Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.



Secretary of State

 Portrait

Liz Kendall
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Shadow Ministers / Spokeperson
Liberal Democrat
Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD - Life peer)
Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)
Steve Darling (LD - Torbay)
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)

Conservative
Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Scottish National Party
Kirsty Blackman (SNP - Aberdeen North)
Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)

Green Party
Siân Berry (Green - Brighton Pavilion)
Green Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)
Junior Shadow Ministers / Deputy Spokesperson
Conservative
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con - Excepted Hereditary)
Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con - Life peer)
Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Danny Kruger (Con - East Wiltshire)
Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Ministers of State
Stephen Timms (Lab - East Ham)
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Alison McGovern (Lab - Birkenhead)
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Baroness Sherlock (Lab - Life peer)
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
Andrew Western (Lab - Stretford and Urmston)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Torsten Bell (Lab - Swansea West)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no upcoming events identified
Debates
Tuesday 22nd July 2025
Universal Credit Bill
Lords Chamber
Select Committee Docs
Tuesday 29th July 2025
00:01
Select Committee Inquiry
Wednesday 30th July 2025
Child Maintenance Service

Millions of children and parents are served by the Child Maintenance Service. But is it working as effectively as it …

Written Answers
Friday 1st August 2025
Small Businesses: Parental Pay
To ask His Majesty's Government when the threshold for qualifying for Small Employers' Relief was last up-rated, and from what …
Secondary Legislation
Thursday 17th July 2025
Social Security (Habitual Residence, Past Presence and Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
Part 2 of these Regulations enables certain persons to access income-related benefits upon arrival in Great Britain in the following …
Bills
Wednesday 18th June 2025
Universal Credit Bill 2024-26
Make provision to alter the rates of the standard allowance, limited capability for work element and limited capability for work …
Dept. Publications
Thursday 31st July 2025
09:30
View online
Transparency

Department for Work and Pensions Commons Appearances

Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs

Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:
  • Urgent Questions where the Speaker has selected a question to which a Minister must reply that day
  • Adjornment Debates a 30 minute debate attended by a Minister that concludes the day in Parliament.
  • Oral Statements informing the Commons of a significant development, where backbench MP's can then question the Minister making the statement.

Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue

Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.

Most Recent Commons Appearances by Category
Jun. 23
Oral Questions
May. 13
Urgent Questions
Jul. 21
Written Statements
Jul. 16
Westminster Hall
Apr. 23
Adjournment Debate
View All Department for Work and Pensions Commons Contibutions

Bills currently before Parliament

Department for Work and Pensions does not have Bills currently before Parliament


Acts of Parliament created in the 2024 Parliament

Department for Work and Pensions has not passed any Acts during the 2024 Parliament

Department for Work and Pensions - Secondary Legislation

Part 2 of these Regulations enables certain persons to access income-related benefits upon arrival in Great Britain in the following situations, provided that they meet the other relevant entitlement conditions—
Regulations 2 to 8 amend respectively the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1967), the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/207), the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1792), the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/213), the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/214), the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/794), and the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/376).
View All Department for Work and Pensions Secondary Legislation

Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Trending Petitions
Petition Open
2,258 Signatures
(604 in the last 7 days)
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5,504 Signatures
(231 in the last 7 days)
Petition Open
3,833 Signatures
(79 in the last 7 days)
Petitions with most signatures
Petition Debates Contributed
161,790
Petition Closed
21 May 2025
closed 2 months, 1 week ago

We call on the Government to fairly compensate WASPI women affected by the increases to their State Pension age and the associated failings in DWP communications.

View All Department for Work and Pensions Petitions

Departmental Select Committee

Work and Pensions Committee

Commons Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.

At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries.

Select Committee findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.


11 Members of the Work and Pensions Committee
Debbie Abrahams Portrait
Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 11th September 2024
David Pinto-Duschinsky Portrait
David Pinto-Duschinsky (Labour - Hendon)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 21st October 2024
Amanda Hack Portrait
Amanda Hack (Labour - North West Leicestershire)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 21st October 2024
Gill German Portrait
Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 21st October 2024
Damien Egan Portrait
Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 21st October 2024
Johanna Baxter Portrait
Johanna Baxter (Labour - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 21st October 2024
John Milne Portrait
John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 28th October 2024
Steve Darling Portrait
Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 28th October 2024
Peter Bedford Portrait
Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 28th October 2024
Frank McNally Portrait
Frank McNally (Labour - Coatbridge and Bellshill)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 16th December 2024
Danny Kruger Portrait
Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Work and Pensions Committee Member since 17th March 2025
Work and Pensions Committee: Previous Inquiries
Money and Pensions Service Pension stewardship and COP26 PIP and ESA Assessments DWP's response to the coronavirus outbreak Work of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment Plan for Jobs and employment support The sale and acquisition of BHS inquiry DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work Protecting pension savers – five years on from the pension freedoms: Pension scams Progress with child maintenance reforms Update on auto-enrolment and a range of current pensions issues Fraud and error in the benefits system Employment and Support Allowance and Work Capability Assessments Progress with Personal Independence Payment implementation 2014 Employment support for disabled people: Access to Work One-off evidence session on pension reforms Benefit delivery inquiry Welfare to work inquiry Pension freedom guidance and advice inquiry Tax credit reforms inquiry Local welfare safety net inquiry In-work progression in Universal Credit inquiry Understanding the new State Pension inquiry Bereavement benefits inquiry Pre-appointment hearing for the Pensions Ombudsman Progress with automatic enrolment and pension reforms Financial scrutiny of the Department for Work and Pensions Benefit sanctions policy beyond the Oakley review Progress with disability and incapacity benefit reforms Universal Credit Work Programme: the experience of different user groups Youth unemployment and the Government’s Youth Contract EU Pensions Policy White Paper on Universal Credit Automatic enrolment in workplace pensions and National Employment Savings Trust Governance and best practice in workplace pensions Role of Jobcentre Plus in the reformed welfare system Support for housing costs in the reformed welfare system School holiday poverty inquiry The work of The Pensions Regulator inquiry Executive pensions inquiry Spending Review inquiry Support for the bereaved Universal Credit and Survival Sex: sex in exchange for meeting survival needs inquiry No DSS: discrimination against benefit claimants in the housing sector inquiry Benefit freeze Overpayments of Carer's Allowance Ongoing work on DWP priorities and performance inquiry Charging for pension transfer advice inquiry Pension auto-enrolment: update inquiry Universal Credit Project Assessment Reviews inquiry Carillion joint inquiry Assistive technology inquiry Pre-appointment scrutiny of the Chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee Defined benefit pensions white paper inquiry The future of the European Social Fund inquiry Two-child benefit limit inquiry Welfare safety net inquiry Benefit cap inquiry Pension costs and transparency inquiry Disability employment inquiry Concentrix and tax credits inquiry Child Maintenance Service inquiry Employment opportunities for young people inquiry Intergenerational fairness inquiry Pensions automatic enrolment inquiry Early drawing of state pension inquiry Recent pensions policy developments The Future of Jobcentre Plus inquiry Support for ex-offenders inquiry Disability employment gap inquiry Pension Protection Fund and Pensions Regulator inquiry Personal Independence Payment inquiry Citizen's income inquiry Victims of modern slavery inquiry DWP Annual Report and Accounts inquiry Self-employment and the gig economy inquiry Benefit cap inquiry Brexit and labour market policy inquiry Universal Credit update inquiry Universal Credit inquiry PIP and ESA Assessments inquiry Pension freedom and choice inquiry Defined benefit pension schemes Access to work cap on support grants inquiry Collective defined contribution pension schemes inquiry Support for carers inquiry The cost of living Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service Defined benefit pensions with liability driven investments Benefit levels in the UK Defined benefit pension schemes Cost of living support payments Disability employment gap Health and Safety Executive Safeguarding vulnerable claimants Norton pension schemes and the Fraud Compensation Fund Statutory Sick Pay Disability employment Devolution of employment support Pensioner poverty – challenges and mitigations Get Britain Working – Reforming Jobcentres Get Britain Working: Pathways to Work Employment support for disabled people Child Maintenance Service Children in poverty: Measurement and targets Welfare policy in Northern Ireland Assistive technology Benefit cap Benefit sanctions Collective defined contribution pension schemes Defined benefit pensions white paper inquiry Disability employment The future of the European Social Fund inquiry Executive pensions Universal Credit Universal Credit - In-work progression Pension costs and transparency Spending Review Welfare safety net Charging for pension transfer advice Overpayments of Carer's Allowance Pension auto-enrolment: update No DSS: discrimination against benefit claimants in the housing sector Benefit freeze Support for the bereaved The work of The Pensions Regulator Motability Ongoing work on DWP priorities and performance Pension freedom and choice PIP and ESA Assessments School holiday poverty Support for carers Two-child benefit limit Universal Credit and Survival Sex

50 most recent Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department

17th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government when the threshold for qualifying for Small Employers' Relief was last up-rated, and from what level.

Small employers (those who have gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability of £45,000 or less in the previous tax year) can claim what is known as Small Employers Relief and can recover 100 percent of Statutory Maternity Pay they have paid out plus an additional compensation payment. This additional compensation payment is known as Small Employers’ Compensation and seeks to support small employers with the associated costs of having an employee on maternity leave which are not thought to affect large employers in the same way, such as the employer’s share of National Insurance contributions that might be payable, as well as administration and recruitment costs.

The same reimbursement arrangements apply to Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.

The threshold for qualifying as a small employer was increased in April 2004 from £40,000 to £45,000 (or less) of gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability in the previous tax year.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
23rd Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 23 July, what steps they have taken to engage with the families of young disabled people who may be affected by the proposal to removal eligibility of those under 22 years of age for the limited capability for work and work-related activity element of Universal Credit.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper was published on 18 March 2025 and closed on 30 June 2025, setting out plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support.

We ran a programme of consultation events to hear from disabled people and people with health conditions directly, including 7 virtual events and 11 in-person events across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

As part of the consultation, we welcomed views on raising the age someone can access the Universal Credit Health Element to 22. This consultation received over 45,000 responses and we are considering responses; we will set out our plans in due course.

If we proceed with this change, we will consider what special provisions need to be put in place for those young people where engagement with the Youth Guarantee is not a realistic prospect.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
24th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend for the proposal to remove eligibility for the limited capability for work and work-related activity group from those under the age of 22 to apply to disabled adults receiving residential care.

As part of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Government invited views on the proposal to raise the minimum age for accessing the Universal Credit (UC) health element to 22. The consultation closed on 30 June, and we are now considering responses. The Government’s conclusion will be announced in due course.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
23rd Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure homeless people can access benefits.

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to question HL9238 on 17 July.

The Government has committed to a cross-government strategy to get the country back on track to ending homelessness. We have already taken the first steps, making a £1 billion investment in homelessness and rough sleeping services in 2025/26, a £233 million increase on the previous year, to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and to help prevent rough sleeping

My department is committed to ensuring people experiencing homelessness receive the benefits and support they need. Support is in place to help people experiencing homelessness claim and receive benefits, including:

  • The DWP funded ‘Help to Claim’ service delivered by Citizen’s Advice
  • The use of a 'care of' address, such as a local jobcentre
  • Payment through the Payment Exception Service, enabling cash withdrawal from a PayPoint outlet, where the customer does not have a bank account

Jobcentres provide outreach in community and homelessness settings in areas with high levels of homelessness and organise referrals to local authority housing teams under ‘Duty to Refer’ legislation. There are single points of contact in every jobcentre to support work coaches with complex homelessness cases, along with training to better understand and support vulnerable customers. Our advanced customer support senior leaders and vulnerable customer champions review our processes to ensure we are effectively safeguarding such customers

The Government’s plans to get Britain working include the new Jobs and Careers Service, which will provide individualised support to those with the greatest barriers to work, while Connect to Work will provide support to people with disabilities, health conditions and complex barriers, including those experiencing homelessness.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Motability Scheme support is available to applicants with (1) a food intolerance, (2) alcohol misuse, and (3) obsessive compulsive disorder; and if so, what are the reasons for making that support available.

DWP is responsible for the disability benefits which passport people to the Motability Scheme. To be eligible for the Scheme individuals must be in receipt of a qualifying benefit such as enhanced mobility Personal Independence Payment, higher rate mobility Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment (including equivalent Scottish benefits).

Disability benefits are awarded based on how conditions affect a claimant, a determination of their functional needs and not the condition itself.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants are claiming Universal Credit in the UK at present, and how many did so for each of the past three years.

The Department recently published Universal Credit Immigration status and nationality summary statistics on GOV.UK and this shows that 96.0% of UC claimants are either citizens or have been living and contributing to the UK for a very long time.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
14th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people received a driving lessons grant from the Motability scheme in each of the past five years, broken down by the qualifying benefits those people received in each year.

Data about the receipt of driving lesson grants from the Motability Scheme is not held by the Department.

The Motability Scheme is overseen by the Motability Foundation and is delivered by Motability Operations Ltd.

Motability is independent of the government and is wholly responsible for the terms and administration of the Scheme.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance she has issued to (a) work coaches and (b) case managers on processing claims for new claimants from (i) Israel and (ii) the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

Guidance for DWP staff making benefit decisions is available on gov.uk. Specific guidance on new customers arriving in the UK from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be published in the usual way.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending transitional protection under Universal Credit to include couples who form a household which becomes eligible for Universal Credit and consequently (a) reduce the overall level of welfare expenditure and (b) free up social housing.

No assessment has been made.

Transitional Protection was introduced as part of the Move to UC journey to ensure legacy benefit customers maintain the same level of entitlement on moving to UC at the point of transition.

Transitional protection is considered for both single and couple households that manage migrate to UC. It is not extended to customers in receipt of the transitional element that have a significant change of circumstances or where a couple forms and makes a new claim to UC.

The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 made provision for transitional protection. DWP has no plans to amend the regulations to extend transitional protection to include couples who form a household after they have moved to Universal Credit.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many passports and driving licences have been removed from paying parents as a result of them not paying their child maintenance.

The Department for Work and Pensions uses sanctions such as sending Paying Parents to prison, disqualifying them from holding, or obtaining a passport or driving licence as a last resort and only used when every other method of recovering unpaid child maintenance has been tried. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) on behalf of the Department only pursues these sanctions when they believe the Paying Parent can pay but is refusing to do so. In these circumstances enforcement powers will have a deterrent effect on Paying Parents.

From the latest Child Maintenance Service official statistics, table 6.2, in the National tables, provides the outcome information where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents for non-compliance. The latest statistics show there were three immediate passport confiscations and seven immediate driving disqualifications in Great Britain between July 2019 and March 2025.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
10th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many households received aggregate annual benefits, including Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, housing support and other entitlements, in excess of (1) £50,000, (2) £60,000, and (3) £70,000, in each of the past five years; and what proportion of those households included (a) more than one child, (b) a claimant of disability benefits, and (c) a foreign national.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason new claimants from (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be exempt from the Habitual Residence Test for Universal Credit.

Given the circumstances in which British nationals and their eligible families have urgently travelled to the UK following the Government’s evacuations, DWP want to ensure that those arriving can access benefits as soon as possible (where they meet all other eligibility requirements).

This does not enable DWP to pay benefits to anyone who does not already have an underlying entitlement to benefits. For those who are not British or Irish citizens, they must have a valid immigration status that provides recourse to public funds to access benefits, on top of meeting other benefit-specific eligibility criteria.

More detail can be found in the explanatory memorandum for this amendment: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/884/memorandum/contents.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department collects data on (a) errors and (b) false positives arising from algorithmic fraud detection tools.

DWP is committed to processing data lawfully, proportionately, and ethically, with meaningful human input and safeguards in place to protect individuals. “Algorithmic fraud detection tool” is not a term we use in DWP however, the department develops, tests, and invests in advanced analytics to support the detection of fraud and error. Currently, the UC Advances model is the only machine learning model deployed at scale in live service. On the 17th July, the Department published a fairness assessment of the UC Advances model, which includes consideration of the model’s performance. The model remains an effective fraud prevention control, performing approximately three times better than a control group in identifying high-risk advances.

Fairness assessment including statistical analysis of the Universal Credit advances machine learning model: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 - GOV.UK

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit decisions made using (a) automated and (b) AI-assisted systems have been overturned on appeal since 2020.

No Artificial Intelligence is currently deployed to make decisions regarding benefit entitlement or value in isolation. There is automation in some benefit processes but decisions regarding entitlement and value will have a human decision maker involved.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability in its use of AI systems in public services.

We have AI governance in place to ensure we use AI in a safe, ethical, and transparent way. DWP is committed to publishing details of its use of algorithms against the cross-Government Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard (ATRS). We ensure our generative AI tools can trace outputs back to the source data so that humans can understand how the output has been created. Outputs from our use of AI technology are traceable for governance purposes.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether benefit claimants are informed when their claims are assessed using algorithmic tools.

DWP’s Personal Information Charter (PIC) (Personal information charter - Department for Work and Pensions - GOV.UK) outlines how DWP processes personal data related to and its use of both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Decision Making (ADM).

DWP does not use AI to replace human judgement to determine or deny a payment to a claimant.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any of the algorithmic systems used by her Department are subject to independent oversight.

The Department is committed to publishing details of its use of complex algorithms in line with the cross-Government Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard (ATRS). We also engage with external bodies, such as the Information Commissioner's Office, the National Audit Office, and Parliament as required.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of its use of algorithmic decision-making tools on levels of risk of (a) bias and (b) discrimination.

DWP is committed to regularly assessing AI use in the Department to ensure it meets business needs, is quality assured, and does not lead to a risk of discrimination or harm. In some areas, the Department uses automated decision-making to make benefit awards, but AI is not used as part of that process. DWP has a legal requirement to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place when carrying out automated decision-making or the use of AI, using tools such as Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and fairness assessments to highlight any potential bias or discrimination risks associated with AI and automation. The Department carries out regular checks to ensure our systems are working as intended.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP assessments were conducted (a) face-to-face and (b) by phone in each of the last two years.

The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments carried out by (a) face-to-face and (b) telephone in the last two calendar years are readily available on tab T2_32_Assessment_by_Channel, in Tables 2.32a and 2.32b of Pathways to Work: Evidence pack: Chapter 2 reforming the structure.

In addition to face-to-face and telephone, PIP assessments have also been conducted via paper-based and video assessments during the time period requested. These assessment channels are also shown in the tables contained in the evidence pack.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were claiming Universal Credit who were (a) in employment and (b) not in employment and whose immigration status was (i) Common Travel Area - UK, Ireland, Right of Abode, (ii) EU Settlement Scheme, (iii) humanitarian, (iv) refugee, (v) indefinite leave to remain, not EU Settlement Scheme, (vii) limited leave to remain, not EU Settlement Scheme, including family reunion, (viii) other and (ix) no immigration status recorded on digital systems in each local authority in each month since June 2024.

The Department recently published new Universal Credit - Immigration Status and Nationality statistics. Further breakdowns of these statistics are not currently available.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Disability Living Allowance Tribunal hearings her Department sent a presenting officer to in the last year.

The information requested on the proportion of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Tribunal hearings the Department sent a presenting officer to is not readily available within the Department. However, we estimate that 46% of DLA Tribunal hearings had a presenting officer in FY2024/25. This estimate uses DWP internal statistics on total number of DLA Hearings Attended by presenting officers and published statistics on number of DLA disposals cleared at hearing from Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit Bill on (a) people with ME and (b) other fluctuating conditions; and whether the forthcoming ME delivery plan will consider the potential impact of this Bill.

Our reforms are not condition specific. People with ME/CFS will be treated equally to those with other health conditions and disabilities. We are aware of the fluctuating nature of ME/CFS, the wide variety of disability associated with this condition and the specific needs of those individuals.

The Pathways to Work offer announced in the Green Paper will improve the employment support available for disabled people and people with health conditions, including those with fluctuating chronic illnesses such as ME/CFS.

The Department of Health and Social Care published the final ME/CFS delivery plan on 22 July. The plan focuses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. The latter includes helping people with ME/CFS to find and maintain employment, where appropriate, through our department’s plans to improve employment support available for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit Bill on claimants with (a) fluctuating conditions and (b) mental health conditions.

No such assessment has been carried out. The Bill will not alter the existing Work Capability Assessment.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact the Pension Schemes Bill on the savings of people in (a) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency and (b) East of England.

The Pension Schemes Bill could mean nationally an average earner saving over their career may have around £29,000 more in their Defined Contribution pension pot at retirement. In total, around 20 million savers could benefit from the Bill and around 2 million are estimated to be in the East of England. Breakdowns by constituency are not available. See page 52-53 of the Pension Schemes Bill Impact Assessment for further details.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are enrolled on Pension Credit, by (a) religion and (b) ethnic group.

Latest caseload statistics show that as of November 2024, there were 1,391,728 pensioner households in receipt of Pension Credit. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore. This can be broken down into constituency and local authority level as well as by various characteristics such as age, gender and partner indicator. However, this cannot be broken down by religion or ethnic group, as this information is not collected as part of the PC claim process.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency were enrolled on Pension Credit in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date.

As of November 2023, 2,586 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

The latest Pension Credit statistics were published in May 2025 and cover the period up to November 2024. These show that as of November 2024, 2,577 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.

The Pension Credit caseload statistics for 2025 are not available yet. The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 12th August 2025 as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This release will cover the quarterly period up to the end of February 2025.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with Hewlett Packard on the change in value of pre-1997 pension scheme members’ pensions; and what steps she is taking to support affected pensioners.

The Department for Work and Pensions has had no discussions with Hewlett Packard on this issue. Discretionary increases in benefits above the statutory minimum and those required by scheme rules are a matter for the scheme sponsor and trustees.

Most schemes do pay some pre-1997 indexation, because of scheme rules or as a discretionary benefit. Analysis published last year by the Pensions Regulator shows that as of March 2023, only 17 per cent of members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes did not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests#f3a5fe60511a445f91112bd7dd8a64ae

The Government’s pension reforms on the use of surpluses in defined benefit schemes will make it easier for individual schemes to make decisions that improve outcomes for both sponsoring employers and members, which could include discretionary benefit increases. These changes are being taken forward through the Pension Schemes Bill which had its second reading on Monday 7th July.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish further information on the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

We are working closely with local authorities and stakeholders on the detailed design of the fund, and we plan to issue guidance as soon as possible ahead of the new scheme starting on 1 April 2026.

Alison McGovern
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
18th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to eradicate destitution by 2035.

The Government is committed to tackling poverty, including deep poverty across the UK.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious child poverty strategy which we will publish in the autumn. The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

Good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach to delivering lasting change, as reflected in the proposals in our plan for Making Work Pay and our Get Britain Working White Paper. We have also commenced reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We have begun this work by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit and announcing the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2bn including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

Alison McGovern
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
16th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Pension Protection Fund has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Over the period from 22/23 to 24/25, PPF spend on equipment to enable staff to work from home has been minimal (less than £1.5k over the period).

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support older people in financial hardship in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government is committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the financial security and dignity they deserve. The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people and together with the private and workplace pensions system provides for security in retirement. That’s why we have made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will see the forecast annual spend on people’s State Pensions rise by around £31 billion.

In April this year, the basic and new State Pensions increased by 4.1%, benefitting 12 million pensioners by up to £470 this year. That’s up to £275 more than if pensions had been up rated by inflation. The standard minimum guarantee in Pension Credit, which provides a vital safety net for around 1.4m pensioners on the lowest incomes, also increased by 4.1%. Pension Credit can passport pensioners to a range of extra support including help with rent, council tax reduction, fuel bills (via the Warm Home Discount scheme and Cold Weather Payments) and a free TV licence for those over 75. We have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit campaign across Great Britain since Autumn 2024. Our drive to maximise Pension Credit take-up has seen the Department receive around 285,600 claims from July 2024 to May 2025 with almost 60,000 extra awards on the comparable period the previous year. Further promotional activity is planned from this Autumn through to the end of the financial year, as part of a nationwide campaign aimed at eligible pensioners, their friends and their families – including those in Surrey Heath.

The Household Support Fund also continues to provide support to those most in need, including older people in financial hardship. The Government has extended it in England until 31 March 2026 with funding of £742 million – and additional corresponding funding for the devolved administrations.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to help prevent receiving parents from limiting access of children to those parents paying child maintenance in order to receive higher payments.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that a child's welfare is best served by the continued involvement of each parent in their life, provided that involvement is safe and meets the needs of the child. It is aware that paying parents can face difficulties when attempting to spend meaningful time with their child following separation. Issues relating to access and contact are managed by family courts.

The aim of the child maintenance shared care regime is to try and reflect, as far as possible, the actual patterns of care taking place between parents, and the financial consequences of that for the costs of the child. It does not dictate what should happen or require any particular conduct from parents – except that they are truthful in reporting what happens between them in respect of care. Where parents do not tell the truth, the CMS has powers to investigate if fraud is suspected.

Reductions can be made for the extra cost of care where it is shared by the paying parent. The paying parent must have overnight care of any qualifying children for at least 52 nights a year, equivalent of 1 night per week. The amount payable is reduced by a maximum of fifty per cent within bands based on the number of nights overnight care is provided over a 12-month period. The bands are used to give greater stability to maintenance payments and as a result there is greater reliability of payments, which contributes towards the welfare of the children in the case.

Where a dispute does arise, the CMS will seek to collect evidence from parents, for example a Court ordered arrangement, to establish the correct figure.

The evidence acceptable in these circumstances is

  • a current court order providing for contact between the paying parent and the child
  • a formal written agreement, for example drawn up by a solicitor, or
  • another official document for example, Social Services or Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) reports.
Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
14th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much she spent on providing (a) translation and (b) interpretation services for benefit claimants in the last year.

The spend in the period of January 2024 – December 2024:

a) Translation: £882,118

b) Interpreting: £6,774,336

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
14th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase (a) translation and (b) levels of information support on the benefits system for disabled refugees.

Under the Equality Act 2010, DWP must make suitable provision to communicate with claimants where English is not their first language or who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. DWP provide Telephone Interpreting, Face-to-face interpreting, BSL interpreting service, Video Remote Services, and written translation to meet this requirement. The Language Service Provision is on-demand, and our supplier is suitably resourced to meet our various language demands against our Performance Expectations. We have a designated Language Services team that work closely with our supplier to ensure current service delivery is met and accounted for, and to ensure future demand is anticipated and planned for accordingly.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve (a) enforcement and (b) arrears recovery in child maintenance cases where the paying parent resides abroad.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) can only be used where the receiving parent, paying parent and any qualifying children are all habitually resident in the United Kingdom (UK). The CMS does not have jurisdiction where this does not apply.

The process for handling cases where the paying parent may be non-resident in the UK is managed according to a range of international treaties under the umbrella term REMO (Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders).

The UK has arrangements with a number of other countries and territories that allow a parent with care to claim maintenance from a non-resident parent resident in one of those countries. REMO can be used to register and enforce child maintenance orders internationally, or for example, when the paying parent is habitually resident in the UK but has assets and/or income in another country. If the paying parent has moved to an EU country, The CMS may be able to enforce collection of outstanding child maintenance arrears.

The CMS works closely with the Ministry of Justice, with whom the process is managed by, and the CMS's caseworkers are trained to signpost parents to that department for advice.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
14th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of 5 March 2025 from the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire, case reference CMPT12025-20534.

The Department aims to respond to all correspondences within 20 working days, but there may be instances where there is additional information needed that may cause delays. We are sorry for the length of time it has taken to reply to the Hon. Member. The response to their letter was sent on 18 July.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants with disabilities who are in receipt of the Personal Independence Payment and legacy work-related benefits will be treated as new claimants for the purposes of the proposed changes to the health element of Universal Credit when they are migrated onto Universal Credit through managed migration; and whether such claimants will see a reduction in their income as a result of these proposed changes.

The Department plans to complete migration of ESA claimants to UC by March 2026. As part of this ESA claimants will be migrated to the UC Health Element. To protect any claimants who have not migrated by April 2026 we intend to mirror as closely as possible the changes made in UC in the ESA rates. Changes to the “support component” and the two disability premia (severe and enhanced disability premium rates) will reflect changes to UC LCWRA rates for existing claimants.  Including these commensurate measures aims to give fair treatment for all customers moving onto UC from income related ESA, regardless of their point of migration.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that vulnerable people are not adversely impacted by welfare reforms.

At the heart of our reforms is the principle that those who can work should work. If you need help into work, the government should support you, while those who can’t work should be supported to live with dignity.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable. That is why we are legislating in the Universal Credit Bill to ensure any claimants who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria – or who qualify under Special Rules for End of Life – see their combined standard allowance and LCWRA rise at least in line with inflation every year until 2029/30.

The Timms Review will also ensure that PIP is fair and fit for the future, and will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her oral contribution of 23 June 2025, Official Report, column 823, what steps her Department is taking to enable face-to-face meetings for PIP appeal hearings more accessible.

The oral contribution refers to the PIP assessment process and outlines our commitment to audio recording assessments.

Appeals are lodged directly with, and administered by, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). Making appeal hearings more accessible is therefore a matter for HMCTS and MoJ.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
16th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve workplace health and safety protections for farm and agricultural workers.

In line with its published Strategy 2022 to 2032, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) focuses on the most effective and efficient ways to improve the health and safety performance of all industries in Great Britain, including farming.

Between 2018 and 2024, in partnership with the industry, HSE ran a campaign to offer farmers free health and safety training which was then followed up by an inspection to a selection of those farms invited to take the training.

HSE will continue to visit farms where they have intelligence to suggest risk is not being managed adequately and investigate incidents in line with their published selection criteria.

As well as appropriate site visits, HSE continues to engage with farming through a variety of other methods including delivering industry talks; webinars and presentations; engaging with the media and publishing targeted articles for farmers; producing industry notifications which include safety messaging; and producing awareness raising campaigns. It also produces a range of freely available guidance to enable farmers to comply with health and safety law and keep themselves and others safe.

HSE’s commitment to working with the agricultural industry through stakeholders such as Britain’s Farm Safety Partnerships (FSPs) remains strong. The most recent activity includes supporting the FSPs with a campaign on safe use of quad bikes.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
17th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal for (a) Personal Independence Payment, (b) Disability Living Allowance and (c) Employment and Support Allowance were upheld in favour of the claimant in the last year.

Information on overturned appeals for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) can be found in Table SSCS_3 of the Tribunal Statistics Quarterly publication here: Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of funded support through Access to Work on deaf professionals who require full-time BSL interpreters.

As part of the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of the Access to Work scheme, including how we may better support deaf professionals who require full-time BSL interpreters. Following the conclusion of the consultation, we are now considering our responses and will set out our plans in due course.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
8th Jul 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply of the Minister for Social Security and Disability, on 3 February (HC Deb col 549), when they intend to set out (1) the terms of reference of that review into Universal Credit, and (2) details of how it will be taken forward.

This Government is committed to ensuring Universal Credit is fit for the future so that it drives up living standards, reduces poverty and makes work pay. Through this work, the Universal Credit review is considering the support across three themes:

  1. Tackling poverty and helping people manage their money
  2. Making work pay and improving work incentives
  3. And Maximising UC's potential and its impact on customers

We have not published terms of reference for the review, allowing us to take a flexible approach, shaped by the people with direct experience of Universal Credit. We are continuing to work with stakeholders so they are able to set out their concerns about Universal Credit as well as make suggestions about where it could be improved.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of aligning the Housing Benefit taper rate with that of Universal Credit.

The Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in Supported and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

Despite this challenge, the Housing Benefit taper ensures a person is better off in work than wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence, as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the Housing Benefits disregard from £5 to £57 for people in supported housing.

The Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in Supported and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

Despite this challenge, the Housing Benefit taper ensures a person is better off in work than wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence, as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.

Stephen Timms
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
14th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will enter into alternative dispute resolution with women impacted by changes to the State Pension age.

This issue is now subject to live litigation and the High Court has granted permission for a full hearing.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the Age Addition paid to pensioners over the age of 80.

The Department has not conducted any recent assessments and there are no plans to review the current arrangements. However, a number of Members of Parliament have written to me about the 25 pence Age Addition

The 25 pence a week Age Addition is part of the old State Pension, for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. It is paid with the basic State Pension when somebody reaches the age of 80.

The 25 pence Age Addition is not part of the new State Pension, but for those people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the 25 pence Age Addition under the existing rules will continue.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to uprate the Age Addition for pensioners over 80 in line with inflation.

The Department has not conducted any recent assessments and there are no plans to review the current arrangements. However, a number of Members of Parliament have written to me about the 25 pence Age Addition

The 25 pence a week Age Addition is part of the old State Pension, for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. It is paid with the basic State Pension when somebody reaches the age of 80.

The 25 pence Age Addition is not part of the new State Pension, but for those people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the 25 pence Age Addition under the existing rules will continue.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
16th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent representations she has received on the adequacy of the Age Addition for pensioners over 80.

The Department has not conducted any recent assessments and there are no plans to review the current arrangements. However, a number of Members of Parliament have written to me about the 25 pence Age Addition

The 25 pence a week Age Addition is part of the old State Pension, for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. It is paid with the basic State Pension when somebody reaches the age of 80.

The 25 pence Age Addition is not part of the new State Pension, but for those people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the 25 pence Age Addition under the existing rules will continue.

Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)