Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timeline is for expanding the digital application option for Personal Independence Payment to all eligible claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Through the Health Transformation Programme, we are expanding digital services for Personal Independence Payment customers. Over 90% of those making new PIP applications can now submit their health information online after starting their claim by phone. This is benefitting customers by removing postage times and increasing accessibility. We are continuing to extend this option to all customers and, by the end of the Programme, customers will be able to view application progress and report a change of circumstances online, reducing their need to call the enquiry line.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of early deaths of care leavers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I commissioned the Review of Early Care Leaver Deaths because I wanted the whole country to see the tragedies that I read every fortnight. I want to thank Ashley John-Baptiste and Clare Chamberlain for their important work on this review.
Their central finding is the same as my core focus for care reform ā too many care experienced people entering adulthood lonely, without a tribe.
That's why I have set out a comprehensive programme to make enduring relationships the obsession of the care system.
As part of this, we have confirmed over Ā£25 million of funding this financial year alone, to continue the rollout of Staying Close.
For a young person that means keeping somewhere settled to live rather than being moved along at 18, and having a network of people around them as they move into adulthood.
Staying Close runs in 47 local areas now and will become a national duty for local areas and run everywhere.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training Jobcentre staff receive on Armed Forces Covenant obligations; and how compliance is monitored.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All Jobcentre Plus staff new to DWP receive mandatory learning to support customers which includes learning for armed forces leavers. The learning provides an overview of armed forces leavers and assists colleagues in understanding what help is available to them, their spouse/partner when resettling into civilian life.
Armed Forces Champions (AFCs) are provided with point of need learning which includes the Armed Forces Covenant to provide support for service leavers and their families together with signposting to specialist organisations and charities.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Jobcentre districts (a) are without an operational Armed Forces Champion and (b) have been without one at any point in the last two years, and how long those districts did not have champions for.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department supports Armed Forces customers through a network of Armed Forces Champions operating across Jobcentre districts, groups and areas. Armed Forces Champion support is not always delivered through a dedicated resource in each district, with many areas receiving support through group or area-level arrangements covering multiple districts. As a result, a district with no locally recorded Armed Forces Champion resource may still have been receiving Armed Forces Champion support.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recourse is available for leaseholders in buildings with non-cladding defects where their developer has entered insolvency.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government expects responsible persons to make sure their buildings are safe and undertake remedial works where necessary. The Leaseholder Protections under the Building Safety Act protect holders of qualifying leases from the costs of remediating relevant non-cladding building safety defects above a capped contribution.
If the developer is insolvent, āinterested personsā, which includes freeholders, leaseholders and regulators such as a local authority or fire and rescue service, can also apply to the Courts for: a Remediation Contribution Order to fund remedial works from a former owner, or company associated with either the owner or developer, or, where relevant; a Building Liability Order against a wider parent group.
If the insolvent developer is also the freeholder, the office-holders, i.e. liquidators or administrators, appointed to the insolvency may look to undertake remedial works on the freeholderās behalf, subject to the restrictions of the insolvency, and/or may seek to find a buyer willing to take on the building and associated remedial works.
Where liabilities are relatively minor or circumstances allow, leaseholders may also choose to exercise their right of first refusal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.
Leaseholders may wish to seek independent legal advice on whether to pursue the options available to them.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities and multi-academy trusts on verifying teachersā qualified teacher status and completion of statutory induction; and what steps are recommended where official records conflict with documentary evidence held by a teacher or employer.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department's statutory safeguarding guidance, āKeeping Children Safe in Educationā, requires schools and colleges to carry out appropriate pre-appointment checks, including verifying Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and statutory induction where relevant. Local authorities and multi-academy trusts can use the department's Check a Teacher's Record service to verify QTS, induction status, prohibitions and other relevant details. The service is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-a-teachers-record.
Where there is a discrepancy with the department's records, employers or teachers should contact: [email protected] for QTS discrepancies, and: [email protected] for induction discrepancies.
Initial teacher training providers, appropriate bodies or local authorities that remain in operation may be able to provide evidence to support an amendment to a teacher's record. For historic cases, the department may undertake archive searches to identify supporting evidence and verify record details.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what update his department can provide on (a) waiting times for access to work and (b) the steps being taken to reduce the backlog of applications.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
a) From April 2026 to July 2026 it took an average of 125.6 days from the initial date of contact to an Access to Work decision being made. To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise the small minority of AtW applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks. In 2025, we allocated c. 96% of applications starting work within 4 weeks in 28 days.
b) We recognise the importance of clearing the backlog, which is why, in May 2026, we committed to recruiting and training an additional 360 case managers, and 120 case workers to process the higher volume of applications. That is a 72.5% increase to the existing 658 staff already working on Access to Work. We expect to have cleared the backlog by the end of September 2027.
Recruitment has already begun, and new case managers will undertake a comprehensive and robust learning routeway that lasts for 6 months to enable them to handle complex applications with confidence. All Case Managers need to successfully pass a detailed and robust assessment before they are deemed to have reached the standard required to make application decisions. Onboarding will be phased, with the first candidates starting from 1 September 2026. Management grades have already been recruited across August 2026 and September 2026, to manage and support the new starters.
We are keen to ensure Access to Work remains fair and sustainable. Access to Work is critical for the people it supports, so it is important we take the time to get reforms right so we can deliver real improvements.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the suitability of guidance on non-cladding relevant defects for defective fire doors.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Guidance sets out the legal duties of Responsible Persons to identify any fire precautions that are needed to ensure their building and people within it are safe. This is typically the building owner for residential buildings.
Guidance also sets out what constitutes a relevant defect (Definition of ārelevant defectā - GOV.UK). Whether a defective fire door meets this definition will depend on the specific circumstances of each case.
The Government published the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: fire doors - GOV.UK guidance in January 2023, updated in August 2025, setting out how checks on fire doors be carried out. We consider the guidance to be suitable.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of additional energy costs incurred by households where a disabled person requires electricity for life-sustaining medical equipment and environmental temperature control; and whether she has considered introducing (a) targeted financial support and (b) a medical energy social tariff for households with those additional costs.
Answered by Polly Billington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is very aware of the cost-of-living pressures faced by households. The government has removed VAT from electricity bills to give households immediate breathing space. This is in addition to having removed Ā£150 of costs off energy bills since April, plus the extension of the Warm Home Discount which reached 5.7million households last winter. The government recognises some households face additional specific challenges, such as medical needs.
The Government is also investing Ā£15 billion through the Warm Homes Plan, the largest home-upgrade programme in British history, to improve homes, reduce energy costs and help lift one million families out of fuel poverty by 2030. As part of this, the Government is exploring how to enable referrals from the health sector to prescribe a warmer home for those who need it.
One of the biggest practical barriers to providing more targeted help to households is the availability of the right data. DESNZ is working closely with other Government Departments on the National Data Library household income ākickstarterā project to test how public sector data can be better joined up to improve access to government programmes. This will pave the way for better targeted help, ensuring those who are struggling to pay their bills get the support they need.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the Access to Work application process and ongoing communications for people with different disabilities and (b) what steps he is taking to ensure the scheme is accessible for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
It is very important that Access to Work is accessible for people with different disabilities. As such, we currently offer several different communication methods before and during the application process. For example, applications can be made online at Access to Work: Apply for an Access to Work grant - GOV.UK, by phone via the Access to Work Helpline, via Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone) or via the British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service. We normally require that evidence documents must be submitted by post for security reasons, however we also accept correspondence by email for those who require this as a reasonable adjustment.
As part of our continuous efforts to improve accessibility, we are also currently developing a new digital capability that will allow customers to upload documents online.