Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by Joanna Poulton, Jak Richardson, Kathleen Pollitt and Cleo Goodman entitled Sowing the Seeds of Stability: A proposal to use basic income as the system to support the income of farmers and farm workers, published in March 2024.

The report cited by the honourable member proposes a system of untargeted farming subsidy based on regular and unconditional cash payments made to farmers. Evidence suggests that untargeted subsidies such as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and delinked payments offered poor value for money and introduced distortionary incentives, which inhibited the development of a productive and competitive agricultural sector that delivers optimal environmental outcomes. This is Government is proud to have ended the subsidy model in farming. Looking forward, this Government’s vision for farming depends on a farming sector where farmers make a fair profit from producing food, and where farm businesses can diversify their income to remain viable in challenging times. To this end, the government has confirmed it will set up a new Farming Profitability Unit within Defra. This will work with farmers and other industry stakeholders from across all sectors and regions to understand the barriers farmers face to increasing profits through farming. It will examine how farmers can embrace innovation, improve productivity and market access, how the supply chain can support a more profitable farming sector through greater transparency, collaboration and a fairer distribution of risk, rewards and responsibility. The Government is also supporting farmers to grow their businesses by extending the Seasonal Worker visa route for five more years. This will give farms a pipeline of workers. Annual quota reviews will ensure we strike the right balance – supporting farms while gradually reducing visa numbers as we develop alternative solutions.

How many agricultural workers are claiming Universal Credit.

The requested information is not held. We do not systematically collect data on the employment sector background of Universal Credit (UC) claimants because this does not affect entitlement to UC.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing child related benefits annually in line with trends in level of (a) inflation and (b) wages.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring how we can use every available lever across Government to reduce child poverty before publishing a strategy which will deliver lasting change.

If she will publish a breakdown by (a) disability and (b) long-term illness of eligibility for (a) Universal Credit, (b) Employment and Support Allowance, (c) Disability Living Allowance and (d) Personal Independence Payment in the last 12 months.

Statistics by primary disabling condition are already published for Employment and Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, and Personal Independence Payment at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to August 2024 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables. For UC, it is not possible to provide the statistics for the primary medical condition, due to how the information on medical conditions is recorded and compiled. See section 3 of the Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics: methodology and Note 9 of the UC WCA data tables for further information.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, column 631, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to reduce official development assistance on future Government funding for UNWRA.

Since the Foreign Secretary restored funding to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in July 2024, the UK has committed £41 million this financial year to UNRWA to deliver essential services for civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, and to Palestinian refugees across the region. The UK is clear that UNRWA plays a vital role in delivering essential services and humanitarian assistance, as well as enabling the broader international response in Gaza through its logistics and distribution network. As with all Official Development Assistance spend, new allocations provided to delivery partners, including UNRWA, will be announced in the usual way. The Prime Minister made clear in the House on 25 February that this Government is proud of the UK's pioneering record on overseas development, and we will continue to play a key humanitarian role in Gaza.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help promote age-appropriate homes.

The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce. We are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy, which will be published later this year. I regularly engage with my Ministerial colleagues to ensure that work across government delivers housing designed for specific groups, including older people.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce entitled Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes wellbeing and community for an ageing population, published on 26 November 2024.

The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce. We are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy, which will be published later this year. I regularly engage with my Ministerial colleagues to ensure that work across government delivers housing designed for specific groups, including older people.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her statement of 30 July 2024 entitled, Building the homes we need, what steps she has taken to help ensure that the needs of an older population form part of her long-term housing strategy.

The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce. We are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy, which will be published later this year. I regularly engage with my Ministerial colleagues to ensure that work across government delivers housing designed for specific groups, including older people.

If she will make an estimate of the number of (a) nurses, (b) teachers and (c) police offers that could be employed via an increase in spending equivalent to 0.2 per cent of GDP.

The Government values the vital contribution that public sector workers make across the UK, delivering the public services we all rely on. The Treasury does not hold information on how many additional public sector workers could be employed via a specific increase in spending, which would depend on a variety of factors, however the Government is committed to ensuring we can recruit and retain the right set of people to run our public services and has plans in place to do so. This includes a commitment to deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel, deliver an additional 6,500 teachers, and refresh the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of implementing a cross-Government approach to older people's housing.

The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce. We are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy, which will be published later this year. I regularly engage with my Ministerial colleagues to ensure that work across government delivers housing designed for specific groups, including older people.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making Historic England a named body for the purposes of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Defra has made no such assessment as the Department is neither responsible for Historic England nor for the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

What steps she is taking to review the organisations that carry out the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits.

The new Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contracts went live on 9 September 2024. The FAS suppliers are focused on embedding strong performance following the transition from the previous contractual arrangements. Based on strict assessment criteria and specific requirements regarding delivery and performance, the department awarded contracts to the bidders who indicated that they would provide the best service and the best value for money for the taxpayer. Each supplier is held accountable to the same service delivery performance standards set by DWP. The department will robustly manage and monitor the performance of the contracted FAS suppliers in order to obtain optimal performance. Contractual remedies and financial redress are available to the department should performance criteria not be met.

What steps she is taking to review the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits.

We are working to develop proposals to reform the system of health and disability benefits and will set these out in due course.This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do. We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term. The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve efficiency and customer experience. It will introduce a new option to apply online, improve how we gather health information, and tailor the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances.

What criteria her Department plans to use when reforming the system of disability and ill health benefits.

We are working to develop proposals to reform the system of health and disability benefits and will set these out in due course.This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do. We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently. It is also vital to ensure that the system is financially sustainable in the long term. The Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve efficiency and customer experience. It will introduce a new option to apply online, improve how we gather health information, and tailor the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances.

What estimate she has made of the number of people of working age currently claiming sickness and disability benefits that would be unable to find gainful employment as a result of their disability or long-term sickness.

No estimate has been made of the number of people of working age currently claiming sickness and disability benefits that would be unable to find gainful employment as a result of their disability or long-term sickness

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of returning the assessment process for disability and long term sickness benefits in-house.

Delivery of functional assessments to support health and disability benefit processing has been outsourced by DWP since 1998. New five-year contracts for these services commenced in September 2024. In advance of the procurement of these contracts, a delivery model assessment was carried out in line with commercial best practice, which determined that outsourced delivery remained the best way of achieving value for money and service stability. A further delivery model assessment will be carried out in due course to inform decisions on future service delivery, beyond the current contracts.

What estimate she has made of the number of appeals that are subsequently successful related to claims for disability and long term sickness benefits.

Appeals are the responsibility of His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service who publish information on tribunal outcomes by benefit type here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. In particular please refer to Main Tables ODS file and tables SSCS_1 to SSCS_3.

What steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to assess (a) the social determinants of ill health and (b) the measures necessary to address any causes.

The Government’s Health Mission commits to building a National Health Service fit for the future, including through a shift from treatment to prevention. To support the mission, we are taking a range of action which will address the underlying causes of ill health. Relevant cross-Government activity includes work to develop a new fuel poverty strategy, beginning with a consultation which runs until 4 April, publication in December 2024 of a revised National Planning Policy Framework, giving local authorities stronger, clearer powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools and where young people congregate, the establishment of a cross-Government child poverty taskforce, and commitment we made in the English Devolution White Paper, published in December 2024, to introduce a new statutory health and health inequalities duty for strategic authorities. The Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care operate a Joint Work and Health Directorate, in recognition of the significant link between work and health, and to improve employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions.

What estimate she has made of the number of appeals related to claims for disability and long term sickness benefits.

Appeals are the responsibility of His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service who publish information on tribunal outcomes by benefit type here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. In particular please refer to Main Tables ODS file and tables SSCS_1 to SSCS_3.

If she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential causes of the (a) disabilities and (b) long-term illnesses that have contributed to the trends in the number of working age people who are claiming sickness and disability benefits.

The number of working age people reporting long-term health conditions and disabilities had been growing steadily since at least the late 1990s, before accelerating since the COVID-19 pandemic. These increases are likely to be caused by a combination of changes in health and awareness, and have been reflected in higher numbers of people receiving incapacity and disability benefits. A number of health-related factors may have contributed to these increases, including: higher prevalence and recognition of health conditions, particularly mental health and neurodiverse conditions; the direct health impacts of the COVID-19 virus; indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on physical health (through reduced activity) and mental health (through reduced social interaction and increased anxiety); impacts of subsequent labour market changes and cost of living pressures on health; and increases in NHS waiting times. In addition, a number of behavioural factors are also likely to have contributed to higher numbers claiming incapacity and disability benefits, including: cost of living pressures; greater awareness of disability benefits (in part due to cost of living); longer waits for NHS treatment; economically inactive people being more likely to report long-term illness or disability as their main reason for inactivity; and incentives in the benefit system that can encourage people to claim health-related benefits. In addition, further factors affecting incapacity benefits have been analysed in the publication Growth in numbers of Employment and Support Allowance Support Group or Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity - GOV.UK