Written questions by Darling.

What plans her Department has to enhance arts and culture in the national curriculum.

The department has announced a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education. The National Centre will promote arts education, including signposting to careers guidance and opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school. It will drive excellent arts teaching through a new continuing professional development offer to schools and support partnerships between schools and cultural providers. To complement the curriculum, the department will also work with experts to develop an Enrichment Framework to be published before the end of the year. This will identify the range of different enrichment activity that pupils should access and reflect best practice in supporting schools to plan a high-quality enrichment offer. The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review seeks to deliver a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that equips young people with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to thrive in life and work. The Review Group has now published its interim findings and set out the next phase of work. The interim report can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report. The government will respond to the Review’s final recommendations in the autumn.

Which Minister has oversight of the Getting It Right First Time programme.

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is a national NHS England programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through an in-depth review of services and benchmarking, and by presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change. This key Government priority sits within my departmental portfolio.The GIRFT team is working with systems and regions to help the National Health Service embed best practice in elective care, to reduce waiting times, improve patient outcomes and, ultimately, to support delivery of the commitment that 92% of all patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral-to-treatment by March 2029.Responsibility for the delivery, implementation, and funding of healthcare services ultimately rests with the appropriate NHS commissioning body. All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. All substantial planned service change is subject to a full public consultation and must meet the Government and NHS England’s ‘tests’ to ensure good decision making.

What steps should be taken prior to a test for change on a healthcare offer.

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is a national NHS England programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through an in-depth review of services and benchmarking, and by presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change. This key Government priority sits within my departmental portfolio.The GIRFT team is working with systems and regions to help the National Health Service embed best practice in elective care, to reduce waiting times, improve patient outcomes and, ultimately, to support delivery of the commitment that 92% of all patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral-to-treatment by March 2029.Responsibility for the delivery, implementation, and funding of healthcare services ultimately rests with the appropriate NHS commissioning body. All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. All substantial planned service change is subject to a full public consultation and must meet the Government and NHS England’s ‘tests’ to ensure good decision making.

Which services GIRFT have been reviewing as part of the healthcare system that impacts on Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust in the last two years.

The Getting It Right First Time team has been supporting the One Devon Programme with a particular focus on orthopaedics, spinal surgery, cardiology, gynaecology and ophthalmology services.

Communities and Local Government, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Torbay to discuss the Afghan Resettlement Programme.

Please write to ministers to outline your area of interest for discussion on the Afghan Resettlement Programme. As this is a cross-government programme your area of interests will determine which department is best to respond.

What the (a) average wait time and (b) number of calls received were for the Winter Fuel Payment helpline in each winter since 2015.

We have provided a response from 2017 only as we do not hold the required data for the years prior. The tables in the response show Total Calls Offered (Volume) and Average Speed of Answer (in an hh:mm:ss format) for each month within each business year for the period Apr 17 to Mar 25. The most current table for business year 2024/2025 is to date only, up to and including 02/03/2025. To note, the business year 2017/2018 data for the month of Nov 17 is unavailable.Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2024Winter Fuel Payments4,45900:04:18May-2024Winter Fuel Payments2,42000:02:08Jun-2024Winter Fuel Payments1,70900:01:36Jul-2024Winter Fuel Payments2,05900:00:45Aug-2024Winter Fuel Payments3,41900:00:59Sep-2024Winter Fuel Payments4,87200:01:12Oct-2024Winter Fuel Payments32,69800:04:53Nov-2024Winter Fuel Payments35,75600:01:50Dec-2024Winter Fuel Payments19,89400:03:58Jan-2025Winter Fuel Payments22,64200:07:32Feb-2025Winter Fuel Payments13,19000:02:51Total 143,11800:03:462024/2025 Business Year is to date only, up to and including 02/03/2025Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2023Winter Fuel Payments5,30500:03:30May-2023Winter Fuel Payments4,04300:01:50Jun-2023Winter Fuel Payments2,29300:01:14Jul-2023Winter Fuel Payments1,85400:01:07Aug-2023Winter Fuel Payments2,18500:01:17Sep-2023Winter Fuel Payments4,28400:02:04Oct-2023Winter Fuel Payments68,99900:04:07Nov-2023Winter Fuel Payments101,23100:02:27Dec-2023Winter Fuel Payments50,25100:04:03Jan-2024Winter Fuel Payments44,37300:04:22Feb-2024Winter Fuel Payments18,89100:03:55Mar-2024Winter Fuel Payments8,49200:06:04Total 312,20100:03:30 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2022Winter Fuel Payments4,32300:02:34May-2022Winter Fuel Payments4,24100:02:20Jun-2022Winter Fuel Payments3,88200:02:00Jul-2022Winter Fuel Payments3,39400:01:46Aug-2022Winter Fuel Payments7,50200:07:26Sep-2022Winter Fuel Payments9,97200:06:19Oct-2022Winter Fuel Payments66,05700:00:52Nov-2022Winter Fuel Payments124,82600:02:36Dec-2022Winter Fuel Payments65,84700:08:38Jan-2023Winter Fuel Payments61,96900:04:38Feb-2023Winter Fuel Payments20,09500:01:54Mar-2023Winter Fuel Payments14,47900:03:19Total 386,58700:03:37 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2021Winter Fuel Payments12,05800:18:39May-2021Winter Fuel Payments4,47100:06:12Jun-2021Winter Fuel Payments2,98300:02:57Jul-2021Winter Fuel Payments2,92100:02:39Aug-2021Winter Fuel Payments3,78000:03:46Sep-2021Winter Fuel Payments6,93100:04:11Oct-2021Winter Fuel Payments87,69000:06:24Nov-2021Winter Fuel Payments118,40200:03:10Dec-2021Winter Fuel Payments30,36900:01:10Jan-2022Winter Fuel Payments47,90300:03:32Feb-2022Winter Fuel Payments18,10200:01:38Mar-2022Winter Fuel Payments9,77000:03:06Total 345,38000:04:04 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2020Winter Fuel Payments49000:00:12May-2020Winter Fuel Payments47500:00:14Jun-2020Winter Fuel Payments49400:00:10Jul-2020Winter Fuel Payments51800:00:19Aug-2020Winter Fuel Payments2,41800:00:36Sep-2020Winter Fuel Payments4,85100:00:53Oct-2020Winter Fuel Payments50,46000:08:55Nov-2020Winter Fuel Payments154,83100:19:51Dec-2020Winter Fuel Payments142,77900:13:31Jan-2021Winter Fuel Payments83,95200:15:21Feb-2021Winter Fuel Payments28,37700:03:09Mar-2021Winter Fuel Payments22,05000:09:37Total 491,69500:13:38 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2019Winter Fuel Payments1,70300:00:31May-2019Winter Fuel Payments1,09600:00:18Jun-2019Winter Fuel Payments92400:00:23Jul-2019Winter Fuel Payments96700:00:11Aug-2019Winter Fuel Payments1,02500:00:09Sep-2019Winter Fuel Payments3,20900:01:06Oct-2019Winter Fuel Payments10,93500:01:08Nov-2019Winter Fuel Payments84,69700:03:48Dec-2019Winter Fuel Payments45,55700:01:01Jan-2020Winter Fuel Payments37,42500:03:15Feb-2020Winter Fuel Payments7,49600:00:45Mar-2020Winter Fuel Payments1,32800:00:39Total 196,36200:02:32 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2018Winter Fuel Payments3,19300:00:56May-2018Winter Fuel Payments15,29000:01:12Jun-2018Winter Fuel Payments22,62400:01:59Jul-2018Winter Fuel Payments19,13000:01:27Aug-2018Winter Fuel Payments16,39300:01:39Sep-2018Winter Fuel Payments8,41800:01:07Oct-2018Winter Fuel Payments18,59000:01:05Nov-2018Winter Fuel Payments112,84600:04:53Dec-2018Winter Fuel Payments57,27500:03:08Jan-2019Winter Fuel Payments39,45000:01:36Feb-2019Winter Fuel Payments14,06400:01:04Mar-2019Winter Fuel Payments4,76100:01:29Total 332,03400:02:47 Month YearTelephony Service LineCalls OfferedAverage Speed of Answer (hh:mm:ss)Apr-2017Winter Fuel Payments5,26600:00:34May-2017Winter Fuel Payments3,97800:00:27Jun-2017Winter Fuel Payments5,14700:00:38Jul-2017Winter Fuel Payments33,87300:00:39Aug-2017Winter Fuel Payments38,33400:00:49Sep-2017Winter Fuel Payments23,02800:00:30Oct-2017Winter Fuel Payments21,80400:00:50Nov-2017Winter Fuel Payments*Data Unavailable*Data UnavailableDec-2017Winter Fuel Payments64,38600:01:03Jan-2018Winter Fuel Payments48,79300:01:18Feb-2018Winter Fuel Payments17,91900:01:12Mar-2018Winter Fuel Payments11,20800:02:17Total 273,73600:00:59*No data is available for Nov 17 due to inconsistencies with the HMI Data downloads DISCLAIMERPlease 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.

Whether her Department has considered tax breaks for companies that donate humanitarian products to Ukraine.

The Corporation Tax regime includes provisions that allow the deduction of qualifying charitable donations from a company’s total taxable profits for the accounting period in which they are paid. Following certain conditions, companies are also able to obtain tax relief for donations of trading stock of medical supplies and/or medical equipment for humanitarian purposes. This could include eligible donations made to support Ukraine. We sincerely appreciate the dedication and effort UK businesses are demonstrating in their support for Ukraine. The UK is at the forefront to providing military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine for as long as it takes. The UK has committed £12.8bn in military, humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine since February 2022. The UK will continue to honour the PM’s commitment on 10 July which provides Ukraine with £3bn of military support p.a. until 2030/31 or for as long as needed. Support from UK businesses to Ukraine is invaluable, and we are committed to strengthening these ties to help in securing a lasting peace for Ukraine.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to reports that around 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported or transferred into Russia or Russian-held territories, what steps his Department is taking to help Ukraine reunite children with their families.

The UK continues to track Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children. Our efforts focus on communications, sanctions, and accountability. We have raised this issue at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the UN and the Human Rights Council. The UK participated in the most recent meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children in October 2024 and continues to work closely with the Ukrainian government. In November 2024, we announced a third round of sanctions targeting those attempting to forcibly deport and indoctrinate Ukrainian children. We were pleased to see another group of children returned via Qatari mediation in September 2024, and are grateful for Qatar's continued engagement.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time-equivalent civil servants are working on trading corporation agreements with the fishing industry.

There are no civil servants working on trading corporation agreements. The Defra EU negotiations team of 12.2 full-time-equivalent civil servants works on implementing the Fisheries Heading of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), amongst other work in its portfolio. There are also many other civil servants and public servants across Defra, its agencies, and the devolved governments that are responsible for implementing aspects of the Fisheries Heading.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has considered increasing the trawler by-catch limit for bass.

Negotiations between the UK and EU concerning the allocation of fishing opportunities for over 70 stocks, including bass, take place on an annual basis. This year on the 9 December annual bycatch limits for commercial trawls and seines were agreed. Fisheries: consultations between the UK and the EU for 2025 - GOV.UK.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of promoting the National Insurance Credits buy-back scheme for each year since 2015.

All costs involved in promoting the National Insurance (NI) Credits buy-back scheme campaign will be published once it has concluded, as part of the regular transparency reports on GOV.UK. HMRC and DWP are not able to confirm levels of staffing back to 2015 as this work and resource has not been ringfenced. An estimate of the resource currently deployed to voluntary NI contributions across both Departments (as at February 2025) is c.480 frontline civil servants. The majority of customers can check for gaps in their NI record and make payment online. HMRC does not record how many people have made use of the National Insurance Credit buy-back scheme each year since 2015. However, I can confirm that since the enhanced online State Pension forecast service was launched on 29 April 2024, 60,000 people have topped up £62 million.

How many people have made use of the National Insurance Credit buy-back scheme in each year since 2015.

All costs involved in promoting the National Insurance (NI) Credits buy-back scheme campaign will be published once it has concluded, as part of the regular transparency reports on GOV.UK. HMRC and DWP are not able to confirm levels of staffing back to 2015 as this work and resource has not been ringfenced. An estimate of the resource currently deployed to voluntary NI contributions across both Departments (as at February 2025) is c.480 frontline civil servants. The majority of customers can check for gaps in their NI record and make payment online. HMRC does not record how many people have made use of the National Insurance Credit buy-back scheme each year since 2015. However, I can confirm that since the enhanced online State Pension forecast service was launched on 29 April 2024, 60,000 people have topped up £62 million.

How many full time equivalent civil servants have worked on the National Insurance Credits buy-back scheme in each year since 2015.

All costs involved in promoting the National Insurance (NI) Credits buy-back scheme campaign will be published once it has concluded, as part of the regular transparency reports on GOV.UK. HMRC and DWP are not able to confirm levels of staffing back to 2015 as this work and resource has not been ringfenced. An estimate of the resource currently deployed to voluntary NI contributions across both Departments (as at February 2025) is c.480 frontline civil servants. The majority of customers can check for gaps in their NI record and make payment online. HMRC does not record how many people have made use of the National Insurance Credit buy-back scheme each year since 2015. However, I can confirm that since the enhanced online State Pension forecast service was launched on 29 April 2024, 60,000 people have topped up £62 million.

How many parents who have experienced the death of a child have waited more than three months to receive the final post-mortem report.

The Department does not hold post-mortem reporting data. It is likely to be held by National Health Service trusts and Coroner’s Offices for the post-mortems they are responsible for.

Which local authorities have engaged with the Government on increasing applications for pension credit since November 2024.

As part of our nationwide Pension Credit campaign, the Department has engaged with all councils in Great Britain, via the regular LA Welfare Direct bulletins. In response to our call to action in 2024, 200 councils across Great Britain have engaged and supported our Pension Credit campaign either on social media, or by distributing the promotional material we have provided

How many and what proportion of Personal Independence Payment requests that were initially refused were subsequently accepted after appeal in the latest period for which data is available.

Of the 721,100 claimants who had their claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cleared in the Financial Year 2023-2024, 332,800 (46%) were disallowed at assessment. Of these, 13,500 were subsequently awarded PIP following an appeal, which is 4% of all who were initially disallowed while 18,900 appeals have not been cleared yet. Notes:Figures have been rounded to nearest 100.Percentages have been rounded to nearest percent.This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution, and it may be subject to future revision.These figures include appeal outcomes up to end of September 2024, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more appeals could be made and completed after September 2024, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision.Figure provided for the number of applicants first awarded PIP at appeal stage include claims that were awarded via a lapsed appeal after a disallowed initial decision and no change to award at MR.A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment on the Child Poverty Strategy.

The Work Capability Assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced. 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. We are working to develop proposals for reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement later this year. Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change. The Strategy will look at all available levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across Government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

How many children live in households in which at least one person is subject to a Limited Capability to Work Assessment in (a) the UK and (b) Torbay constituency.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

What steps her Department is taking to strengthen cooperation with other nations to help tackle online fraud.

The Government recognises the serious threat posed by fraudsters targeting UK citizens from abroad. In October 2024, the UK played a pivotal role in helping pass the first ever UN Resolution on Fraud at the 12th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).The resolution outlines a set of key recommendations that all signatories to the UNTOC (186 Member States) should implement to mitigate the threat of fraud to their citizens. These recommendations include codifying fraud as a serious crime, pursuing fraudsters, protecting victims, and collaborating closely with the private sector to design out fraud. By establishing these guidelines, the resolution sets a baseline of global standards for all member states to follow. This is a significant advancement in the global fight against fraud and underscores our shared commitment with international partners in combating this pernicious crime.As part of the Government’s on-going work to tackle fraud internationally, we continue to work closely with our strategic partners including Five Eyes countries, Singapore, EU nations and INTERPOL, to target fraud and scams at source. Through these forums we are working with source countries (where transnational organised fraud and cybercrime groups operate) to build capacity in their law enforcement agencies, in order to tackle and disrupt overseas fraud before it reaches the UK.

If he will list the consultations his Department is undertaking in connection with the Employment Rights Bill; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of each listed consultation.

The department launched an initial package of three public consultations last October covering: the application of zero hours contracts measures to agency workers; creating a modern framework for industrial relations; and, strengthening remedies against abuse of rules on collective redundancy and fire and rehire. These consultations closed in December and the department will publish responses in due course. The department does not routinely collate information on the specific cost of running such consultations.We have committed to full consultation on the implementation of this legislation, and expect this to begin this year, ensuring reforms work for employers and workers alike.