Written questions by Gibson.

Whether her Department will commit to a review of the frequency of State Pension payments to better support pensioners in managing their budgets.

The current State Pension payment regime has been in place since 6 April 2010 for those people who reached pensionable age on or after that date.However, to make the opportunity of being paid calendar monthly available, there would need to be significant and very costly system changes and not just to systems used by this Department – HMRC would also be affected. It is not something the Department is considering at this time, but it remains an option should there be a review of the method of payments in the future.

Whether she has had discussions with (a) animal welfare activists and (b) Marshall Bio Resources on the mass rearing of beagles for the purpose of animal testing.

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) with the Home Office and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs involvement is leading on a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.Pharmaceutical legislation requires that, before a medicine can be approved for testing in humans, it is tested in a rodent and non-rodent species under international guidelines. This may include dogs as an appropriate model. The majority of Beagles bred for use in science (85%) are for the purposes of regulatory testing under legislation on pharmaceutical products for human use. The number of Beagles bred is largely determined by the forecast needs of the pharmaceutical industry that require testing of medicines.The Home Office regulator ensures compliance of all work licensed with the rigorous requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. The number of animals used in scientific research and testing, including Beagles, is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit#statistics.The Home Office assures that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals are reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the result sought, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to Vehicle Excise Duty from April 2025 on levels of electric vehicle adoption; and what impact these changes will have on owners of zero-emission vehicles registered between 2017 and 2025 which will move from a £0 rate to the standard rate of £190-£195 per year.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. As announced by the Government at Autumn Statement 2022, from April 2025, zero emission and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay VED in a similar way to petrol and diesel vehicles. Revenue from motoring taxes helps ensure we can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect. The Policy Costings document and Tax Information and Impact Note published alongside Autumn Statement 2022 when the change was announced both estimate the impact on zero emission vehicle take-up to be ‘minimal’. The Tax Information and Impact Note also sets out expected economic, equalities and other impacts of the changes, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025. The Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles and announced a number of measures at Autumn Budget 2024 to support zero emission vehicle take-up. From 1 April 2025, VED First Year Rates have changed to apply higher rates to hybrid, petrol and diesel vehicles. The Government has also maintained incentives for the purchase of zero emission vehicles within the Company Car Tax and Salary Sacrifice regimes until 2030, and extended the 100% First Year Allowances for businesses purchasing zero emission cars and installing chargepoint infrastructure.

Whether she plans to maintain the current number of driving test centres in rural communities.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to providing its customers, including those in rural areas, with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient.

What steps she is taking to help tackle bots in the DVSA's online booking system for driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.The table below shows the number of car practical driving tests booked and available in the 24-week booking window, as of 31 March 2025, for the driving test centres (DTCs) serving customers in Wiltshire:DTCCar practical driving tests bookedCar practical driving test availableChippenham2,721138Salisbury1,79584Swindon3,233144 On the 18 December 2024, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners (DEs). Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK.DVSA continues to recruit DEs DTCs serving customers in Wiltshire and is currently working through the recruitment process from recent campaigns. As part of this, DVSA has four potential new DEs booked on training programmes.On 31 March 2025, DVSA launched its latest DE recruitment campaign and has two vacancies for the area as part of this.To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests and has announced further measures to review the driving test booking system.On the 18 December 2024, a call for evidence was launched, seeking views on the current rules to book tests. This will lead to consultation on improving processes, with potential future legislative changes.On 6 January 2025, DVSA introduced new terms and conditions for use of the service driving instructors and trainers use to book and manage practical driving tests for their pupils. Since this change DVSA has issued 25 warnings, 4 suspensions, and closed 90 business accounts.DVSA has deployed bot protection to help stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing, and DVSA’s work on this is ongoing.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of driving test waits in Wiltshire; and what steps she is taking to help reduce the backlog.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.The table below shows the number of car practical driving tests booked and available in the 24-week booking window, as of 31 March 2025, for the driving test centres (DTCs) serving customers in Wiltshire:DTCCar practical driving tests bookedCar practical driving test availableChippenham2,721138Salisbury1,79584Swindon3,233144 On the 18 December 2024, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners (DEs). Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK.DVSA continues to recruit DEs DTCs serving customers in Wiltshire and is currently working through the recruitment process from recent campaigns. As part of this, DVSA has four potential new DEs booked on training programmes.On 31 March 2025, DVSA launched its latest DE recruitment campaign and has two vacancies for the area as part of this.To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests and has announced further measures to review the driving test booking system.On the 18 December 2024, a call for evidence was launched, seeking views on the current rules to book tests. This will lead to consultation on improving processes, with potential future legislative changes.On 6 January 2025, DVSA introduced new terms and conditions for use of the service driving instructors and trainers use to book and manage practical driving tests for their pupils. Since this change DVSA has issued 25 warnings, 4 suspensions, and closed 90 business accounts.DVSA has deployed bot protection to help stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing, and DVSA’s work on this is ongoing.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of tax revenues.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on the trend in levels of economic growth

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of agricultural employment.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.

Whether he has considered providing free (a) insulation and (b) heat pumps to low-income households; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of such provision on (i) fuel poverty and (ii) carbon emissions.

Government energy efficiency schemes such as the Energy Company Obligation, Great British Insulation Scheme, Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant are targeted at low-income households to tackle fuel poverty. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant provides capital support for property owners to install a low carbon heating system. Home energy efficiency improvements and upgraded heating systems under these schemes look to reduce carbon emissions, overall energy demand and energy bills for consumers. Further details on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out in due course.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of a minerals trade deal between the US and Ukraine on the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy.

A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, Industrial Strategy, and clean energy transition. The Department for Business and Trade will publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year that will set out the Government’s refined approach including on international partnerships. The UK is committed to collaborating with Ukraine on critical minerals through our 100 Year Partnership agreement to support the development of a Ukrainian Critical Minerals Strategy.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of a minerals trade deal between the US and Ukraine.

A secure supply of critical minerals is vital for the UK's economic growth and security, Industrial Strategy, and clean energy transition. The Department for Business and Trade will publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year that will set out the Government’s refined approach including on international partnerships. The UK is committed to collaborating with Ukraine on critical minerals through our 100 Year Partnership agreement to support the development of a Ukrainian Critical Minerals Strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the Rural England Prosperity Fund for 2025/26 on rural businesses.

The Department announced on 4 March that it would be providing an additional £33 million for the Rural England Prosperity Fund in financial year 2025-26. This announcement continues funding beyond the lifetime of the original scheme providing new money for new projects in rural areas. The Autumn Statement on 30 October confirmed Defra’s budgets for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Funding allocations for individual programmes have been determined through the departments business planning exercise. Future funding decisions remain subject to the Government spending review.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that all Armed Forces Personnel are entitled to the same pension scheme.

As of 1 April 2022, all Serving personnel are members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 (AFPS 15). AFPS 15 is the only open pension scheme for both Regular and Reserve personnel, having replaced all existing prior legacy schemes.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Universal Credit provisions for single parent families.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change. The Strategy will look at 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. Benefit rates are reviewed each year, increasing by 6.7% in April 2024 and by a further 1.7% from April 2025, in line with inflation. We have recently announced a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions will be introduced from April 2025, helping approximately 1.2 million households benefit by an average of £420 a year.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) further regulating gambling companies and (b) creating a Gambling Ombudsman.

The government is committed to strengthening protections to ensure that people can continue to enjoy gambling, without the risks that can ensue from harmful gambling.The previous government published its gambling white paper in April 2023. The white paper set out the future of regulation and legislation in the gambling sector. This included a broad package of evidence-led proposals which aim to prevent harm as early as possible, and we have delivered on the introduction of the statutory levy and online slots stake limits. We will continue to monitor the best available evidence in taking decisions on future gambling reform, and the Minister for Gambling will outline further steps in due course, including on the ombudsman.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make Almshouses eligible for the right to buy scheme.

Almshouses are exempt from the Right to Buy scheme and the government has no plans to alter that fact.

How many calls to the Pension Service helpline (a) were not answered, (b) involved the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes and (c) were terminated by the Pension Service following the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes in each of the last 12 months.

Response:Part (a)The table below shows the total number of unanswered calls (Calls Abandoned from Agent Queue) for The Pension Service, for each of the last 12 calendar months. Month YearDirectorateCalls Abandoned from Agent QueueFeb-2024Pension Service60,495Mar-2024Pension Service56,400Apr-2024Pension Service72,485May-2024Pension Service36,733Jun-2024Pension Service24,900Jul-2024Pension Service23,709Aug-2024Pension Service25,554Sep-2024Pension Service36,407Oct-2024Pension Service36,412Nov-2024Pension Service31,481Dec-2024Pension Service23,077Jan-2025Pension Service34,704 Part (b) The department does not hold data that enables us to answer this question.Part (c) The department does not hold data that enables us to answer this question. There are many reasons why calls to a service line can attract a high call abandonment rate which can include but is not limited to increased hold times. The abandonment of calls is an area that we are unable to fully analyse as there is no data to tell us exactly why a specific customer terminates a call. We are continuously monitoring the service and reviewing our approach to ensure we are able to deliver for our customers. DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.

What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing levels of defence expenditure above 2.5% of GDP.

The Government is committed to setting a path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence in Spring. The Ministry of Defence remains closely engaged with His Majesty's Treasury on this matter.

How many calls to the Disability Service Centre helpline (a) were not answered, (b) involved the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes and (c) were terminated by the Disability Service Centre following the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes in each of the last 12 months.

Part (a)The table below shows the total number of unanswered calls (Calls Abandoned from Agent Queue) for Disability Services, for each of the last 12 calendar months. Month YearDirectorateCalls Abandoned from Agent QueueFeb-2024Disability Services189,821Mar-2024Disability Services199,623Apr-2024Disability Services268,374May-2024Disability Services191,549Jun-2024Disability Services133,799Jul-2024Disability Services151,056Aug-2024Disability Services152,973Sep-2024Disability Services162,451Oct-2024Disability Services157,661Nov-2024Disability Services158,028Dec-2024Disability Services118,581Jan-2025Disability Services264,966 Part (b) The department does not hold data that enables us to answer this question.Part (c) The department does not hold data that enables us to answer this question. There are many reasons why calls to a service line can attract a high call abandonment rate which can include but is not limited to increased hold times. The abandonment of calls is an area that we are unable to fully analyse as there is no data to tell us exactly why a specific customer terminates a call. We are continuously monitoring the service and reviewing our approach to ensure we are able to deliver for our customers. DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.