Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the report into the loss of a crew member on the Valaris 121 jackup drill on 22 January 2023 to be published; and on what date did his officials most recently discuss the case with the (a) Crown Office and (b) Procurator Fiscal Service.

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

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has undertaken an investigation into the incident and has been in touch with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), most recently on 19 January.

HSE does not publish its reports.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects the Health and Safety Executive to publish its report into the fatality on the Liberian flagged jackup drill rig Valaris 121 on 14 November 2025.

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

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has undertaken an investigation into the incident and has been in touch with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), most recently on 19 January.

HSE does not publish its reports.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were waiting for decisions on Access to Work scheme claims as of (a) February 2026, (b) October 2025 and (c) April 2025.

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

The number of Access to Work applications has risen significantly. We are committed to reducing waiting times. We also prioritise applications from customers who are due to start work within the next four weeks, as well as renewals for existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment.

In March 2025, the Department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, launching a consultation on the future of Access to Work and how the scheme can better support disabled people in employment. We are reviewing all aspects of the programme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.

As of the 1st of February 2026, there were 66,218 applications awaiting a decision.

As of the 1st of October 2025, please refer to the answer given on 22 October 2025 to Question UIN 80759. As of the 1st of April 2025, please refer to the answer given on 10 June 2025 to Question UIN 56299.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the current (a) mean average and (b) longest waiting time for a Work Capability Assessment reassessment.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to reducing waiting times for claimants awaiting a WCA reassessment. The department is increasing assessment capacity by working with suppliers to expand their workforce, including through accelerated recruitment and training of additional assessors. These measures will help ensure that the department continues to prioritise assessments for new claims, while also increasing throughput of reassessment activity.

From 1 January 2018 to 31 January 2026, the mean average working days for outstanding Work Capability Assessment (WCA) reassessments currently stands at 290 days, whilst the current longest waiting time for an outstanding WCA reassessment to be completed is 1,870 working days (3 December 2018).

Please note

• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 10.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the Assessment Providers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• The date range for the mean average working days for outstanding WCA reassessments 1 January 2018 to 31 January 2026 has been used because the outstanding cases within our head of work can be traced back to 1 January 2018.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to (a) improve the Child Maintenance Service and (b) ensure that payments are made.

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

The Government’s aim is for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to remove the direct pay service in order to tackle non-compliance more quickly. This change will be made when Parliamentary time allows. Moving to a single, strengthened Collect and Pay system will allow the CMS to monitor all payments, identify missed or partial payments immediately, and take faster enforcement action. Ahead of this change, the CMS is already moving noncompliant parents more quickly from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay.

Where compliance cannot be achieved, the CMS has a range of strong enforcement powers that are designed to get money flowing quickly, prevent the build-up of arrears and ensure children get the financial support they deserve.  These powers include the ability to deduct directly from the paying parent’s earnings or bank accounts and disqualifications from holding or obtaining driving licenses and passports.

To further improve arrears collection, the CMS will introduce administrative liability orders (ALOs) to replace the current court based process. This will streamline enforcement, reduce delays, and help the CMS act more quickly against parents who avoid their responsibilities. Work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government is underway, and regulations will be brought to Parliament as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether they will require their department and agencies to offer payroll deductions to all employees to enable them to join a credit union.

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

DWP has existing arrangements with three of the UK’s leading credit unions: COMMSAVE, HEY (Hull and East Yorkshire) and VOYAGER.

The payroll savings scheme with credit unions is part of DWP’s wider financial wellbeing toolkit, which is readily available to all employees through the staff intranet, and is promoted as part of our wider wellbeing offer.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will review the Universal Credit capital rules that reduce or remove entitlement for claimants with savings above £6,000 and £16,000, in cases where a claimant has a lifelong disability or health condition which means they will never be able to work; and what assessment she has made of the impact of those provisions on disabled claimants who need to build savings to meet disability‑related costs such as specialist equipment, mobility aids and home adaptations.

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

The current system already permits people with capital between £6,000 and £16,000 to receive means-tested support through a tapered reduction in entitlement to Universal Credit. It also includes a specific capital disregard for funds that are required for essential home alterations - for example, if these are needed to meet disability-related needs. There are no plans to introduce additional exemptions.

Extra cost benefits such as Personal Independence Payment are available to eligible customers with long-term health conditions and disabilities. These benefits are to contribute towards the additional costs associated with these conditions and can be used according to the claimant’s own priorities. They can be paid in addition to other financial and practical support which someone can receive, including provision from the NHS and Local Authorities towards specialist equipment, mobility aids, and home adaptations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help improve employment opportunities for older people.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Work helps everyone play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement, and we recognise the wealth of skills and experience that older workers bring both to the workplace and the economy. We are committed to supporting workers over the age of 50 through a wide-ranging strategy that promotes age-inclusive employment practices, flexible working, and progression and career development.

We have a dedicated offer for older workers within jobcentres, including our 50PLUS Champions who provide a critical layer of support to ensure the needs of older jobseekers are met. We also offer a Midlife MOT, which helps people to review their health, finances and skills and signpost to suitable support. Our Employer and Partnership Teams in jobcentres work with a range of employers and partners to enhance the skills and employment support available locally for customers.

As part of our plans to Get Britain Working and create a new Jobs and Careers Service, we are committed to reforming employment support to ensure it is inclusive and meets the needs of our customers. We are considering the support we offer to those aged 50 and over so that they can access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) families, and (2) children, who will be affected by the removal of the two child benefit cap in the next two years, including those whose no recourse to public funds status has been lifted by exemption, broken down by immigration status (a) common travel area and right of abode, (b) EU settlement scheme, (c) humanitarian, (d) refugee, (e) indefinite leave to remain (not EU settlement scheme), and (f) limited leave to remain (not EU settlement scheme).

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

The Department does not produce forecasts of the impact of removing the two child limit on families or children by immigration status, and the estimate requested is not available. To produce such an estimate would incur disproportionate cost.

As our published information shows, in 2026/27, we estimate around 510,000 and in 2027/28, we estimate 520,000 Universal Credit Households will benefit from this policy change.

Table 5: Estimated number of households benefitting from the policy change

Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament - Regulatory impact assessment template (2023 reforms)

Most migrants with temporary visas cannot access the benefit system. Access to public funds and benefits is usually at the point of settlement, which for most people will be after they have lived in the UK legally for five years, and the Home Office Earned Settlement policy consultation is looking at increasing this to ten years. The Home Office is also consulting on changing the default position to maintain No Recourse to Public Funds at settlement and lifting this only at the point of British citizenship.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Sherlock on 3 February (HL Deb col 1428), what assessments they have carried out to determine whether access to the benefits system acts as a pull factor for migrants.

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

The Home Office is the department responsible for assessing migration trends – including pull factors for migration. The Home Office report ‘Asylum seeker decision-making in journeys to the United Kingdom (2022)’ explores the decision-making process for asylum seekers choosing to come to the UK.

Most migrants with temporary visas cannot access the benefit system. Access to public funds and benefits is usually at the point of settlement, which for most people will be after they have lived in the UK legally for five years, and the Home Office Earned Settlement policy consultation is looking at increasing this to ten years.

The Home Office are also consulting on changing the default position to maintain No Recourse to Public Funds at settlement and lifting this only at the point of British citizenship, in addition to increasing times for path to settlement from five to ten years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to Universal Credit – Immigration Status and Nationality Statistics to October 2025, published 11 November 2025, what plans they have to collect (1) immigration status, and (2) nationality, for those who have no nationality or immigration status recorded on digital systems.

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

People who are not British or Irish can only access Universal Credit with a valid immigration status that grants them access to public funds. The majority of temporary migrants are subject to a No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition which restricts them from accessing certain public funded benefits and services.

The proportion of Universal Credit claimants with an immigration status recorded as ‘other’ or where there is no immigration status recorded on the digital system has decreased in the latest statistics (January 2026) compared with January 2025. There are no plans to change how this data is collected, although analysts are continuously looking at how we can improve the statistics.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many job starts are expected to be delivered in (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh under the first phase of the Jobs Guarantee rollout.

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

The first phase of the Jobs Guarantee will provide jobs to more than 1,000 young people in Birmingham & Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire & Essex, Central & East Scotland, Southwest & Southeast Wales.

In phase one, we expect to make around 150 referrals across the Central and East Scotland region, which includes areas covered by both Glasgow City Council and The City of Edinburgh Council, alongside other local authorities.

Maps published alongside our grant guidance show the phase one delivery areas and the distribution of demand across local authorities. These can be viewed here: Phase One Delivery Area Heat Maps - GOV.UK.

Phase One will be followed by national roll out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain later in 2026, providing a total of 55,000 jobs over the next three years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) number and (b) proportion of Universal Credit claimants have income levels above the income tax personal allowance.

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

The requested information is provided below.

a) In November 2025, 1.9 million people on UC had net earnings above £1047.50 (which is the £12,570 annual personal allowance divided by 12). This includes earnings from employment and self-employment.

b) This equates to 22% of all people on UC.

Notes:

Volume is rounded to the nearest 100,000

Percentage is rounded to the nearest 1%

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department is using powers within the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 to help identify fraud in the welfare system.

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

The Fraud, Error and Recovery Act will deliver on the government’s manifesto commitment to safeguard taxpayers’ money and demonstrates the government’s commitment not to tolerate fraud, error or waste anywhere in public services, including the social security system. It will reduce public sector fraud and error and allow the more effective recovery of monies owed to government. It includes powers to modernise DWP’s investigation powers to help prove or disprove suspected fraud more quickly and allows DWP to take greater control in our investigations into serious organised crimes through new powers of entry, search and seizure.

All powers in the Act are underpinned by a principle of fairness and proportionality, with numerous safeguards and independent oversight in place. The measures in this Act will provide benefits to the taxpayer of £2.1 billion by 2030/31, part of wider plans that will save £14.6 billion.

In December 2025, DWP launched a 12-week consultation on three Codes of Practice which, once finalised, will be laid before Parliament and will support delivery of key measures in the Act.

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 potential impact on levels of pensioner poverty among mixed-age couples of the requirement that both members of a couple must have reached State Pension age in order to be eligible for Pension Credit or pension-age Housing Benefit.

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

Ensuring that individuals can get into, progress and stay in work is important in helping them to continue saving for their own retirement and contribute to the wider economy.

The requirement for mixed age couples to seek financial support from the working-age social security system until both members of the couple reach State Pension Age ensures that, once in receipt of Universal Credit, the younger partner can access the same employment support that is available for customers below State Pension Age including dedicated employment support for customers over the age of 50. The pension-age partner is placed in the no-work related requirements group.

The Government recognises the critical role Universal Credit has to play in tackling poverty and making work pay and is taking important steps to support people with their living costs. For the first time ever, we have introduced a sustained above inflation increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance for all claimants. From April 2026, this will see the standard allowance uprated by 3.8%, followed by a further 2.3%.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the in-house design and development of the replacement for his Department's Find a Job digital service, what information his Department holds on the number of civil servants and external contractors involved in the service; the number of hours civil servants and external contractors have spent working on the service; and what estimate he has made of the level of spending on external contractors required to deliver and operate the service.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will set out more detail on how it will deliver the replacement for the Find a Job service by July 2026, including how it will be tested to ensure it meets the needs of citizens and whether it will go through the relevant Government Digital Service assessments.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government is reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain to enable everyone to access support to find meaningful work and progress in employment. In England, this includes bringing together Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service into a unified jobs and careers service.

The replacement for the Find a Job service will be developed as part of this wider programme, providing an integrated, digital first offer that helps people search and apply for jobs and access careers advice, alongside tailored support from Work Coaches where needed.

As with other modern digital services delivered by the Department, the new service will be iterated over time. Before and after changes are made, we undertake user research with customers to gain feedback on their experience and suggestions for improvements, ensuring that services are designed around the needs of users, including those who require additional support to access digital channels. We will continue to align our approach with wider cross government ambitions for secure, user centred and efficient online services, as set out in the Government’s roadmap for digital and data. We are also following all relevant departmental and cross government governance processes in line with the blueprint for digital government.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential efficacy of public-private partnerships to (a) promote innovation and (b) integrate artificial intelligence in his Department's new Jobs and Careers Service.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is committed to ensuring the new Jobs and Careers Service is fit for the

future and will leverage the right technology, including AI, to deliver improved outcomes for citizens. The Department is considering a wide range delivery options for the Jobs and Careers Service.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people recruited by his Department were aged 16 to 24 in each calendar quarter since 1 January 2023.

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

As at 31 December 2025, we can confirm the following joiner data for the 16–24 age band:

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the time taken to respond to casework queries from Members of Parliament.

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

The Department recognises that the recent increase in the volume of MP enquiries, alongside a rise in the complexity of cases requiring more detailed investigation, has contributed to delays in meeting our standard response timescales.

To address this, the Department has taken a number of steps to improve the timeliness and efficiency of responses to MP enquiries:

• Additional resource has been deployed to our complaints and correspondence teams, with ongoing monitoring of the impact on response times.
• The Universal Credit MP hotline service has been streamlined through the introduction of a single national contact number, improving accessibility and consistency.
• Guidance on the W4MP website has been updated to ensure MP offices have clear visibility of the appropriate contact numbers for each benefit product line.
• Recruitment is underway for additional Universal Credit complaint handlers to support efforts to reduce the volume of outstanding enquiries and improve response times.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in each of the last 5 years, a) how many complaints to his Department have resulted in a consolatory payment being made to benefit recipients in recognition of delays or errors made by DWP; and b) what is the total amount of those consolatory payments in each of the last 5 years.

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

We have provided the number of consolatory payments made in the last five years to benefit recipients in recognition of delays and errors made by DWP in the table below.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter of 24 October 2025 from the hon. Member for Lewisham North.

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

We apologise for the delay in responding to this case. A reply was issued on 27 January 2026.

MP casework is handled by the Department’s complaints and correspondence teams as a priority, with a target response time of 15 working days. However, increased volumes of complaints and a rise in more complex cases have led to some delays. To address this, the Department has recruited additional staff to improve the timeliness and efficiency of responses.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the voluntary and community sector on providing employment support to help tackle the disability employment gap.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of employment support programmes assesses whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design.

For example, an evaluation of the Work Choice programme - a voluntary scheme supporting disabled people facing employment barriers or at risk of job loss – was published in April 2025. Voluntary sector organisations, including providers such as Shaw Trust and Leonard Cheshire Disability, played a significant role in delivering Work Choice, both as prime contractors and as subcontractors.

The evaluation found that, eight years after referral, participants had a payrolled employment rate 11 percentage points higher than the comparison group. This meant that the programme delivered strong value for money, estimated to return £1.67 to the Exchequer, in benefit savings and taxes, for every £1 spent.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish draft regulations relating to surplus extraction under the Pension Schemes Bill; and whether he plans to publish these before the Bill completes its passage through Parliament.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Pension Schemes Bill will enable more trustees of well-funded defined benefit pension schemes to share surplus with employers and deliver better outcomes for members. Trustees, working with the sponsoring employer, will be responsible for determining how members may benefit from any release of surplus.

The choice to release surplus is underpinned by strict safeguards, including the requirement for a prudent funding threshold, actuarial certification and member notification. Employers will not have direct access to surplus funds, with any surplus release having to be agreed by trustees.

The surplus release provisions, introduced by the Pension Schemes Bill, will rely on trustees exercising their powers appropriately and in accordance with their trust law duties. If trustees breach these requirements, the Pensions Regulator has powers to take action.

We will consult on the surplus release draft regulations once the Pension Schemes Bill has received Royal Assent. We look forward to receiving the responses on the proposals.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for her policies of the role of (a) trustees and (b) sponsoring employers in decision‑making on surplus extraction in defined benefit pension schemes.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Pension Schemes Bill will enable more trustees of well-funded defined benefit pension schemes to share surplus with employers and deliver better outcomes for members. Trustees, working with the sponsoring employer, will be responsible for determining how members may benefit from any release of surplus.

The choice to release surplus is underpinned by strict safeguards, including the requirement for a prudent funding threshold, actuarial certification and member notification. Employers will not have direct access to surplus funds, with any surplus release having to be agreed by trustees.

The surplus release provisions, introduced by the Pension Schemes Bill, will rely on trustees exercising their powers appropriately and in accordance with their trust law duties. If trustees breach these requirements, the Pensions Regulator has powers to take action.

We will consult on the surplus release draft regulations once the Pension Schemes Bill has received Royal Assent. We look forward to receiving the responses on the proposals.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will implement safeguards to ensure that release of surplus from defined benefit schemes does not adversely impact the security of accrued benefits.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Pension Schemes Bill will enable more trustees of well-funded defined benefit pension schemes to share surplus with employers and deliver better outcomes for members. Trustees, working with the sponsoring employer, will be responsible for determining how members may benefit from any release of surplus.

The choice to release surplus is underpinned by strict safeguards, including the requirement for a prudent funding threshold, actuarial certification and member notification. Employers will not have direct access to surplus funds, with any surplus release having to be agreed by trustees.

The surplus release provisions, introduced by the Pension Schemes Bill, will rely on trustees exercising their powers appropriately and in accordance with their trust law duties. If trustees breach these requirements, the Pensions Regulator has powers to take action.

We will consult on the surplus release draft regulations once the Pension Schemes Bill has received Royal Assent. We look forward to receiving the responses on the proposals.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with prime contractors in the Connect to Work programme on their use of charities and smaller organisations in gaining job and learning outcomes.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Connect to Work is our voluntary, locally led Supported Employment programme that will help around 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and individuals with more complex barriers to employment by the end of the decade, across England and Wales.

Mayors and Local Authorities have been funded to design and deliver local Connect to Work programmes. It is delivered through a higher number of smaller delivery areas than has been the case for recent national DWP contracted employment programmes. This approach aims to support better integration with local services and enable more smaller local organisations to have the opportunity to be involved in delivery.

Areas choose how the programme is delivered, for example, in house or through external providers; and how any external provider is selected. DWP has not mandated the type of provider, but the grant guidance includes the voluntary and charitable sector as examples of potential local partners and supporting organisations. Areas have been encouraged to ensure any delivery organisation has good local knowledge, as well as the ability to deliver Supported Employment.

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 cost to the public purse of disregarding the Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme for the purpose of calculating entitlement to Pension Credit.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

No formal assessment has been made.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance has been issued to Jobcentre Plus on promoting DVSA driving examiner vacancies to suitable jobseekers; what activity Jobcentre Plus has undertaken to advertise or proactively match candidates to these roles; and how many referrals to DVSA driving examiner recruitment have been made via Jobcentre Plus in each of the last two years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Jobcentre Plus (JCP) actively promotes vacancies, including roles with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), by matching a claimant’s skills and circumstances to available roles.

The DWP’s Strategic Relationship Team is working with the DVSA to test a new recruitment approach for Driving Examiner roles in six priority locations. This work involves the introduction of a one day assessment centre under a Direct Temporary Recruitment (DTR) model to create a faster and more efficient process. Part of this process will include JCP Work Coaches identifying suitable candidates, arranging informal discussions and driving assessments.

Locations deemed as priority sites by DVSA are Bedford, Bletchley, Bromley, Slough, Southampton and Tottenham in North London. Across theses initial pilot sites there will be at least 30 vacancies and capacity for up to 96 referrals.

The pilot will help determine whether this streamlined route can support areas that have been hardest to recruit for and whether it should be expanded to additional locations in future.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Statement UIN HCWS1044 on 11 November 2025, what specific findings were contained in the 2007 DWP evaluation of the effectiveness of automatic pension forecast letters that were not provided to his predecessor.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

On 29^th January 2026, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced in Parliament the Government’s new response to the PHSO report on State Pension age communications.

We have set out our detailed reasoning for our new decision in our decision document, including consideration of the 2007 report. This can be read in full in the House library. The decision document is also available here: Government response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Investigation into Women’s State Pension age communications and associated issues - GOV.UK

The report in question was published in 2007. We have now placed it in the House library, where it can be read in full. This report is also available here: Evaluation of Automatic State Pension Forecasts

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 2028 delivery date for the Jobs and Careers Service on workforce mobilisation between now and 2028.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We have interpreted your question as relating to DWP workforce.

As part of the Jobs and Careers Service Programme the department will develop a plan to support the transition to the new organisation. As the design is still evolving so are our plans relating to the workforce. At present we continue to anticipate workforce needs in line with our existing processes and remain flexible as the design continues to take shape.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2025 to Question 96735, how many of the HSE inspections carried out in Scotland in 2024-25 took place (a) on farms and (b) in social care settings.

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

In the year 2024/ 2025, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out 1,444 inspections in Scotland.

Seven of these took place on farms (not including premises predominately involved in forestry or aquaculture); and eleven took place in social care settings.

These figures are based on raw live data and can be subject to change due to updates to historical cases. Therefore these figures may differ to the figures published in HSE’s Annual Reports.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing Access to Work support worker hours at renewal for blind and partially sighted customers on (a) job retention and (b) workplace safety.

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

The support that a customer will receive from Access to Work is dependent upon their needs and circumstances at the time they make an application. Case managers will use the current guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to help ensure that Access to Work awards for blind and partially sighted customers are not reduced at renewal where there has been no change in job role or level of sight loss.

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

Access to Work provides support for individual needs within the workplace, above and beyond the employer’s reasonable adjustments.

When an award is renewed, Access to Work case managers consider all relevant evidence and current guidance to ensure that the support offered continues to be appropriate for the customer to carry out their job.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases were awaiting Work Capability Assessment reassessments as of 31 January 2026 in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales.

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

The information requested is not held because data is not held at individual country level.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount of money paid directly from housing benefit to private landlords in each region of England.

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

Information on the average weekly amount of Housing Benefit paid to private landlords, by regions, is available on Stat-Xplore via the Housing Benefit official statistics (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). The information can be found in the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset and is currently available to August 2025.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the total cost to the public purse of universal credit payments for foreign nationals in the last 5 years.

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

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

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the removal of the two-child benefit limit to unemployed refugees receiving Universal Credit is perceived as fair by the public.

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

There are strict rules that govern who can access benefits. Parents who are not British or Irish nationals can only access Universal Credit with a valid immigration status of a kind that gives them the right to access public funds. Most migrants with temporary visas cannot access the benefit system. Access to public funds and benefits is usually at the point of settlement, which for most people will be after they have lived in the UK legally for five years, and the Home Office Earned Settlement policy consultation is looking at increasing this to ten years. The Home Office is also consulting on changing the default position to maintain No Recourse to Public Funds at settlement and lifting this only at the point of British citizenship. This would mean that migrants would need to wait longer to access benefits.

DWP also plans to consult on changes to the benefit rules to prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK. The consultation will look at how the benefit rules apply to everyone arriving or returning to the UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many recipients of personal independence payment made their first claim over the age of 60 in (1) 2020, (2) 2021, (3) 2022, (4) 2023, (5) 2024.

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

The volume of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients in each specified year who made their first successful claim over the age of 60 is shown in the table below.

Table 1: Volume of claimants aged over 60 who made a successful PIP claim for the very first time by year

Notes:

- Values have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- Values are for claimants under DWP Policy Ownership only (England, Wales or Abroad).

- Data is provided in calendar years, starting on 1st January and ending on 31st December.

- Data only includes claimants aged 61 and above.

- Claimants included in the table are those receiving PIP for the very first time. Claimants who have received PIP in the past and have rejoined after turning 61 have not been included.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of personal independence payment recipients are working more than 16 hours per week.

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

Information about hours worked by Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants is not collected and held centrally by the Department.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost of litigation with the WASPI Campaign has been since December 2024.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Based on the information held, since December 2024, the recorded legal costs on litigation brought by WASPI including disbursements and VAT are £149,409.74.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 3 February (HL13743), what assessment they have made of the reasons that Universal Credit sanction rates vary by (1) ethnicity, and (2) region.

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

No formal assessment has been made, but work is ongoing to expand the benefit sanction statistics, detailed below, to allow analysis in the future.

The Department regularly publishes Universal Credit sanction rate statistics for Great Britain as part of the benefit sanction statistics. These include a breakdown of the sanction rate by ethnic group and an analysis of the sanction ethnicity statistics which can be found at section 5 of the latest publication.

The Department also published an ad-hoc analysis in February 2025 of the Variation in the Universal Credit sanction rate by jobcentres using the UC Sanction Rate dataset on Stat-Xplore.

The ‘Benefit sanction statistics to August 2025’ and the ‘Variation in the Universal Credit sanction rate by jobcentres from January 2017 to August 2024’ are provided in the attached PDF documents.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will continue to respond to constituency casework inquires from hon. Members in writing.

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

Where a complaint is raised by an MP, it is referred to the DWP Complaints Team who will investigate the complaint and aim to resolve it within 15 working days. If the matter is complex and will take longer than 15 days, the complaints resolution manager will keep the MP updated and tell them when they can expect a response. Upon completion of the investigation, a full written response will be issued to the MP via their designated Parliament.uk secure email address.

In terms of dealing with matters quickly, it may be possible with MP agreement to do a telephone resolution and this can be followed up with a written response if requested.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carers have had a Carer’s Allowance overpayment debt as a result of breaching the earnings limit in (a) England and (b) Wales.

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

Data on fraud and error overpayments is published annually and can be found using the following link: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK. 2024/25 estimates show that Carer's Allowance Overpayments relating to earnings/employment represented 1.3% of the £4.2bn expenditure on Carer’s Allowance.

A further breakdown as requested is not published as part of any official statistical release.

The Government inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, have found themselves with unexpected debts due to earnings-related overpayments of Carer’s Allowance which they were asked to pay back. This only affected some of the relatively small number of Carer’s Allowance claimants who also do paid work, but the impact on some of these unpaid carers has been significant.

The Government appointed Liz Sayce OBE to lead an Independent Review into the matter. The Review’s report, which we published on 25 November 2025, alongside the Government’s response, has been invaluable in assessing how these overpayments have arisen; what can be done to support unpaid carers who have incurred debts in the past; and how further overpayments can be minimised in future.

The Review has shown that mistakes were made, and we are determined to put them right. The Government has welcomed the report and is accepting or partially accepting 38 out of the 40 recommendations. In some cases, the changes the report is asking for have already been made. Others will take more time to put in place.

The department agrees the guidance on averaging earnings between 2015 and summer 2025 did not accurately reflect the statutory position with respect to those with fluctuating earnings. That is why we are putting steps in place to run a reassessment exercise. This exercise will begin later this year, and we will communicate details on how this will work in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has set a target for the number of job starts to be offered to long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit in Birmingham and Solihull during the first 6 months of the Jobs Guarantee scheme.

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

The government is investing over £1.5 billion in tackling youth unemployment and inactivity, including £820 million for the expanded Youth Guarantee and £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy. This will provide young people aged 16–24 with greater support into work and learning, including a Jobs Guarantee offering fully subsidised paid work for every 18–21-year-old on Universal Credit for 18 months.

In line with the Government’s December 2025 announcement, the Jobs Guarantee will begin its rollout from Spring 2026 in 6 areas which have some of the highest need, including Birmingham and Solihull.

The first 6 months of the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide over 1000 job starts across the 6 areas.

National roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain will take place later in 2026. The programme is expected to support around 55,000 young people over the next three years, contributing to this government’s long-term ambition to increase employment and reduce long-term youth unemployment.

This Government is taking action to ensure young people have clear pathways into work, with opportunities that build skills, confidence and long-term employability.

In addition, through the expanded Youth Guarantee, we are creating around 300,000 additional opportunities for young people to gain workplace experience and training.

This includes up to 150,000 extra work experience placements and up to 145,000 bespoke training opportunities designed with employers through our Sector based Work Academy Programmes, or SWAPs. These programmes provide young people with real, practical experience linked to vacancies in priority sectors, improving their prospects of moving quickly into work.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of apprentice-employing non-Levy-paying firms received an Apprenticeship Levy Transfer from a Levy-paying firm in 2023-4 financial year.

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

The total number of non-levy employers that received a transfer from a levy-paying employer in the 2023-24 financial year is 6,348. The proportion of non-levy employers that had an active apprenticeship service account that received a payment in the 2023-24 financial year, that received transfers was 5.9%.

This information is based on providers that received payments for non-levy employer learners for the 2023-24 financial year.

Non-levy paying employers are not required to register for an apprenticeship service account; the data we hold is therefore not a reflection of all non-levy paying employers in England. Additionally, not all non-levy paying employers that are registered for an apprenticeship service account will employ apprentices and receive payments for them each year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that pension scheme communications are made more transparent and understandable for the general public.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Pension schemes are under legal obligations to provide key information to members. Schemes should ensure that all communications are accurate, clear, concise, relevant and in plain English.

Simpler Annual Benefit Statements, introduced in 2022, make defined contribution automatic‑enrolment pension statements shorter and more consistent, helping members see what they’ve saved; what they might have at retirement; and what actions they can take.

When launched, pensions dashboards will allow people to view their pensions, including State Pension, securely and in one place online. Dashboards will include clear contextual information alongside the values shown, supported by user testing, to ensure the information is easy to understand.

Decision making about how to use pension assets to secure an income can be complex. The Guided Retirement provisions in the Pension Schemes Bill require trustees to provide information in plain and simple language to support informed member decision making. The Government intends to consult on the Guided Retirement communications journey, ensuring that communications are structured, accessible, and delivered at the right points to help savers understand both the default pension plan and the options available to them.

The Government ensures everyone has access to free, impartial pensions guidance through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there have been any further considerations over the uprating of frozen pensions for UK citizens abroad.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for uprating.

The policy on uprating UK State Pension paid overseas is a longstanding one and has been in place for over 70 years. Over many years, priority has been given to those living in the United Kingdom when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of apprentices aged (a) 21 or under and (b) 24 or under were subject to a 100% reduction in apprenticeship training cost in (i) 2023-4 (ii) 2024-5 financial year.

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

The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, which include information on employer co-investment, are published here Apprenticeship funding rules - GOV.UK.

Since April 2024, the government has fully funded apprenticeship training costs up to the funding band maximum for non-levy paying employers for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs, unless they are in receipt of a levy transfer which covers that cost.

From August 2026, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible people aged 16-24. For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy will be required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs, unless they are in receipt of a levy transfer which covers that cost.

The maximum that non-levy payers are required to co-invest in apprentices’ training costs is 5%.

The government pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in local authority care. On top of this, employers will receive additional payments of up to £2,000 for eligible foundation apprenticeships. Additionally, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of apprentices employed by non-Levy-paying employers were subject to a (a) 100% (b) 95% (c) any other reduction in apprenticeship training costs.

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

The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, which include information on employer co-investment, are published here Apprenticeship funding rules - GOV.UK.

Since April 2024, the government has fully funded apprenticeship training costs up to the funding band maximum for non-levy paying employers for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs, unless they are in receipt of a levy transfer which covers that cost.

From August 2026, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible people aged 16-24. For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy will be required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs, unless they are in receipt of a levy transfer which covers that cost.

The maximum that non-levy payers are required to co-invest in apprentices’ training costs is 5%.

The government pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in local authority care. On top of this, employers will receive additional payments of up to £2,000 for eligible foundation apprenticeships. Additionally, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average cost to a non-Levy-paying firm of employing an 18-year old apprentice in the second year of their apprenticeship, paid at the legal minimum hourly rate for a 37.5 hour week, assuming the employer has more than 50 employees and the apprentice does not have an EHCP and was never in care, in terms of (a) wage cost (b) apprenticeship training cost (c) total cost, for an apprenticeship started in (i) September 2023 (ii) April 2024 (iii) September 2026.

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

Minimum wage rates are reviewed annually and the government considers the independent advice of the Low Pay Commission when setting minimum wage rates.

Past, present and future minimum wage rates are published here, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates - GOV.UK.

Regarding apprenticeship training costs, each apprenticeship standard has a funding band which sets out the maximum amount that the government will contribute to the cost of apprenticeship training and assessment over the full duration of the apprenticeship. Apprenticeship funding bands range from £1,500 to £27,000.

The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, which include information on employer co-investment, are published here Apprenticeship funding rules - GOV.UK.

From August 2026, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible people aged 16-24. For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy will be required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs, unless they are in receipt of a levy transfer which covers that cost.

The government pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in local authority care. On top of this, employers will receive additional payments of up to £2,000 for eligible foundation apprenticeships. Additionally, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average cost to a non-Levy-paying firm of employing an 18-year old apprentice in the first year of their apprenticeship, paid at the legal minimum hourly rate for a 37.5 hour week, assuming the employer has more than 50 employees and the apprentice does not have an EHCP and was never in care, in terms of (a) wage cost (b) apprenticeship training cost (c) total cost, for an apprenticeship started in (i) September 2023 (ii) April 2024 (iii) September 2026.

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

Minimum wage rates are reviewed annually and the government considers the independent advice of the Low Pay Commission when setting minimum wage rates.

Past, present and future minimum wage rates are published here, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates - GOV.UK.

Regarding apprenticeship training costs, each apprenticeship standard has a funding band which sets out the maximum amount that the government will contribute to the cost of apprenticeship training and assessment over the full duration of the apprenticeship. Apprenticeship funding bands range from £1,500 to £27,000.

The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, which include information on employer co-investment, are published here Apprenticeship funding rules - GOV.UK.

From August 2026, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible people aged 16-24. For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy will be required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs, unless they are in receipt of a levy transfer which covers that cost.

The government pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in local authority care. On top of this, employers will receive additional payments of up to £2,000 for eligible foundation apprenticeships. Additionally, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to review the Local Housing Allowance tin the context of private rented costs.

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

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are annually reviewed, usually in the Autumn. At Autumn budget 2025, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed LHA and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. Rent levels across Great Britian were considered alongside other factors such as the challenging fiscal context and welfare priorities, including the removal of the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.

Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) from local authorities. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Statement of 29 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the reasons why the findings of the 2007 research report did not lead to a targeted public communications campaign to affected women.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Secretary of State reviewed the 2007 Report on Automatic Pension Forecasts before coming to his decision on the Ombudsman’s investigation.

The 2007 Report concluded that “overall…the evidence suggests negligible influence of the APF on pensions knowledge and retirement planning behaviour”, and around this time the Department stopped sending Automatic Pension Forecasts.

We have placed the 2007 report in the House library, where it can be read in full. The report is also available here: Evaluation of Automatic State Pension Forecasts.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on changes to women's State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) economic; and (b) social impact on 1950s-born women in Stourbridge.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government carefully considered the findings of the Ombudsman’s report on the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age, and a detailed response including an Equality Analysis has been deposited in the House library.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the funding allocation model of Skills Bootcamp in Wave 7 on providers' ability to maintain services.

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

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of basing Skills Bootcamp Wave 7 funding allocations on historic delivery data from 2024-25.

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

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has for the continuation or expansion of the WorkWell programme beyond the current three-year funding period; whether he plans to expand the programme to support more than 250,000 people; whether he plans to expand eligibility for the programme; and what criteria his Department is using to determine whether the programme will be expanded beyond its current rollout.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

WorkWell is a health and employment support service providing integrated holistic early help for people with disabilities and/or health conditions to address their health-related barriers to work. The WorkWell pilot phase launched in October 2024 in 15 areas in England and so far has supported approximately 25,000 people to stay in and re-enter work.

In January 2026 we announced that following the pilot, WorkWell will continue to be delivered in existing sites and expand across all of England. The expansion is backed by up to £259 million investment over three years and could support up to 250,000 people.

WorkWell is a voluntary service with broad eligibility criteria; participants do not need to be claiming any Government benefits to be eligible and can access WorkWell through multiple routes including employer referrals, GP referrals, Jobcentre Plus, local services, or self-referral.

An evaluation of the pilot is underway to measure the ongoing effectiveness of WorkWell and will include an independent consortium of evaluators using surveys, interviews and econometric measures of success. The evaluation will consider several variables, including reported health conditions (both physical and mental health) and earnings. Outcomes for participants are monitored across the length of the pilot, and for a further 2 years. A final report in Autumn 2028 will aim to give full assessment of impact of the pilot, including potential sustainment of employment impacts. A similar evaluation will be commissioned for the national rollout of WorkWell. The learnings from these evaluations will inform any future expansion decisions.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of discontinuing the practice of sending letters to pensioners notifying them of small uprating increases, including increases of 25 pence.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department keeps communications with customers under constant review.

We notify individuals of decisions about their benefit, which ensures that they know how much they are entitled to and when and how payment will be made. Letters also inform claimants about their legal responsibilities, such as having to report relevant changes and their legal rights, such as the right of appeal. Individuals' circumstances do change and not everybody receives the same rate of payment every year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will launch the Pensions Dashboard by the end of 2026.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

When we have assurances that the service is safe, secure and thoroughly user-tested, the Secretary of State will provide industry 6 months’ notice ahead of the launch of the government-backed MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard. Insights gained from the launch and operation of the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard will help inform the launch date of private sector pensions dashboards.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of basing Skills Bootcamps Wave 7 funding allocations on historic delivery data from 2024-25.

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

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that colleges do not face disproportionate reductions in Skills Bootcamps budgets compared with 2025-26.

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

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of projected funding allocations for Skills Bootcamps in Wave 7.

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

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of projected funding allocations for Skills Bootcamps in Wave 7.

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

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what action is being taken to increase employment and training opportunities for young people in rural areas.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2025 to Question UIN 99275.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many foodbanks have been officially recorded as being in operation in each year for the past 10 years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation and therefore does not hold data on the number of foodbanks in operation.

The Government recognises that the level of household food insecurity in the UK is unacceptable. We have already announced action to expand free school meals, support parents with the cost of healthy food outside of school and transform our food system to ensure it delivers access to affordable, healthy food.  Our plan to Make Work Pay is part of the mission to grow the economy, raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all.

To further support struggling households, £742 million of funding was provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.

From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. This fund aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

The Government has also taken further action to support low-income households including through the increase in the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025, boosting the pay of 3 million workers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including trade union representatives in Alan Milburn's investigation to tackle rising youth inactivity.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP recognises the important role that the trade unions can play in a modern workplace, including the benefits that effective engagement between employers and unions can bring.

Colleagues working on the Young People and Work Report continue to engage with trade union representatives.

As part of the report, Alan Milburn is engaging with a range of fellow experts in the labour market, education, welfare and health spheres, as well as employers and people with lived experience to inform the findings and recommendations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to engage with a) disabled people and b) disabled people's organisations during next the phase of reform for the Disability Confident scheme.

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

The Department is committed to ensuring that the next phase of Disability Confident reform is shaped by the lived experience of disabled people and disabled people’s organisations.

As set out in the Disability Confident Reform Delivery Plan the reformed scheme will embed disabled people’s voices throughout design, testing and evaluation. This includes planned engagement through qualitative interviews, surveys, and employee feedback mechanisms, ensuring that reforms reflect the real experiences of disabled employees and those with long-term health conditions.

We will also work directly with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations as part of our stakeholder engagement work. Their expertise will inform the development and testing of strengthened standards, verification processes and tools, with opportunities to contribute through engagement sessions, workshops and ongoing feedback loops.

Taken together, these measures will ensure that disabled people and the organisations representing them have clear and meaningful opportunities to shape the next phase of Disability Confident reform.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to Access to Work awards at renewal on employment outcomes for blind and partially sighted people.

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

The support that a customer will receive from Access to Work is dependent upon their needs and circumstances at the time they make an application. Case managers will use the guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support. No changes have been made to Access to Work policy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training Access to Work staff receive on assessing the needs of blind and partially sighted customers.

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

Access to Work staff are trained to take account of the customer’s own declaration of the support they need within the context of the Access to Work regulations. If more information is required to determine an award, a workplace assessment referral is made to an external partner to provide recommendations for the provision of equipment or support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of pausing deductions being taken from Carer's Allowance payments as a result of earnings-related overpayments while the Department reassesses those cases.

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

We have been clear that the Sayce review into earnings related Carer’s Allowance overpayments was not a substitute for legal proceedings. The report’s findings do not prejudice business-as-usual activity by DWP. The department must balance fairness for unpaid carers and its duty to taxpayers.

The department’s guidance on averaging earnings, for those with fluctuating earnings, did not accurately reflect the legislation between 2015 and summer 2025. We are, in response, planning a reassessment exercise. Overpayment recovery work will continue during the reassessment exercise. Should reassessment lead to an amended decision in an individual case, we will adjust entitlement to Carer’s Allowance and take the appropriate action depending on the customer’s circumstances. We will set out more details about the reassessment exercise in the coming weeks.

For anyone who has had an overpayment, DWP’s Debt Management Service is available to discuss their repayment terms.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 91715, how many claimants were awarded a payment under the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme in each financial year since 1993-94.

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed reforms to Work Capability Assessments on severely immunocompromised people who are recovering from (a) stem cell transplants, (b) CAR-T immunotherapy and (c) other long-term conditions resulting from treatments; and if he make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) statutory sick pay and (B) time taken to access other potential state benefits for those patients.

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

The Pathways to Work Green Paper outlined our plan to end the link between capacity to work and additional financial support and the binary categorisation of claimants as “can or can’t work” by abolishing the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Instead, any extra financial support for health conditions in Universal Credit (UC) will be assessed via a single assessment – the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment (in England and Wales) – and be based on the impact of disability on daily living, not on capacity to work.

Due to its link with the PIP assessment, WCA abolition will not take place until after the Timms Review into PIP has reported. We are currently considering how the future system will operate and will provide further information in due course.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is designed to balance support for an individual when they are unable to work due to sickness or ill health, with the costs to employers of providing this support. The Government is strengthening SSP as part of our plan to Make Work Pay, ensuring the safety net of sick pay is available to those who need it most. We are doing this through the Employment Rights Act. From 6 April this year the changes we are making include:

• Removing the Lower Earnings Limit so more low-paid employees qualify.
• Removing the waiting period so SSP is paid from the first day of sickness.

As a result, up to 1.3 million low-paid employees will become eligible for SSP. The removal of the three-day waiting period will mean that all employees receive at least £60 extra at the start of their sickness absence. According to the Government’s impact assessment, these changes will also increase the total amount of sick pay paid to employees by approximately £420 million per year.

For PIP awards, we always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant.  In most instances PIP awards can be backdated to the date of claim. 

PIP waiting times have decreased since August 2021, with the latest statistics showing that the average end-to-end journey has reduced from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 16 weeks at the end of October 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimated waiting times his Department is communicating to applicants to the Access to Work Programme.

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

The Department is currently advising applicants submitting a new Access to Work grant that the estimated waiting time for their application to be reviewed is up to 30 weeks.

Applications from individuals who have a job starting in the next four weeks, or who are renewing existing support, are prioritised.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities are aware of the interaction between new tax liabilities for pre-2016 pensioners and the calculation of means-tested benefits.

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

The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.

Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

The government will set out more detail in due course.

No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether income tax liabilities arising from simple assessment tax demands are taken into account when calculating Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction for pensioners whose sole income is the pre-2016 State Pension.

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

The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.

Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

The government will set out more detail in due course.

No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether pensioners issued with a simple assessment are advised to notify their local authority so that their Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction can be reassessed.

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

The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.

Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

The government will set out more detail in due course.

No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to Income Tax liabilities on the amount of (a) Housing Benefit and (b) Council Tax Reduction received by pensioners who retired before April 2016.

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

The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.

Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

The government will set out more detail in due course.

No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many outstanding Access to Work scheme payments there were in (a) February 2026, (b) October 2025 and (c) April 2025.

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

Access to Work (AtW) operates as a reimbursement grant, which means that the service or support must be provided before any payment can be made. Once AtW support has been approved, the customer can then submit their claim for payment. Customers have up to nine months to submit claims for their approved costs. As a result, on any individual day, there will always be claims awaiting review and payment. On average, we are currently processing and clearing claims within 13 days. We have plans in place to reduce this to 10 days.

As of the 1st of February 2026, there were 16,389 payment claims being processed.

As of the 1st of October 2025, there were 9,103 payment claims being processed.

As of the 1st of April 2025, there were 28,499 payment claims being processed.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 63906, what recent estimate he has made of the waiting times for Access to Work Applications.

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

We have interpreted this question as referring to the average processing time from the date an application is submitted to the date a decision is made. The current average processing time for access to work is 100.5 days from April 2025 to January 2026.

We are committed to reducing processing times. We also prioritise applications from customers who are due to start work within the next four weeks, as well as renewals for existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment.

In March 2025, the Department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, launching a consultation on the future of Access to Work and how the scheme can better support disabled people in employment. We are reviewing all aspects of the programme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the frozen personal allowance on entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction for people in receipt of the pre-April 2016 State Pension.

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

The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.

Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

The government will set out more detail in due course.

No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.

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Found: access to benefits, particularly those benefits that are disability-related as the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: demonstrates systemic failures in inter-departmental coordination between the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions

Found: including the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The financial burden will simply shift from The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to the local

Found: How has the change from using the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to DWP/HMRC data gone?

Found: See DWP, Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 12 June 2025 (15 July 2025), https://www.gov.uk

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Found: Departments and numerous Cabinet Ministers over the past five years and have served as a NED at both DWP

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Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2025 to question 82343, what steps her Department is taking to help customers in receipt of PIP to transact with the DVLA.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) remains committed to working with the Department for Work and Pensions to review and improve the process for customers who receive the standard rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which entitles them to a 50 per cent reduction in the rate of vehicle excise duty payable. Customers who receive the enhanced rate mobility component of PIP and whose vehicles are licensed in the disabled taxation class can already renew their exemption online.

The DVLA will develop and introduce a digital service for customers in receipt of the standard rate of PIP. This work will not start until after the delivery of electric Vehicle Excise Duty changes in 2028.

In the interim the DVLA is developing a temporary solution for customers in receipt of the standard rate of PIP that will allow them to submit their application through digital means. The technical discovery on this work is expected to start shortly.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide funding to improve accessibility of pilot training.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The aviation industry is a private industry and, therefore it is for employers in this sector to ensure they offer the right training, recruitment and retention support for the skilled workforce that they need.

A training organisation has been approved to deliver a first officer apprenticeship, which would provide training completely cost-free to young people.

My officials are working with the Department for Work and Pensions, and airlines to encourage them to deliver this apprenticeship.

In addition, British Airways, Jet2.com, and TUI have periodically offered partly or fully funded training programmes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many enquiries were opened as a result of data-sharing between HMRC and the DWP to identify when older children claim benefits in their own right; over what timeframe they were opened; and what the outcomes were.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP has long provided HMRC with information where older children receive benefits in their own right. Since 2024, this has been done through notifications of Universal Credit claims, replacing the previous approach which relied on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support data.

HMRC uses these notifications to stop Child Benefit awards in cases where a young person is receiving benefit in their own right. This prevents dual provision of government support for the same individual. Because the DWP data is notifying HMRC of clear evidence of a benefit award, rather than indicating a risk of this potential, it is approaching 100% effective for addressing this type of error and fraud.

Based on operational management information, which is subject to change, over the last two years HMRC has closed around 3,000 Child Benefit awards following notifications from DWP that the young person was in receipt of Universal Credit.

Found: See also: Department for Work and Pensions, ‘Universal credit: Support for a maximum of two children—information

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Found: Young people can also benefit from wider Department for Work and Pensions support, including programmes

Found: Young people can also benefit from wider Department for Work and Pensions support, including programmes

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Found: medium term, we are implementing department-by-deparment pilots (including with the Department for Work and Pensions

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Found: respect of hidden economy conditionality; • Transfers in totalling £5,030k from the Department for Work and Pensions