Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing an investment package to support apprenticeship brokerage pilots in non-developed mayoral authorities, modelled on the £140 million fund to support mayoral-led apprenticeship brokerage pilots.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 July 2026 to Question UIN 16082.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking following the Keep Britain Working review to improve access to paid employment for people with learning disabilities.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent Keep Britain Working Review, published on 5 November 2025, highlighted the scale of the problem of people falling out of work for reasons of ill-health and disability, and the vital role employers can play in addressing this. The Review identified structural challenges for disabled people, including people with learning disabilities, creating barriers to starting and staying in work, and proposed reforms to create healthier, more inclusive workplaces.

While the Keep Britain Working programme’s central aim is to improve workplace health and inclusion for those already in employment, improving workplace conditions, support and inclusion for people with learning disabilities and other disabled people will also help remove barriers to accessing paid employment and support more people to enter and sustain work.

Since publication of the Review, Keep Britian Working has engaged with 180 employers and providers, 11 regions, and worked directly with more than 250 organisations to explore how to create healthier and more inclusive workplaces. This work has included:

• Inclusion-focused workshops with Vanguard employers, Disabled People's Organisations and people with lived experience to explore disability inclusion in the workplace.
• Employer-led sprints and feedback groups examining prevention, staying in work and returning to work, helping identify practical ways employers can better support disabled employees.
• Partnership working with the British Standards Institution to develop a recognised employer-facing standard for healthy and inclusive workplaces.
• Development of Workplace Health Provision, designed to provide employees and managers with coordinated support, advice and early intervention to help people remain in and thrive at work.

Alongside Keep Britain Working, the Government's Pathways to Work offer provides work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions, backed by £3.5bn of investment by the end of the decade. Pathways to Work includes Connect to Work, a voluntary and locally led Supported Employment programme for disabled people, those with health conditions and people facing complex barriers to work. It will deliver tailored support to around 300,000 people by the end of the decade across England and Wales.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a Statutory Sick Pay rebate or reimbursement scheme for small and medium-sized employers following the changes introduced on 6 April 2026.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay ensuring the safety net of sick pay is available to those who need it most. Widening eligibility to the up to 1.3mn employees who were previously not entitled to SSP, and removing the waiting period so that SSP is paid from the first day of work missed due to sickness, were introduced to help ensure that no one should have to worry about whether they can take time off when they are ill.

The government conducted a Regulatory Impact Assessment on the changes to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay in the Employment Rights Act, which was published in October 2024 and can be found here: Impact assessment: Improve access Statutory Sick Pay removing Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period.

Previous SSP rebate schemes that were available to employers, such as the Percentage Threshold Scheme were seen as complex, expensive to administer, underused by small businesses and did not encourage employers to support their employees during sickness absence.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of implementing the Child Poverty Strategy over the next ten years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Child Poverty Strategy represents a long-term, cross-government approach to tackling the root causes of child poverty. The strategy’s successful implementation depends on co-ordinated action across a range of services. It sets out both the immediate action the Government is taking to support families and the longer-term action needed to address the structural drivers of poverty. It includes focus on boosting families' incomes through employment and the social security system, driving down the cost of essentials, and strengthening local support to ensure families can access vital services when they need them.

The commitments in the strategy will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began. This includes the removal of the two child limit which will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our strategy, such as the expansion of Free School Meals.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate the Department has made of the additional annual cost to employers arising from the removal of the Statutory Sick Pay waiting period and Lower Earnings Limit, broken down by (a) business size and (b) industrial sector.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay ensuring the safety net of sick pay is available to those who need it most. Widening eligibility to the up to 1.3m employees who were previously not entitled to SSP, and removing the waiting period so that SSP is paid from the first day of work missed due to sickness, were introduced to help ensure that no one should have to worry about whether they can take time off when they are ill.

Prior to the introduction of the SSP reforms, the Government published an impact assessment which can be found at Impact assessment: Improve access Statutory Sick Pay removing Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period.

The government will monitor the impact of the SSP changes and consider the experiences of employers as part of the post implementation review.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's target timescale is for updating Debt Management records following a (a) first-tier tribunal decision and (b) revised Universal Credit overpayment decision.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Where a Universal Credit award is revised, established processes ensure that any resulting debt impact is communicated to Debt Management so that recovery action can be updated promptly.

Such decisions are processed through established appeals and decision-making processes, and where a claimant’s liability changes, the relevant information is recorded on DWP systems and communicated to Debt Management so that any necessary recovery action can be updated.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made regarding turnaround times for investigations in the recovery from estate department.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department’s Recovery from Estates process does not begin from the date of death. Before recovery activity can commence, probate or letters of administration must generally be granted, and the Department must be notified of the estate administration details. Consequently, there can be a period between notification of a death and the point at which the Department is able to begin Recovery from Estates activity.

Recovery from Estates investigations can vary significantly in complexity depending on the circumstances of the case, the availability of evidence, and the time required to obtain and review historical financial information. The Department seeks to progress cases as efficiently as possible while ensuring that all necessary enquiries are completed.

The Department has taken a number of steps to improve timeliness and customer service within the Recovery from Estates process. These include increasing resource within the service and continuing to provide training and upskilling opportunities to develop staff capability. In addition, a dedicated telephony function has been established to handle customer enquiries. This enables other staff to focus on case processing activities, helping to increase operational capacity and support the timely progression of investigations.

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 help reduce backlogs in the recovery from estate department.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department’s Recovery from Estates process does not begin from the date of death. Before recovery activity can commence, probate or letters of administration must generally be granted, and the Department must be notified of the estate administration details. Consequently, there can be a period between notification of a death and the point at which the Department is able to begin Recovery from Estates activity.

Recovery from Estates investigations can vary significantly in complexity depending on the circumstances of the case, the availability of evidence, and the time required to obtain and review historical financial information. The Department seeks to progress cases as efficiently as possible while ensuring that all necessary enquiries are completed.

The Department has taken a number of steps to improve timeliness and customer service within the Recovery from Estates process. These include increasing resource within the service and continuing to provide training and upskilling opportunities to develop staff capability. In addition, a dedicated telephony function has been established to handle customer enquiries. This enables other staff to focus on case processing activities, helping to increase operational capacity and support the timely progression of investigations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what target times are set for investigations in the recovery from estate department.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department’s Recovery from Estates process does not begin from the date of death. Before recovery activity can commence, probate or letters of administration must generally be granted, and the Department must be notified of the estate administration details. Consequently, there can be a period between notification of a death and the point at which the Department is able to begin Recovery from Estates activity.

Recovery from Estates investigations can vary significantly in complexity depending on the circumstances of the case, the availability of evidence, and the time required to obtain and review historical financial information. The Department seeks to progress cases as efficiently as possible while ensuring that all necessary enquiries are completed.

The Department has taken a number of steps to improve timeliness and customer service within the Recovery from Estates process. These include increasing resource within the service and continuing to provide training and upskilling opportunities to develop staff capability. In addition, a dedicated telephony function has been established to handle customer enquiries. This enables other staff to focus on case processing activities, helping to increase operational capacity and support the timely progression of investigations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has modelled the potential impact of pension scheme consolidation on member charges over the next five years.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Evidence suggests there are a range of benefits from schemes achieving a greater level of scale through consolidation. This includes better governance, economies of scale, increased diversification of assets and improved bargaining power.

This evidence suggests a greater number of benefits can arise at £25 billion to £50 billion (or greater) of assets under management, as set out in the Department for Work and Pensions’ November 2024 publication “Pension fund investment and the UK economy”. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-fund-investment-and-the-uk-economy/pension-fund-investment-and-the-uk-economy. Increased net returns via lower charges for members and higher net investment returns through diversification, both supported through scale, can drive improved member outcomes. This evidence is set out in the Pension Schemes Act Impact Assessment published in December 2025. The Impact Assessment can be found here: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/63860/documents/7447.

The Department will continue to monitor the impact of consolidation on charges, as set out in our recently published Evaluation Strategy which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-schemes-act-2026-evaluation-strategy/pension-schemes-act-2026-evaluation-strategy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken international comparisons of pension value-for-money assessment frameworks.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP has explored international evidence, in particular undertaking comparisons with the Australian value for money (VFM) regime. The Pension Schemes Act 2026 Impact Assessment included evidence about annual performance tests in Australia’s superannuation system which are credited with increasing the net returns and decreasing the fees paid by millions of members.

Additionally, the UK VFM framework has, for example, been deliberately designed to avoid the investment herding behaviours that have emerged in Australia’s system, using learnings from the Department’s engagement with Australian officials to understand the challenges they faced. We continue to learn from the Australian experience of VFM in designing the UK VFM framework.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to homeowners with children who are claiming Universal Credit, in the context of the difference between non‑repayable housing support for renters and loan‑based Support for Mortgage Interest for homeowners.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance has the Department issued to local authorities on the mechanisms for scrutinise Housing Benefit claims in the period prior to the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of defined contribution pension assets that will be managed by schemes with more than £25 billion in assets by 2030.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

As set out in the Department for Work and Pensions’ November 2024 publication “Pension fund investment and the UK economy” the largest 5 and 10 defined contribution funds (either a Master Trust or GPP) in the UK held 55% and 74% of total DC assets respectively. The report can be found here: Pension fund investment and the UK economy.

The Pension Schemes Act scale provisions require defined contribution multi-employer schemes used for automatic enrolment to have scale of at least £25 billion of assets under management in one main scale default arrangement (MSDA) by 2030 or £10bn if approved for transition pathway relief with a credible plan to achieve scale of £25 billion by 2035. As shown in our Impact Assessment it is anticipated there will be approximately 15-20 multi-employer schemes after the scale reforms have taken place. We will continue to monitor the assets that will be managed by schemes as set out in our recently published Evaluation Strategy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding online chat facilities as a means for pensioners to raise pension-related queries with the DWP.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP continually reviews how customers access its services and is committed to providing a range of communication channels that meet differing customer needs and preferences.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposal to remove access to the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity element of Universal Credit for under-22s on young people undergoing cancer treatment.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The Young People and Work Report has been commissioned by the UK Government to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training (NEETs). On the 28^th May 2026, Alan Milburn published his diagnostic report, outlining his discoveries on the drivers of the increase in the number of young people who are part of this group.

The Report is being taken forward in two distinct phases, the first, a discovery phase which will provide a diagnosis on the increase in the number of young people who are NEET. The second phase will be a solution phase, which will identify potential areas for reform, aimed at increasing opportunities for young people.

The final Report is intended to take a holistic view of the welfare, health, skills and employment system and identify areas for reform. The Author will provide a full and final report in September.

Any proposals to change access to the benefits system will be considered in light of the conclusions and recommendations of the Young People and Work Report.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of pension scheme consolidation on investment in UK private markets.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP’s Pension Fund Investment and the UK Economy Report, and the Impact Assessment that supports The Pension Schemes Act 2026, evidence the benefits of how consolidation and scale may be expected to increase investment in UK private markets. These reports evidence how larger pension schemes with over £25bn in assets are best placed to access private markets and that these assets naturally tend to be more UK-focussed, with over a 40% home bias, so have the potential to directly impact the UK economy. The evidence report can be found here: Pension fund investment and the UK economy - GOV.UK and the Impact Assessment here: Impact Assessment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish updated estimates of the fiscal and economic return on investment generated by the Access to Work scheme.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

In 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen, an independent social research organisation, to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impact of Access to Work: ‘Feasibility of evaluating the impact of the Access to Work programme’.

The Department has also published several qualitative research reports on the scheme, most recently ‘Journeys to Access to Work’ published in June 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many responses to the Timms Review have been received from people living in the South West.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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 their geographic location. Therefore, we do not hold the data requested in relation to the Call for Evidence.

While we cannot provide a figure on participation from different regions, the Review encouraged responses from disabled people and representative organisations across the United Kingdom.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in receipt of Universal Credit have (a) no member of the household in employment, (b) no member of the household in receipt of a (i) health and (ii) disability related benefit and (c) at least one child aged four and under.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to apply the findings from the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment: interim report to Disability Living Allowance in areas where elements of both systems operate in similar ways.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The Terms of Reference for the Timms Review set out the broad scope of the Review to ensure that PIP is fair and fit for the future. Disability Living Allowance is not in scope for this Review.

The steering group published its interim report on 9 July, providing an update on its work to date. Recommendations will be set out in the final report to be made to the Secretary of State in the autumn.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans with amputations or other permanent injuries were reassessed for disability-related benefits in each of the last three years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his answers to questions 8173 and 13206, in particular that the Get Britain Working initiative has been allocated £240m in 2025/6, if he will publish a breakdown of expected spending across the GBW initiative for the financial years i) 2026/7, ii) 2027/8 and iii) 2028/9.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Get Britain Working (GBW) is a strategic objective, capturing several activities across the Department, each programme linked to GBW will report its’ spend against allocated budget. However, DWP do not report financial information in a way that consolidates all GBW related activities, over the Spending Review period (SR25).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL886), what estimate they have made of the proportion of Personal Independence Payment claims processed under the Transform Decision Making pilot where a learning disability is recorded as a secondary condition; and what steps they are taking to ensure the impacts on claimants with co-occurring neurodivergent conditions are accurately tracked.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In cases where a claimant has multiple conditions or disabilities that affect daily living or mobility, all are considered during the assessment and decision making process. However, only the primary condition is recorded on the data that DWP uses to report disabling conditions. We cannot, therefore, provide information on the proportion of PIP claims processed within the trial where a learning disability is recorded as a secondary or co-occurring condition. Our impact evaluation will also be limited to primary disabling condition. Due to the small scale of the trial and volume of cases involved, we do not expect to be able to produce robust subgroup analysis for claimants whose primary disabling condition is a learning disability.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what recent conversations he has had with (a) other government departments and (b) third party bodies to support efforts to champion people with disabilities into work.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This government is committed to working collaboratively to support disabled people and people with health conditions. We are championing the rights of disabled people and working with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do. Every government department has a Lead Minister for Disability and alongside their ministerial portfolio, they have a specific responsibility to work across government to remove barriers for disabled people. Chaired by the Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms, the group meets regularly throughout the year.

Last year, the Minister for Social Security and Disability announced our plans for a UK Government Plan for Disability. The Plan will:

• summarise work already underway across Government to champion the rights of disabled people,
• develop a set of aspirations for Government to prioritise next in order to break down barriers for disabled people; and
• set out a clear vision that will show what this Government is aiming to achieve for disabled people in the longer term.

Ministers also meet regularly with several strategic networks of disabled people, their representative organisations and other disability stakeholders to discuss disability employment. This includes the Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) Forum England, the Regional Stakeholder Network, the Disability Charities Consortium and the Disability and Access Ambassadors

Additionally, DWP’s Strategic Relationship Team works with employers and partners, including trade bodies, industry groups and training providers, to promote inclusive recruitment and improve awareness of workplace adjustments and support for disabled people.

DWP’s Independent Disability Advisory Panel is helping to shape and guide our health and disability policy and strategy through providing guidance, feedback, and recommendations. The eleven-member panel has personal experience of health and disability and wider experience across Disabled People’s Organisations, charities, research, the health system, and employment.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to reshape how government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes through creating healthier, more inclusive workplaces. The government is now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches to help disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain and thrive in employment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Department takes to involve autistic people and other experts by experience in the design, drafting and review of written communications, guidance and other documents relating to benefits and employment support; and whether autistic people with lived experience are involved in the development and delivery of autism-related training provided to DWP staff as is currently mandatory in the NHS.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP works with a range of internal and external experts when developing learning and support relating to disabled customers, including autistic people.

Working in partnership with Coventry University, Neurobox and DWP psychologists, the Department has developed a new Supporting Customer Needs learning offer for customer-facing colleagues. This includes dedicated learning on neurodivergence, including autism, and has been informed by expert insight and engagement with stakeholders from across the Department.

Additionally, learning for all Jobcentre staff includes comprehensive mandatory learning enabling them to support customers with a broad range of health, disability and additional or complex needs. This equips staff to determine appropriate actions, avoid making assumptions, and explain what reasonable adjustments, support and signposting options DWP can offer when supporting customers into work.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, paragraph 12, what progress has he made in partnering jobcentre staff with military personnel to enhance career and training advice for people looking for a career in the Armed Forces.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working closely with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to improve the support available through Jobcentre Plus for people interested in Armed Forces careers.

Local relationships already exist between Jobcentres, Armed Forces Careers Offices and Armed Forces Champions. Building on the agreement announced in February 2026, DWP and MOD are working to strengthen how these relationships support jobseekers to access clear information about Armed Forces roles, training routes and career opportunities, including in engineering, cyber, healthcare and logistics.

DWP and MOD are developing the practical implementation of this approach, including specialist training for work coaches and closer working between Jobcentres, Armed Forces Careers Offices and Armed Forces Champions with the approach being piloted in the West Midlands. This will help ensure jobseekers receive more informed and consistent advice about Armed Forces opportunities through the Jobcentre Plus network.

This supports the ambition set out in the Defence Investment Plan to strengthen routes into Armed Forces careers. DWP and MOD will use learning from pilot activity to inform wider delivery and support informed career conversations with jobseekers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL888), how the existing quality assurance process for the Transform Decision Making pilot measures the accuracy of case managers' descriptor selections for claimants with a learning disability compared to those with purely physical impairments.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP has a number of quality assurance processes in place to support decision accuracy; these include local quality checks, independent assurance activity and formal fraud and error measurement. Together, these processes provide assurance that descriptor choices are accurate and consistent.

As part of the pilot Case Managers complete an initial assurance process following their training. During this period, decisions are subject to 100% checking before they are issued to customers. These checks focus on the accuracy of the descriptor selection and whether the resulting award is financially correct. Case Managers receive feedback on the outcome of each check and where errors are identified, may receive further coaching or support. The results of the assurance activity are monitored to identify trends and inform continuous improvement, including targeted guidance and support where required.

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 encourage employers to offer paid work trials as an alternative to formal interviews for jobseekers with learning disabilities.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of their commitment in 2023 to include unearned income in the standard calculation used by the Child Maintenance Service, when they intend to introduce the necessary legislation to facilitate this.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has recently completed a review of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculation. This was underpinned by a substantial programme of research the results of which have been published.

Following the review, the Government intends 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. The Government also intends 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.

Secondary legislation is required before implementation, which is subject to parliamentary approval. Further details on legislation and implementation will be communicated in due course.

We remain committed to ensuring that the CMS provides an effective service for separated parents and their children and continue to keep the operation of the child maintenance system under review and will consider any future changes in the context of wider priorities for supporting children and families.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will reconsider the cancellation of the public consultation on the Child Maintenance Service's calculation process.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has recently completed a review of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculation. This was underpinned by a substantial programme of research the results of which have been published.

Following the review, the Government intends 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. The Government also intends 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.

Secondary legislation is required before implementation, which is subject to parliamentary approval. Further details on legislation and implementation will be communicated in due course.

We remain committed to ensuring that the CMS provides an effective service for separated parents and their children and continue to keep the operation of the child maintenance system under review and will consider any future changes in the context of wider priorities for supporting children and families.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL888), what plans they have to introduce accredited training specifically addressing masking, verbal compliance, and executive dysfunction in claimants with a learning disability for case managers operating the Transform Decision Making pilot.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Through the trial we will continue to conduct user research with Case Managers to refine processes, guidance and learning requirements, helping to ensure Case Managers are equipped to make quality decisions under all circumstances. Insights from the trial will help inform whether any changes are needed to the learning offer under the transformed decision making approach.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress he has made in reforming the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision not to uprate Local Housing Allowance on poverty (a) before and (b) after housing costs, particularly for households in Wales.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration he has given to reviewing criteria for those in receipt of Attendance Allowance to be able to access to the Motability scheme.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed pension reforms on member engagement with pension saving.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, from which (a) organisations and (b) representative groups has the Timms Review received representations.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the role of the Motability Scheme in supporting disabled people to access work, education and training.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Child Maintenance Service users who are assigned to the specialist domestic abuse caseworker team are transferred to that team when they contact the Child Maintenance Service helpline.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking on frozen state pensions for British citizens living in Canada.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will consider widening the eligibility criteria for the Motability mileage allowance extension.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role of the Motability Scheme in supporting transport accessibility in areas with limited public transport provision.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of levels of Local Housing Allowance on a) poverty b) homelessness among Universal Credit claimants in Manchester Rusholme.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the postcodes eligible for the Motability mileage allowance extension for rural areas.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made in the completion of the Universal Credit split payment impact assessment; and whether they plan to use split payments as the default mechanism for all joint claims.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of repeated disability benefit assessments on the mental and physical wellbeing of claimants, including people with autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental conditions; and whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of considering evidence of a long-term health condition or disability submitted through an assessment for a different welfare benefit, including across applications for Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the respondents to the call for evidence of the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payments in the respondent group "Individuals (lived experience)" were recipients of personal independence payments.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2026 to Question 12047 on Employment: Disability, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of (a) work coaches, (b) disability employment advisers at Jobcentres and (c) access to work grants on the number of people with disabilities in work.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the provision of interview questions in advance as a reasonable adjustment for jobseekers with learning disabilities and autism.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government which regulatory body oversees the actuarial profession in connection with advice to members, trustees and sponsors of Defined Benefit pension schemes and what mechanism there is for compensation for schemes or members who lose out as a result of negligent advice or failure to warn of all material risks to the pension scheme or its members.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) desks, and (2) civil servants, are assigned to the Department for Work and Pensions office at Caxton House.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure consultations on disability benefits reforms are accessible for disabled people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

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.

We call on Government to ensure all kinship carers can receive child maintenance without it reducing financial support they get. Child maintenance is a child's entitlement & should support their needs. We believe kinship carers shouldn't be financially penalised for stepping up to care for children.

Require employers to pay the full cost of any Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check that are a condition of employment, including Basic, Standard and Enhanced DBS checks. Employers should not be permitted to require applicants or employees to pay these costs.

I ask the government to mandate that all employers have adequate cooling devices in place i.e. fans or aircon. Consider the health implications especially the health and safety of workers in work environments without such measures.

We call on the Government to rename the National Living Wage as the National Minimum Wage. We believe the current title is misleading, as it implies the rate is sufficient to live on when many workers still struggle to meet basic living costs.

It would be child neglect if a parent providing full time care failed to provide a child with food, clothing or shelter. Yet, when a parent deliberately avoids child maintenance, depriving their child of those same essentials, it is not treated the same. It should be made a criminal offence.

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Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that data held across HM Treasury, HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions is used effectively to reduce fuel poverty and improve the targeting of energy affordability support.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises the pressure that rising energy prices place on households. We already use data from multiple sources including HMRC and DWP to identify households eligible for the Warm Home Discount, enabling most rebates to be paid automatically. However, many fuel poor households cannot currently be identified through existing data-matching arrangements.

The Government earlier this year launched a National Data Library 'kickstarter' project to explore whether securely connecting public sector data can make it easier to identify households in need, to ensure support reaches the people it’s designed for faster.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total economic costs of ADHD and neurodivergence; and what assessment they have made of how this cost could be addressed through improved treatment.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government itself has not made an overall economic assessment of the impact of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and neurodivergence. However, the independent ADHD Taskforce, which reported in 2025, reported that currently the estimated economic costs of not treating ADHD are approximately £17 billion to the United Kingdom’s economy. Three relevant ongoing reviews will help the Government better understand the issues and how they could be addressed.

The Government announced on 4 December 2025 the launch of an Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism. The final report, due in the summer, will make recommendations on how the Government, the health system, and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

The next stage of the review will look at service design and how services might respond more effectively to rising need, including the role of earlier intervention, community-based provision, and more integrated pathways across health, education, and other public services. The review will also look at the question of what role the private sector plays in diagnostic services.

The Timms Review, the first review of the Personal Independence Payment benefit, is examining how it can better support disabled people to live independently and access the right support at the right level. It published its interim report on 15 July 2026, with the final review due to report in the autumn. Additionally, the Milburn Review on Young People and Work is examining how health conditions, including ADHD and autism, can affect participation in education, employment, and training, and the implications for welfare dependency. It published its interim report on 28 May, with the final report due to be published later this year. The Government will consider the findings from these reviews, alongside those of the Independent Review into Prevalence and Support for Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism.

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