Department for Work and Pensions

Figures are routinely published of the number of non ‘Common Travel Area’ (CTA) nationals in the Universal Credit statistics available on GOV.UK.

From the most recently published Universal Credit statistics, there were 8.3 million people on Universal Credit in January 2026, and the percentage of those people by nationality group, compiled from Table 2 of the immigration and nationality data tables, is shown in the table below.

Table 1: Proportion of People on Universal Credit by Nationality group, Great Britain, January 2026

Source: DWP Universal Credit - Immigration Status and Nationality statistics

Notes:

1. The latest non-missing Nationality declared by the claimant, reported across all previous UC claims.
2. CTA – The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a special travel zone that allows for free movement between the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey).
3. “CTA – UK, Ireland, Right of Abode”: British nationals, Irish nationals, and people with right of abode in the UK do not need an immigration status to claim Universal Credit.
4. “EEA (Excluding Ireland)”: Those with nationalities from the 27 European Union (EU) member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
5. “Non-EEA”: A person who is not an EEA citizen and is not a British citizen.
6. “No nationality recorded on digital systems”: The individual has not provided their nationality during their claim.
7. If a claimant has dual nationality and one is CTA then they will be recorded as CTA - UK, Ireland, Right of Abode.
8. Right of Abode individuals include Commonwealth citizens.

Currently 93.88 full time equivalents work for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office.

The overall costs for the 25/26 financial year were £4.8m.

In the Autumn Statement 2025 the then Chancellor announced three measures which will make operational improvements to health assessments to ensure people receive the right health or disability benefit, deal with the reassessment backlog for the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and ensure the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system is sustainable: increasing face to face assessments across health and disability benefits, increasing WCA reassessment capacity and changing the frequency of PIP award reviews (AR). Together, this package of measures were scored by the OBR at the last Budget as set to deliver around £2 billion in savings over the scorecard.

Education and skills are devolved matters, the response outlines the information for England only.

We are transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, giving employers greater flexibility, creating more opportunities for young people, and directly supporting the Industrial Strategy.

In April 2026 we launched the first apprenticeship units focussing on priority sectors including artificial intelligence (AI), digital, construction and engineering. Apprenticeship units are short courses built from the knowledge and skills within existing employer-led occupational apprenticeship standards, ensuring high-quality, targeted training. They target immediate shortages in areas that will drive productivity and growth and will help employers upskill existing employees quickly and flexibly.

We have also reduced the apprenticeship minimum duration to 8 months, where this is appropriate for the role or the apprentice, as we know the previous 12-month minimum duration meant some employers and learners were prevented from accessing apprenticeships.

Additionally, we are also supporting more entry-level opportunities for young people, by introducing new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, such as construction and health and social care.

DWP, as a public authority, is required to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). Responsibility for meeting these requirements is embedded across the Department and forms part of the responsibilities of all DWP employees. Guidance and support relating to the PSED are available to staff through departmental intranet resources.

There are no dedicated roles whose sole purpose is the fulfilment of the PSED, reflecting the Department's approach of embedding equality considerations into policy development, service design and delivery.

It is not possible to provide the total annual cost of compliance with the PSED across the Department, as responsibility for considering and meeting the Duty is integrated into a wide range of activities undertaken by employees as part of their normal roles.

The Department publishes information annually to demonstrate compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty. This information includes data relating to both employees and service users and is published through the Department's Annual Report and Accounts (DWP annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK).

DWP’s sponsored Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) are independent public bodies directly responsible for their own compliance. Information regarding ALBs’ internal resource allocation is not held by DWP.

The Department engages regularly with Citizens Advice and a range of other stakeholders on issues relating to the wider benefits system.

The Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, seeks to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.

With over one million young people not in education, employment and training, this Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. The Government is investing an additional £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy.

This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn, including through expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Jobs Centres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers, and a fully funded six month job for long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds.

We also recognise the crisis of participation that Alan Milburn has so clearly laid out in his interim report. We will use this interim report to continue to build our reforms and look forward to final recommendations in the Autumn.

AI has potentially transformative benefits for the economy and wider society, and the Government is doing all it can to ensure that the United Kingdom is at the forefront of this technological transition. That’s why the government is taking action now to shape this transition in a way that benefits workers, including young women, and the economy. This includes:

• Establishing the AI Economics Institute to provide world-leading research on AI’s economic impacts so government can respond to labour market shocks,
• Increasing access to AI upskilling through: TechFirst’s AI training focused on supporting 400,000 young people access AI training, and AI Skills Boost through which every UK adult can access free AI upskilling.
• Improving routes into AI jobs through AI apprenticeships schemes creating opportunities for the next generation.

The Youth Jobs Grant scheme is open to eligible businesses of all sizes and sectors including small businesses, charities and social enterprises.

The application process has been designed to minimise the administrative burden for employers. Employers can apply here: www.gov.uk/applyyouthjobsgrant. The form takes around 20 minutes to complete, and employers will be asked to accept a short set of terms and conditions as part of the application.

The Department is also actively engaging employers, trade bodies and partner organisations to support delivery of the Youth Jobs Grant through direct discussions, employer networks and webinars that promote the opportunities available through the Youth Guarantee and explain how employers can participate.

These activities are designed to ensure organisations of all sizes, including small businesses, charities and social enterprises, can access practical information on eligibility, the application process and recruitment support available through Jobcentre Plus. Employer webinars for example, provide an opportunity to hear directly from policy and operational leads, ask questions, understand available support and learn how DWP can help recruit and retain young people.

The Government recognises the vital contribution made by unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they receive the support they need.

The cross-government Unpaid Carers Action Plan, published on 14 July, sets out our work to improve how unpaid carers are recognised, how support is offered, and how they can be helped to reach their full potential and live fulfilling lives.

Financial support is available from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and – in England and Wales – Carer’s Allowance. The Universal Credit Act 2025 introduced, for the first time ever, a sustained above-inflation increase to the Standard Allowance to rebalance support for those on low incomes. This increased by 6.1% in April 2026. The Universal Credit carer element, which is payable in addition to the Standard Allowance for those providing unpaid care of 35 hours a week or more for a severely disabled person, was increased in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) by 3.8%.

The Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit was increased in line with average earnings growth by 4.8%. The Pension Credit carer addition, which is payable in addition to the Standard Minimum Guarantee, was increased in line with the increase in the CPI by 3.8%, as was Carer's Allowance.

The weekly earnings limit in Carer's Allowance was increased to £204 per week, aligned with 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This continues the policy we introduced last year, which saw the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer's Allowance was introduced, and means over 60,000 additional people are expected to receive Carer's Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30.

The Pensions Ombudsman investigated a complaint determined in January 2015 concerning the conduct of the trustee of the AEA Technology Pension Scheme (reference PO-4816 can be found on The Pension Ombudsman website).

In its role as the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) Ombudsman, The Pensions Ombudsman considered two references of reviewable matters concerning the PPF and AEA Technology. Both cases are in the public domain and can be found on The Pensions Ombudsman website. The first (reference PPFO-2915), in June 2014, and the second (reference CAS-53012-H6M5), in December 2021.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigated complaints about a factsheet produced by the Department for Work and Pensions in response to enquiries from members of the AEA Technology Pension Scheme.

The Universal Credit Review has been designed as an ongoing flexible programme of engagement, evidence gathering and policy development rather than a single review culminating in a final report. This approach has allowed the Department to respond to evidence as it emerges and take forward improvements where appropriate.

Any future changes to Universal Credit arising from the Review will be announced in line with established Government and Parliamentary processes.

Actuaries providing information in relation to pension transfers are bound to uphold standards and codes of conduct set out by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the professional body for actuaries, and the Financial Reporting Council, the oversight body for the actuarial profession. Both organisations can investigate complaints against individual actuaries (but not organisations) and have established complaints and disciplinary processes.

Where a pension scheme trustee, sponsoring employer or member believes they have suffered a loss as a result of incomplete actuarial information, redress would normally be sought through the courts under professional negligence or breach of contract.

In the same way as any other defined benefit scheme, the rules of a superfund scheme will determine how and whether surplus assets can be used to enhance scheme benefits for members. Typically, the trust deed and rules of the scheme will contain an augmentation power or similar which can be used to increase benefits in some circumstances.

Within the permanent superfund framework, we expect innovation and different models will emerge. Some may offer to share surplus funds with members.

The Government is considering options for the profit release threshold. We will set out our proposals in the consultation on the draft superfund regulations, which we expect to publish early next year. Following consultation and subject to Parliamentary approval, we anticipate that the legislation will come into force in 2028. Until the superfunds regulations and the code of practice is in place, superfunds will continue to operate under The Pensions Regulator’s interim superfund regime.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recognised the risks to textile workers who routinely handle finished fabrics, including those treated with fire-resistant finishes. HSE has produced a specific guidance page on its website which covers both the initial manufacture and any secondary processing of finished fabrics (such as upholstery). The guidance page can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/textiles/fabric-finishes.htm.

The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed LHA at the 2025 Autumn Budget and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. A range of factors, such as rent levels and the housing markets across the country were considered against the fiscal context and the level of housing support that Government provides overall.

Renters receiving housing support who face a shortfall in meeting their rent costs can apply for a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment from local authorities in England.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) outline specific duties on employers to protect workers from harmful substances, such as foams and flame retardants, which may be contained in soft furnishings such as mattresses and sofas. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides practical advice and guidance on the basics of COSHH, completing COSHH assessments and links to industry specific information and guidance to prevent and control workplace exposure to harmful substances at Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) - HSE.

Guidance which covers both the initial manufacture and any secondary processing of finished fabrics (such as upholstery) can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/textiles/fabric-finishes.htm.

The Government is committed to improving and modernising how earnings are treated in Carer's Allowance. It has increased the weekly earnings limit to match 16 hours at the National Living Wage, improved guidance, and is exploring longer-term changes to the benefit, including automation of earnings and the possibility of an earnings taper. A Call for Evidence to support this work was launched on 7 July 2026 and is open until 18 August 2026: Carer's Allowance: call for evidence - GOV.UK.

Where Carer's Allowance recipients undertake paid work, there is flexibility for Decision Makers to average earnings where these fluctuate in a regular pattern, using a period that best reflects the individual's working pattern.

The mean and median waiting time between a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal being lodged and the Department submitting its response to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), for initial clearances and award review clearances in the calendar year 2025, was 5 weeks.

The Department does not hold data on when a tribunal hearing date is set. This information is in the domain of HMCTS.

We are increasing resources available for writing appeal responses by redeploying staff and making overtime available.

We are also looking to make appeal writing more efficient by improving the programme that decision makers use. The improved tool will integrate better with other DWP computer systems, which will make it faster and easier to use than the current process.

We will continue working to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey so people get the support they are entitled to without needing to appeal.

The current taper rate of 55 per cent gradually withdraws Universal Credit as earnings increase, allowing customers to retain at least 45 pence of each additional £1 earned, striking the right balance between supporting work incentives and targeting support at those on the lowest incomes. This policy is kept under regular review to ensure it continues to provide the right incentives for people receiving Universal Credit to move into work and progress in employment.

The actuarial profession is regulated by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) which is the relevant professional body. It is possible to raise a concern or complaint relating to an individual member of the IFoA directly to the IFoA.

The Actuaries’ Code is the ethical Code of Conduct to which all IFoA members must adhere. Failure by a member to comply with the ethical requirements set out in the Code may lead to disciplinary proceedings under the IFoA’s Disciplinary Scheme.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the oversight body for the actuarial profession, and this provides a further route for complaints about professional standards and conduct.

Where a pension scheme trustee, sponsoring employer or member believes they have suffered a loss as a result of negligent actuarial advice, redress would normally be sought through the courts under professional negligence or breach of contract.

Below is the Department’s headcount and desks figure for DWP Caxton House London as of 30^th June 2026

Caxton House currently has 2,245 DWP colleagues and 1,395 desks.

This number of desks does not include alternative space where colleagues may work from through the day, including meeting rooms, collaboration areas, or privacy booths.

The Department published an evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support: The impact of Additional Work Coach Support on the employment outcomes of LCWRA participants and Evaluation of Additional Work Coach Support. Additionally, we have published a study that assessed the feasibility of evaluating the impact of Access to Work: Feasibility of evaluating the impact of the Access to Work programme.

DWP recognises that some disabled candidates, including people with learning disabilities and autistic people, may benefit from reasonable adjustments during recruitment and as such promotes practices that support fair and accessible recruitment, including the provision of interview questions in advance, the use of clear language and flexibility in assessment methods where appropriate. DWP's Learning Disabilities Project is also working with employers and specialist organisations to identify barriers to recruitment and develop practical guidance that supports more inclusive employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions in addition to the representative organisations and people that support them.

That is why we brought forward a Green Paper and opened a public consultation – which received over 47,500 responses before closing on 30 June 2025. The consultation was published in a range of accessible versions including braille, audio, British Sign Language (BSL), Welsh language, Easy Read, large print and web-accessible formats. In addition to the public consultation, we ran a programme of accessible public events to further facilitate input. The series of both virtual and in-person events across the country helped us to hear from disabled people and representative organisations directly.

Our conversations with disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as experts, shaped and informed the Green Paper. We are committed to continuing this dialogue and drawing on a wide range of insights and experiences to get these reforms right. We published our summary to the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation responses on 30 October 2025. We are considering feedback on these proposals as we develop them further.

The Timms Review is being co-produced by disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts. The steering group is committed to ensuring the Review is informed by a broad range of voices and experiences, and to making engagement accessible. The steering group agreed to use a mix of approaches combining lived experience, expert insight, existing research, new quantitative data and workshops across the UK to gather evidence.

The Review has run a Call for Evidence and ‘Workshop in a Box’ sessions to gather input from individuals and organisations with a full suite of accessible versions, including British Sign Language, Braille, Easy Read, Large Print, Audio, and Welsh versions. The Call for Evidence received over 38,000 responses. A summary of these findings was published alongside the Interim Report on 9 July. The Review will report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for final decisions by autumn 2026.

The Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, seeks to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.

The Review is being co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. It has adopted a mix of approaches combining lived experience, expert insight, existing research, new quantitative data and workshops across the UK to gather evidence. The findings from this engagement will build a strong evidence base to inform policy analysis and the Review's recommendations.

The Timms Review Call for Evidence was open to anyone who wished to contribute and received over 38,000 responses. The response form did not ask participants to provide information about whether or not they currently received PIP. Therefore, we do not hold the data requested.

The Timms Review is considering the role of PIP in enabling disabled people and those with long-term health conditions to live independently and participate fully in society, and how it can remain fair and fit for the future. Listening to the lived experience and expertise of disabled people, including concerns about repeat assessments, is critical to the Review’s success. The Review will report its recommendations to the Secretary of State in the Autumn.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance at the 2025 Autumn Budget and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. A range of factors, such as rent levels across the country and poverty impacts, were considered against the fiscal context and the level of housing support that Government provides overall.

The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex. The Department for Work and Pensions continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to make sure interactions with homelessness are considered.

Renters receiving housing support who face a shortfall in meeting their rent costs can apply for a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment from local authorities in England.

Motability Foundation is a registered charity to help disabled people with their mobility and transport needs. Motability’s main focus is its ownership and oversight of the Motability Scheme. The Foundation also oversees delivery of grant programmes (including to other organisations) targeting areas outside the Motability scheme where solutions are required to meet the evolving transportation needs of disabled people.

The Foundation Community Transport Grant which was created to develop, improve and expand community transport provision awarded 11 grants at a cost of £4.2m in the financial year 2024/25 including to rural areas.

Additionally, the Scheme recognises that living in the most rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services so will provide 3,000 additional miles per year on to leases for certain customers. Motability Operations has used data from national Governments to identify the areas with limited access to essential services. The data looks at the typical travel time to services that people regularly rely on, including grocery shopping, healthcare and education.

The Motability Scheme is operated independently of Government. Decisions about grants, eligibility, lease terms, mileage allowances and support arrangements are matters for Motability.

The Department is currently considering the policy design specification provided by the Scottish Government for its proposal to make split payments the default option for Universal Credit customers in Scotland.

The Department has no plans to make split payments the default arrangement for all joint Universal Credit claims.

Whilst the Department works closely with Motability and is responsible for the main disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations.

Motability also understand that living in rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services. To support this an additional 3,000 miles per year will be provided on leases for certain customers. Motability Operations’ Rural and Islands Isolation Framework uses national Governments' data on rural isolation to determine eligible postcodes. Motability Operations, which operates the Motability Scheme, is writing directly to customers in eligible postcodes.

Whilst the Department works closely with Motability and is responsible for the main disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations.

Motability also understand that living in rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services. To support this an additional 3,000 miles per year will be provided on leases for certain customers. Motability Operations’ Rural and Islands Isolation Framework uses national Governments' data on rural isolation to determine eligible postcodes. Motability Operations, which operates the Motability Scheme, is writing directly to customers in eligible postcodes.

The Timms Review steering group published its interim report on 9 July, providing an update on its work to date, including a summary of the Call for Evidence, which received over 38,000 responses.

The steering uses a mix of approaches combining lived experience, expert insight, existing research, new quantitative data, and workshops both to gather insight and shape recommendations. The group has engaged with many organisations across the UK supporting a wide range of people, including disabled people’s organisations, charities, and other experts. Findings from this engagement will build a strong evidence base to inform policy analysis and the Review’s recommendations.

The steering group is now moving into the next phase of its work developing its recommendations. These recommendations will be published in a final report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the autumn.

Attendance Allowance is intended to help those with a severe disability who have long term care or supervision needs which arise after reaching State Pension age. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life; developing mobility needs in older life is a normal consequence of ageing, which non-disabled younger people have had opportunity to plan and save for.

There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids.

Qualifying benefits for the Motability Scheme are the enhanced rate mobility component Personal Independence Payment (enhanced rate mobility component Adult Disability Payment in Scotland), higher rate mobility component Disability Living Allowance (higher rate mobility component Child Disability Payment in Scotland), Armed Forces Independence Payment and War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement.

The Government recognises that engagement with pensions is low, particularly as many savers engage only intermittently with their pension arrangements and may find pensions and retirement decisions complex. And while auto-enrolment has successfully increased pension participation, too many future retirees face incomes that are too low, risks that are too high and a system that is too unequal.

That is why we are transforming the workplace pensions market, with reforms including measures to drive scale provision, Value for Money and default pensions as well as the introduction of pensions dashboards. Taken together with the Pensions Commission’s work on the long-term future of the system, our reforms are focussed on enabling mass market often disengaged pension savers secure decent retirement incomes, while improving opportunity for engaged savers to access information and support to inform choices.

The Motability Scheme is designed to address the transport requirements of individuals with disabilities in the UK and is a lifeline in enabling disabled people to remain mobile, live independently and access employment.

For customers who cannot afford essential costs or who require more complex adaptations, the Motability Foundation continues to provide means-tested grants to those most in need of financial assistance.

The Motability Foundation works towards its vision that “no disabled person should be disadvantaged by poor access to transport”. To achieve this, it delivers grant programmes and supports innovative initiatives that address areas beyond the Motability Scheme, where new solutions are needed to meet the evolving transport needs of disabled people.

UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality and are only uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for uprating. This approach has been supported by successive governments over many years.

The Government is committed to ensuring that victims and survivors of domestic abuse receive the support they need when using the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

The CMS has a Specialist Caseworker team that provides targeted support for customers experiencing the most challenging or complex domestic abuse situations. All CMS caseworkers receive training to identify indicators of domestic abuse and to refer appropriate cases to the specialist team.

Once the CMS has moved a customer’s case into the Specialist Caseworker team, all inbound calls from that customer will route directly to that team. If the automated call routing cannot identify the customer, their call will go to a different team, but all caseworkers are trained to identify this and will reroute the call to the Specialist Caseworker Team. CMS has strengthened telephony quality assurance arrangements and provided targeted training for team leaders on service standards, coaching and feedback. These measures are designed to support consistent service delivery and help ensure customers requiring specialist support are identified and transferred appropriately.

This Government has committed to a series of reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

These include the intention to remove Direct Pay and move to a single, enhanced Collect and Pay system. This will enable the CMS to monitor all payments, identify non-compliance more quickly and take faster enforcement action. It is estimated that these changes could lift around 20,000 children out of poverty on the relative low-income after housing costs measure. This requires legislation; we will pass such legislation and implement this reform when Parliamentary time allows.

To improve arrears collection, the Government will introduce administrative liability orders to replace the current court-based process, streamlining enforcement and reducing delays. The new process is expected to reduce the time taken to secure a liability order in most cases and allow the CMS to take enforcement action more quickly against parents who do not meet their responsibilities. Work with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government is ongoing, and the necessary regulations will be brought forward as soon as possible.

The Department has also recently completed a review of the child maintenance calculation. Following the review, we plan to reduce the income tolerance from 25 per cent to 15 per cent, so that changes in income are reflected more quickly in maintenance calculations. We also plan to include unearned income within the standard calculation, helping to ensure liabilities more accurately reflect a parent’s financial circumstances and that more money reaches children. Similarly, these changes are dependent upon legislation and we are exploring different options in order to pass these reforms in Parliament and implement when possible.

These legislative changes are running alongside ongoing CMS modernisation which are enhancing online services, delivering improved case handling and customer communications across multiple channels.

DWP is committed to delivering for the people of Wales. It is important that the UK Government considers the specific impacts of policy changes in Wales, and the interaction with the devolved matter on housing. Officials continue to engage with counterparts in the Welsh Government, and with Welsh stakeholders, to understand these interactions.

As part of the decision not to increase LHA rates, a number of factors were considered, including rent levels in Wales, interactions with poverty and homelessness, overall housing support, and the wider fiscal context.

For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities in Wales.

Education and skills are devolved matters, the response outlines the information for England only.

We are transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, giving employers greater flexibility, creating more opportunities for young people, and directly supporting the Industrial Strategy.

In April 2026 we launched the first apprenticeship units focussing on priority sectors including artificial intelligence (AI), digital, construction and engineering. Apprenticeship units are short courses built from the knowledge and skills within existing employer-led occupational apprenticeship standards, ensuring high-quality, targeted training. They target immediate shortages in areas that will drive productivity and growth and will help employers upskill existing employees quickly and flexibly.

We have also reduced the apprenticeship minimum duration to 8 months, where this is appropriate for the role or the apprentice, as we know the previous 12-month minimum duration meant some employers and learners were prevented from accessing apprenticeships.

Additionally, we are also supporting more entry-level opportunities for young people, by introducing new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, such as construction and health and social care.

The situations of homeowners and renters are not directly comparable. If a tenant does not pay their rent, they face the real possibility of eviction. Homeowners have more flexibility to negotiate repayments with their lenders during periods of financial difficulty, and their mortgage payments allow them to acquire a significant asset.

The help homeowners, with or without children, can receive towards their mortgage payments is designed to provide a level of support that protects them from the threat of repossession. We have broad agreement with the lending industry that the support we provide is sufficient to achieve this aim.

The department has recently published research looking at the impact and effectiveness of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. This is available here: Impact Assessment of Support for Mortgage Interest loans and was published on 6^th May 2025.

Whilst DWP has responsibility for overall Housing Benefit policy and legislation, local authorities have statutory responsibility for the day-to-day administration and assessment of Housing Benefit claims.

The existing Housing Benefit guidance for supported housing claims provides advice for local authorities on how to assess and process Housing Benefit claims. We will be updating this manual early next year to reflect the measures being implemented within the Act.

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

However, monthly Universal Credit statistics for the number of households in receipt of Universal Credit by the Number of Children Aged 0 to 4 are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to February 2026.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.