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, what percentage of the Household Support Fund is spent on the provision of furniture and white goods; and if his Department will work with the Crisis and Resilience Fund team to ensure that furniture provision becomes a core component of crisis and resilience spending.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Percentages of Household Support Fund (HSF) spend by category are published and available here: Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK
Table 2 shows a breakdown of HSF spending by category. Furniture and white goods are included within the “wider essentials” category, which also covers items such as clothing, period and hygiene products, and essential transport-related costs. We do not hold data on the proportion specifically spent on furniture and appliances.
We are working closely with local authorities and external stakeholders on the detailed design of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, and we plan to publish scheme guidance in January 2026.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that individuals whose immigration status no longer entitles them to public funds are automatically removed from benefit systems; and how many such removals have taken place in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit systems carry out daily automatic checks against Home Office data to identify any changes in immigration status, and subsequently, DWP caseworkers stop claims where the individual no longer has an immigration status that permits recourse to public funds.
However, the department does not hold data on the number of benefit claims disallowed after a review.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his answer of 20 November to Question 91350, whether his predecessor was provided with DWP research report no. 447 “Evaluation of Automatic State Pension Forecasts”.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ministers were informed of the relevance of report no. 447 and then provided with the full report in November 2025. We have decided to retake the decision as this report (no. 447) was not considered at the time of the original decision and was not shared with the previous Secretary of State.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 20 November to Question 91351, when he was first provided with DWP research report no. 447 “Evaluation of Automatic State Pension Forecasts”.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ministers were informed of the relevance of report no. 447 and then provided with the full report in November 2025. We have decided to retake the decision as this report (no. 447) was not considered at the time of the original decision and was not shared with the previous Secretary of State.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to support the development of (a) accredited training routes and (b) apprenticeships for advice and information roles.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
At present nine awarding organisations offer 18 different knowledge only qualifications at levels 2 to 5 in information, advice and guidance (IAG) and careers advice. They are listed on Ofqual’s register of regulated qualifications: Find a regulated qualification - GOV.UK
Regarding apprenticeships, there are four apprenticeship standards relating to information and advice roles, including Level 3 Learning and Development Practitioner and Level 4 Employability Practitioner.
Where there is a genuine occupational gap not met by an existing apprenticeship standard and there will be sufficient demand for apprentices, employers are able to work with Skills England to develop an apprenticeship standard which meets their need.
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, what percentage of the Household Support Fund is spent on furniture and appliances.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Percentages of Household Support Fund (HSF) spend by category are published in DWP’s management information, based on data provided by local authorities. This information is available here:
Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK
For each release, Table 2 shows a breakdown of HSF spend by category. Furniture and appliances are included within the “wider essentials” category, which also covers items such as clothing, period and hygiene products, and essential transport-related costs. We do not hold data on the proportion specifically spent on furniture and appliances, so cannot provide a further breakdown.
The first release of management information (covering 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022) did not include this category, as it was not collected at that time.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department is working with local authorities to ensure they are equipped to deliver the Crisis and Resilience Fund from 1 April 2026.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
My Department has actively engaged with stakeholders on the design for the new Crisis and Resilience Fund through a structured co-design process. This has involved a representative group of local authorities, third-party organisations and academics. The concluding event on 22 October 2025 was attended by over 750 stakeholders.
We plan to publish guidance in January 2026. Provisional allocations will be published as part of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, ahead of the scheme going live in April 2026.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, updated on 20 November 2025, when his department plans to launch the consultation on refugees' access to benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has committed to a consultation on changes to taxpayer-funded benefits to prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK. Further details about the consultation, including the timelines, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total number of calls (a) answered (b) abandoned was for each public helpline number provided by his Department and its executive agencies for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held centrally. To provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 proportion of identified benefit fraud cases in which the claimant was a non-UK national in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Monetary Value of Fraud and Error Statistics are not disaggregated by nationality and immigration status.