Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the annual budget was for the (a) Pensions Regulator and (b) Health and Safety Executive in each year since 2005.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Both the Health and Safety Executive and the Pensions Regulator are funded from a mix of sources. These include direct government funding, levies on industry (in the case of the Pensions Regulator) and from charging or cost recoveries.
The full spend, and financial breakdowns, for these bodies by year can be found in their respective Annual Report and Accounts. This information is available in the public domain via The Pensions Regulator and Health and Safety Executive respective ARAs. They can be found using the following links:
The Pensions Regulator (see Financial Review sections)
HSE Annual Reports and Accounts (see statement of Cashflows section)
[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Reports produced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Nov. 14 2025
Source Page: 220,000 vulnerable customers given personalised support to move to Universal CreditSpecial Report Nov. 14 2025
Committee: Work and Pensions Committee (Department: Department for Work and Pensions)Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the level of SEND diagnoses on levels of welfare spending.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to quantify the totality of the impact of SEND in terms of welfare spending. The department will continue to work closely with the Department for Education on improving the support for and chances of all young people.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on benefit payments to foreign nationals in the 2024-2025 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that child maintenance calculations adequately reflect disparities in parents' earning, regardless of custody arrangements.
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. The maintenance calculation is intended to represent what a parent would pay for their child if they lived with them. We assume that in the event of a disparity in parental income, parents will each still spend the same proportion of their income on their child(ren) - but one parent will bear a greater amount of the overall spending on the children where their income is higher. The income of the receiving parent is therefore not included as they are already providing as the child’s primary care giver and therefore spending the amount they would if the parents lived together.
If a parent feels that a decision taken by the Child Maintenance Service is incorrect, they can ask it to look at the decision again. This is known as a mandatory reconsideration.
The CMS is aware that paying parents can face difficulties when attempting to spend meaningful time with their child following separation. Issues relating to access and contact are managed by family courts, however, reductions can be made for the extra cost of care where it is shared by the paying parent. The paying parent must have overnight care of any qualifying children for at least 52 nights a year, equivalent of 1 night per week. The amount payable is reduced by a maximum of fifty percent within bands based on the number of nights overnight care is provided over a 12-month period. The bands are used to give greater stability to maintenance payments and as a result there is greater reliability of payments, which contributes towards the welfare of the children in the case.
If evidence shows that both parties are providing equal day-to-day care of a qualifying child, in addition to sharing overnight care, there is no requirement for either parent to pay child maintenance.
The Government is conducting a review of the child maintenance calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This includes updating the underlying research and considering how to ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends.
Options for proposed reforms are currently being considered. Any changes made to the child maintenance calculation will be subject to extensive public consultation, and if made, will require amendments to legislation so would be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.