Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of aligning Universal Credit rules with legacy social security provisions in cases where a single claimant dies, in the context of the final payment dates for those benefits.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

Universal Credit is paid for the whole month based on the circumstances on the last day of a customer’s Assessment Period (AP). In the sad circumstances where a customer dies, and the death occurs before the last day of the Assessment Period, there is no entitlement to Universal Credit in that month.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve pension replacement rates.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Our system of state, private and workplace pensions provide the basis for security in retirement. The State Pension provides a foundation to support people’s individual savings for retirement. The Government has made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which means annual spending on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion over this Parliament. This will see pensioners’ yearly incomes being up to £1,900 higher.

Automatic Enrolment (AE) has succeeded in transforming workplace retirement saving. Over 11 million employees have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. However, we know we need to do more to build on the success of AE.

The government will soon be launching the next phase of the Pensions Review, which will focus on improving pensions outcomes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Sikhs are employed in her Department; and whether they are recorded as (a) an ethnic or (b) a religious group.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP staff are not required to disclose details of any religion, however, the information can be voluntarily provided and based on those responses, DWP as of May 2025 has 1207 employees that have declared as being Sikh (paid staff only). This level of data is recorded as ‘Religious Belief Breakdown’.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment she has made of the adequacy of pension replacement rates in (a) the UK and (b) other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government committed to carry out a landmark Pensions Review to deliver better outcomes for savers and the UK economy. Our focus is on building a system that supports people to save effectively throughout their working lives and provides a strong foundation for income in retirement.

Automatic Enrolment (AE) has helped over 11 million workers start saving into a pension since 2012, but we know some people still are not saving enough. In March 2023, DWP published new analysis into future pensioner incomes, showing that 38% of working age people (equivalent to 12.5 million people) are under saving for retirement when measured against Target Replacement Rates before housing costs and 12% are not saving enough to meet the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association’s minimum living standard. That is why the second phase of our Pensions Review will in the coming months look at further steps to improve pension outcomes.

OECD rankings show that the UK’s pensions system of the new State Pension and Automatic Enrolment will provide future workers with income replacement rates which are comparable to the OECD average, alongside countries such as Germany and Norway.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff network events took place in her Department in May 2025; and what the names of those events were.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information you have requested is not held centrally, as staff networks are collaborative volunteer networks, organised by staff themselves rather than the department. This would include site-specific networks. Gathering this data would incur disproportionate costs.

While some networks are organised centrally, there is no requirement for network groups across the organisation to be formally recorded or registered. Networks can be based on location, team structure and development as well as areas of diversity, health and inclusion. Some centrally organised networks may hold information but this does not provide a full picture of all network events during May 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people aged (a) between 16 and 24 and (b) over 16 are unemployed in Basildon and Billericay constituency; and how many and what proportion were unemployed in June 2024.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The latest information requested is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

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 effectiveness in reducing levels of (a) fraud and (b) error in benefit awards.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) sets out DWP’s approach to reducing fraud and error in the benefit system. The 2023/24 ARA can be found here:

ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023-24 (publishing.service.gov.uk) and states that in 2023/24 DWP has estimated to have saved around £18 billion through preventative activity through frontline controls and detection by counter fraud teams. The 2024/25 ARA will be published shortly providing an up-to-date assessment including our progress in reducing the overall overpayment rate from 3.6% in 2023/24 to 3.3% in 2024/25, with the Universal Credit overpayment rate falling by 21% from 12.4% to 9.7% over the same period.

The Department has committed to significant fraud, error and debt measures at Autumn Budget 2024 and Spring Statement 2025, which OBR has estimated will deliver an additional £9.6bn savings over the next five years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will provide an estimate of the number of people eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment in 2025-26 who did not receive it in 2024-25, broken down by constituency.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The next release of Official Winter Fuel Payment statistics will cover this period and will be published on 16 September 2025.

The majority of pensioners in England and Wales – around 9 million individuals – will now benefit from Winter Fuel Payments, making it better targeted than the previous near-universal payment. This is in line with our wider welfare reforms – ensuring support is targeted and that it is a responsible use of taxpayers’ money.

Winter Fuel Payments are £200 for a household with someone of State Pension age and £300 for a household with someone aged 80 or over. They will be paid automatically to anyone who has not opted out. Individuals with a taxable income above £35,000 a year Winter Fuel Payments will be recouped via HMRC.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that the annual uprating of benefits does not result in a net loss of income for vulnerable claimants who are subject to transitional protection following migration to Universal Credit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There has been no assessment on the rules relating to Universal Credit’s Transitional Protection.

Transitional Protection protects benefit entitlement levels at the point of moving to Universal Credit. It is a temporary measure to maintain benefit entitlement levels so that customers will have time to adjust to the new benefit system.

Transitional Protection is not intended to provide indefinite financial protection. The Transitional Element will erode with increases in other UC elements, except childcare costs, so to gradually align the customers UC award with those of new UC customers who were not managed migrated, in the same circumstances. This includes increases due to the annual uprating of benefits, and DWP is not seeking to change this or weaken this key principle of Transitional Protection.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many customers claimed a mobility car in Telford constituency in each year for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information is not available centrally to identify which claimants claimed a car through the Motability Scheme.

However, data is available for the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants with an active Motability Scheme agreement in Telford constituency in each month and is provided in the attached table for December 2013 to January 2025.

Notes:

- The Motability Scheme enables anyone in receipt of a qualifying mobility allowance to use all or part of their mobility allowance to lease a vehicle. Vehicles include cars, wheelchair accessible vehicles, powered scooters, and powered wheelchairs.

- The Department for Work and Pensions facilitates a direct transfer to Motability of a claimant’s DLA, PIP or AFIP mobility allowance if they elect to join the Scheme.

- The data provided covers Motability Scheme agreements for PIP only. There may be agreements made on Daily Living Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, and War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement however data on such agreements is not held centrally for analysis.

- Volumes provided are rounded to the nearest 10.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) working-age, (b) 18-24 year olds and (c) all Personal Independence Payment recipients that are in work scored less than four points in all daily living activities by (i) local authority, (ii) parliamentary constituency and (iii) region.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is provided in the excel workbook attached. A content of the tables provided in the attached workbook is below:

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

After taking account of behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 in 10 of those on PIP daily living at the point any changes come in will still be receiving PIP by the end of the decade.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed at their award review. The average award review period is about three years. At the award review, claimants will be considered by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstances.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.

No one over state pension age at the time any changes come in will be affected.

Notes:

- The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.

- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.

- People without any employment record in the HMRC data, as well as those who have been confirmed to not be in employment in the data, have been considered not employed.

- The data provided includes both normal rules and special rules for end of life claimants.

- The data provided excludes Scottish and Northern Irish claimants, as these claimants do not fall under DWP policy ownership.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) working-age, (b) 18 to 24 year old and (c) all Personal Independence Payment recipients are in work by (i) local authority, (ii) parliamentary constituency and (iii) region.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is provided in the excel workbook attached. A content of the tables provided in the attached workbook is below:

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

After taking account of behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 in 10 of those on PIP daily living at the point any changes come in will still be receiving PIP by the end of the decade.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed at their award review. The average award review period is about three years. At the award review, claimants will be considered by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstances.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.

No one over state pension age at the time any changes come in will be affected.

Notes:

- The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.

- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.

- People without any employment record in the HMRC data, as well as those who have been confirmed to not be in employment in the data, have been considered not employed.

- The data provided includes both normal rules and special rules for end of life claimants.

- The data provided excludes Scottish and Northern Irish claimants, as these claimants do not fall under DWP policy ownership.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Personal Independent Payment in England scored (a) 8-11, (b) 12-15, (c) 15-18, (d) 18-21 and (e) more than 21 points for the daily living elements but did not score more than four in any single criteria in the most recent reporting year.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The volume of Personal Independence Payment claimants in England who scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities but scored a total of 8 – 11 (inclusive) points for their daily living activities was 1,039,150. The volume who scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities but scored a total of 12 points or higher for their daily living activities was 184,780.

A breakdown of the volume of PIP claimants in England who scored fewer than 4 points in all daily living activities by their total daily living activity point scores is provided in the table below.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out of 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Notes:

- The volumes provided are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

- Where a value above 0 has been rounded down to below 1,000, a “-“ has been used.

- The volumes provided exclude claimants over State Pension age and Special Rules for End of Life claimants.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Personal Independent Payments in England scored in aggregate 8-11 points for the daily living elements but did not score more than four in any single criteria in the most recent reporting year.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The volume of Personal Independence Payment claimants in England who scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities but scored a total of 8 – 11 (inclusive) points for their daily living activities was 1,039,150. The volume who scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities but scored a total of 12 points or higher for their daily living activities was 184,780.

A breakdown of the volume of PIP claimants in England who scored fewer than 4 points in all daily living activities by their total daily living activity point scores is provided in the table below.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out of 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Notes:

- The volumes provided are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

- Where a value above 0 has been rounded down to below 1,000, a “-“ has been used.

- The volumes provided exclude claimants over State Pension age and Special Rules for End of Life claimants.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Personal Independent Payments in England scored more than 12 points for the daily living elements but did not score more than four in any single criteria in the most recent reporting year.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The volume of Personal Independence Payment claimants in England who scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities but scored a total of 8 – 11 (inclusive) points for their daily living activities was 1,039,150. The volume who scored fewer than four points in all daily living activities but scored a total of 12 points or higher for their daily living activities was 184,780.

A breakdown of the volume of PIP claimants in England who scored fewer than 4 points in all daily living activities by their total daily living activity point scores is provided in the table below.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out of 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Notes:

- The volumes provided are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

- Where a value above 0 has been rounded down to below 1,000, a “-“ has been used.

- The volumes provided exclude claimants over State Pension age and Special Rules for End of Life claimants.

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 Personal Independence Payment assessments make an adequate assessment of claimants’ (a) physical symptoms and (b) medical evidence and (c) other supporting evidence.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

PIP assessors give due consideration to all available evidence when completing their advice to the Department. DWP decision makers also consider all available evidence when making entitlement decisions on PIP.

The Department closely monitors all aspects of the process including the performance of the assessment providers and the quality of assessments. All providers work with the department on plans to continuously improve assessment quality through a range of measures including audit, clinical observations, tailored training and development plans, providing feedback and in the support available to assessors.

We set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper our intention to improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability benefits. This includes exploring ways to improve PIP assessments through digitalising transfer of medical information.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we will, in future, record assessments by default, unless the claimant asks that the assessment should not be recorded. This will give us the means to check what happened when an assessment is found later to have been incorrect, and, we expect, an effective lever for improvement

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the effectiveness of the assessment process for Personal Independence Payments.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health Transformation Programme is transforming the entire Personal Independence Payment service, from finding out about benefits through to decisions, eligibility, and payments. It will modernise the service to improve efficiency and customer experience. This includes introducing new options to apply online, improving how we gather health information, and tailoring the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we will, in future, record assessments by default, unless the claimant asks that the assessment should not be recorded. This will give us the means to check what happened when an assessment is found later to have been incorrect, and, we expect, an effective lever for improvement

We have also launched a review of the PIP assessment, which I am leading. Through the review, we want to make sure the PIP assessment is fit for the future. We have now begun the first phase of this work which includes speaking to stakeholders to gather views on how best to approach the review.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to co-ordinate support for unpaid carers.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We recognise the tireless hard work and dedication of unpaid carers and young carers in this country. We know that unpaid carers do so much to look after their loved ones and that while many people wish to play a caring role, it can bring challenges. We are determined to provide carers with the recognition and support they deserve.

That is why Ministers from the Departments of Health and Social Care, Work and Pensions, Business and Trade, and Education have formed an unpaid carers ministerial group and will meet regularly.

We are determined to work together, so that carers are identified by health and care services and supported to provide care, where appropriate, and better manage their own health wellbeing; able to enter into, or stay in, paid work should they choose to do so and prevented from falling into poverty; and supported so that they do not face barriers to opportunities due to the impact of caring.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people with multiple sclerosis who are expected to lose eligibility for Personal Independence Payment under the proposed reforms to the assessment criteria.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 58296 on 16^th June 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which organisations she plans to have discussions with during the review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment process.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Through the review of the PIP assessment, we want to make sure that the PIP assessment is fit for the future. We have now begun the first phase of this review, during which I am speaking to stakeholders to gather views on how best to approach the review.

We will work closely with disabled people, the organisations that support them and other experts, to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.

We are committed to listening to and learning from people with a range of expertise and experience. As part of the review process, we will be engaging extensively with a variety of stakeholders to input and shape the direction of the review.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to assess the impact of losing PIP to people in employment.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Approximately 17% of current PIP claimants are in employment.

The Office of Budget Responsibility has committed to produce an assessment of the labour market impacts of the proposals in the Pathways to Work Green Paper at the time of the autumn budget.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out what (a) support and (b) safeguards are in place to assist adults with intellectual disabilities in completing benefit application forms; and whether information provided when applying for a welfare benefit can be (a) transferred and (b) reused in subsequent applications.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is committed to pursuing a just, equal and inclusive society, ensuring independence and control for all customers, including all disabled people and those with complex needs. This means we need to ensure that our customers have access to reasonable adjustments or additional support, to enable them to access benefits and our services.

We aim to support customers to access services independently but recognise some customers need the support of an appointee. The Department has a robust end-to-end process to fully assess both the customer and the proposed appointee to ensure suitability and prevent financial abuse. For customers without an appointee, and unable to complete forms through other channels, the DWP Visiting service can conduct home visits to provide support. Support is also offered within our Job centres.

The national DWP Visiting Service provides additional support across all service lines to customers who cannot access DWP services in any other way. A visit can be arranged for a customer if they need extra help to claim benefits, for example because they have complex needs, are disabled, are a vulnerable young person making a claim for the first time, have nobody else to support them or cannot claim benefits in any other way. Support visits if you need help to claim benefits - GOV.UK. Where further specialist help is required, DWP has a national network of 37 Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who can provide additional advice and support through the local networks they have built with external partners and organisations.

In some benefits there is an opportunity to share information. For example, Case Managers will occasionally cross reference information held on previous Employment Support Allowance (ESA) claims to build a more complete picture, where it is felt there are gaps or inconsistencies in evidence provided. However, specific information is required to support a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim to assess functionality across a range of activities. In this scenario, information provided for the purposes of other benefit claims would not be sufficient for this purpose. A further example of where information is shared across benefits would relate to an SR1 claim - special rules for end of life.

The Department continues to review the experience of users of its services and seeks to balance application simplicity with obtaining the information needed for an accurate award. A key objective of the DWPs Service Modernisation Programme is assessing how people locate, access, and navigate support, including making new applications and ensuring that services are designed around the needs of DWP customers and joined up wherever it is possible to do so.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58330 on Poverty: Children, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the views of (a) families and (b) children from (i) rural and (ii) coastal areas are adequately represented in the development of the Child Poverty Strategy.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious child poverty strategy which we will publish in the Autumn. It is important we take the time to get it right to ensure we deliver fully funded measures which tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund, supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2bn including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

Our commitments at SR 2025 come on top of the existing action we have taken, including expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

The UK Government is committed to tackling child poverty across the UK where progress is contingent on reserved, devolved, and local levers. The Child Poverty Taskforce is working with the Devolved Governments alongside strategic, combined and local authorities to develop a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy. Local authorities have also been a key part of our approach to learning directly about the experience of poverty in different communities and solutions already underway.

The Taskforce recognises the distinct challenges of poverty faced by children living in rural and coastal areas, and we are considering all children across the UK in the development of the strategy. To shape and inform these plans, the Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and engaging with families, charities, and leading organisations across the UK, including rural and coastal communities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58330 on Poverty: Children, what role local authorities will play in delivering the Child Poverty Strategy; and how she plans to ensure consistency in support across different regions.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious child poverty strategy which we will publish in the Autumn. It is important we take the time to get it right to ensure we deliver fully funded measures which tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund, supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2bn including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

Our commitments at SR 2025 come on top of the existing action we have taken, including expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

The UK Government is committed to tackling child poverty across the UK where progress is contingent on reserved, devolved, and local levers. The Child Poverty Taskforce is working with the Devolved Governments alongside strategic, combined and local authorities to develop a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy. Local authorities have also been a key part of our approach to learning directly about the experience of poverty in different communities and solutions already underway.

The Taskforce recognises the distinct challenges of poverty faced by children living in rural and coastal areas, and we are considering all children across the UK in the development of the strategy. To shape and inform these plans, the Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and engaging with families, charities, and leading organisations across the UK, including rural and coastal communities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58330 on Poverty: Children, whether the Child Poverty Strategy will include targeted (a) funding and (b) initiatives for (i) rural and (ii) coastal constituencies.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious child poverty strategy which we will publish in the Autumn. It is important we take the time to get it right to ensure we deliver fully funded measures which tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund, supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2bn including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

Our commitments at SR 2025 come on top of the existing action we have taken, including expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

The UK Government is committed to tackling child poverty across the UK where progress is contingent on reserved, devolved, and local levers. The Child Poverty Taskforce is working with the Devolved Governments alongside strategic, combined and local authorities to develop a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy. Local authorities have also been a key part of our approach to learning directly about the experience of poverty in different communities and solutions already underway.

The Taskforce recognises the distinct challenges of poverty faced by children living in rural and coastal areas, and we are considering all children across the UK in the development of the strategy. To shape and inform these plans, the Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and engaging with families, charities, and leading organisations across the UK, including rural and coastal communities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58330 on Poverty: Children, when the Child Poverty Strategy will be published; and when she plans to begin implementing that strategy.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious child poverty strategy which we will publish in the Autumn. It is important we take the time to get it right to ensure we deliver fully funded measures which tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund, supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2bn including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

Our commitments at SR 2025 come on top of the existing action we have taken, including expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.

The UK Government is committed to tackling child poverty across the UK where progress is contingent on reserved, devolved, and local levers. The Child Poverty Taskforce is working with the Devolved Governments alongside strategic, combined and local authorities to develop a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy. Local authorities have also been a key part of our approach to learning directly about the experience of poverty in different communities and solutions already underway.

The Taskforce recognises the distinct challenges of poverty faced by children living in rural and coastal areas, and we are considering all children across the UK in the development of the strategy. To shape and inform these plans, the Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and engaging with families, charities, and leading organisations across the UK, including rural and coastal communities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to introduce reforms to the eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payments before the conclusion of her Department's review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment process.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the proposed reforms will take effect only at the point of a claimant’s next scheduled award review after November 2026.

In parallel, we have launched a comprehensive review of the PIP assessment process, which I shall lead. The review aims to ensure the assessment remains fit for the future and continues to support those with the greatest needs. We are currently in the first phase of this work, engaging with disabled people, representative organisations, and other stakeholders to shape the scope, timings, and approach of the review. The Terms of Reference will be published once this initial engagement is complete.

We envisage the Review as the vehicle for any changes to be made to the assessment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Personal Independent Payment in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency scored (a) 8-11, (b) 12-15, (c) 15-18, (d) 18-21 and (e) more than 21 points for the daily living elements but did not score more than four in any single criteria in the most recent reporting year.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants who did not score 4 or more points in any daily living activity by aggregated point scores please see table 1 below.

Table 1: volume of PIP claimants who did not score 4 or more points in any one daily living activity by their total daily living point score for Dulwich and West Norwood Parliamentary Constituency

Notes:

• Data is for the January 2025 caseload
• Data only includes claimants of working-age
• Data only includes claims made under normal rules and excludes claims made under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL)
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10
• Figures under 10 have been suppressed

There are 330 PIP claimants who scored more than 12 points in the daily living activities, but did not score more than 4 in any single criteria, in the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will issue guidance on how disabled people can maintain their national insurance contributions needed to qualify for full state pension if (a) their household income is above the Universal Credit threshold due to a partner’s income and (b) they can only claim the replacement for new style Employment and Support Allowance for 6-12 months.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As part of the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper published in March 2025 we are consulting on establishing a new “Unemployment Insurance” benefit through the reform of contributory working-age benefits. Unemployment Insurance would be a new non-means tested entitlement for people who have contributed into the system and replace existing NS JSA and NS ESA. Policy on the new Unemployment Insurance is being developed, and we will be considering the detailed contributory related entitlement conditions with further detail to be published in a White Paper in Autumn.

.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that inflation-linked benefits and tax credits for 2026–27 will be uprated in line with the consumer prices index rate of inflation for September.

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

The Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review benefit and State Pension rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings. Where the relevant benefit or State Pension rates have not retained their value, legislation provides that the Secretary of State is required to, or in some instances may, up-rate their value. Following this review, benefit and State Pension rates are increased in line with statutory minimum amounts and others are increased subject to Secretary of State’s discretion.

By convention, these discretionary benefits are typically increased annually in line with the increase in prices as measured by the increase in CPI in the year to September. The outcome of Secretary of State’s statutory up-rating review will be announced in the Autumn. The Uprating Order, which seeks Parliamentary approval of her decisions, is usually laid upon return from recess in January and the new rates will enter into force from 6 April 2026.

Tax Credits ended 5 April 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Personal Independent Payments in the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency scored in aggregate 8-11 points for the daily living elements but did not score more than four in any single criteria in the most recent reporting year.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants who did not score 4 or more points in any daily living activity by aggregated point scores please see table 1 below.

Table 1: volume of PIP claimants who did not score 4 or more points in any one daily living activity by their total daily living point score for Dulwich and West Norwood Parliamentary Constituency

Notes:

• Data is for the January 2025 caseload
• Data only includes claimants of working-age
• Data only includes claims made under normal rules and excludes claims made under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL)
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10
• Figures under 10 have been suppressed

There are 330 PIP claimants who scored more than 12 points in the daily living activities, but did not score more than 4 in any single criteria, in the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Personal Independent Payments in the Dulwich and West Norwood Constituency scored more than 12 points for the daily living elements but did not score more than four in any single criteria in the most recent reporting year.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants who did not score 4 or more points in any daily living activity by aggregated point scores please see table 1 below.

Table 1: volume of PIP claimants who did not score 4 or more points in any one daily living activity by their total daily living point score for Dulwich and West Norwood Parliamentary Constituency

Notes:

• Data is for the January 2025 caseload
• Data only includes claimants of working-age
• Data only includes claims made under normal rules and excludes claims made under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL)
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10
• Figures under 10 have been suppressed

There are 330 PIP claimants who scored more than 12 points in the daily living activities, but did not score more than 4 in any single criteria, in the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) health-related and (b) disability benefits in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire from 2025-26 to 2029-30 inclusive.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not produce forecasts of benefit expenditure at parliamentary constituency, county, or local authority level. Forecasts for health-related and disability benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Universal Credit (UC) are produced at a national level and are published every Autumn and Spring in our Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables.

These forecasts are based on national caseload trends, policy assumptions, and economic conditions. While constituency and county-level data is available for some benefits, it is not used to produce localised expenditure forecasts as numerous forecast assumptions would need to be made at these localised levels, requiring local intelligence and knowledge of local factors, vastly increasing the amount of resource needed to produce such forecasts.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of Maternity Allowance.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Secretary of State is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and the State Pension, including statutory pay. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025 the standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024’s CPI figure of 1.7% from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support young people into work in Hertfordshire.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I thank the honourable Gentlemen for his question. Mr Speaker, as well as building our new Jobs and Careers service, which will help young people in Hertfordshire have access to better opportunities, DWP have now signed a Grant Funding Agreement of up to £19.7 million with Hertfordshire County Council for the delivery of their local Connect to Work programme, which will open for participants - including young people - at the beginning of July.

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 implications for her policies of the Young Carers Covenant.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I have met young adult carers since taking up my current role last July and plan to do so again in future. I also work very closely with Ministerial colleagues in the Departments for Education and Health and Social Care, and we regularly discuss the help and support that young adult carers need and deserve and how the Government can meet the principles of the Young Carers Covenant.

The Department for Education (DfE) has oversight of Government support for young carers in England.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of eligible pensioners in Lancashire who have not claimed Pension Credit in the most recent year for which data is available.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. The next edition of the Pension Credit take-up statistics will be released between September and October 2025. Statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people in receipt of childcare support are claiming Universal Credit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The proportion of people in receipt of childcare support claiming Universal Credit is not available as not all childcare support is the responsibility of this department.

The latest statistics for Universal Credit households in receipt of Universal Credit childcare element are published and available here: Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 9 January 2025 - GOV.UK

1. Universal Credit childcare element statistics, March 2021 to November 2024
2. Universal Credit childcare element statistics, supplementary data tables

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of cancer patients who will stop receiving personal independence payments following proposed welfare reforms.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).

Impacts of the proposed changes depend on many factors including how the mix of conditions among claimants evolves over time, and behavioural responses. These impacts are uncertain at an overall England and Wales level, and it would not be possible to make an informed assessment at such a granular level as individual primary medical conditions.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

Changes to PIP eligibility aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. PIP changes will only apply at the next award review after November 2026. The average award review period is about three years.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis, but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.

We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment which I am leading, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of job vacancies there are in each constituency.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are no published statistics on the number of job vacancies by constituency. However, the number of online job adverts by local authorities can be found here: Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK - Office for National Statistics

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 requiring Personal Independent Payment claimants to score four points in a single category on autistic people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).

Among those in receipt of Personal Independence Payment whose primary impairment is autism, 94% scored at least four points on one daily living activity at their most recent assessment. That suggests that only a very small proportion of autistic people will lose PIP as a result of the new eligibility threshold being introduced from November 2026.

Impacts of the proposed changes depend on many factors including how the mix of conditions among claimants evolves over time, and behavioural responses. These impacts are uncertain at an overall England and Wales level, and it would not be possible to make an informed assessment at such a granular level as individual primary medical conditions.

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

Changes to PIP eligibility aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. PIP changes will only apply at the next award review after November 2026. The average award review period is about three years.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis, but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.

We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment which I am leading, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many disabled people are employed in the Access to Work division of the Department for Work and Pensions.

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

DWP staff are not required to disclose details of any disabilities, however, the information can be voluntarily provided and based on those responses, 127 staff that work for Access to Work have declared a disability.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce unemployment in 18-21 year olds.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England, which began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025. The eight areas delivering Trailblazers are: the West of England, Tees Valley, East Midlands, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Liverpool City Region, West Midlands and two areas within the Greater London Authority. The trailblazers will run for 12 months, and we will use the learning to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

This is part of a broader package of reforms, including introduction of a new jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, the development of work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open up new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.

In addition, DWP continues to provide young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of procuring used vehicles for the Motability Scheme.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Whilst the Department for Work and Pensions works closely with Motability, the Motability Scheme is overseen by Motability Foundation (the charity) and delivered by Motability Operations. Motability is independent of Government and is wholly responsible for the terms and administration of the Scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of PIP decisions for people with MS have been overturned on appeal in the last five years, by region.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) New Claim and DLA reassessment decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years, see Table 1 below.

Table 1: the percentage of PIP New Claim and DLA reassessment decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years

For the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Review and Change of Circumstances decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years, see Table 2 below.

Table 2: the percentage of PIP Award Review and Change of Circumstances decisions, for claimants with MS as main medical condition, overturned at appeal stage by region for the last five Financial Years

Source(s): PIP Administrative Data

Notes:

• Figures for England and Wales only.
• Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
• These figures include appeal clearances and decisions for PIP New Claims, Reassessments, Award Reviews and Change of Circumstances. These figures include appeals cleared from April 2019 to December 2024, in line with latest PIP statistics Personal Independence Payment: Clearance/Outstanding Times and Customer Journey Statistics to January 2025, England & Wales (XLS).
• Appeals data has been taken from DWP PIP customer system’s management information. Therefore, this appeal data may differ from that held by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
• This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution, and it may be subject to future revision.
• Figures include appeals overturns following tribunal hearing and lapsed appeals.
• A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
• An overturned appeal is where the decision was changed in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged and was heard at tribunal hearing.
• Appeals can have their decision upheld or may also be withdrawn by the claimant. These are not included in the above tables.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the eligibility rules for Carer’s Allowance for claimants receiving the State Pension.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long-held feature of the GB benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person and is unable to undertake full time employment due to their caring responsibilities, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.

However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £83.30.

Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £46.40 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 100,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to review the (a) eligibility requirements for, (b) age threshold for, (c) tapering the earnings threshold for, (d) time spent caring condition for and (e) level of the Carers Allowance.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government keeps all aspects of Carer’s Allowance under review to see if it is meeting its objectives. It is not means-tested, but is subject to a weekly earnings limit. This was increased by a record amount in April 2025, which will benefit at least 60,000 unpaid carers between 2025/26 and 2029/30. The Government is also considering the possibility of introducing an earnings taper in the longer term.

Carer’s Allowance may be supplemented for those on low incomes through Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These are paid at a higher rate for carers through the Universal Credit carer element of £201.68 per monthly assessment period, paid in addition to the Standard Allowance; or the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £46.40 a week, paid in addition to the Standard Minimum Guarantee.

The Government has no plans to make Carer’s Allowance available to those aged under 16, or to change the requirement to be caring for at least 35 hours a week for someone in receipt of a “trigger” disability benefit.

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 the housing benefit taper rate on young people in supported housing who increase working hours.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.

Notwithstanding these positive outcomes from work, the Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to extend the consultation entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, for disabled people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 20 May 2025 to PQ 51603 [Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament].

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support autistic people into the workplace.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to supporting neurodivergent people, including autistic people, get into and thrive in work. Our Jobcentres have a range of support available, including Disability Employment Advisors.

On 6th March 2025 we announced that we will deploy 1000 work coaches to help people with health conditions and disabled people towards and into work. This will build and expand on existing measures like additional work coach support which delivers personalised support for some customers on the health journey.

Connect to Work is our new, voluntary, locally led Supported Employment Programme that is helping disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment, including learning disabled and autistic adults, to find sustained work. West London Alliance and East Sussex have now opened their local Connect to Work services, with roll out across England and Wales continuing throughout 2025.

In January this year we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations to government later this summer.

The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review. While not specific to neurodiversity, this review is considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, and how to support more people to stay in or return to work. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver his final report in the autumn.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, regarding Housing Benefit, if she will make it her policy to commit a portion of benefit funding into social housing.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Housing support is delivered through Housing Benefit (HB) and the Housing Element of Universal Credit (UCHE). These are means tested benefits intended to help people pay their rental costs, including around two-thirds of households living in the social rented sector in England.

Registered providers of social housing use income from rents to manage and maintain their homes, as well as to deliver new homes. At Spending Review 2025, the Government announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1% for England, alongside a consultation to follow shortly on how to implement social housing rent convergence. This settlement will provide long-term certainty to enable providers to borrow and invest in new and existing homes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of the PIP daily living component are (a) in work and (b) self-employed at (i) regional, (ii) constituency and (iii) local authority level; and what proportion of those recipients were awarded fewer than four points in all daily living activities.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is provided in the excel workbook attached. A content of the tables provided in the attached workbook is below:

The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.

No one will lose access to PIP immediately - and most people will not lose access at all. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval and will only apply at a claimant’s next scheduled award review, which on average occurs every three years. At that point, a claimant will be reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional based on their individual needs and circumstances.

After accounting for behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 out of 10 PIP recipients at the time of policy implementation are expected to be unaffected by the PIP 4-point change in 2029/30. Despite the reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to increase by 750,000 by the end of this Parliament and spending is projected to rise from £23 billion in 2024/25 to £31 billion in 2029/30.

We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met. We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I am leading. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.

Notes:

- The volumes provided have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.

- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.

- People without any employment or self-employment record in the HMRC data, as well as those who have been confirmed to not be in employment or self-employment in the data, have been considered not employed or not self-employed respectively.

- The data provided excludes special rules for end of life claimants and claimants over state pension age.

- The data provided excludes Scottish and Northern Irish claimants, as these claimants do not fall under DWP policy ownership.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who are (a) incapable of ever working and (b) will no longer have Universal Credit reassessments.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions has not made a formal estimate of the number of people who are incapable of ever working. However, we recognise that a proportion of claimants receiving health-related benefits have severe or lifelong conditions that significantly limit their ability to engage in work.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill sets out that those who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) will not be called for future reassessments for Universal Credit (UC).

We estimate that over 200,000 people will be covered by this exemption in 2029/30.

This comprises:

• 106,000 people in the ESA Support Group, who have met the SCC as of January 2025, but some will move to UC over the coming years.
• 56,000 people who are existing recipients of the UC Health element, 6,000 of whom are also in receipt of ESA, as of January 2025. This number will fluctuate prior to implementation of the policy in April 2026.
• 71,500 people who we expect to flow on to the UC Health element and meet the SCC after April 2026.

Further details can be found in The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill: Impact Assessment (May 2025).

As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department intends to make changes to both the UC health element and the reassessment process. While final decisions are yet to be made, the Government has committed to ensuring that people with severe or terminal health conditions, such as those meeting the SCC or the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL), will not be subject to routine reassessments.

The Department is currently consulting on these proposals, and further detail will be provided following the conclusion of the consultation period on 30 June 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department plans to use to determine when to end Universal Credit reassessments for people who are incapable of ever working.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill legislates that those who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) will not be called for reassessment for Universal Credit (UC).

The Severe Conditions Criteria are set out in the Bill, which was introduced to the House on 18 June 2025 and can be found here:

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0267/240267.pdf

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to provide training in (a) military and (b) trauma-informed care to Personal Independence Payment assessors working with veterans in Fylde.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments are not medical consultations and do not require Health Professionals (HPs) to diagnose conditions or recommend treatment. Instead, they are functional assessments designed to evaluate how an individual’s health conditions or impairments affect their ability to carry out daily living activities.

HPs conducting PIP assessments are trained specialists in disability analysis. Their focus is on understanding the functional impact of a claimant’s condition, rather than its clinical diagnosis. All HPs receive specific training on assessing the effects of mental health conditions and are supported by Mental Health Function Champions (MHFCs). MHFCs are experienced professionals with relevant expertise in mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities. They are available to provide advice and support throughout the assessment process.

Additionally, HPs have access to Condition Insight Reports and Continuing Professional Development guides. These resources offer detailed clinical and functional information on a range of conditions, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, to support HPs in delivering informed assessments.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential impact of increased availability of social housing on levels of demand for (a) housing benefit and (b) Universal Credit housing payments.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

My department has been supporting the development of a long-term housing strategy which the government intends to publish later this year.

At Spending Review 2025, the government announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment for England in a generation, confirming £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. The programme will prioritise homes for social rent and will make more homes available for those who would otherwise struggle to afford private rents. The Government also announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1%, alongside a consultation on how to implement social housing rent convergence.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on reviewing the balance of funding between housing support for private rents and long-term capital grants for affordable housing.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

My department has been supporting the development of a long-term housing strategy which the government intends to publish later this year.

At Spending Review 2025, the government announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment for England in a generation, confirming £39 billion for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36. The programme will prioritise homes for social rent and will make more homes available for those who would otherwise struggle to afford private rents. The Government also announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1%, alongside a consultation on how to implement social housing rent convergence.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Housing Benefit recipients live in (a) private rented accommodation and (b) social housing.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2023/24 financial year, 490,000 Housing Benefit claimants lived in private-rented accommodation. This accounted for 21% of all housing benefit claimants.

In 2023/24 financial year, 1.9 million Housing Benefit claimants lived in social housing. This accounted for 79% of all housing benefit claimants.

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 support for unpaid carers.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance (CA) under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial and/or employment support from the department depending on their circumstances. This includes CA and means tested benefits such as Universal Credit (UC). UC can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amounts for carers. UC pays an extra £2400 a year to unpaid carers.

Carers (providing at least 35 hours per week) of severely disabled people may be eligible for benefit support as set out above. They are not required to undertake any work-related activity but can access employment support on a voluntary basis if they wish.

A part-time carer on UC (providing care for under 35 hours a week) would be supported to combine work and care. They will receive personalised employment support from their work coach, who tailors the number of hours a week they are expected to work or search for work to fit their caring responsibilities and take into account any other barriers to working full time, for example a health condition.

Employment support can include identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry. Unemployed customers who require more intensive employment support can also be referred to the Restart and Connect to Work programmes.

We also know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market, so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring responsibilities wherever possible, meaning they can increase their overall income (eligibility rules apply).

That’s why we have pegged the CA earnings limit to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

DWP has also begun some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. This will require significant change to current DWP systems.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Housing Benefit as a mechanism for supporting people to live in the private rented sector.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum levels of housing support for households claiming Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and who rent in the private rented sector.

LHA rates are reviewed annually, usually at an Autumn fiscal event. LHA rates are based on the area of the country a person lives and their bedroom entitlement.

The decision to maintain LHA rates at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024 and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.

In the Private Rented Sector, households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance regardless of the contractual rent paid. However, LHA rates do not cover all rents in all areas.

Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the challenging fiscal context. This includes the recent Spending Review announcement of a £39 billion successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on the level of payments made to private landlords.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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

The Department does not hold data on the level of payments made by claimants to private landlords, either under Universal Credit or legacy benefits. While we can identify the value of a Universal Credit housing element or a managed payment to a landlord, we do not have access to landlord rent account data and therefore cannot determine what was actually paid by the claimant. This applies across both the social and private rented sectors.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to her Department was of a Personal Independence Payment mandatory reconsideration in 2024-25; and how much and what proportion of this cost was spent on successful appeals.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Cost figures are rounded to the nearest pound.

Data Source: ABM

The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff. They show the average Unit Cost of processing one PIP Mandatory Reconsideration.

Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal

Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.

24/25 model is in a process of sign off therefore the numbers may be a subject to change

We do not hold information on the unit cost of successful appeals.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules on claimants migrating from legacy benefits.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No such assessment has been made, however we publish Move to Universal statistics quarterly, which includes a breakdown of households paid Transitional Protection.. Stat-Xplore - Home -

All eligible customers who claim Universal Credit as part of managed migration will be considered for a Transitional Element, to ensure that they do not have a lower entitlement compared to their legacy benefits at the point they move to Universal Credit.

The Transitional Element is not intended to permanently replicate legacy benefit awards. Over time, it will be eroded by increases in other elements, except the childcare costs element and the housing element awarded to those previously living in specified or temporary accommodation, to gradually align the award with those of new customers who are in the same circumstances.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the (a) guidance and (b) training provided to assessors conducting Work Capability Assessments for people living with ME.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

When the FAS Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) contracts commenced, DWP Clinical Policy Group took over ownership of all the clinical Core Training and Guidance Materials (CTGM). These documents, amongst other things, contain clinical condition specific training including ME.

All HAAS Lot Suppliers are required to use CTGM to inform and develop training programmes and associated materials for their Health Care Professionals (HCPs) delivering Work Capability Assessments, Personal Independence Payment and Specialist benefit assessments on behalf of the DWP. HCPs are required to have appropriate knowledge of the clinical aspects and the functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and disabilities.

To maintain quality and consistency across all Suppliers, we have established a Clinical Authorship Team (CAT), an Editorial Board and a robust quality assurance process. The CAT is responsible for producing, reviewing, and updating all CTGM annually. The CAT is comprised of: Clinical leads, Clinical authors & Admin leads from each of the Suppliers and is overseen by the DWP clinical policy team.

To ensure CTGM is unbiased and fit for purpose it is subject to a rigorous quality assurance process. All materials are clinically quality assured by external independent clinicians (in line with best practice and current up-to-date clinical guidance e.g. NICE guidelines) and policy quality assured by DWP clinical policy experts.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules on claimants who were previously in receipt of the severe disability premium.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The purpose of the Transitional Severe Disability Premium Element (TSDPE) is to protect certain customers entitled to a severe disability premium who moved to Universal Credit from legacy benefits following a change in their circumstances.

The TSDPE is subject to erosion and termination, in line with managed migration rules. From the second assessment period onwards, the amount of the TSDPE will be reduced by the addition or increase of any Universal Credit element, other than the childcare costs element or the housing element awarded to those who have previously been entitled to Housing Benefit whilst living in specified or temporary accommodation.

Customers who are moved to Universal Credit by the Department for Work and Pensions will receive an amount of transitional protection if their circumstances remain the same and their Universal Credit entitlement is less than the amount they received on their legacy benefit.

The difference will be included as an award of transitional element as part of the overall Universal Credit award for the first assessment period. This transitional element will also be subject to erosion and termination as outlined above.

There are no current plans to evaluate the impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules.

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 that people who lose (a) PIP and (b) the Universal Credit health element have timely access to (a) psychological services and (b) suicide prevention professionals during the transition period.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are aware from working closely with health colleagues that there is increased anxiety relating to the Green Paper changes resulting in people seeking health related support.

We want to reassure people that the changes to PIP will not come into effect immediately. The changes will apply from November 2026 at a person’s next award review. If an existing claimant loses eligibility to PIP, they will continue to receive their full entitlement for 13 weeks after their award review. This will provide time for individuals to respond to their new situation, including accessing employment support if appropriate. This transitional cover is more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.

Through the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department is consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met. The Department has secured the first ever multi year settlement for the household support fund – now the crisis and resilience fund, which gives councils certainty about the money they are getting to help people struggling. Guidance has been issued strongly encouraging Local Authorities in England to support disabled people using the Household Support Fund through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund which starts from April 2026

However, we do recognise this will still be concerning for people - and that, as a department, we come into contact with some claimants who have complex needs or are vulnerable. The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward.

If someone within a job centre is identified as being at risk of suicide, there is the 6-point plan that will be invoked. We already have robust safeguarding processes in place during the assessments where our trained health care professionals can make contact with the claimant’s GP or mental health team if they are concerned that there has been or is a risk of deterioration to the mental or physical health of an individual.

We want to go further so that there is a clear and transparent process in place to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately supported. In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we have committed to undertaking a thorough review of our current approach to safeguarding, with the aim of developing and implementing a new departmental-wide approach.

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 changes to social security payments after a three month transition period on disabled people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are aware from working closely with health colleagues that there is increased anxiety relating to the Green Paper changes resulting in people seeking health related support.

We want to reassure people that the changes to PIP will not come into effect immediately. The changes will apply from November 2026 at a person’s next award review. If an existing claimant loses eligibility to PIP, they will continue to receive their full entitlement for 13 weeks after their award review. This will provide time for individuals to respond to their new situation, including accessing employment support if appropriate. This transitional cover is more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.

Through the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department is consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met. The Department has secured the first ever multi year settlement for the household support fund – now the crisis and resilience fund, which gives councils certainty about the money they are getting to help people struggling. Guidance has been issued strongly encouraging Local Authorities in England to support disabled people using the Household Support Fund through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund which starts from April 2026

However, we do recognise this will still be concerning for people - and that, as a department, we come into contact with some claimants who have complex needs or are vulnerable. The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward.

If someone within a job centre is identified as being at risk of suicide, there is the 6-point plan that will be invoked. We already have robust safeguarding processes in place during the assessments where our trained health care professionals can make contact with the claimant’s GP or mental health team if they are concerned that there has been or is a risk of deterioration to the mental or physical health of an individual.

We want to go further so that there is a clear and transparent process in place to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately supported. In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we have committed to undertaking a thorough review of our current approach to safeguarding, with the aim of developing and implementing a new departmental-wide approach.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the mean processing time was for Carer's Allowance applications in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times are measured weekly. For the Carer’s Allowance figures shown here, Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) is calculated as the average length of time (working days) from the receipt of a claim to the date the first payment was issued. Please see attached annex for details of weekly Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times from week commencing 2 January 2023 to week commencing 2 June 2025.

Special Notes:

The Average Actual Clearance Time figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what information-sharing arrangements exist between the Health and Safety Executive and other regulatory bodies regarding workplace sexual harassment; and what records are maintained of such information.

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

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) sections 2 and 3 could apply to harassment offences in the workplace, but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not apply HSWA where:

• there is a more appropriate regulator with specific responsibility; or
• more directly applicable legislation.

HSE’s long standing policy position is that it will not seek to regulate or apply health and safety at work legislation where another regulator has specific responsibility or there is more directly applicable legislation. As a result, HSE has not established any procedures to address workplace sexual harassment under HSWA.

Since sexual harassment in the workplace is not part of HSE’s remit, it does not maintain records of instances of workplace sexual harassment.

A specific purpose of The Equality Act 2000 is to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace and from 26 October 2024, employers are under a new legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of staff at work.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service have published extensive guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace, provide advice to individuals and organisations, and will help individual people with their legal cases in seeking civil remedies to instances of sexual harassment. HSE works closely with other regulators to promote co-operation, share intelligence and where appropriate, co-ordinate on joint regulatory activities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what procedures the Health and Safety Executive has established to identify addressing workplace sexual harassment as part of employers' duties under sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

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

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) sections 2 and 3 could apply to harassment offences in the workplace, but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not apply HSWA where:

• there is a more appropriate regulator with specific responsibility; or
• more directly applicable legislation.

HSE’s long standing policy position is that it will not seek to regulate or apply health and safety at work legislation where another regulator has specific responsibility or there is more directly applicable legislation. As a result, HSE has not established any procedures to address workplace sexual harassment under HSWA.

Since sexual harassment in the workplace is not part of HSE’s remit, it does not maintain records of instances of workplace sexual harassment.

A specific purpose of The Equality Act 2000 is to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace and from 26 October 2024, employers are under a new legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of staff at work.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service have published extensive guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace, provide advice to individuals and organisations, and will help individual people with their legal cases in seeking civil remedies to instances of sexual harassment. HSE works closely with other regulators to promote co-operation, share intelligence and where appropriate, co-ordinate on joint regulatory activities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England which began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025.

We are taking steps to support young people with youth pilots in Bath and Youth Job Clubs in Taunton. ‘Youth Curriculum’ sessions have been operational in Bath since October 2024, which provide tailored support including CV support, interview prep, mock interviews with Work Coaches and job matching. The sessions are targeted at our customers who are not in employment, education or training, who typically have lower engagement. Attendance has been excellent, at just under 90%.

We have a Youth Guarantee Trailblazer in the West of England, which supports young people in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency aged 18-21 to access employment education and training. There is one pilot programme of support focusing on young people with special educational needs, and another on improving access to opportunities and support from more rural areas. All participants will access 1:1 coaching and support, work placement opportunities, and free bus travel to support their pathway to employment.

In addition, DWP continues to provide young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by Work Coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available through Access to Work for people with cystic fibrosis (a) with and (b) without (i) transport and (ii) rural connectivity barriers to employment in Wiltshire.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Access to Work Scheme provides grant funding for workplace adjustments that go beyond an employer’s duty to provide reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. The Scheme can provide support for those in work or about to start work for a wide range of health conditions, such as Cystic Fibrosis, including support to travel to and in work.

In 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen, an independent social research organisation, to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of Access to Work. The report uncovered several challenges determining the impacts of Access to Work mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group.

To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in most recently in 2018, and 2009. The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.

The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of employment rates among people with Down syndrome in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department publishes the employment rates of disabled people using the Labour Force Survey which is conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The Labour Force Survey collects data on main and main or secondary health conditions, this includes Severe or specific learning difficulties but does not specifically collect data for Down’s syndrome.

In 2020 to 2022, the overall disability employment rate in Fylde was 52.5%. In 2023/24, the overall disability employment rate was 55.1% in Lancashire.

Statistics on disability employment by main and main or secondary health condition can be found here: The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what long-term plans her Department has to increase levels of (a) maternity, (b) paternity and (c) parental pay in line with the National Living Wage.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments. When considering calls to increase the level of maternity benefits generally, those must be balanced against limited resources as well as being mindful of the burden on employers, the needs of parents and could not be made without consultation with businesses and other stakeholders. Further, any changes would need to take account of economic circumstances and affordability for taxpayers.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Maternity and other types of Parental Pay are intended to provide a measure of financial security to support parents whilst they are away from the workplace; they are not a replacement of earnings.

We know that the parental leave system needs improvement. In the Plan to Make Work Pay the government committed to a Review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports working families. Planning work is already underway across Government.

The review provides us with an opportunity to consider the current framework of parental leave entitlements and how they should operate as a holistic system to improve the support available for working families.

We will also take the opportunity to establish a set of objectives for the parental leave system, which reflect the needs of GB’s modern economy. This has been lacking in recent years as the framework of entitlements has evolved over time.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support will be available to disabled people that are unable to secure employment after the implementation of planned changes to Pathways to Work.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation – a total of £1.9bn over 4 years. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

Our new support offer will begin to roll out next year backed by £200 million - to ensure that those affected by the benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support by one of 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors. This will include access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

These programmes include Connect to Work, which will support around 100,000 people with disabilities, health conditions or other complex barriers to employment in 2026/27, Trailblazers and WorkWell, which join up health and employment support at a local level.

This will be a guarantee of support to address work, health and skills needs, available to claimants as long as they need it.

The social security system will always be there for those who cannot work. We are committed to ensuring that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so. That is why we are legislating for people with the most severe, lifelong conditions to be protected from future reassessment for Universal Credit entitlement and paid the higher rate of the Universal Credit health top-up.

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 merits of increasing (a) Statutory Maternity Pay, (b) Maternity Allowance and (c) Shared Parental Pay to 62.5 per cent of the weekly National Living Wage by 2028.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments. When considering calls to increase the level of maternity benefits generally, those must be balanced against limited resources as well as being mindful of the burden on employers, the needs of parents and could not be made without consultation with businesses and other stakeholders. Further, any changes would need to take account of economic circumstances and affordability for taxpayers.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Maternity and other types of Parental Pay are intended to provide a measure of financial security to support parents whilst they are away from the workplace; they are not a replacement of earnings.

We know that the parental leave system needs improvement. In the Plan to Make Work Pay the government committed to a Review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports working families. Planning work is already underway across Government.

The review provides us with an opportunity to consider the current framework of parental leave entitlements and how they should operate as a holistic system to improve the support available for working families.

We will also take the opportunity to establish a set of objectives for the parental leave system, which reflect the needs of GB’s modern economy. This has been lacking in recent years as the framework of entitlements has evolved over time.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to provide support to people who are unable to secure employment after the transition period.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

We are increasing funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard. This includes additional funding in 2026/27 to ensure that those affected by benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support with their work, health and skills needs. We anticipate this support will include: access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations from one of our 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

These programmes include Connect to Work, which is already rolling out and will support around 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions or other complex barriers to employment in 2026/27, Trailblazers and WorkWell, which join up health and employment support at a local level.

We are also consulting on what broader support might be needed for those affected by PIP changes, including improving their experiences of the health and social care system, and will consider these responses as we develop detailed proposals for change.

Found: Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye HC 361 6th DWP

Found: well as the Reducing Parental Conflict programmes currently delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Department of Work and Pensions, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Work and Pensions,

Found: the spending review, the bits that are reflected in the departmental settlements, predominantly for DWP

Found: Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye HC 361 6th DWP

Found: Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye HC 361 6th DWP

Found: (DWP), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department

Found: This leads to costs across government: for the NHS, schools, the police, the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: (DWP) Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme since its inception.

Found: Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office acquisition of former HMP Northeye HC 361 6th DWP

Found: There have been historic deals (DWP – Prime; HMRC – Steps, MoD estate in London) that have moved beyond

Found: Take, for example, the 50Plus Choices Employer Taskforce, which was run by the Department for Work and Pensions

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities for ex-offenders.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work.

Key employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide critical ID documents to secure work and a home.

We have launched regional Employment Councils which, for the first time, brings businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support offenders leaving prison. This builds on the work of Employment Advisory Boards linking prisons with business leaders to ensure prisoners have the skills and training employers need to meet labour market demand.

In addition, HM Prison and Probation Service’s Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.

Supporting further, the criminal records regime is designed to strike a balance providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives. We also work closely with DWP to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example through co-location of services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of free school meal entitled children not being automatically registered on the levels of (a) relative child poverty, (b) deep poverty, and (c) very deep poverty.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

All children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step will put £500 back into families’ pockets in respect of each child each year and lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and tackle the scar of child poverty across our country.

Giving children access to a nutritious lunchtime meal every school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life. That is why this government is taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for FSM with our new Eligibility Checking System. This will allow parents to check their own eligibility and helps the local efforts we have seen to ensure children receive this support. Improvements we are making to the process for reviewing eligibility for meals will make it simpler than it has ever been to receive this entitlement.

Departmental officials are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on further data sharing that can get more families signed up for their entitlements.

Departmental officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to explore options on supporting enrolment through the Universal Credit claims process. The department will engage with local authorities to monitor and assess the impact that these changes are having on the uptake of FSM.

We will closely monitor the impact of the rollout on take-up and are carefully considering measures for improving enrolment in light of the recent announcement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on enrolling families for free school meals during the Universal Credit application process.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

All children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step will put £500 back into families’ pockets in respect of each child each year and lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and tackle the scar of child poverty across our country.

Giving children access to a nutritious lunchtime meal every school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life. That is why this government is taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for FSM with our new Eligibility Checking System. This will allow parents to check their own eligibility and helps the local efforts we have seen to ensure children receive this support. Improvements we are making to the process for reviewing eligibility for meals will make it simpler than it has ever been to receive this entitlement.

Departmental officials are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on further data sharing that can get more families signed up for their entitlements.

Departmental officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to explore options on supporting enrolment through the Universal Credit claims process. The department will engage with local authorities to monitor and assess the impact that these changes are having on the uptake of FSM.

We will closely monitor the impact of the rollout on take-up and are carefully considering measures for improving enrolment in light of the recent announcement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children entitled to free schools meals are registered for them in the context of the expansion of eligibility in September 2026.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

All children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step will put £500 back into families’ pockets in respect of each child each year and lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and tackle the scar of child poverty across our country.

Giving children access to a nutritious lunchtime meal every school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life. That is why this government is taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for FSM with our new Eligibility Checking System. This will allow parents to check their own eligibility and helps the local efforts we have seen to ensure children receive this support. Improvements we are making to the process for reviewing eligibility for meals will make it simpler than it has ever been to receive this entitlement.

Departmental officials are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on further data sharing that can get more families signed up for their entitlements.

Departmental officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to explore options on supporting enrolment through the Universal Credit claims process. The department will engage with local authorities to monitor and assess the impact that these changes are having on the uptake of FSM.

We will closely monitor the impact of the rollout on take-up and are carefully considering measures for improving enrolment in light of the recent announcement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of automatically enrolling eligible children for free school meals.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

All children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step will put £500 back into families’ pockets in respect of each child each year and lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and tackle the scar of child poverty across our country.

Giving children access to a nutritious lunchtime meal every school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life. That is why this government is taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for FSM with our new Eligibility Checking System. This will allow parents to check their own eligibility and helps the local efforts we have seen to ensure children receive this support. Improvements we are making to the process for reviewing eligibility for meals will make it simpler than it has ever been to receive this entitlement.

Departmental officials are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on further data sharing that can get more families signed up for their entitlements.

Departmental officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to explore options on supporting enrolment through the Universal Credit claims process. The department will engage with local authorities to monitor and assess the impact that these changes are having on the uptake of FSM.

We will closely monitor the impact of the rollout on take-up and are carefully considering measures for improving enrolment in light of the recent announcement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Over half a million more children to get free school meals, published on 4 June 2025, if she will make an estimate of how many additional children will be made eligible for free school meals from September 2026 in (a) the West Midlands, (b) the Birmingham local authority area and (c) the Birmingham Northfield constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is determined to tackle child poverty and spread growth and opportunity to every family in every part of our country. We have now announced the biggest expansion of free school meal eligibility in England in a generation. We will give every child whose family is in receipt of Universal Credit the entitlement to free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This means that over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds will become eligible for a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day. This will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

Crucially, this will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back into parents’ pockets, supporting families with decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

Department for Work and Pensions data shows that 11,350 children in the Birmingham Northfield constituency will be eligible for FSM from September 2026. Following publication of the updated school census on 5 June, the department will publish further information on the numbers of children currently in receipt of means-tested FSM and the numbers of eligible children, by parliamentary constituency, in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of auto-enrolling eligible children on to free school meals in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. It will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

To support take-up, the department provides an Eligibility Checking System so that eligibility can be checked as quickly and straightforwardly as possible. The department is pressing ahead with an upgraded Eligibility Checking System which will allow parents to check their own eligibility, making it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities, including in Stoke-on-Trent South, to register eligible children for FSM.

The department is aware of locally led approaches to boost take-up of free lunches. To support these approaches, we are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on data sharing that will make it easier to identify families who are eligible to make a claim. We expect to have these in place well ahead of the 2026 academic year.

Departmental officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to consider how enrolment may be supported through the Universal Credit claims process.

The department will monitor the impact of these policies and engage with local authorities to assess the impact that these changes are having on uptake of FSM.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish a national carers strategy.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support that they need. The Government has heard the calls for a National Carers Strategy. This must be addressed in the wider context of the urgent need for a renewed vision for adult social care.

We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers, who provide vital care and support.

I also chair a cross-Government meeting, made up of ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on establishing Young Futures Hubs.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions is she having with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on (a) the consultation on a new National Youth Strategy and (b) the implications of the strategy for Young Futures Hubs.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to identify early adopter areas for Young Future Hubs; and what her planned timetable is for launching these.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she is having with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the role of Young Futures Hubs in the prevention of serious youth violence.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed disability benefit reforms on claimants in Scotland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

Universal Credit is a reserved matter in Scotland, so the changes to Universal Credit will apply in Scotland. Personal Independent Payment (PIP) is an extra costs disability benefit and is a devolved matter in Scotland. By the time the Personal Independence Payment changes come into effect, PIP will have been fully replaced by the Scottish Government’s Adult Disability Payment. The changes to PIP eligibility therefore will not apply in Scotland.

The interactions between the reserved and devolved systems in Scotland will need to be considered before these reforms are implemented and officials are already engaging on this.  DWP has engaged with the Scottish Government on the reforms set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, at both an official and Ministerial level. They will continue to work closely as they develop detailed proposals for the White Paper.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the rate of re-offending (a) in Preston and (b) nationally; what steps she is taking to reduce this rate in Preston.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The overall proven reoffending rate for Preston was 34.5% for the July 22 - June 23 cohort (the latest reoffending data available by geography). By comparison, for the same cohort, the overall proven reoffending rate for England and Wales was 26.7%.

The Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending by giving people the tools to move away from crime. That's why we're investing in a wide range of interventions to directly support a prisoner’s rehabilitation journey, including employment, accommodation and substance misuse services.

We have, for example, recently launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time will bring businesses together with probation services and the Department for Work and Pensions to support offenders in prison and the community. Preston is covered by the Cumbria & Lancashire Employment Council.

We are also delivering a transitional accommodation service (CAS3) to provide prison leavers who are under probation supervision and at risk of homelessness with up to 12 weeks of accommodation on release, and have recruited Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators to strengthen the links between substance misuse and health services in prisons and the community to support access to treatment. Both CAS3 and the Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators are in place across all 12 probation regions in England and Wales, with Preston falling under the North West probation region.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children and young people with cancer receive (a) treatment and (b) care outside the region from (i) Bournemouth and (ii) the South West; and what assessment he has made if the (A) cost of travel and (B) the adequacy of financial support available.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families in England. NHS England and the integrated care boards are currently responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel.

The National Health Service runs schemes in England to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) provides financial assistance to patients in England who do not have a medical need for transport, but who require assistance with the costs of travelling to receive certain NHS services. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or a Personal Independence Payment. The provision of disability benefits is also the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions.

On 4 February 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The work of the taskforce is ongoing, and officials are exploring opportunities for improvement across a range of areas, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer across England, including Bournemouth and the South West region.

The specific information requested is not held by the Department of Health and Social Care. Therefore, we cannot share how many children and young people with cancer receive treatment and care outside the region from Bournemouth and the South West, nor have we have not made a formal assessment of the cost of travel, the adequacy of financial support available, or the effectiveness of the NHS HTCS in providing support for young cancer patients' travel costs across specific localities in England. This information is not held centrally as it is held at individual NHS trust level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme in providing support for young cancer patients' travel costs.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families in England. NHS England and the integrated care boards are currently responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel.

The National Health Service runs schemes in England to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) provides financial assistance to patients in England who do not have a medical need for transport, but who require assistance with the costs of travelling to receive certain NHS services. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or a Personal Independence Payment. The provision of disability benefits is also the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions.

On 4 February 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The work of the taskforce is ongoing, and officials are exploring opportunities for improvement across a range of areas, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer across England, including Bournemouth and the South West region.

The specific information requested is not held by the Department of Health and Social Care. Therefore, we cannot share how many children and young people with cancer receive treatment and care outside the region from Bournemouth and the South West, nor have we have not made a formal assessment of the cost of travel, the adequacy of financial support available, or the effectiveness of the NHS HTCS in providing support for young cancer patients' travel costs across specific localities in England. This information is not held centrally as it is held at individual NHS trust level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to deliver a new National Carers Strategy in the next 12 months.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

I also chair a regular cross-Government meeting made up of ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what cross-Departmental research his Department has commissioned into the link between (a) debt, (b) benefit sanctions, (c) child maintenance arrears and (d) suicide risk; and what mental health interventions are in place for people in financial hardship.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the effect that financial pressures, such as debt collection practices, benefit sanctions, and child maintenance arrears, can have on some people’s mental health and their risk of developing suicidal thoughts.

The cross-Government, cross-sector suicide prevention strategy for England includes financial difficulty as a priority area for action and sets out work Government departments are doing to address this. For example, the Department for Work and Pensions has committed both to strengthening its guidance for staff to better support customers who disclose that they are experiencing suicidal thoughts, and mandating mental health awareness training for all frontline staff.

We have also worked with colleagues at HM Treasury and the Money and Pensions Service to promote the mental health Breathing Space scheme, which gives those with mental ill health facing financial difficulties space to receive debt advice, without pressure from creditors or mounting debts.

This is in addition to the mental health support available through general practitioners, NHS Talking Therapies, and NHS 111.

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