Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

What plans her Department has to extend the household support fund after 30 September 2024.

The Government has announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. As with previous HSF schemes, the Fund will be made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to provide discretionary support to those most in need. The HSF scheme guidance and individual Local Authority funding allocations for the forthcoming extension will be announced as soon as possible ahead of the scheme beginning on 1 October 2024.

What plans he has to make Lecanemab available on the NHS to patients with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

We understand how important it is to patients and their families that they are able to benefit from access to innovative treatments that can slow down the effects of this complex disease.Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service are made independently by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the basis of the evidence of costs and benefits. The methods and processes that NICE uses are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive engagement with academics, industry, patients and clinicians, to ensure that they reflect best practice and societal preferences.NICE is currently developing guidance for the NHS on the use of lecanemab and recently published draft guidance for consultation that does not recommend it as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. We recognise that NICE’s draft decision will be disappointing, but it is right that these decisions are made independently based on the available evidence of their costs and benefits. NICE has not yet published final guidance and stakeholders now have an opportunity to comment on NICE’s draft recommendations.

If he will include (a) unpaid family carers and (b) household contacts of immuno-suppressed individuals in the covid-19 vaccination programme.

The primary aim of the autumn 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, hospitalisations, and deaths, arising from COVID-19. On 2 August 2024 the Government accepted the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer a COVID-19 vaccination to those aged 65 years old or over, those living in care homes for older adults, and those aged between six months and 64 years old who are in a clinical risk group in England this autumn. Additionally, vaccination will be offered to all frontline health and social care workers, as well as staff in care homes for older adults.There are no plans to offer a COVID-19 vaccination to unpaid carers, including young carers, or the families and household contacts of people with immunosuppression, during the autumn 2024 campaign in England. Unpaid carers and household contacts of those with immunosuppression have previously been offered vaccination on the basis that it indirectly protected those more vulnerable with whom they are in contact. The JCVI advice for autumn 2024 is that in the era of highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the vaccines against transmission of infection from one person to another is expected to be extremely limited. The indirect benefits of vaccination in these groups, vaccinating an individual to reduce the risk of severe disease in other people, are therefore less evident than in previous years.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that shared banking hubs help improve access to cash for people who are financially excluded.

The Government is committed to protecting cash and the FCA published its final regulatory rules on 18 July. The Government also is working closely with the financial services sector to roll out at least 350 banking hubs. These will provide individuals, including those who are financially excluded, with critical cash and banking services. Cash Access UK expects to have 100 hubs open by the end of the year.

How many and what proportion of people over State Pension age paid income tax at (a) the basic rate of 20%, (b) the higher rate of 40% and (c) the additional rate of 45% in the last financial year.

The estimated number of people who paid Income Tax by marginal rate in the 2023 to 2024 tax year can be seen in Table 1 below: Table 1: number of Income Tax payers over the State Pension age by marginal rate of Income Tax for 2023-24 Savers Rate taxpayer aged 66 and overBasic Rate taxpayer aged 66 and overHigher Rate taxpayer aged 66 and overAdditional Rate taxpayer aged 66 and overPopulation of SP aged Income Tax Payers84,3007,020,000744,00091,500 A Scottish Income Tax payer with any taxable non-savings non-dividends income within the Scottish starter and intermediate bands is classified as a basic rate Income Tax payer, as this is the top rate they are paying. A Scottish Income Tax payer with only savings and/or dividend income within this band is also classified as a basic rate Income Tax payer. The proportions can be calculated using the 12.4 million estimate of individuals over the State Pension age in the UK. This estimate is based on the latest National population projections: 2021-based interim publication from the Office for National Statistics. The estimates are based upon the 2021 to 2022 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected in line with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

How much pension credit was unclaimed in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These statistics were suspended for financial year ending 2021 due to data issues following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the financial year ending 2022, the estimated amount of unclaimed Pension Credit was £1.72 billion.

How many people in Poole constituency are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of pension credit.

Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. Caseload statistics are routinely published and made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. At November 2023, there were 2,139 people claiming Pension Credit in Poole.

How many people over state pension age have been (a) assessed as spending more than 10% of their income on fuel (b) assessed as being eligible for pension credit and (c) receiving pension credit for the financial year 2023-24.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published the latest Fuel Poverty Statistics for England in February 2023 on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics#2023-statistics Table 22 of this publication provides statistics on the number of fuel poor households by age of youngest person in household in 2023 using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) fuel poverty metric. Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2024-2023-data Statistics on the number of households that spend more than 10% of their income on fuel costs can be found in Annex D of Fuel Poverty Annual report, covering all households. The figures in this annex are not broken down by age groups. In 2021/22 (the latest year for which statistics are available) 2.15million people were estimated to be eligible for Pension Credit. Based on the most recent data (November 2023) 1.4million households in Great Britain currently receive Pension Credit.

How many people (a) claimed and (b) were eligible to claim Pension Credit in each of the last three financial years.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These statistics were suspended for financial year ending (FYE) 2021 due to data issues following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. More recent caseload statistics are made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore. These are published quarterly. It should be noted that any numbers regarding eligibility are estimates based on the number of Pension Credit recipients in each of the last three financial years and the estimated number of Pension Credit entitled non-recipients in each of the last three financial years). FYENumber of recipients (millions)20201.4920211.4120221.35 FYEEstimated number of people eligible (millions)20202.262021Not available20222.15

If she will make an estimate of the impact of removing the entitlement to the Winter Fuel Allowance from people over State Pension age who pay tax at (a) the higher rate of 40% and (b) the additional rate of 45% on the public purse in the next financial year.

The Government does not publish estimates of the impacts on the public purse of removing the entitlement to the Winter Fuel Payment from people over State Pension age who pay income tax at the higher rate or additional rate.In face of the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control, including targeting Winter Fuel Payments.Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low income pensioners who need it.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for children requiring an autism assessment.

The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to autism assessments. We expect integrated care boards (ICBs) to have due regard to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on autism, when commissioning services for children, young people, and adults. It is the responsibility of ICBs to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, in line with these NICE guidelines.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.

What the cost to the public purse was of the winter fuel allowance in 2022/23; what estimate she has made of the savings to the public purse of only paying the winter fuel allowance o people claiming pension credit; how many excess winter deaths there were in each of the last three years; and what estimate she has made of the annual cost of administering a means-tested winter fuel allowance.

In 2022/23, 11.4 million people in 8.4 million households in Great Britain received a Winter Fuel Payment, at a total cost of £2 billion. The Government estimates that linking entitlement to receipt of Pension Credit and other relevant DWP income-related benefits will reduce expenditure by around £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in 2025/26. In terms of administrative costs, in 2022/23 the Department for Work and Pensions spent £2.6m on the administration of Winter Fuel Payments. It is currently assessing the delivery costs for future years. Details of excess winter deaths in England and Wales can be found at: Winter mortality in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need. As part of the Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.Our future campaign messaging will also focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment.We will work with external partners, local authorities and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.Our continued commitment to the triple lock means the full new state pension is forecast to increase by a further £1,700 over this course of the parliament.We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals. Our other steps include cutting waiting times in the NHS which will help many pensioners currently waiting in pain and discomfort for treatment, and delivering the economic stability which is so crucial for pensioners.

How many (a) ACAS Early Conciliation Certificates and (b) Employment Tribunal cases (i) heard and (ii) settled before a hearing were found in the claimant's favour in (A) 2021, (B) 2022 and (C) 2023.

All claims made to the employment tribunals after 6 May 2014 (with a limited number of exceptions) will include an Acas Conciliation certificate.Publication of Employment Tribunal by jurisdiction ceased from April 2021 when Employment Tribunals moved to an interim database with limited management information. Employment Tribunals are now in the process of transitioning to a new case management system and work is in hand as part of the HMCTS data strategy to reintroduce the publication of Jurisdictional Outcome information at the end of this calendar year.The data for 2020/21 is available in the published statistics (tab ET_3): Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The information for years for (A) 2021, (B) 2022 and (C) 2023 is not held.

Media and Sport, if she will take steps to introduce a national register of short-term rented properties to help ensure that those properties are compliant with relevant safety legislation.

Short-term lets are an important part of the UK’s visitor accommodation offer and the government recognises the benefits to the visitor economy.Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. This government is exploring the introduction of such a scheme, as a statutory requirement. This will promote a level playing field in the guest accommodation sector across England, particularly in the application of existing health & safety regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle sewage discharges by Wessex Water in Poole constituency.

The Secretary of State recently met with water company bosses, including Wessex Water, to make it clear that water firms will be held accountable for their performance for customers and the environment. During the meeting, water bosses signed up to the Government’s initial package of reforms to cut sewage dumping and attract investment to upgrade infrastructure.The Government also announced a new Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will turn around the performance of water companies, in the King’s Speech. The Bill will strengthen regulation, give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and increase accountability for water executives. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector. I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of SEND provision in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; and what steps she plans to take to support the local authority in that area to improve the funding and delivery of SEND services.

The department has been working closely with all statutory partners involved in delivering special educational needs and disability (SEND) services in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole since their local area SEND inspection in June 2021.The department holds regular formal monitoring meetings with the local authority and partners as part of holding the local area to account for making the necessary improvements in services. The latest monitoring meeting highlighted that the local authority and partners are taking positive steps to improve services, with some evidence of early impact, but that there are still ways to go to ensure that all children and families receive the service they require and deserve.The department has put in place robust support for the local authority and their partners through the appointment of a Sector Led Improvement Partner and SEND advisor support. The department will continue to work with the local area to ensure they deliver further improvements in services.It is also important that the department has a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed. Budgets for the 2025/26 financial year have not been set. This means that decisions on high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND, and the publication of allocations to local authorities for that year, will not be to the usual timescales.