Written questions by Olney.

For what reason the rate of disability living allowance claims processed dropped between (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2023-24.

DWP has seen a substantial increase in claims for Disability Living Allowance (Children) since Covid-19, and this upward trajectory continues. This has resulted in increased pressures on early years services for children with additional needs and neurodiverse conditions, with gathering evidence from educational institutions and the NHS taking longer. We are maximising our resources wherever possible and have ongoing recruitment efforts to mitigate these challenges.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the Environment Agency’s modelling of average (a) daily and (b) monthly volumetric river flow rates for each gauging station on the Thames from Reading to Kingston for drought events that are (i) 1 in 100, (ii) 1 in 200 and (iii) 1 in 500 years.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not model flow at gauging stations using drought event return periods. The modelling of flow under a range of climate scenarios is carried out as part of planning by water companies to assess how resilient their supply systems are to droughts. This assessment is set out in their statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP) and Drought Plans. Thames Water have worked with Water Resources South East (WRSE) regional group to model flow under a range of climate scenarios as a component of regional system simulation modelling which informs their WRMP. The EA is a statutory consultee for water company WRMPs and reviews the technical analysis undertaken by water companies showing how secure supplies are now (known as the baseline) and what actions are needed to ensure secure supplies in the future. The EA has reviewed Thames Water’s latest draft WRMP and is satisfied with the company’s evidence provided alongside its latest draft WRMP. I attended the National Drought Group meeting earlier this month on Wednesday 16 October 2024 where I outlined the pressure climate change is having on our water system and that we need to be prepared for all eventualities. This Government is taking decisive action to improve the resilience of our precious water supplies. For more information on water resource system modelling completed on behalf of Thames Water see the following links:wrse-hydrological-modelling-method-statement-november-2022.pdfmethod-statement-regional-simulation-model-aug-2021.pdf.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the Environment Agency’s modelling of the average (a) daily and (b) monthly percentage of (i) usable and (ii) deployable capacity in each of the (A) Lower Lee Group and (B) Lower Thames Group reservoirs for drought events that are (1) 1 in 100, (2) 1 in 200 and (3) 1 in 500 years.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not model how resilient water company owned supply systems are to drought. It is the responsibility of the water companies to ensure that their systems can deliver secure water supplies for customers whilst ensuring they meet their environmental obligations and legal requirements during a drought. Every 5 years, water companies are required to evidence in their statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP) how they will ensure secure supplies for the next 25 years. This includes consideration of resilience to extreme droughts, population growth, climate change and environmental water needs. The EA is a statutory consultee for water company WRMPs and reviews the technical analysis undertaken by water companies showing how secure supplies are now (known as the baseline) and what actions are needed to ensure secure supplies in the future. The EA has reviewed Thames Water’s latest draft WRMP and is satisfied with the company’s evidence provided alongside its latest draft WRMP. I attended the National Drought Group meeting earlier this month on Wednesday 16 October 2024 where I outlined the pressure climate change is having on our water system and that we need to be prepared for all eventualities. This Government is taking decisive action to improve the resilience of our precious water supplies. For more information on water resource system modelling completed on behalf of Thames Water see the following links:Library | WRSE - Water Resource South Eastmethod-statement-regional-simulation-model-aug-2021.pdf (wrse.org.uk)

What the average wait for a pension credit application to be approved was in each year since 2015.

The Department does not hold information on the annual average waiting time for Pension Credit and cannot provide the figures requested. The Department does publish our annual performance against a 50 working day clearance rate for Pension Credit in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Of 248,000 Pension Credit claims cleared in performance year 2023/24, 192,000 were cleared within the planned 50-day timescale, equating to 77.7%. 56,000, 22.3% were cleared outside of the of the 10-week planned timescale.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 July 2024 on Public Spending: Inheritance, Official Report, column 1033, how many people have applied for pension credit since that date.

We have recently published Weekly Pension Credit claims received from 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) which provides the number of Pension Credit claims received by the department.

If she will make an estimate of the average waiting time between a pension credit application and a decision by the Department.

The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts on 22nd July 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024-html). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, how many holders of each pass type have access to the parliamentary estate.

The number of passes on issue changes constantly, so the following represents a snapshot of data recorded on 10 October 2024:MPs: 648Peers: 832MPs’ staff: 1,589Peers’ staff: 333Staff of the Administrations - House of Commons, House of Lords, and Parliamentary Digital Service: 4,242Metropolitan Police staff including police officers: 565Contractors: 3,028 (blue) + 1,170 (yellow) = 4,198Former MPs: 419Retired Peers: 55Political parties and whips: 181Partners of MPs/Peers and residents: 680Civil servants: 1,515Media: 472Restoration & Renewal Management: 189

Representing the House of Commons Commission, how many parliamentary passes were (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last five financial years.

The database is a live pass issuing system and does not retain full historical information as data is only retained for three years or less depending on the pass category, so is continually being deleted in line with our records retention policy. The following figures show the number of passes reported as lost or stolen by financial year; however please note all these passes were promptly deactivated and would not allow access to the Parliamentary estate.Financial year 2021–2022: 43Financial year 2022–2023: 76Financial year 2023–2024: 62

Representing the House of Commons Commission, how many parliamentary passes were not returned following the conclusion of the holder's employment in each of the last five financial years.

The database is a live pass issuing system and does not retain full historical information as data is only retained for three years or less depending on the pass category, so is continually being deleted in line with our records retention policy.The vast majority of passes are returned promptly after they expire or are invalidated. The following figures show the number of expired passes not returned by financial year; however please note all these passes were deactivated and would not allow access to the Parliamentary estate.Financial year 2021–2022: 513Financial year 2022–2023: 432Financial year 2023–2024: 392

Representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will publish a list of special advisers who have had a parliamentary pass in each of the last five financial years.

We are unable to provide this information, as the pass issuing system does not categorise passholders in this way. Special advisers are not a specific category of passholder, and therefore this information could not easily be obtained from the pass data system. In any event, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish such a list.It would not be appropriate to publish the personal data collected for the purposes of security pass allocation as this would not be consistent with data protection principles, therefore we are unable to provide a list of civil servants holding passes. As noted above, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish personal data collected for security purposes in this way, and therefore the Commission is unable to provide such a list.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will publish a list of (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers who have a parliamentary pass.

We are unable to provide this information, as the pass issuing system does not categorise passholders in this way. Special advisers are not a specific category of passholder, and therefore this information could not easily be obtained from the pass data system. In any event, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish such a list.It would not be appropriate to publish the personal data collected for the purposes of security pass allocation as this would not be consistent with data protection principles, therefore we are unable to provide a list of civil servants holding passes. As noted above, it would be inconsistent with data protection principles to publish personal data collected for security purposes in this way, and therefore the Commission is unable to provide such a list.

How many people are waiting to be assessed for pension credit.

The total outstanding Pension Credit claims as at the end of week commencing 30th September 2024 is 77,703. This includes 8,245 advanced claims where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age. The Department is significantly increasing the resource on Pension Credit to ensure it processes claims as quickly as possible, with over 500 additional staff to support the increase in applications generated from the successful Pension Credit take-up campaign. If a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.

How much and what proportion of the funding for pharmacy services under the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care was spent on administration fees since May 2023.

The Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, announced in May 2023, announced an allocation up to £645 million up until March 2024. This supported the launch of Pharmacy First as well as the expansion of the Blood Pressure Checking service and Pharmacy Contraception Service.Funding from this allocation has been used to pay fees for the Pharmacy First, Blood Pressure Check or Contraception service delivery or invested in the development of IT infrastructure to enable the safe and effective delivery of the services and a mass media campaign to help increase awareness and public engagement. None of the allocated funding has been used for administrating the new services.The staff costs associated with the development of service specifications, governance and monitoring, and agreeing payments to contractors have been met by extant Departmental and NHS England budgets.

How much funding has been allocated to pharmacy services as part of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care since May 2023.

The Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, announced in May 2023, announced an allocation up to £645 million up until March 2024. This supported the launch of Pharmacy First as well as the expansion of the Blood Pressure Checking service and Pharmacy Contraception Service.Funding from this allocation has been used to pay fees for the Pharmacy First, Blood Pressure Check or Contraception service delivery or invested in the development of IT infrastructure to enable the safe and effective delivery of the services and a mass media campaign to help increase awareness and public engagement. None of the allocated funding has been used for administrating the new services.The staff costs associated with the development of service specifications, governance and monitoring, and agreeing payments to contractors have been met by extant Departmental and NHS England budgets.