Report May. 15 2025
Committee: Work and Pensions Committee (Department: Department for Work and Pensions)Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Health and Safety Executive on the collection of data on (a) fatalities and (b) serious injuries caused by cattle.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department of Work and Pensions has had no recent discussions with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about the collection of data on fatalities and serious injuries caused by cattle.
Data is collected and published by the HSE under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) that require certain work-related injuries and fatalities, including those caused by cattle to members of the public, to be reported.
Guidance on reporting requirements is published by HSE on their website at https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/.
Statistical data from these reports is published by HSE and is freely available to view on their website at https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that paying parents do not conceal (a) earnings and (b) investments to evade child maintenance payments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the most recent available full tax year. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately. Use of historic income ensures a stable calculation, which we know from customer feedback is valued as it enables parents to rely on maintenance for financial planning purposes.
In the event a receiving parent believes a paying parent’s earnings are not captured in the standard calculation using HMRC gross income data, they can apply for a variation, under which certain other categories of income can be considered.
Cases involving complex income can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit. This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions (such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies) to check the accuracy of information that the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is given. If any discrepancies are found, then they can implement a correct maintenance liability that is supported by CMS legislation.
The Department is currently reviewing the calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This has included updating the underlying research and considering how we ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, Employment and financial difficulty, what steps they are taking to address the impact of rising costs of essentials on working households.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling poverty and supporting people into good work will be the foundation of our approach. We are committed to creating a more equal society and supporting economic growth. Talent is widely distributed, and opportunity is not. We are tackling this through our Growth and Opportunity Missions and our £240 million Get Britan Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out details of reforms to employment support to create an inclusive labour market in which everybody, regardless of their background, can participate and progress in work. Further measures addressing inequality are included within the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and the Employment Rights Bill.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Tackling poverty means helping those that need help most and these are often those with protected characteristics. In developing individual policies that contribute to the Strategy, departments do have regard to equalities impacts.
Our plan to Make Work Pay, including increases to the National Living Wage benefiting over three million workers, will help more people stay in work, make work more secure and family-friendly, and put more money in working people's pockets. Women, younger and older workers, workers with a disability, and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are expected to benefit the most from the April 2025 increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
The Fair Repayment Rate will mean more than a million households retain more of their award to meet essential living costs. We will also improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase, announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
To further support struggling households, we have provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, Child poverty in the UK, what action they are taking to support parents and carers experiencing financial distress.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling poverty and supporting people into good work will be the foundation of our approach. We are committed to creating a more equal society and supporting economic growth. Talent is widely distributed, and opportunity is not. We are tackling this through our Growth and Opportunity Missions and our £240 million Get Britan Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out details of reforms to employment support to create an inclusive labour market in which everybody, regardless of their background, can participate and progress in work. Further measures addressing inequality are included within the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and the Employment Rights Bill.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Tackling poverty means helping those that need help most and these are often those with protected characteristics. In developing individual policies that contribute to the Strategy, departments do have regard to equalities impacts.
Our plan to Make Work Pay, including increases to the National Living Wage benefiting over three million workers, will help more people stay in work, make work more secure and family-friendly, and put more money in working people's pockets. Women, younger and older workers, workers with a disability, and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are expected to benefit the most from the April 2025 increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
The Fair Repayment Rate will mean more than a million households retain more of their award to meet essential living costs. We will also improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase, announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
To further support struggling households, we have provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) number of (i) Carer’s Allowance and (ii) carer element recipients who will lose their eligibility in Wales by the 2029-30 financial year and (b) the cost to the public purse of these changes; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of eligibility changes on carers in poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility of the impact of the proposed changes on carers was only made for England and Wales as a whole.
The impacts can be found in table A4 here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's planned changes to Personal Independent Payments on levels of poverty in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
An assessment of the potential impact of the planned changes to health and disability benefits (including Personal Independence Payment) on levels of poverty is available for Great Britain.
This can be found here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.
An assessment is not available below Great Britain level. The assessment does not include any impacts from the additional employment support announced in the Green Paper.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the Child Maintenance Service adheres to its debt steer principles.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.
When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case.
The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances i.e. full arrears payment by one lump sum, partial lump sum payment and a schedule of on-going payments to recover any remaining arrears within a maximum of two years, and a schedule of on-going payments to recover the full arrears within two years.
After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation, discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.
If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). A DEO instructs an employer to make deductions from the paying parent’s earnings and pay the amounts to the CMS who will pass this onto the receiving parent. The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including order for sale, where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removal of driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the number of PIP claimants on the cost of reasonable adjustments required for disabled employees in the public sector.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whether or not an employer makes a reasonable adjustment for an employee, and how much that costs, is independent of the benefit status of an employee, so no assessment has been made.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve the Child Maintenance Service's complaints procedure.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP introduced a single tier complaint model in 2020-2021 to ensure the process of making a complaint in DWP was simple and consistent for our customers. The single tier model put complaints handling back into specialist complaints teams, enabling the Department to build capability and improve its complaints handling.
We have also launched a new Complaints Quality Standards Framework, implementing quality assurance measures that align with the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO’s) complaints standards to embed consistency into our complaints handling.