Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

What assessment she has made of the Office for Students registered theological colleges’ compliance with academic freedom and freedom of speech obligations.

I refer the hon. Member for Poole to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question HL6374.

What assessment has been made of the potential financial impact of changing the eligibility to the health element of Universal Credit to people aged 22 on disabled young people aged between 18 and up to 22.

Information on the impacts of the “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper” will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. [https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper] A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

How many people with disabilities and long-term health conditions will be supported by the £1bn a year funding outlined in the Green Paper: Pathways to Work, published on 18 March 2025.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding across Great Britain. Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

What estimate she has made of the number of (a) part-time and (b) full-time employment opportunities that will be available by 2029-30 for those disabled people and people with health conditions as outlined in the Green Paper: Pathways to Work, published on 18 March 2025.

No such estimate has been made. However, we have evidence that delivering better and more tailored employment support can get more people off welfare, and into work - alongside a higher expectation to engage with that support. Therefore, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for sick and disabled people ever. In addition, corrective action is needed after the value of the basic unemployment benefit was run down to a 40-year low, while incapacity benefits continued to rise. This means that the rate of Universal Credit for those on the health element is now double that for those on the standard allowance. As a result, all the incentives are to claim incapacity benefits and define yourself as incapable of work, with both the OBR and IFS suggesting this has been a factor in driving higher incapacity benefit claims.

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) children and (b) adults who will be in relative poverty after housing costs in each region in the 2029-30 financial year.

An assessment on this basis is not available. The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, when she plans to publish further information on how her Department plans to use the £1 billion a year funding to help more disabled people and people with health conditions into employment.

As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from people who are out of work on health and disability grounds and their representative organisations, and from a wide range of other stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, and employers. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.

If she will make an estimate of the level of saving from freezing the health element of Universal Credit in cash terms at £97 per week until 2029-30 for existing recipients.

The table below breaks down the overall savings into the static savings of the two policies and the impact of the expected behavioural changes. The behavioural changes are the expected impact of both policies on claimant behaviour. DWP costings are produced at a GB level. The final line aligns the DWP estimates to the Spring Statement 2025 policy costing document which includes the impact of the Scotland Block Grant Adjustment and Northern Ireland.Savings, £, m2026/272027/282028/292029/30Static impact: Pre-April 2026 stock freeze4907009001,090Static impact: Post April 2026 flow reduced rate4301,0701,6902,280Behavioural impact (of both policies combined)-210-300-400-500Scotland Block Grant Adjustment and Northern Ireland3070100130

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what steps she plans to take to help support people with severe lifelong conditions.

The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will protect the incomes of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work.For those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected. We will also guarantee that for both new and existing claims, those in this group who have no prospect of improvement will not need to be reassessed in future.We also want to improve peoples’ experience of the health and disability benefits system, as set out in the Green Paper. This includes exploring ways to improve PIP assessments through using recording of assessments as a lever for improvement, digitalising transfer of medical information, using evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for people with very severe health conditions to undergo functional assessments and improving communication with people receiving awards who are expected to remain on disability benefits for life.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, on people in receipt of carer's allowance.

This government is committed to supporting unpaid carers, who provide invaluable support to elderly or disabled people. As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider considerations of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change.

What estimate she has made of the level of saving from reducing the health element of Universal Credit in cash terms to £50 per week in 2026-27 for new claimants.

The table below breaks down the overall savings into the static savings of the two policies and the impact of the expected behavioural changes. The behavioural changes are the expected impact of both policies on claimant behaviour. DWP costings are produced at a GB level. The final line aligns the DWP estimates to the Spring Statement 2025 policy costing document which includes the impact of the Scotland Block Grant Adjustment and Northern Ireland.Savings, £, m2026/272027/282028/292029/30Static impact: Pre-April 2026 stock freeze4907009001,090Static impact: Post April 2026 flow reduced rate4301,0701,6902,280Behavioural impact (of both policies combined)-210-300-400-500Scotland Block Grant Adjustment and Northern Ireland3070100130

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with international counterparts on best practices for balancing the environmental benefits of Extended Producer Responsibility with economic sustainability for affected industries.

Defra and PackUK have engaged with multiple European and Canadian EPR schemes throughout development of pEPR, using international best practice to inform the drafting of the regulations. Many of the international EPR schemes are managed by Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO’s). Environmental benefits are considered to be enhanced by the PRO’s having direct accountability for local recycling services infrastructure and driving investment. A PRO approach is also broadly considered to drive cost efficiency and ensure that Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes provide good value for money for obligated producers. Defra officials are currently working with devolved governments to bring forward amendments to pEPR Regulations that would enable appointment of a PRO.

With reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether disabled people aged between 19 and 22 years in receipt of Universal Credit whose condition is (a) severe and (b) terminal will be required to seek employment.

In Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper we are consulting on raising the age someone can access the UC Health Element to 22, which would remove any potential disincentive to work during this time. It would also be on the basis that resources may be better spent on improving the quality and range of opportunities available to young people through the guarantee, so they can move towards a life of learning, training or work rather than a life on benefits. However, we do understand that there may be some exceptions where this may not be possible due to a disability or health condition. No final decision has been made on access to the UC health element and we welcome responses to the consultation.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial impact of Extended Producer Responsibility fees on the beer and pub sector.

In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector. The Government has worked closely with industry, including the brewing sector, throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). Feedback from stakeholders was factored into finalising the regulations, including formally consulting stakeholders on a draft of the pEPR regulations in 2023. pEPR obligates brands and packaging producers to pay the costs of managing household packaging waste. In most cases, this will not be individual pubs but the business supplying the pub with packaged goods. My officials have recently attended a number of events organised by the brewing industry, to discuss pEPR and to listen and respond to concerns raised by their members. We have provided extensive guidance to all sectors on how to comply with their obligations under pEPR and continue to work with the brewing sector and others to further refine both the guidance and the wider scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of Extended Producer Responsibility fees on businesses in the UK compared to similar schemes in (a) France, (b) Germany and (c) Canada.

In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not compare the impact of fees to international schemes. Illustrative base fee estimates for the UK are in the same order of magnitude of other countries’ fees. However, comparisons are not straightforward because of differences in waste infrastructure and waste management approaches.

With reference to her Department's report entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published on 26 March 2025, what financial support her Department plans to provide to Personal Independent Payments claimants affected by the proposed changes to the entitlement rules.

The changes to PIP eligibility will ensure we can focus the benefit more on those with higher needs. There will be no immediate changes to anybody’s entitlement. Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment, where people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will - subject to parliamentary approval - apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026. We are mindful of the impact this change could have on people. That is why, in the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working (published on 18 March), we are consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

With reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, by what date she expects to publish accessible formats of that Green Paper.

The remaining accessible formats of the Green Paper have now been published and can be accessed here: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK. A full suite of accessible versions is available including Audio, British Sign Language, Braille, Large Print and Easy Read. The consultation will close in 12 weeks on the 30 June 2025, to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to engage with and respond to the consultation.

With reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, what steps her Department is taking to consult (a) disabled people and (b) organisations representing disabled people on the Green Paper.

We have set out proposals to reform the health and disability benefits proposals in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March 2025. A full 12-week consultation will begin from the point all accessible versions are published on GOV.UK. We want to improve and refine our plans by consulting on certain measures as described within the paper. We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. The Green Paper is an important staging post on a journey of reform, building on the vision and approach set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper in November 2024. It sets out our vision, strategy and proposals for change. We would like to hear views from a wide group of people, in particular disabled people and people with health conditions and disability organisations and encourage responses to the consultation through the online form, email and post. We also intend to run a number of accessible virtual and face-to-face events on the Green Paper to hear from stakeholders, including disabled people and their representative organisations, directly. More information on these events and registration will be advertised on the consultation pages on GOV.UK in due course. In the Green Paper, we have also announced that we will set up collaboration committees to develop parts of our reforms further. This will involve bringing together disabled people and other experts with civil servants around specific issues to collaborate, provide ideas, challenge, and input into recommendations.

With reference to her Department's report entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published on 26 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase of children in relative poverty on (a) those children's health and (b) the societal health inequalities of children.

No such assessment has been made. However, the proposals have been carefully designed to protect the finances of severely disabled people. The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Equality Analysis” and “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

With reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether she considered the potential merits of producing a health impact assessment of that Green Paper.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

With reference to her Department's report entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published on 26 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase of people in relative poverty on (a) those people's health and (b) societal health inequalities.

No such assessment has been made. However, the proposals have been carefully designed to protect the finances of severely disabled people. The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Equality Analysis” and “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.