when calculating pension credit eligibility and awards.

The first £10 of any War Pension payment or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded in Pension Credit. Income is calculated on a weekly basis, so the disregard is £10 per week. Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her / his partner. War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016. Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount. In this respect, compensation payments made to veterans are treated more favourably than others who have received comparable compensation payments.

What steps the Government is taking to ensure local authorities have the necessary (a) resources and (b) training to effectively safeguard children receiving elective home education.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the number of families choosing elective home education for their children on (a) local authorities, (b) schools and (c) the wider educational system.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure families that opt for elective home education have access to adequate (a) resources and (b) guidance to support the educational needs of their children.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

If he will have discussions with NICE on the potential merits of offering Paxlovid to people over the age of 50.

Decisions on whether licensed medicines should be recommended for routine National Health Service funding are made independently by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), on the basis of the evidence of the costs and benefits. The Department has no plans to speak to the NICE about offering Paxlovid to all people over the age of 50 years old.NICE guidance recommends Paxlovid, which contains nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, as an option for treating COVID-19 in adults only if they do not need supplemental oxygen for COVID-19 and if they are or have any of the following:an increased risk for progression to severe COVID-19, as defined in the guidance;are aged 70 years old and over;a body mass index of 35 kilograms per meter squared of height, or more;diabetes; orheart failure.The NICE has agreed to NHS England’s proposal to a phased implementation of its recommendations on Paxlovid, to allow more time for the NHS to put in place the capacity and infrastructure needed for full rollout to all eligible patients. Paxlovid is currently available to NHS patients at highest risk of severe COVID-19, in line with the approach to the rollout set out in the NICE’s guidance.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure children with special educational needs and disabilities that are educated at home receive appropriate support.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

What steps his Department is taking to improve accident and emergency services at Torbay Hospital.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance across the country, including in Torbay. This includes returning to the standard set out in the NHS Constitution, that 95% of patients attending accident and emergency departments are admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours.Torbay hospital is part of the New Hospital Programme, with plans including delivery of a new emergency department at the hospital.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of PIP to support disabled people with the extra cost of disability.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution to the extra costs that may arise from a disability or health condition. There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of PIP should be, as everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities. DWP pays close attention to estimates of the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019. In order to improve the evidence in this area, DWP is now undertaking a new survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability related needs. This project has a methodological advisory group including representatives of disabled people’s organisations, disability charities and academic experts. It is expected to produce findings in Summer 2025.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010 in improving services for people with disabilities.

It is crucial that we ensure everyone is treated fairly when accessing services, so that they can thrive and reach their full potential, including people with disabilities.We believe that the Equality Act 2010 is effective in ensuring service providers make anticipatory reasonable adjustments to facilitate access for people with disabilities and where they do not, it offers a means of redress. The way it operates is kept under review, and the EHRC’s Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, is under consultation currently.

Media and Sport, what steps his Department plans to take support community-based volunteering opportunities.

Volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient civil society; it benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on local communities. Government undertakes a range of policy work to enable as many people to volunteer as possible, from developing the wider volunteering ecosystem to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to take part, to supporting the sustainability of the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector.This Government recognises the vital role that civil society plays in supporting volunteering, and is committed to resetting the relationship with civil society. Government understands the need to treat civil society as an equal, expert partner who is integral to the delivery of the Government’s vision for national renewal. The first step in rebuilding that relationship is going to be the co-creation of the recently announced Civil Society Covenant.We currently support people to volunteer nationally through a range of programmes. These include the Know Your Neighbourhood (KYN) Fund, an up to £30 million funding package running until March 2025, designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.We also provide funding to the #iwill Fund, a £66 million joint investment between DCMS and the National Lottery Community Fund, running since 2016, which supports the creation of new opportunities to engage young people in volunteering and community engagement in their local areas.

What steps she is taking to support British pensioners residing overseas.

UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, based on a person’s National Insurance record, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating. People move abroad for many reasons and may have access to their host country’s benefit system or other sources of income such as an occupational pension. Information about the impact on State Pensions of moving abroad is available on Gov.uk.

Communities and Local Government, if he will review the postal voting system to help improve accessibility for blind and partially sighted people.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 10319 on 29 October 2024.