Written questions by Taylor.

What steps he is taking to help increase the uptake of Pension Credit among eligible pensioners.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all pensioners receive the support to which they are entitled. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit taken-up campaign, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensioners and their family and friends through adverts on television and radio; on social media and on digital screens in GP surgeries and Post Offices, as well as in the press. The latest burst of the campaign began in September, and further promotional activity is planned until the end of the financial year. We are making better use of data to directly target potentially eligible households. Since February, all new Housing Benefit claimants who may be eligible have been invited to apply for Pension Credit. In September, the Department conducted a trial in partnership with Age UK and Independent Age targeting 2,000 households in England identified using HMRC and DWP data.We are also undertaking research specifically looking into the factors that motivate people to make a claim as well as why some older people do not claim benefits to which they could be entitled, in order to build the evidence of what works to increase take-up.

If she will increase the level of taxation on tech companies in the forthcoming Budget.

The Chancellor’s decisions on tax will be announced in the usual way at the Budget. We do not comment on tax speculation outside of fiscal events.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending eligibility for the covid-19 vaccination booster people with (a) diabetes and (b) coeliac disease.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Southampton Itchen on 19 November 2025 to Question 90568.

What steps he is taking to support elderly people with the cost of care.

The adult social care system is means tested and provides funded support for those with the least financial means. While the Department sets the minimum thresholds for accessing local authority support, local authorities have the discretion to set more generous thresholds if they choose.We have heard from many families who have been impacted by high and unpredictable care costs, and we recognise their frustration at the situation in which they find themselves.The Government has launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The terms of reference are sufficiently broad to enable the commission to consider the affordability of care costs.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing additional safeguards to protect victims of rape, including the bail conditions of those charged with rape.

We recognise the devastating impact sexual violence can have and are absolutely committed to tackling rape and sexual offences and achieving the best possible outcome for victims.We are providing £13.1m to the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP), which is driving forward Operation Soteria, ensuring police forces better support and safeguard victims of rape and use every tool at their disposal to disrupt perpetrators and bring them to justice. Tools including imposing appropriate bail conditions and applying for protective orders, such as Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders at the earliest opportunity.We know there is further to go to ensure people have the confidence to report these offences and trust they will be taken seriously when they do. We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available to tackle sexual crimes.This includes ensuring there are specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force and introducing independent legal advice for victims of adult rape, to help them to uphold their legal rights.We are going further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG), underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published as soon as possible.

What steps he is taking to ensure the palliative care workforce is able to cope with growing demand for end of life care.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10-Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10-Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it, including in palliative care and end of life care. The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps he is taking to increase the early identification of palliative care needs.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025. The early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/NHS England has published universal principles for advance care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. The principles focus on the importance of providing opportunities for a person and their family or carers to engage in meaningful discussions, led by the person concerned, which consider that person’s priorities and preferences, including place of care, when they are nearing the end of life. The universal principles for ACP are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

What steps he is taking to reduce emergency hospital admissions involving people who are in the last 12 months of life.

Our recently published 10-Year Health Plan sets out that community-based advice and support will help more people die in their home rather than in hospital, while community teams will work closely with care homes and paramedics to share care plans to avoid people being taken to accident and emergency unless absolutely necessary. Teams can include hospice outreach staff and palliative care professionals. Additionally, rapid response teams will help symptom management, including pain.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.NHS England has published universal principles for advance care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. The principles focus on the importance of providing opportunities for a person and their family or carers to engage in meaningful discussions, led by the person concerned, which consider that person’s priorities and preferences, including place of care, when they are nearing the end of life. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

What steps he is taking to reduce the number of deaths in hospital.

Our recently published 10-Year Health Plan sets out that community-based advice and support will help more people die in their home rather than in hospital, while community teams will work closely with care homes and paramedics to share care plans to avoid people being taken to accident and emergency unless absolutely necessary. Teams can include hospice outreach staff and palliative care professionals. Additionally, rapid response teams will help symptom management, including pain.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.NHS England has published universal principles for advance care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. The principles focus on the importance of providing opportunities for a person and their family or carers to engage in meaningful discussions, led by the person concerned, which consider that person’s priorities and preferences, including place of care, when they are nearing the end of life. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

What steps he is taking to reduce variations in the approaches of commissioners in meeting local population need for palliative and end of life care services.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access to, and quality of, palliative and end of life care services at local and regional levels.This is further made clear in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which make clear the expectations that integrated care boards should understand current and projected total service utilisation and costs for those at the end of life, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.

What steps he is taking to reduce regional inequalities in (a) access to and (b) quality of palliative and end of life care.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access to, and quality of, palliative and end of life care services at local and regional levels.This is further made clear in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which make clear the expectations that integrated care boards should understand current and projected total service utilisation and costs for those at the end of life, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.

What steps she is taking to tackle the sale of illegally modified e-bikes.

E-bikes can only be legally used on the roads where they comply in full with the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983. The Product Regulation and Metrology Act received Royal Assent in July. One of the main aims of the Act is to prevent unsafe products, including illegally modified e-bikes, being made available to consumers by online marketplaces. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has a market surveillance unit and has the powers to act against retailers selling non-compliant e-bikes, including those that have been modified. The police also have the powers to seize non-complaint e-bikes being used on the public roads.

What steps he is taking to ensure that (a) homes retrofitted under the Eco4 scheme are inspected and (b) any (i) substandard and (ii) unsafe work is fully remediated.

Government is offering free inspections of all properties where external wall insulation was fitted under ECO4. The focus is on this measure as audits highlighted particular issues with external wall insulation under the scheme. Ofgem will contact every household with external wall insulation that has not yet been audited. Remediation is already taking place to address substandard and unsafe work, and over half of the issues identified to date have been fixed. Trustmark, certification bodies and installation businesses are working hard to resolve these issues. They will be rectified at no cost to the consumer.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a criminal offence of assaulting a public transport worker.

There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts quickly and that the British Transport Police have a specific remit to protect all rail staff and passengers. Public transport workers do of course already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We therefore do not believe that creating a specific offence will have the intended purpose of reducing assaults.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of assaults on public transport staff.

The British Transport Police are responsible for policing the railway in England, Scotland and Wales and they record the number of incidents of violence and abuse against rail workers. Analysis by the Department of Violence Against the Person offences shows in 2022/23 there were 5.1 violence against person offences per 1 million passenger journeys of which 1.3 were against staff, in 2024/25 this proportion of staff was 1.4.We are committed to ensuring that public transport is safe for passengers and staff. There is no place for abuse or violence against any worker, and we are supporting industry to develop practical interventions to keep workers safe.

Whether the Warm Homes Plan will include (a) independent inspections of retrofit work, (b) requirements for training for installers and (c) protections for residents.

The Government is reviewing the system of consumer protection and oversight for home retrofit installations. This work looks at the entire landscape: from how installers work in people’s homes to where homeowners turn for rapid action and enforcement if things go wrong. More information will be shared in the forthcoming Warm Homes Plan. The Government is planning to consult on proposals for retrofit system reform early next year.

What comparative assessment she has made of (a) reforming the G20 Common Framework for debt relief and (b) a new UN-led system for debt relief.

Whilst the G20 Common Framework process has been slower than the government would like, we remain committed to making it a success and are actively working with our G20 partners to ensure that it can deliver more timely, efficient, orderly and coordinated restructurings.The UK and likeminded partners have pushed for improvements to the Framework – including advocating for greater transparency and clearer timelines in restructuring processes through the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable and the G20 and expanding eligibility to select middle-income countries. We welcome the agreement of the recent G20 Ministerial Declaration on Debt Sustainability under the South African Presidency, and we are working with partners to ensure its commitments are implemented.The government welcomed the package to support debt sustainability in the outcome document agreed at the UN’s Seville Conference on Financing for Development in June, specifically the strong action to improve debtor voice, debt transparency, disaster pause clauses and strengthen the Common Framework. We will maintain momentum on reforms to the existing debt architecture, including making restructurings quicker and more efficient and engage with partners on any future discussions on debt at the UN.

If he will take legislative steps to ensure that food outlets must display their Food Standards Agency food hygiene rating.

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.Introducing a statutory scheme in England would require primary legislation as well as the securing of a suitable legislative vehicle and parliamentary time. Ministers will consider the options in due course supported by the FSA.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that egg production in the UK comes from cage-free systems.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 47556.

Whether she plans to appoint an independent commissioner who would be responsible for outstanding losses from the Equitable Life scandal.

Under plans put in place by the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition Government, the Equitable Life Payment Scheme was fully wound down and closed in 2016. The only remaining part of the Payment Scheme in operation is the annual payments made to eligible With-Profit-Annuitants and the Scheme is on track to distribute the remainder of the £1.5 billion as planned. There are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.