Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of households in receipt of Personal Independence Payment who will lose access to their entitlement under the proposals set out in the Pathways to Work green paper in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).
Estimates of the impact of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reforms are made for England and Wales only and not on region or any lower-level geographic area. The department does not forecast benefit receipt at a regional level or below, nor have estimates of the behavioural impacts of the policy been produced at these levels.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is an individual-based benefit and therefore DWP does not hold household-level information on its administrative systems. The number of people currently on PIP who did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment is published for Dulwich and West Norwood in the document referenced above. However, this should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP in future. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious. Someone who did not score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment as conditions change over time.
There will be no immediate changes to PIP eligibility. Our intention is that changes will start to come into effect from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. After taking account of behavioural changes, the OBR predicts that 9 in 10 of those on PIP daily living at the point any changes come in will still be receiving PIP by the end of the decade.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including ensuring health and care needs are met.
We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment to make it fair and fit for purpose, which I will lead. We are bringing together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.
Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate has her Department made of the number of households with children in receipt of Personal Independence Payment in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is an individual-based benefit and therefore DWP does not hold household-level information on its administrative systems. However, some limited household-level information is available on the DWP’s Family Resources Survey.
Data on PIP by household can be found on Stat Xplore. The requested data can be found in the “Household dataset” under “Family Resources Survey”. You can use the “Benefit receipt” filter to select “Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Daily Living received by the household” and “Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mobility received by the household” and select “in receipt”. Under the “household composition” filter, you can select the “Household composition by children” and select “Household with children”.
Due to sample sizes, the Department does not hold household data at Parliamentary Constituency level, however you can use the “Geography” filter to select the Region, or whether the household lives in Inner or Outer London.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to review the rates of the Local Housing Allowance to reflect housing costs in inner London boroughs.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The decision at Autumn Budget to maintain Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates at current levels for 2025/26 considered a range of factors such as rental data,the Government’s missions and wider fiscal context.
LHA rates were last increased in April 2024 at a cost of £7bn over 5 years. The national maximum caps, which apply in London, were also increased. These caps protect taxpayer costs for exceptionally high rental prices.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to provide targeted employment support for unemployed care leavers.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and are working closely with Department for Education to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities, and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression.
Under the new Youth Guarantee, all young people between 18-21 years will be able to access support to enter employment, education and training opportunities. This includes Care Leavers who we know are more likely than their peers to not be in education, employment or training and may benefit from more tailored support to support their transition as they leave the care provided by their Local Authority.
We are working closely with the Department for Education on the design of the Youth Guarantee, which is in the early stages of development. The Autumn Budget announced that we will establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment, education or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. Further details will be set out in the up-coming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.
Meanwhile, care leavers who are in receipt of Universal Credit and available for work will continue to be supported by the DWP Youth Offer. This provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16-24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group and can include access to specialist work coaches, for example the Youth Employability Coaches, which help address complex barriers to work, as well as the partnership led Youth Hub network.
We have also taken steps to improve the career opportunities of care leavers through government recruitment schemes such as the Civil Service Care Leaver Internship, the Social Mobility Apprenticeship Scheme and our ongoing partnership with Movement to Work. These are all designed to consider challenges disadvantaged young people face as they take their first steps on the career ladder.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when does his department expect to complete their review of alternative options for entry to Pension Protective Fund.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Pension Protection Fund (Entry Rules) Regulations 2005[1] set out the criteria which a pension scheme must meet to be eligible for the Pension Protection Fund. There is currently no review of the Pension Protection Fund eligibility criteria.
A call for evidence was launched by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support the development of innovative policy options which have the potential to offer more choices for defined benefit (DB) pension scheme sponsoring employers and trustees, increase protection for DB members and support wider economic initiatives. This closed on the 5 September
[1] The Pension Protection Fund (Entry Rules) Regulations 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unpaid carers have received support from the Household Support Fund since its launch.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We do not collect this information. The published management information for the Household Support Fund covering the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 reports total grant allocation and spend, number of awards and the percentage spent on families with children, which relates to the condition that at least 50% of that grant be spent on families with children.
Household Support Fund management information: 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Management information for subsequent schemes will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent advice she has issued to staff in her Department on issuing foodbank vouchers.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
No recent advice has been issued to staff on issuing foodbank vouchers.
Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. Service delivery staff may signpost claimants to support as appropriate.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 adequacy of the maximum amount claimable for childcare costs under Universal Credit compared with regional increases in the cost of childcare.
Answered by David Rutley
No such assessment has been made.
In Universal Credit, working families can claim up to 85%, increased from 70% in legacy benefits, of their eligible registered childcare costs each month regardless of the hours worked. This equates to a maximum support of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children.
The current childcare offer is comprehensive, broad ranging and reflects different family circumstances, covering children over a range of ages. We believe that helping parents with their childcare costs is one of the best ways to help people into work, support families with the cost of living, and ensure every child has the opportunity of a high-quality early education.
The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes 15 hours per week free childcare for disadvantaged 2-year-olds and 3-&4-year-olds. This doubles to 30 hours per week free childcare for working parents of 3-&4-year-olds. The UC childcare element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and childcare required. This offer means that for some claimants’ childcare costs should not present any barriers to entering work.