May. 14 2025
Source Page: Universal Credit and families with more than 2 children: information for stakeholdersMay. 14 2025
Source Page: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) business plan 2025 to 2026. 63p. II. Letter dated 12/05/202 from Stephen Timms MP to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding the above document for deposit in the House Libraries. 1p.May. 14 2025
Source Page: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) business plan 2025 to 2026. 63p. II. Letter dated 12/05/202 from Stephen Timms MP to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding the above document for deposit in the House Libraries. 1p.Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many, and what proportion of, parents in arrears on Child Maintenance Service payments are unemployed.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring separated parents support their children financially, taking robust enforcement action against those who do not. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison.
If a paying parent is in receipts of benefits due to being unemployed, the CMS can set up a deduction from the benefit to collect ongoing maintenance, or arrears in the case of Collect and Pay. The CMS can deduct £8.40 a week towards ongoing maintenance or arrears from certain prescribed benefits. Deductions towards arrears and ongoing maintenance are not taken at the same time. Arrears deductions are taken only after ongoing liability has been satisfied.
The Information on the full arrears status of those parents is not readily available and to providei t would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) made an application for Pension Credit and (b) were new claimants of Pension Credit in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 27 February 2025 we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 23 February 2025 Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK The next update of the Pension Credit applications and awards data is due to be published on 29 May 2025.
All applications received are treated as new claims. Therefore, we do not hold information on details of previous claims applicants may have submitted.
Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 support people with long covid into work.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our ambitions are to reverse the trend of inactivity, and to raise both productivity and living standards whilst improving the quality of work. To help achieve this, we have set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, demonstrating our commitment to bringing those furthest away from the labour market into it, increasing local labour supply. Backed by £240million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the 80% employment rate.
Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.
The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with long covid, and have range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.
The Government also announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1billion of new funding.
Employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. To build on this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unpaid carers concurrently on Personal Independence Payments and Carers Allowance are awarded less than four points in all daily living activities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.