Disclosures recently made by the Department for Transport confirms that a Labour MP was told, and acknowledged that no funding would be made available for an Ipswich northern bypass scheme, should one be developed.

In correspondence between civil servants from the DfT in February, questions from the Member of Parliament for Ipswich, Jack Abbott, admit that there are “no funding pots right now.”

This website published a story in February detailing how information disclosed by the Department stated that Mr Abbott would be told that there was no funding available after his ministerial surgery meeting with Simon Lightwood MP, a DfT junior minister.

Abbott, who serves in the government as the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, went on to ask civil servants, “what would be the process for the council if they did want to bid for funding? What would they need to provide?“

Civil servants have also cast doubt on the need for a bypass, due to the recent joint replacement works on the Orwell Bridge, stating that they will increase the reliability of the structure, and so “the case for a major intervention like a £500m bypass is likely to be weaker still once those works are complete.“

All of this comes just weeks after Suffolk County Council voted to explore all possible options around solving the issues that the Ipswich area, and its surrounding transport connections face when going into the future, with a report set to be delivered to Cabinet by the end of September 2026.

By Harry Brennan, Henry Lloyd, Abigail Mableson and Lara Kipper

Hundreds of millions of pounds in benefits have been given to dead people in a blunder uncovered by The Telegraph.

In a costly overpayment failure, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid out £850m in benefits to claimants after they had died.

It is not known which benefits were overpaid, but it is thought the 2.6 million errors since 2021 could be related to a mix of mental health and out-of-work benefits, state pension payments and others.

Pat McFadden, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has an obligation to protect public money and recover overpayments wherever possible.

Yet less than half the £850m has been recovered – adding millions to Britain’s spiralling benefits bill, which costs taxpayers about £300bn each year.

Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has faced repeated accusations of being soft on benefits following pressure from backbench MPs.

Last year, he made an about-turn on plans to tighten eligibility for personal independence payments (PIPs) despite concerns over a surge in claims linked to anxiety and ADHD.

He also backed down on plans to restrict winter fuel payments, in a move that added £1.25bn to the benefits bill, and gave in to pressure to lift the two-child benefit cap – adding £3bn a year.

On Saturday, The Telegraph revealed Government plans for an online self-service benefits system for PIPs, with an official trial of the system concluding the plans will result in a surge in claims.

The latest revelations on overpayments are likely to be embarrassing for Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, who sacked the boss of National Savings and Investments (NS&I) because of a separate “missing millions” scandal.

The Telegraph revealed how NS&I failed to pay £476m owed to bereaved families of up to 37,500 dead savers because of systems issues since 2008. Dax Harkins, the bank’s chief executive, was forced out over the fiasco.

Mr Bell and Mr McFadden are now facing questions about their own failings, with critics saying the benefits department has “lost its grip on basic administration” and asking why they are not doing more to claw back erroneous payments.

Hundreds of millions of pounds in benefits have been given to dead people in a blunder uncovered by The Telegraph.

In a costly overpayment failure, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid out £850m in benefits to claimants after they had died.

It is not known which benefits were overpaid, but it is thought the 2.6 million errors since 2021 could be related to a mix of mental health and out-of-work benefits, state pension payments and others.

Pat McFadden, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has an obligation to protect public money and recover overpayments wherever possible.

Yet less than half the £850m has been recovered – adding millions to Britain’s spiralling benefits bill, which costs taxpayers about £300bn each year.

Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has faced repeated accusations of being soft on benefits following pressure from backbench MPs.

Last year, he made an about-turn on plans to tighten eligibility for personal independence payments (PIPs) despite concerns over a surge in claims linked to anxiety and ADHD.

Advertisement

He also backed down on plans to restrict winter fuel payments, in a move that added £1.25bn to the benefits bill, and gave in to pressure to lift the two-child benefit cap – adding £3bn a year.

On Saturday, The Telegraph revealed Government plans for an online self-service benefits system for PIPs, with an official trial of the system concluding the plans will result in a surge in claims.

The latest revelations on overpayments are likely to be embarrassing for Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, who sacked the boss of National Savings and Investments (NS&I) because of a separate “missing millions” scandal.

The Telegraph revealed how NS&I failed to pay £476m owed to bereaved families of up to 37,500 dead savers because of systems issues since 2008. Dax Harkins, the bank’s chief executive, was forced out over the fiasco.

Mr Bell and Mr McFadden are now facing questions about their own failings, with critics saying the benefits department has “lost its grip on basic administration” and asking why they are not doing more to claw back erroneous payments.

A total of £9.5bn in benefits were overpaid in 2025, official figures show, but more than two-thirds of this was because of fraud, while 20 per cent was because of claimant error. The figures obtained by The Telegraph show the scale of official error relating to deceased benefit claimants for the first time.

Lee Anderson, Reform UK’s spokesman for work and pensions, said: “This is an absolutely appalling scandal that exposes just how badly broken the system has become.

“Nearly a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money has been paid out to people who are no longer alive, and ministers have known about the problem for years yet failed to fix it. Both Labour and the Conservatives have shown time and again that they cannot be trusted with the public’s money.”

Shimeon Lee, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group, said: “These figures show a department that has lost its grip on basic administration.

“Funnelling nearly a billion pounds to deceased claimants is a staggering waste of taxpayers’ money. The Government must simplify the welfare state and standardise eligibility so there is a streamlined system that prioritises accuracy.”

The benefits overpayments are understood to have been made by DWP staff after a notification of death of a claimant was received too late to halt payouts, or arrived at the point of payment.

Overpayments also occur when benefit claimants spend time in hospital or go into care. These include PIP – the mental health benefit – and the disability living allowance, among others.

These usually stop or are suspended after a claimant has been in hospital for 28 days. While state pensions continue, means-tested benefits such as pension credit or jobseeker’s allowance may be reduced. Benefits generally resume if someone is discharged from hospital.

The overpayment figures exclude winter fuel payments, but The Telegraph has discovered that winter fuel payments have also been sent to the accounts of dead claimants. Some £27m in winter fuel payments have been sent to close to 83,000 dead people since April 2023.

Winter fuel payments are paid out after claimants are accepted for the handouts in September, meaning by the time they are paid at the start of winter some claimants have already died.

It is thought in some cases the cost of recovery could end up being higher to the taxpayer than the cost of the overpayments themselves, which typically run into the hundreds of pounds.

A DWP spokesman said: “It is DWP policy to recover all debt where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. We encourage anyone who has recently lost a loved one to use our Tell us Once service, which makes it easy to notify us and other government services of a death in one simple step.

“Once we’ve been notified, we act quickly to update our records and make sure benefits only go to those who are entitled to them.”

A Suffolk MP has been told there is no funding available to support the development of any Ipswich Northern bypass proposal, should one be put forward, before 2031.

New documents released by the Department for Transport (DfT) relating to the issue of a proposed Northern bypass include a ministerial briefing for an MP surgery with Jack Abbott MP.

Abbott met with Simon Lightwood MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Roads and Buses), on Wednesday 14th January 2026.

A ministerial briefing created by the DfT included a set of top lines for the minister to be aware of before the meeting, the first of which made very clear that no funding would be made available for any such proposals or projects before 2031.

As further emails disclosed confirm, there are presently no current or future plans in the pipeline that could be considered for candidacy as a new Major Roads Network (MRN) scheme.

Abbott has been campaigning publicly for a Northern Bypass of the town since his election in July 2024, having asked the Prime Minister directly about the issue in parliament last year during PMQs.

In an email dated 22nd January 2026, a readout from the meeting held between Abbott and Lightwood, included conversation on Orwell Bridge repairs, the Northern Bypass, and the Copdock Junction.

The email went on to say that, following the meeting, SL [Simon Lightwood MP] has requested that we provide the following:

1. A short note on NH’s [National Highways] assessment of the integrity of Orwell Bridge, given the extensive closures.

2. A briefing note on Copdock Junction.

The minister did not request a briefing note on any matters relating to a proposed Northern bypass of Ipswich.

In the same set of emails, DfT civil servants also acknowledge the political complexity of the situation, in relation to impending devolution and the establishment of a Mayoral Authority that will take control of strategic highways.

In December 2025, the government announced plans to delay elections to the four new Mayoral authorities, Greater Essex, Sussex and Brighton, Hampshire and the Solent, and Norfolk and Suffolk, until 2028, having previously been planned for this coming May.

The decision, which industry experts have said ‘reflects poorly on the government', will likely hamper further efforts by those campaigning to deliver a process or formal planning for a bypass.

Jack Abbott MP has not commented publicly or online about his campaign to build a Northern bypass of Ipswich since meeting the Minister on the 14th of January.

Speculation has been rampant in Westminster over recent weeks that the Labour government are planning on postponing a number of local elections that are due to be held in May of this year.

In November of last year, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government gave reassurances to it’s respective Commons Select Committee that all elections in May 2026 would go ahead. The Chairman of the Committee, Florence Eshalomi, stating yet she was concerned that ‘we are seeing a postponement yet again’ despite the Secretary of State ‘repeatedly’ telling the committee that they would be going ahead just before Christmas.

Data collected and published by the Office for National Statistics has tracked the concerns of voters through a series of surveys in the two most recent electoral periods; the 2024 General Election, and the 2025 Local Elections.

The response from voters is a stark one tracking a significant rise in concerns held, in all surveys, except the one held immediately after the 2024 General Election.

According to the ONS data, voters broadly consider the safety of candidates and voter identification requirements to be a constant issue, unaffected by other changes, but of low priority compared to concerns about bias in the media or the spread of misinformation and fake news.

Most notably, the number of voters who said they had no concerns about the future of elections in the UK jumped from 15 percent before the general election, to 31 percent the following month, before crashing down to 11 percent in the seven months to March 2025.

On this question, there is a significant split between the position of voters 30+ and the 16 to 29 age group, the latter of which are shown to be the least apathetic during the period directly before the general election. In the July 2024 survey following polling day, and the change of government from the Conservatives to Labour, they were also the most hesitant age group to state that they had no concerns about the future of elections as well, with just 22 percent stating they had no concerns, compare to 35 percent in the 50 to 69 age group. By March 2025 however, the number of voters surveyed who no concerns about future elections had fallen drastically, by up to 23 points, with all age groups hitting a record low.

Voters also continue to have significant concerns about foreign interference in elections. The recent conviction of Reform UK’s former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, for taking pro-Russian bribes from Oleg Voloshyn, who was working on the behalf of a “close friend” of Vladimir Putin, according to the BBC.

Those with the greatest concerns are those in the over 70s age group, who are mirroring their concerns today, to those they held during the cold war. In contrast, the 16 to 29 were far less concerned about foreign interference before the 2024 general election, but have become increasingly worried since the general election.

All groups have displayed substantial concerns about the spread of misinformation, with those concerns trending upwards in the approach to the 2024 general election.

The post election survey recorded a decline of around 20 percent. However, the 16 to 29 age group saw the smallest decrease, with around 50 percent still concerned, compared with 42 percent among those aged 50 to 69.

By March 2025, concern had risen again across all groups, reaching a new peak of over 75 percent.

Voters also expressed significant concern about media bias. The 16 to 29 age group stood out, with concern rising in the period immediately before the general election, in contrast to a largely stable pattern among other age groups.

Although this concern fell slightly after polling day, it remained above 50 percent. By comparison, concern among those aged 50 to 69 fell sharply over the same period, dropping by more than 20 points, before all groups saw a significant rise again by March 2025, illustrating further dissatisfaction.

Understanding the concerns of the electorate should be at the forefront of ensuring that views about democracy are addressed correctly by government and local authorities. With trends painting the starkest picture about electoral disillusionment ahead of this year’s local elections, the consequences that could emerge from their cancellation, even if partial, will only serve to heighten existing concerns about the democratic system.

The response from voters is a stark one tracking a significant rise in concerns held, in all surveys, except the one held immediately after the 2024 General Election.

According to the ONS data, voters broadly consider the safety of candidates and voter identification requirements to be a constant issue, unaffected by other changes, but of low priority compared to concerns about bias in the media or the spread of misinformation and fake news.

New data shared by a government department, has revealed a dramatic fall in commercial animal imports into the UK over the last five years.

Data published by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), has shown that the number of dogs being brought into the UK has decreased by over 65% since 2020, hitting its peak in 2021 during the height of the pandemic, before rapidly reducing the following year.

According to the APHA, 78,299 dogs were commercially imported to Britain in 2021, which was an increase of 11,000 over the previous year’s total. However in 2022 the number fell drastically down to 44,151, and has since decreased further down to 22,145 as of September 2025.

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) defines the commercial importation of animals as:

• The movement of groups of more than 5 cats, dogs or ferrets

• The movement of cats, dogs and ferrets involving a change of ownership and/or for rehoming, including rescue animals

• Pet animals that are unable to fulfil the requirement of the pet travel regulation for travelling within 5 days of their owner or owner’s representative

The significant reduction in the number of dogs coming to Britain has been attributed to a number of measures put in place in 2022, when the government temporarily suspended all commercial dog imports of dogs, cats, and ferrets from Belarus, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine from April until October of the same year.

The restrictions were put in place on advice from DEFRA’s Animal Disease Policy Group (ADPG), who raised concerns over the zoonotic disease, Brucella canis, which is a bacterial infection that can cause infertility in dogs, but can also be spread to humans.

In October 2022, the government lifted the ban, but introduced new rules for the commercial importing of dogs, which has placed heavier restrictions on the type of dog that can be imported, and the tests that it must undergo before coming to Britain.

APHA data from the last three years shows that after imports resumed, Romania has become the single largest commercial importer of dogs to the UK, totalling over 32,000 canines over that period, despite the additional tests and approved importer status rules that were enforced from October 2022.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: