Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Officials within the Department for Work and Pensions have access to artificial intelligence tools that may be used to support efficiency in their day‑to‑day work. However, responsibility for developing policy and legislative proposals remains with officials and all final decisions on substantive policy or legal issues continue to be taken by Ministers.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 allowing the Child Maintenance Service to issue a deduction from earnings order rather than a deduction of earnings request to HM Paymaster General when the paying parent is a member of the armed forces.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEO) are applied as a method of payment where the Child Maintenance Service deducts maintenance directly from the Paying Parent’s wages. The DEO is primarily used to enforce payments but can be set up voluntarily. Deduction from Earnings Requests are similar to a Deduction from Earnings Order but used for Paying Parents who are serving members of the Armed Forces. The Child Maintenance Service can only request a deduction to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and, unlike with civilian employers, they cannot order or enforce payments. MOD policy aims to comply with requests; however, if the Paying Parent is committed to operational duties MOD may suspend the collection of debt.
The Child Maintenance Service takes action to ensure the correct method of payment is applied by identifying whether a Paying Parent is in the Armed Forces through its use of Real Team Information (RTI) Data taken from HMRC. This provides up to date information about Pay As You Earn income as the information submitted by employers online is displayed in RTI immediately. To ensure that the correct method of payment is used for a Paying Parent who is serving in the Armed Forces, caseworkers are provided with step-by-step procedural instructions and training.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory right to food for people in poverty.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
While the right to food is not codified in UK domestic law, the Government is taking action to improve access to good, nutritious food.
We have announced action to expand free school meals, support parents with the cost of healthy food in the school holidays with the Holidays and Activities and Food Programme and launched the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which enables local authorities to design schemes that address food poverty.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the Minister for Child Maintenance has declined requests to meet with STOPSuicides UK.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The minister regularly meets with key stakeholders and undertakes extensive engagement via correspondence with organisations who have an interest in the Child Maintenance Service, including with STOPSuicide UK and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young people with special educational needs and disabilities into employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Pathways to Work guarantee will ensure an offer of personalised work, health and skills support to disabled people and people with health conditions. Access to Work can support workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer to enable work. Young people will also be eligible for additional support through the Youth Guarantee.
Through Pathways to Work, young people with special educational needs have access to tailored support, including help into supported employment through Connect to Work. Our local economic inactivity and youth guarantee trailblazers include testing approaches to targeted support for young people with SEND.
We've also launched a review into Young People Work and Health led by Alan Milburn to understand the reasons behind young people becoming NEET, with a particular focus on mental health and disability.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment has made on its programme of work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Review has established its themes and launched a Call for Evidence, the first step in a wider programme of engagement. Recognising no single method will capture every perspective, the Review’s steering group has agreed a mix of approaches to engage with and gather evidence from individuals and organisations. A varied approach will ensure the Review is informed by lived experience. An update will be shared later this week.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to process Access to Work claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have increased the number of staff by 29% from 500 in March 2024 to 648 in March 2026 and streamlined processes to improve the service.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of the scheme and how to improve it, so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to process Access to Work claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have increased the number of staff by 29% from 500 in March 2024 to 648 in March 2026 and streamlined processes to improve the service.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of the scheme and how to improve it, so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of publishing levels of welfare spending on foreign nationals by benefit type.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
My Department remains focussed on ensuring we provide robust, transparent data where this is available.
That is why we regularly publish quarterly official statistics on the number of Universal Credit claimants broken down by immigration status type and nationality group, as well as whether claimants are in work. We have no plans to change this approach.
In benefits other than Universal Credit, nationality and immigration status is not held or collected on digital systems in a way that allows it to be extracted for the publication as official statistics.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help tackle food poverty.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
In the Good Food Cycle, published last July, we made improving access to healthy and affordable food, targeting costs that lead to food price inflation, and supporting those who most need access to healthy affordable nutrition, key priorities for Government.
The Crisis and Resilience Fund will also support people on low incomes and in need of immediate financial support.