Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Minister for Social Security and Disability attended the Labour Muslim Network panel event on 6 December 2025 in a ministerial capacity.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Minister did not attend the Labour Muslim Network panel event on the 6th December in his Ministerial capacity.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to encourage parents, children and teachers to discuss the child-friendly version of the child poverty strategy published on 13 March.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The child‑friendly version of the government’s Child Poverty Strategy is designed to help teachers and parents talk to children about the challenges facing children and families in poverty. It provides a clear, reassuring, and age‑appropriate overview of what poverty means, why some families face difficulties, and the actions the government is taking in response.
In developing the strategy, the government undertook structured engagement with children and families experiencing poverty, placing their views at the centre of the work. A Children’s Rights Impact Assessment was also published, outlining the expected positive effects on children’s rights. The child-friendly version of the Strategy (attached) and the Children’s Rights Impact Assessment can be found on the Strategy’s gov.uk webpages: Our Children, Our Future: How the government is helping children and families (Child Friendly) and Child Poverty Strategy: Child Rights - GOV.UK.
UNICEF has shared the strategy with its network of 1,600 Rights Respecting primary schools, and the Department for Education has highlighted it in its sector communications. Further promotion has been supported through social media activity and a stakeholder toolkit to help raise awareness of the child‑friendly strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there has been an increase in successful claims of new style Employment Support Allowance in the past three years; and if so, what assessment they have made of the reasons for that increase.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The volume of New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NS ESA) new claims awarded has not increased in the past three years.
NS ESA new claims awarded:
Financial year | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 to September 2025 |
ESA new claims awarded | 115,380 | 113,110 | 104,870 | 45,710 |
*Data is taken from internal Management Information. Volumes have been rounded to the nearest ten.
*Volumes for 2025/26 only include awards made between April 2025 and September 2025, therefore are not comparable to 2022/23 – 2024/25.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assistance his Department provides to families affected by long-term illness.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is a wide range of support available through the benefits system for families who have a member affected by a long-term illness. Universal Credit can provide financial help for eligible households including additional support in respect of health conditions or caring responsibilities, depending on their circumstances.
Additionally Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to help people aged 16 to state pension age with the extra costs arising from a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability. It is intended to support individuals in leading full, active, and independent lives.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 4 February (HL14073), what technical reasonable adjustments, beyond "plain English" and dynamically built questions, are embedded in the digital interface to support claimants with learning disabilities; and in particular whether session timeouts have been extended.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
While Universal Credit is delivered as a digital first service, the Department recognises some customers need support to access or manage services online. Universal Credit is designed and built in line with accessibility standards and is regularly tested with users who have a range of access needs, including learning disabilities. Features such as step-by-step journeys, plain English and clear prompts are built-in to support understanding and reduce cognitive load.
Where customers have health conditions or learning disabilities, support is provided operationally through tailored help and reasonable adjustments. Any agreed adjustments are recorded on the customer’s account and reviewed regularly, ensuring support can be delivered consistently throughout the Universal Credit journey. These include telephone and face-to-face support, postal correspondence, home visits and support from an appointee or representative to act on the customer’s behalf if appropriate. The Department also offers the Help to Claim service, delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland and provides enhanced support for vulnerable customers, including some moving from ESA.
In addition, regarding session time‑outs, there is a feature to give users the opportunity to extend the time for them to complete that stage. When making a claim there are many points where the data is autosaved, meaning that when a customer is timed out their information is mainly saved. Where session length or digital interaction presents a barrier, customers can be supported through assisted digital routes or non‑digital channels, tailored to their individual needs.
There is continued focus on accessibility and support, allowing customers to transact via a variety of channels according to their needs, including offering non‑digital routes, reasonable adjustments and tailored help for customers who may struggle with the claims process.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
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 whether existing employer incentive payments adequately support small and micro-businesses to deliver and sustain full four-year Level 3 electrical and plumbing apprenticeships.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government provides a range of financial support to help employers in all sectors to take on apprentices, including within the electrical and plumbing trades.
We are introducing a new incentive of up to £2,000 for non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs) that take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. It will apply to apprenticeship starts from October, as long as they have joined their employer within the past 3 months. Employers hiring apprentices aged 18-24 who have been on Universal Credit for over six months will also be eligible for the new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant from June 2026.
Additionally, from August 2026, we will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs) for eligible people aged 16-24. At the moment, this only happens 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.
The government also 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 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).
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
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 cumulative impact of changes to employment and administrative costs on small and micro-businesses’ recruitment and retention of electrical and plumbing apprentices.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government provides a range of financial support to help employers in all sectors to take on apprentices, including within the electrical and plumbing trades.
We are introducing a new incentive of up to £2,000 for non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs) that take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. It will apply to apprenticeship starts from October, as long as they have joined their employer within the past 3 months. Employers hiring apprentices aged 18-24 who have been on Universal Credit for over six months will also be eligible for the new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant from June 2026.
Additionally, from August 2026, we will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs) for eligible people aged 16-24. At the moment, this only happens 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.
The government also 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 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).
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with Capita on ensuring that no redundancies result from the awarding of the Synergy contract to that company.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Synergy is replacing out of date technology systems and processes that cost us time to use and maintain – time that could be better spent serving people who rely on our services. It will free up employee time for higher value work delivering outcomes for the taxpayer. The work Capita will carry out under the Synergy Business Process Services (BPS) contract is activity not currently delivered by Civil Servants, because BPS is already outsourced to another supplier.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he conducted an assessment of the decision to award Capita the Synergy contract prior to that contract being awarded.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Synergy programme awarded its Business Processing Services contract after a robust process, conducted in line with Government procurement regulations. Its priority is to ensure continuity of service and value for public money.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Get Britain Working White Paper of 2024, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increased levels of demand for the Access to Work programme as a result of the increased funding for tailored employment support for Disabled people on out of work benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.