Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

How many times UK Shadow R1 planes have flown from RAF Akrotiri towards Gaza since 19 January 2025; and for what purpose.

Since the terrorist attacks against Israel on 7 October 2023, the UK Government has been working with partners across the region to secure the release of hostages, including British nationals. In support of this, the Ministry of Defence has been conducting surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including operating in airspace over Israel and Gaza. For the avoidance of doubt, our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of hostages only; surveillance aircraft are unarmed and do not have a combat role.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the two-child benefits limit on levels of family incomes.

Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.The Strategy will look at all available levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, including considering social security reforms, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across Government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the two-child benefits limit on levels of child poverty.

Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.The Strategy will look at all available levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, including considering social security reforms, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across Government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to the welfare budget on the number of people seeking welfare advice; and what steps she is taking to ensure advice services are adequately funded to meet demand.

DWP is not responsible for funding the welfare advice sector which receives funding from a range of sources. DWP does fund Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver Help to Claim which provides support to people to make a new claim to Universal Credit. DWP provides Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland. DWP constantly reviews the funding for Help to Claim and has increased Help to Claim funding to meet forecast additional demand from people in receipt of Employment Support Allowance who are being invited to move to Universal Credit. The funding includes money to train staff to deliver Help to Claim.DWP publishes benefit guidance in the House of Commons library so that it is available to individuals and organisations, and it can be used to develop appropriate training.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish a timeframe for updating the Decent Homes Standard.

The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors. The Deputy Prime Minister is part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is aiming to publish a Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025. As part of the development of the strategy, the Taskforce is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing. People in need may be able to get help for essential furniture from their local council through the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.

What steps her department is taking to promote apprenticeships in the hair and beauty industry.

Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in the hair and beauty industry. Employers in the hair and beauty sector have developed several high quality apprenticeships, including the level 2 hairdressing professional standard, to help them develop their workforce.The department continues to promote the benefits that apprenticeships offer to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme and through the Skills for Life campaign.To support smaller employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care.Employers can also benefit from £1,000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. Employers can choose how they spend these payments.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference to ensure the effective management of Marine Protected Areas.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are already protected from the point of designation by the planning and marine licensing regimes that cover activities such as dredging for aggregates and construction of offshore wind farms. In addition, the Department is considering next steps to manage bottom trawling, along with other fishing methods, where this might damage MPA features or benthic habitats, in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations. We are keen to continue to work closely with fisheries and marine stakeholders as we develop our plans for future fisheries and marine management. The 2025 UN Ocean Conference offers an opportunity to discuss our approach with a wide range of organisations and partners.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he next plans to discuss the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah with his Egyptian counterpart.

The UK Government continues to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government. We have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access. The Prime Minister raised the case in a phone call with President Sisi on 28 February 2025 and previously wrote to President Sisi on 26 December 2024 and 8 January 2025. The Foreign Secretary raised this case with Egyptian Foreign Minister on 23 January 2025. I raised the case with the Egyptian Ambassador to London on 18 February 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, how his department plans to ensure the forthcoming review of the English Marine Protected Area (MPA) network will deliver stronger protections for vulnerable marine habitats; and how it relates to the ongoing process to manage the impacts of fishing activities such as bottom-trawling on English offshore MPAs.

Our MPAs represent our most precious marine resources. However, the MPA network is under pressure from a range of sources. The review which we announced in January will consider ways to future proof the network, for example in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation, while allowing us to still meet our international commitment to effectively protect 30% of our seas by 2030. In the meantime, the Government remains committed to making continued progress on effective management We are considering next steps to manage bottom trawling, along with other fishing methods, where this might damage marine protected area features or benthic habitats, in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations. We are keen to continue to work closely with fisheries and marine stakeholders as we develop our plans for future fisheries and marine management.

How many households use the radio teleswitch service for their energy meter connections in Poole constituency.

The Department does not hold constituency level data on remaining RTS meters, but we are regularly engaging with energy suppliers, Ofgem and the industry body Energy UK to review local plans for the switch-off. Energy suppliers have contacted all premises with RTS meters and Ofgem is encouraging customers to book an appointment to ensure they are provided with a replacement meter ahead of the switch-off.

Whether she has plans to take steps to reduce the number of questions on the Pension Credit application form.

As the Department continues to modernise the Pension Credit service, we review the user experience, balancing simplification of application with capturing the right information to ensure accuracy of award. A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme is to utilise end user research to understand how the application process should operate in the future and consider the opportunities on how services can be more user friendly and easily accessible for citizens. To that end we are streamlining all Pension Credit application routes by using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer. Claims for Pension Credit can be made online, by telephone or by post. By far, the most popular way to claim is online where a claim can be made 24/7 with the help of a family member, a friend or a third party. Via the online service, the maximum number of questions a person needs to answer is 48; for some customers it can be as few as 35 questions. As a result, the online claim form now takes just 16 minutes on average to complete, with 90 per cent of new customers applying using the simple online form, or over the phone. With the telephone service, the caller will be guided through the claim process. We will keep the Pension Credit application process under review.

What steps her Department are taking to reduce phone-line waits for those making an application for Pension Credit.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed and we are continually working to improve our telephony service. In response to significantly increased demand, we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by over 500 additional staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. We are investing in a new technology that aims to better route customers to the right service at the right time. Once deployed, this technology will reduce the time callers spend listening to a menu of choices and instead invite claimants to say why they are calling, at the start of the call.

Whether she has had discussions with harbour authorities in (a) Poole and (b) Portsmouth on the application of the Seafarers Wages Regulations 2024 on ferry services scheduled to operate from these ports in 2025.

Department for Transport officials engaged with all harbour authorities with services in scope of the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 and Regulations 2024 to explain how the legislation applies, ahead of it coming into force. This included Poole and Portsmouth.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to ban the (a) use and (b) sale of (i) glue traps and (ii) wire snares.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only. A ban on the use of glue traps is already in place. The Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 came into force in England on 31 July 2024. It prohibits the use of glue traps with limited exceptions for professional pest controllers, acting under a licence issued by Natural England, to preserve public health or public safety when there is no satisfactory alternative. The law does not prohibit the sale of glue traps in England and there are no current plans to ban sale. As outlined in our manifesto, we will bring an end to the use of wire snare traps. We are considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase penalties for crimes against wildlife so that they are in line with sentences for other animal welfare offences.

Defra has no current plans to increase the penalties for committing crimes against wildlife. Wildlife crime is unacceptable, and significant sanctions are already available for judges to hand down to those convicted of such crimes. Anyone who commits an offence under existing legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 could face up to a six-month custodial sentence and/or an unlimited fine. In addition, while the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 generally protects animals that are commonly domesticated, it can extend to wildlife as it prohibits causing unnecessary suffering to wild animals under human control, for example when they are held in a hand or caught live in a trap. Under this Act the maximum sentence for animal cruelty is five years, which is equal to the highest penalty in the world for such crimes. This sends a clear signal to any future potential offenders that animal cruelty will not be tolerated

If she will take steps to ensure that Equality Impact Assessments are produced each time (a) policies and (b) Bills are introduced.

The responsibility for equality impact assessments lies with individual departments when developing their policies and any new legislation. Departments are fully aware of their equality duties, including when an impact assessment may be appropriate, such as when new legislation is being considered.

Whether she has considered renaming the Attendance Allowance.

There are no plans to change the name of Attendance Allowance in England and Wales. Attendance Allowance is a devolved matter in Scotland. The Scottish Government is currently replacing it with Pension Age Disability Payment.

How many children were refused an education, health and care plan assessment by their local authority in the last financial year.

The department collects information on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the number of EHC needs assessments, and the outcome of these requests and assessments.This information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3216aeea-b67c-4fc7-e256-08dd5a6d191a. These figures and are the most up to date we hold and refer to the 2023 calendar year. We do not hold information on a financial year basis.Information on EHC plans maintained by local authorities, including requests for needs assessments, decisions made to assess and the number of plans issued is included in the statistical release, ‘Education, health and care plans’. The full publication can be read here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.

If she will make an estimate of the amount of eligible Pension Credit that has been unclaimed as of 28 February 2025.

The Department does not have data for the period up to February 2025. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. In the financial year ending 2023, the estimated amount of unclaimed Pension Credit was £1.33 billion.

If she will list the vessels certified by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency for DFDS’s roll-on roll-off ferry services to Jersey from (a) Poole and (b) Portsmouth.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency currently do not certify any vessels operated by DFDS on services to Jersey from Poole or Portsmouth.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are currently working with DFDS in relation to vessels taking up operations from these ports later in March 2025 and April 2025.