DWP: Written Answers (35767)

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 12 November (HL11411), why they continue to use benefit sanctions in the light of the finding of the draft report Impact of Benefit Sanctions on Employment Outcomes, published on 6 April 2024, that "a sanction leads the average claimant to exit less quickly into pay as you earn earnings and to earn less upon exiting."

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

Benefit sanctions form part of a wider approach to social security, acting as both a consequence for those who do not meet their work-related requirements without good reason, and as a deterrent to encourage claimants to continue to comply with their obligations.

The analysis in The Impact of Benefit Sanctions on Employment Outcomes: draft report is limited to the impact on those who were sanctioned due to non-compliance with their Universal Credit claimant commitment and excludes any claimants who were not sanctioned. It does not address the deterrent impact of sanctions and therefore does not represent a comprehensive picture of the effectiveness of sanctions within the wider social security system.

Our goal is to ensure that all those who can work should be supported to do so. Our work coaches stand ready to help people to get into work or to move closer to the labour market, depending on their circumstances. And we are investing record amounts in supporting customers to overcome barriers to work whether related to health, skills, childcare or other things that stand in their way.

Written Question

Employment: Advisory Services

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches there were in each English district in each month since July 2024.

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

The tables below provide Work Coach data by English District from July 24 to August 25.

DISTRICT	Jul-24	Aug-24	Sep-24	Oct-24	Nov-24
Avon Somerset & Gloucester	390	400	390	400	400
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire	340	350	360	380	380
Berkshire Bucks & Oxford	420	420	440	470	460
Birmingham & Solihull	690	700	700	690	690
Black Country	530	530	520	520	510
Cheshire	160	160	160	160	160
Cumbria & Lancashire	540	540	550	540	540
Default DWP National	30	20	20	30	20
Devon & Cornwall	320	340	340	350	360
Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Iow	660	680	690	690	690
Durham & Tees Valley	370	370	370	370	360
East Anglia	520	510	510	520	530
East London	780	790	830	870	870
Essex	390	390	400	400	400
Greater Manchester	980	980	990	1,010	1,030
Kent	440	450	450	440	430
Leicestershire & Northamptonshire	420	410	410	410	430
Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire & Rutland	550	540	540	540	530
Mercia	520	510	500	490	480
Merseyside	480	470	480	470	480
North East Yorkshire & The Humber	370	370	380	380	380
North London	700	690	620	630	630
Northumberland Tyne & Wear	460	450	450	440	440
South London	840	850	970	1,010	990
South Yorkshire	400	400	400	390	390
Staffordshire And Derbyshire	520	520	510	510	500
Surrey & Sussex	510	500	480	490	500
West London	660	660	680	710	710
West Yorkshire	780	790	800	810	810
Grand Total	14,740	14,800	14,940	15,120	15,110

DISTRICT	Dec-24	Jan-25	Feb-25	Mar-25	Apr-25
Avon Somerset & Gloucester	390	410	430	420	420
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire	370	380	390	390	400
Berkshire Bucks & Oxford	350	350	480	470	470
Birmingham & Solihull	570	560	710	700	700
Black Country	470	470	520	520	520
Cheshire	160	150	160	160	150
Cumbria & Lancashire	510	510	520	520	520
Default DWP National	1,500	1,500	20	30	20
Devon & Cornwall	350	350	360	360	350
Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Iow	650	670	710	710	720
Durham & Tees Valley	350	350	350	350	350
East Anglia	420	420	540	530	540
East London	750	760	890	850	860
Essex	370	370	410	410	410
Greater Manchester	970	970	1,020	1,030	1,000
Kent	400	400	440	440	440
Leicestershire & Northamptonshire	390	390	440	440	440
Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire & Rutland	490	500	530	530	520
Mercia	450	450	480	470	470
Merseyside	390	390	460	450	440
North East Yorkshire & The Humber	370	370	390	390	380
North London	550	560	640	620	640
Northumberland Tyne & Wear	430	420	400	400	400
South London	900	920	1,050	1,060	1,060
South Yorkshire	370	370	380	390	380
Staffordshire And Derbyshire	440	430	520	520	510
Surrey & Sussex	380	380	500	510	510
West London	660	660	710	710	720
West Yorkshire	770	770	800	800	790
Grand Total	15,150	15,200	15,230	15,170	15,130

DISTRICT	May-25	Jun-25	Jul-25	Aug-25
Avon Somerset & Gloucester	410	410	410	400
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire	400	400	390	400
Berkshire Bucks & Oxford	470	470	480	480
Birmingham & Solihull	710	700	710	710
Black Country	510	510	500	510
Cheshire	150	150	150	150
Cumbria & Lancashire	520	510	520	520
Default DWP National	10	20	40	10
Devon & Cornwall	360	350	340	340
Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Iow	700	690	680	670
Durham & Tees Valley	350	340	330	330
East Anglia	530	520	520	520
East London	870	880	880	870
Essex	410	400	400	400
Greater Manchester	1,000	980	1,000	980
Kent	430	430	430	420
Leicestershire & Northamptonshire	450	440	440	430
Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire & Rutland	520	510	510	500
Mercia	480	480	490	490
Merseyside	440	440	440	450
North East Yorkshire & The Humber	380	370	370	370
North London	640	640	640	630
Northumberland Tyne & Wear	400	400	390	380
South London	1,050	1,030	1,010	970
South Yorkshire	380	370	370	370
Staffordshire And Derbyshire	510	510	500	490
Surrey & Sussex	510	510	510	500
West London	760	790	790	770
West Yorkshire	780	770	760	760
Grand Total	15,150	15,030	14,980	14,800

The table below provides Work Coach data by English District for September and October 25.

DISTRICT	Sep-25	Oct-25
Avon, Somerset & Gloucestershire	400	390
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire	390	370
Birmingham & Solihull	710	690
Black Country & Coventry	620	600
Cheshire & Lancashire	580	570
Cumbria & Tees	300	290
Default DWP National	20	20
Devon & Cornwall	340	330
Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Isle Of Wight	660	640
East London	860	880
East Midlands	550	540
Essex	400	390
Greater Manchester	960	960
Hertfordshire	210	210
Kent	420	420
Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire & Rutland	440	440
Merseyside	450	460
Norfolk & Suffolk	320	320
North & Mid Wales And The Marches	130	130
North East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire	520	520
North London	640	650
Northumberland, Durham, Tyne & Wear	500	500
South London	900	880
South Midlands	450	440
South Yorkshire	380	370
Surrey & Sussex	500	490
The Shires	500	490
West London	850	830
West Yorkshire	760	750
Grand Total	14,750	14,600

Notes:

Work Coach Full Time Equivalent (FTE) data supplied is from July 2024.
The number of Work Coaches has been derived from DWP's Activity Based Model (ABM). This model gives an estimated FTE based on a point in time estimate by Line Managers, as recorded on our internal systems each month.
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 FTE.
The number of Work Coaches refers to staff involved in conducting regular engagement with claimants, hence the data does not include Work Coach Team Leaders or Disability Employment Advisers.
Work coaches include both UC Full-Service Work Coaches and Existing Benefits Work Coaches.
The answer to the previous question omitted staff assigned to a “Default DWP National” location. This is not included as standard on requests asking for site specific data, as it cannot be established which sites these staff are attributed to
Due to a system anomaly in Dec-24 and Jan-25 there were a higher number of staff assigned to the “Default DWP National” location so they have been included within the dataset. For consistency staff with this location have been included for other months too.
From September 25 the District structure was revised, and this change is reflected in the second data table.
The district North & Mid Wales and The Marches consist of sites in Wales and England; for the purpose of this response only the England site figures are counted for this district.
The number of staff employed is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Written Question

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)

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 number women born in the 1950s who have died since the publication of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's findings (HC 638) on 21 March 2024.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department has made no such assessment.

Written Question

Universal Credit: Young People

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Sherlock in the Chamber on 13 November that they will "create a guaranteed job" for eligible young people on Universal Credit for more than 18 months, how they define "guaranteed job"; who will provide it; and whether this means that every eligible young person will be provided with such a job in all circumstances.

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

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has announced that every eligible young person who has been on Universal Credit for 18 months without earning or learning will be offered guaranteed paid work. Participants of the scheme will receive support to take advantage of available opportunities, with the aim of helping them transition into regular employment.

The scheme forms part of the government’s aim to provide targeted support for young people at risk of long-term unemployment.  Further details, including eligibility criteria and the structure of placements, will be confirmed at the Autumn Budget.

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Children

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with (a) the Prime Minister, (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (c) other Cabinet colleagues on lifting the two-child benefit cap.

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

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life.

The commitments we’ve made at the 2025 spending review and beyond are just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our reduction in the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Children

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of changing the two-child benefit cap to a) three, b) four and c) five children.

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

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life.

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Children

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)

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 removing the two-child benefit cap on incentives to work.

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

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life.

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Children

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of lifting the two-child benefit cap.

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

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life.

Written Question

Employment Schemes: Young People

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, following the announcement made on 16 October 2025 regarding the extension of funding to Trailblazer areas under the Get Britain Working programme, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Trailblazer schemes to date on a) employment outcomes b) levels of economic inactivity, and c) associated health and wellbeing indicators.

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

The Department developed a Strategic Outline Business Case for the Get Britain Working Trailblazers in March 2025, which followed HM Treasury’s Green Book framework. Within this, an assessment was made of the potential impact of the programme upon employment and associated health outcomes, as well as increasing participation in education and training. An update to the Business Case is being conducted, which will take account of relevant information following the programme launch earlier this year.

The Department will be commissioning an evaluation, starting in December 2025, which is expected to build evidence on the effectiveness of the programme at achieving employment outcomes, reducing levels of economic inactivity, associated health and well-being indicators, increasing participation in education and training, and effectiveness of systems integration. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer term impacts have developed.

Written Question

Employment: Young People

Tuesday 25th November 2025

Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)

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 having Jobcentre staff in supported housing sites to support young people into employment.

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

It remains our priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter and sustain employment.

We are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, led by Mayoral Strategic Authorities across England which are testing innovative approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes strengthening local coordination, through local leadership, and outreach to better connect young people with opportunities.

One of the Trailblazers in Central London is delivering targeted support to care leavers included those in supported accommodation to help them access suitable employment opportunities.

As part of our Youth Offer, we also have Youth Hubs which deliver a core offer of skills, training and employment-focused support. Alongside this, partner organisations deliver a range of services, based upon the needs of the local area that they service. This can include connecting young people to a wider range of services such as health, housing and wellbeing support, depending on local needs and partnerships.

To drive up quality in supported accommodation (including for young people), DWP is working alongside MHCLG to implement measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act in England, which include a proposed locally led licensing regime and new National Supported Housing Standards for providers. The proposed standards make it clear that residents should receive person-centred support including where appropriate being supported, encouraged, and enabled to take up learning, volunteering, training, and employment opportunities.