Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

What safeguards will be put in place to help ensure that jobs under the new youth employment guarantee will pay the living wage and lead to long-term secure employment.

Too many young people are spending the first years of their adult life out of work or education. Long periods of unemployment in these early years have lifelong negative impacts.As part of the Youth Guarantee, we are breaking the cycle of unemployment by guaranteeing paid work for every eligible 18-21 year-old who has been on Universal Credit, looking for work, for 18 months.The Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment, for 25 hours a week, at the relevant minimum wage, with the government covering 100% of employment costs. This, will help young people take that crucial first step into sustained employment, supporting the government’s long-term ambition for an 80% employment rate.The Jobs Guarantee will also provide wraparound support to further develop the required skills and experience needed for the move into sustained employment.Appropriate safeguards will be built into the scheme to ensure that opportunities are high quality, fair and deliver the intended outcomes for young people.The Jobs Guarantee will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years.

What plans she has to ensure that any proposed reforms to the SEND system will be subject to (a) parliamentary and (b) public scrutiny prior to the introduction of legislation.

The department is committed to ensuring parents play a central role in helping shape the future special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. We have launched a National Conversation on SEND, gathering the views of parents, young people, educators, and experts through a range of online and in-person events as well as inviting online contributions. Our SEND regional engagement events bring together diverse stakeholder groups for meaningful dialogue. In addition, we have organised online sessions with my hon. Friend, the Minister for School Standards and expert panels to discuss the department’s five principles of reform.This is not a formal consultation but an expansion of ongoing engagement to ensure parents’ voices are heard. The Schools White Paper, due early next year, will outline our proposed SEND reforms and will be followed by a formal consultation and further engagement.

Pursuant to the answer of 4 December to question 94564, whether he made an assessment of the potential impact of those policy changes on people with fluctuating conditions like MS before the policy was announced.

Before any announcements were made, Motability Operations confirmed it will continue to offer a broad range of vehicles without an Advance Payment, ensuring that people who elect to join the Scheme can access vehicles suited to their needs, whatever their health condition or disability, in exchange for all or part of their mobility allowance.

Whether Motability’s removal of luxury vehicles will result in a reduction of choice for wheelchair accessible users.

The Motability Scheme is a lifeline for many disabled people and families, supporting their independence by enabling them to lease a car, wheelchair accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for an eligible disability benefit allowance. We are protecting the taxpayer through changes to the Motability scheme, ensuring it supports disabled people whilst delivering efficient use of taxpayers’ money. This includes the removal of some luxury vehicles from the leasing scheme while maintaining a range of vehicles to support disabled people. Tax changes will not impact vehicles substantially adapted for wheelchair users, or existing leases, and Motability will continue to provide vehicles at no additional cost to the value of eligible disability benefits ensuring that people can access vehicles suited to their needs, whether that’s a larger vehicle or extra boot space to carry wheelchairs. For customers who cannot afford essential costs or need more complex adaptations, the Motability Foundation will continue to provide means-tested grants to those most in need of financial help. In 2024/25, these grants totalled £59.3 million, supporting over 10,000 customers.

What steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people, including those living with multiple sclerosis, who rely on Motability vehicles do not lose their ability to live independently following changes to the Motability scheme announced in the Autumn Budget.

The Motability Scheme support many disabled people and families including those living with multiple sclerosis, by enabling them to lease a car, wheelchair accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for an eligible disability benefit allowance. The Motability Scheme will continue to offer a choice of vehicles, to meet a range of accessibility needs. The changes announced at the budget will not apply to current leases or wheelchair adapted vehicles, and the Scheme will continue to offer vehicles which require no advance payment, meaning that people will be able to access a suitable vehicle using only their qualifying disability benefit. Motability Foundation, the independent charity with responsibility for overseeing the Scheme, will continue to offer means-tested grants to support eligible people who would otherwise struggle to afford specialist adaptations for a vehicle leased through the Scheme.

Further to question 95498 if he will make an assessment of the impact for his policies of the findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation entitled Guarantee our Essentials: reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard time, published on 4 March 2025.

As I set out in the response I gave on 4 December 2025 to PQ UIN 95498, this government is taking important steps to tackle child poverty and improve the support we provide people with their living costs. There is no overall agreed approach to benchmark benefit levels. Each household will always have different requirements depending on their circumstances. We will continue to consider evidence and insights from a range of organisations to ensure the social security system provides the support people need.

How much new leases for Motability vehicles will increase in end user cost from July 2026 as a result of the Autumn Budget 2026.

We are protecting the taxpayer through changes to the Motability scheme, ensuring it supports disabled people whilst delivering efficient use of taxpayers’ money. There will still be cars available through the scheme which require no advance payment. This means that customers will still be able to lease a car just with their qualifying disability benefit. Any change in costs of advance payments will depend on a range of factors, including the make and model of the car, and be determined by Motability.

Whether any new vehicle leases on the Motability Scheme will not increase in cost for the end user from July 2026.

We are protecting the taxpayer through changes to the Motability scheme, ensuring it supports disabled people whilst delivering efficient use of taxpayers’ money. There will still be cars available through the scheme which require no advance payment. This means that customers will still be able to lease a car just with their qualifying disability benefit.

Whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of non- wheelchair accessible disability-friendly safety and accessible features following changes to the Motability scheme.

Motability Operations, an independent commercial company which delivers the Scheme, will continue to prioritise customer needs, ensuring vehicles remain affordable and that support for specialist adaptations remains at the heart of the Scheme.

How much new leases for Motability vehicles without advance payments will increase in end user cost from July 2026 as a result of the addition of insurance premium tax in the Autumn Budget 2026.

We are protecting the taxpayer through changes to the Motability scheme, ensuring it supports disabled people whilst delivering efficient use of taxpayers’ money. As is the case now, Motability will determine which vehicles will require an advanced payment and the price. There will still be cars available through the scheme which require no advance payment. This means that customers will still be able to lease a car just with their qualifying disability benefit.

What assessment her Department has made of HMRC's ability to collect unpaid taxes.

HMRC is committed to making sure that individuals and businesses who can pay, do so on time. Since Autumn Budget 2024, HMRC has received £782 million of investment in its debt collection activities, which will help it to collect over £12 billion more debt by the end of 2030-31. HMRC published an update to its tax debt strategy at Budget 2025, outlining how the recent investment is helping to close the tax gap and reduce tax debt year-on-year as a percentage of receipts. The tax debt balance as a percentage of receipts fell from 5.2% in 2023-24 to 5% in 2024-25, and HMRC is aiming for this to decrease to between 3% and 4% by 2029-30. HMRC has effective processes in place to collect debt including telephone and letter campaigns, strategic partnerships with private sector debt collection agencies, and where necessary, enforcement action. For customers who need financial support, it offers flexible Time to Pay payment plans which collect debt in affordable and sustainable instalments. HMRC publishes quarterly performance updates on GOV.UK. You can find this here:

If she will set out the difference between (a) recovered unpaid taxes and (b) outstanding unpaid taxes in the period since July 2024 to date.

HMRC is committed to making sure that individuals and businesses who can pay, do so on time. Since Autumn Budget 2024, HMRC has received £782 million of investment in its debt collection activities, which will help it to collect over £12 billion more debt by the end of 2030-31. HMRC published an update to its tax debt strategy at Budget 2025, outlining how the recent investment is helping to close the tax gap and reduce tax debt year-on-year as a percentage of receipts. The tax debt balance as a percentage of receipts fell from 5.2% in 2023-24 to 5% in 2024-25, and HMRC is aiming for this to decrease to between 3% and 4% by 2029-30. HMRC has effective processes in place to collect debt including telephone and letter campaigns, strategic partnerships with private sector debt collection agencies, and where necessary, enforcement action. For customers who need financial support, it offers flexible Time to Pay payment plans which collect debt in affordable and sustainable instalments. HMRC publishes quarterly performance updates on GOV.UK. You can find this here:

Whether he plans to extend pre-1997 pension indexation changes for members of the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme to members of ongoing occupational pension schemes whose pre-1997 contributions remain frozen.

The Government tabled an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill which provides that compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme on pensions accrued before April 1997 will now be linked to CPI-inflation (capped at 2.5%). This will apply prospectively for pensioners whose former schemes provided these increases. In private sector defined benefit pension schemes, analysis published by the Pensions Regulator indicates that, as of March 2023, around 17 per cent of members do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests The reforms in our Pension Schemes Bill give trustees more flexibility to share surplus with sponsoring employers, and negotiate benefits for members, including discretionary increases. Trustees will be in the driving seat in all decision making on surplus release and must act in the best interest of scheme beneficiaries.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of occupational pension schemes whose pre-1997 pension rights remain unindexed on retired members of those schemes.

The Government tabled an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill which provides that compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme on pensions accrued before April 1997 will now be linked to CPI-inflation (capped at 2.5%). This will apply prospectively for pensioners whose former schemes provided these increases. In private sector defined benefit pension schemes, analysis published by the Pensions Regulator indicates that, as of March 2023, around 17 per cent of members do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests The reforms in our Pension Schemes Bill give trustees more flexibility to share surplus with sponsoring employers, and negotiate benefits for members, including discretionary increases. Trustees will be in the driving seat in all decision making on surplus release and must act in the best interest of scheme beneficiaries.

What estimate he has made of the number of members of ongoing occupational pension schemes who will not receive pre-1997 indexation.

The Government tabled an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill which provides that compensation payments from the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme on pensions accrued before April 1997 will now be linked to CPI-inflation (capped at 2.5%). This will apply prospectively for pensioners whose former schemes provided these increases. In private sector defined benefit pension schemes, analysis published by the Pensions Regulator indicates that, as of March 2023, around 17 per cent of members do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests The reforms in our Pension Schemes Bill give trustees more flexibility to share surplus with sponsoring employers, and negotiate benefits for members, including discretionary increases. Trustees will be in the driving seat in all decision making on surplus release and must act in the best interest of scheme beneficiaries.

How many pension scheme members affected by the absence of pre-1997 indexation will receive indexation; and how many affected members will not receive indexation because they are in schemes that remain in operation.

At the Budget, the Chancellor announced that the Government will introduce pre-1997 indexation in the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), for members whose original schemes provided this. Compensation payments from these schemes on pensions built up before 6 April 1997 will be CPI-linked (capped at 2.5%), and this will apply prospectively. The PPF have made an assessment that around 165,000 PPF members and 91,000 current FAS members will benefit from this change as they have some pre-97 benefits where their former schemes provided mandatory indexation.Analysis published last year by the Pensions Regulator shows that, as of March 2023, around 17 per cent of members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes do not receive indexation on benefits accrued before 1997. This information can be found at: thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests

Whether she plans to publish a consultation on the VAT treatment of Motability scheme vehicles.

The government recognises the importance of engaging with tax payers on the development of tax policy, however, as set out in the tax policy making principles, the need to deliver change quickly means a consultation is not always practicable. Prior to announcing tax changes to the Motability Scheme at Budget 2025, the government instead engaged closely with the Motability Foundation to understand in depth how tax changes would impact the Motability Scheme and their customers. There are no plans for further consultation on the measure.

What steps the Government is taking to reduce inflation in the prices of food.

The Government has announced a Food Inflation Gateway to assess and monitor regulation that could add to food prices. This will improve coordination and give food businesses a clear line of sight on upcoming regulatory changes, helping to keep costs downThe Government is also negotiating an agri-food agreement with the EU to reduce trade frictions, which is expected to save businesses up to £200 per fresh food shipment, helping to limit cost pressures across supply chains.In addition, supermarkets will see a reduction in their total business rates bills in 2026/27 compared with 2025/26, and this will be kept under review at the next revaluation. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) does not expect changes in business rates to have a material impact on food inflation.Overall, the OBR’s forecast shows government policy will reduce CPI inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2026/27. This is the biggest near-term reduction in inflation due to government policy ever forecast by the OBR at a single fiscal event, outside of a crisis.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28th November to question 93107, whether his Department will monitor how local authorities spend the Crisis and Resilience Fund; and will the wider essentials section be separated further to differentiate between expensive furniture and white goods and lower cost period and hygiene products etc.

My Department has actively engaged with stakeholders on the design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, including reporting requirements, through a structured co-design process involving a representative group of local authorities, third-party organisations and academics. We are considering all feedback received through this process, and we plan to publish guidance in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28th November to question 93107, whether the Crisis and Resilience Fund will include an updated management information return to ensure that spend on furniture and white goods is accounted for.

My Department has actively engaged with stakeholders on the design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, including reporting requirements, through a structured co-design process involving a representative group of local authorities, third-party organisations and academics. We are considering all feedback received through this process, and we plan to publish guidance in due course.