Written questions by Maynard.

What steps he is taking to increase skills and training opportunities for HGV drivers.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 26 November to question 92492.

What steps they are taking to increase skills and training opportunities to become HGV drivers.

The government offers a range of skills training which can be used to support the HGV sector. This includes apprenticeships such as the Urban Driver and Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver C + E standards, Skills Bootcamps, and sector-based work academy programmes (SWAPs).

Whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of people over 50 who are classed as economically inactive but contribute to society through (a) volunteer and (b) unpaid work.

The department has not made such an estimate. We do not hold sufficient data to make this estimate in full. The number of inactive people over 50 who are inactive because of looking after their family or home could be estimated from the Annual Population Survey. DCMS’s Community Life Survey (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-life-survey-202324-annual-publication Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving - GOV.UK) asks about volunteering and employment/unemployment status (see table C1b(E)).

What steps she plans to take to help support health and disability benefit recipients to respond to her Department's forthcoming consultation on proposed changes to these benefits.

To ensure that our consultation is accessible, we intend to produce a range of accessible formats of the Green Paper. Additionally, throughout the consultation period, we will continue to listen to and work with disabled people and their representatives through a number of accessible public and virtual events where individuals will be encouraged to give their views on the consultation in person or virtually. Full details on how to sign up and attend these events will be shared in due course, and we will work with partners to publicise them.