Written questions by Timothy.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) halal and (b) kosher slaughterhouses have been investigated for violations of (i) food safety and (ii) animal welfare standards in each year since 2020.

The Food Standards Agency does not have data on the number of halal or kosher slaughterhouses investigated for violations of food safety or animal welfare standards. The Food Standards Agency does not categorise slaughterhouses as either ‘halal’ or ‘kosher’. No specific approval is required to use these methods and so the slaughterhouses producing kosher or halal meat are not routinely recorded.

How much in remittances by country of destination has been sent from the UK in each year since 2020.

The Treasury does not collect or report data on the flow of remittances out of the UK and has not under previous governments. The UK imposes taxes based on individual’s residence status. Individuals who are resident in the UK are taxable on their income and gains that arise worldwide. Remitting funds outside of the UK is not generally considered to be a chargeable event for individuals. It should also be noted that funds being remitted will often have been subject to UK tax, such as income tax, if funded from earnings.

What the average processing time for asylum claims was broken down by (a) individual route and (b) month since July 2024.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of claims awaiting an initial decision, broken down by duration, is published in table Asy_D03 and data on the number of people claiming asylum, by route of entry to the UK, is published in table Asy_D01a. These data tables are published as part of the asylum detailed datasets.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the practice of voluntary liquidation by companies with (a) liabilities and (b) outstanding contractual obligations that begin operations under another name.

My Department has not made these assessments. However, liquidators of an insolvent company are required to report on the conduct of its directors to the Insolvency Service, who will consider investigating potential misconduct and seek to disqualify the directors if appropriate.

What the headcount number of caseworkers for processing asylum claims was broken down by (a) individual route and (b) month since July 2024.

The Home Office is maintaining sufficient resource in place to clear the Asylum backlog.The number of full time equivalent (FTE) asylum caseworkers employed per month until June 2025 is published in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published migration transparency statistics, located here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK. At the end of June 2025 there were 2,057 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Asylum Caseworking Staff. We do not publish breakdown of this information by individual route.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a tax on remittance flows.

The Treasury does not collect or report data on the flow of remittances out of the UK and has not under previous governments. The UK imposes taxes based on individual’s residence status. Individuals who are resident in the UK are taxable on their income and gains that arise worldwide. Remitting funds outside of the UK is not generally considered to be a chargeable event for individuals. It should also be noted that funds being remitted will often have been subject to UK tax, such as income tax, if funded from earnings.

What assessment his Department has made of the use of bankruptcy law by companies to avoid repaying contractual repayments.

My Department has not made this assessment. Statistics on the volumes of corporate insolvencies are published and can be found at Company insolvency statistics releases - GOV.UK.

What the average processing time was for visas broken down by (a) each visa route and (b) month since July 2024.

UKVI have been processing applications on all of its routes where a customer service standard is operated within their published customer service standards during the requested time period. On 1 September the Secretary of State for the Home Department announced a temporary suspension of new applications under the Refugee Family Reunion route and this remains in place. Visa processing times are published on the UKVI website at Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK and Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK. It may take longer to process an application if:the information in the application is not accurate or needs more considerationfurther evidence needs to be provided, for example evidence of fundssupporting documents need to be verifiedan interview is requiredwe need more information on personal circumstances (for example if there is a criminal conviction)

Whether he has conducted an impact assessment of Royal Mail’s service standards performance on connectivity between local communities.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector to ensure the provision of the universal postal service. I recently met representatives of Ofcom who gave their reassurance that the regulator is closely monitoring Royal Mail’s performance and will regularly press Royal Mail on this issue to improve service levels as a matter of urgency.

Whether he has made an assessment of levels of customer satisfaction with Royal Mail’s parcel (a) management and (b) delivery.

Ofcom is the independent regulator for the postal sector with the responsibility and powers to regulate postal services.Ofcom engages regularly with parcel operators to understand their approach to implementation of Ofcom’s consumer protection measures. The results of its most recent survey research on consumer satisfaction with parcel delivery services is published in Ofcom’s 2023-24 Post Monitoring Report: www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/postal-services/monitoring-reports/2023-2024/post-monitoring-report-2023-24.pdf

What assessment he has made of the service standards of Royal Mail’s parcel (a) management and (b) delivery.

Ofcom is the independent regulator for the postal sector with the responsibility and powers to regulate postal services.Ofcom engages regularly with parcel operators to understand their approach to implementation of Ofcom’s consumer protection measures. The results of its most recent survey research on consumer satisfaction with parcel delivery services is published in Ofcom’s 2023-24 Post Monitoring Report: www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/postal-services/monitoring-reports/2023-2024/post-monitoring-report-2023-24.pdf

How many benefit overpayments there have been since 2020, broken down by (a) year, (b) value, and (c) benefit type.

Estimates of the overpayment cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK Recovery of benefit overpayments can be found in the attached annex.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the charging of (a) interest and (b) compound interest on Equity Release Loans by financial services companies on (i) elderly customers and (ii) relatives of deceased customers.

Decisions concerning the design of loans, including the interest charged, are commercial decisions for firms in which the Government does not intervene. However, equity release products are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and so benefit from consumer protections under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules, including requiring lenders to engage and provide tailored support to their customers and that advertising is clear, fair and not misleading. Anyone considering equity release should seek independent financial advice to help ensure that the product is suitable for their individual needs. The Equity Release Council, which represents the sector, also promotes high standards of conduct and practice across the industry.

How many benefit overpayments have been recovered since 2020, broken down by (a) year, (b) value, and (c) benefit type.

Estimates of the overpayment cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK Recovery of benefit overpayments can be found in the attached annex.

How many successful mandatory reconsiderations there have been since 2020, broken down by (a) year, (b) value, and (c) benefit type.

Information for Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance can be found on Stat Xplore. Successful Personal Independence Payment (PIP) mandatory reconsiderations (MRs) can be found on the ‘PIP MR Clearances’ dataset. Use the ‘Geography’ and ‘National – Regional – LA – OAs’ filter to select ‘DWP policy ownership’. The ‘MR Decision’ filter can be used to select ‘New Decision – Award Changed’ and the ‘Month’ filter can be used to select the years you are interested in. For Employment Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment (ESA WCA) successful MRs, use the ‘Mandatory Reconsiderations – Clearances’ dataset. Use the ‘Geography’ and ‘National – Regional – LA – Ward’ filter to select ‘Great Britain’ and then ‘England’ and ‘Wales’. The ‘Decision’ filter can be used to select ‘Revised – allowed’ and the ‘Date of Decision’ filter can be used to select the time period needed. You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required. Universal Credit (UC) MRs can be found in Table 1 below. Table 1: volume of successful UC MRs by financial year 2019_202020_212021_222022_232023_242024_25Volume of successful MRs50,00047,00061,000100,000107,000110,000 Notes:Each UC claim can have more than one reconsideration registered against it.This is derived from unpublished information and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It should therefore be used with caution and may be subject to future revision Information on other benefit MRs as well as their value is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

If she will make a comparative assessment of the level of Universal Credit payments made to foster carers with the prior system of (a) Working Tax Credit and (b) Child Tax Credit.

No such assessment has been made. Whilst the UC child element won’t be paid if the child or qualifying young person is looked after by a foster carer, the allowance and fees received by foster carers in return for fostering are not treated as earnings and are fully disregarded for the purposes of calculating entitlement to Universal Credit. The rules differ to how WTC and CTC treated the income.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Access to Work Scheme in the Pathways to Work Green Paper on individual claimants.

We will review all aspects of the Access to Work scheme after evaluating the findings of the Pathways to Work consultation alongside the work of the collaboration committees.

What steps she is taking to implement proposed changes to the Access to Work Scheme in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.

Reforms to Access to Work are needed to ensure a better service for customers, to help disabled people start and stay in work, to provide clarity in what support should be provided and to ensure we are providing value for money for the taxpayer. Following the consultation launched by the Pathways to Work Green Paper, which closed in June, we are reviewing all aspects of the Scheme. We are working closely on proposals with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives. We have established a Collaboration Committee that brings disabled people and other experts together to inform changes to the design of the Scheme. No changes have been made to Access to Work policy. We will announce any changes prior to them being implemented.

Whether her Department has provided (a) funding and (b) advice to City of Sanctuary UK since 4 July 2024.

Ministers and advisors have not met, nor has the department provided funding to, City of Sanctuary UK or Schools of Sanctuary.Three meetings have taken place between officials and Schools of Sanctuary since July 2024 to discuss issues such as school admissions.

Whether (a) ministers, (b) advisors, and (c) officials in her Department have held conversations with City of Sanctuary UK since 4 July 2024.

Ministers and advisors have not met, nor has the department provided funding to, City of Sanctuary UK or Schools of Sanctuary.Three meetings have taken place between officials and Schools of Sanctuary since July 2024 to discuss issues such as school admissions.