Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 level of spending required to develop and run in-house the replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This information is not available at this time. The Jobs and Careers Service Programme is still being designed.
When the Business Case has His Majesty’s Treasury approval, an executive summary will be published in line with current practice.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to use AI-powered job-matching tools developed by the private sector to run the new digital service behind the new Jobs and Careers Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to reforming the Jobs and Careers Service to better support jobseekers and employers. The Department continues to monitor market innovations and will leverage the right technology, including AI, to deliver improved outcomes for citizens. Use of AI would be subject to rigorous assessment, procurement in line with government regulations, and alignment with the Department’s responsible AI framework.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 cost of ending the existing Find a Job digital service and transitioning to a new in-house replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The full contract for running the Find a job and Disability Confident services includes exit fees, and is available online at: Find a Job Service extension - Find a Tender - GOV.UK
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 proportion of Universal Credit starts in each of the last 5 years were (a) new benefit claimants and (b) claimants transitioning from legacy benefits through managed migration.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This information is not readily available. However, as detailed in the DWP Statistical Work Programme and the Universal Credit statistics release strategy, the Department is developing a method to denote UC claimants given a migration notice from the Move to Universal Credit programme, and updates on this will be shared in the DWP Statistical Work Programme.
As we continue the Move to Universal Credit (UC) programme, the department is moving people from legacy benefits to UC, leading to an expected rise in the UC caseload.
Latest Official Statistics show that, up to end of September 2025, almost 1.9 million individuals have made a claim to UC following receipt of a migration notice.
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, for every year since 2017, what proportion of Universal Credit claimants with dependent children are (a) in work and (b) not in work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 provides the proportion of Universal Credit households with children, broken down by in work or not in work.
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1%.
2. Figures are for households receiving Universal Credit in assessment periods ending at any point in the calendar year.
3. Figures are for Great Britain (GB) only and include only households where Universal Credit was in payment.
4. Figures represent Universal Credit full service claims only, which are only available from 2019 onwards.
5. Due to differences in methodology, there may be slight differences from published statistics.
Table 1: Proportion of UC households with children, broken down by in work or not in work, for every calendar year since 2019
Calendar Year | Proportion of UC households with children | |
In work | Not in work | |
2019 | 69% | 31% |
2020 | 70% | 30% |
2021 | 71% | 29% |
2022 | 72% | 28% |
2023 | 72% | 28% |
2024 | 70% | 30% |
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, when the membership of the Timms Review steering group will be published.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have launched the Timms Review to ensure Personal Independence Payment is fair and fit for the future. The Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts.
On 30 October, I announced that I will co-chair the Review alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group of around a dozen members, which will set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan.
The steering group is being recruited through an open and accessible Expression of Interest process, which ran from 30 October to 30 November. We are now considering applications and will provide an update shortly.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 4 December to question 94564, whether he made an assessment of the potential impact of those policy changes on people with fluctuating conditions like MS before the policy was announced.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Before any announcements were made, Motability Operations confirmed it will continue to offer a broad range of vehicles without an Advance Payment, ensuring that people who elect to join the Scheme can access vehicles suited to their needs, whatever their health condition or disability, in exchange for all or part of their mobility allowance.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 readiness of the replacement digital service for the new Jobs and Careers Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is working to ensure the new Jobs and Careers Service is delivered on schedule. The Department continues to engage with stakeholders and will communicate changes in a timely manner.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what service standards on timeliness are in place for making decisions on Work Capability Assessments; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce these waiting times.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is one part of the process for making a UC or ESA benefit entitlement decision. Health Care Practitioners undertake the Work Capability Assessment and following this functional assessment make a recommendation to the department. Thereafter, a DWP Decision Maker reviews this recommendation and makes the decision on benefit entitlement.
We monitor customer journey times for WCAs, deploying additional staff if required, prioritising urgent cases and addressing backlogs. We consistently prioritise assessments for new claims to minimise waiting times.
Due to unforeseen high levels of WCAs required in late 2024, a backlog of reassessment cases built up from individuals reporting a change in their condition before May 2025. We are working with suppliers to increase capacity for clearing this backlog, including the acceleration of the recruitment of assessors. There are no backlogs within the DWP Decision Making stage.
The UC WCA statistics remain under development with Phase 2 having been completed in September 2024. WCA clearance times will be introduced during phase 4 (there are no timelines). Details of this strategy can be found on gov.uk at the below link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-wca-statistics-release-strategy/universal-credit-work-capability-assessment-statistics-release-strategy.
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 is the average duration of a Universal Credit claim that was started in a) 2021, b) 2022, c) 2023, d) 2024 and e) 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
However, monthly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit in Great Britain are published regularly on Stat-Xplore. This data is available by claim duration and by age.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.