Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether eligible Claimants that have existing applications for the LCWRA element of Universal Credit and are currently waiting for their Work Capability Assessment (WCA) will upon completion receive (a) the current rate of payment or (b) the rate of payment in place when their WCA is completed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (Rates of Allowances) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were laid in Parliament on 09 February 2026. The Regulations provide further detail on the application of the Universal Credit Act 2025 including the definition of a pre-6 April 2026 Claimant confirming that claimants who declare a health condition or disability on or before 5 April 2026 and are found to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) will receive the higher rate of LCWRA. This applies even if their decision on entitlement is made on or after 6 April 2026.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 108679 on Universal Credit: Work Capability Assessment, what estimate his Department has made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments completed in December 2025 compared to each of the previous four months; and what steps his Department plans to take to increase capacity.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Capability Assessments reduced in December 2025 compared to the previous four months due to fewer working days over Christmas and an increase of staff on annual leave, again due to the festive period.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
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 potential impact of the time taken for Access to Work award decisions and reimbursements payments on access to jobs for disabled people, including people living with multiple sclerosis.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise the importance of clearing the backlog, which is why last year we increased the number of staff working in this area by 27% and we have continued to streamline delivery practices. To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise Access to Work applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks, or cases that are up for renewal.
In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of the scheme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Child Maintenance Service policy in establishing the Paying Parent, in the context of changes in societal norms and the increase in co-parenting and shared parenting arrangements.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The person providing primary care of the child and with whom the child lives is entitled to make an application for child maintenance. This is known as the receiving parent. The receiving parent is determined by which parent looks after the child most of the time. For example, with whom the child has their home and who usually provides day to day care for the child.
The Child Maintenance Calculation can be amended to reflect co-parenting and shared parenting arrangements. A paying parent’s maintenance liability can be reduced where they have overnight care of a child for whom they pay maintenance. This reduction is intended to broadly reflect the cost associated with any overnight care given. The paying parent must have overnight care of any qualifying children for at least 52 nights a year, equivalent to 1 night per week. The amount payable is reduced to a maximum of 50 per cent within bands based on the number of days overnight care is provided over a 12-month period.
The CMS uses bands based on the number of days overnight care is provided, to ensure a fair, consistent, and administratively efficient method of accounting for the costs borne by each parent.
If the CMS is satisfied that both parents have equal day-to-day care for the child, in addition to sharing overnight care, there is no requirement for either parent to pay child maintenance.
There is no statutory definition of day-to-day care, our definition is broadly aligned with that of Child Benefit, where an ‘overall care test’ is used. This provides consistency across government and receipt of Child Benefit is regarded as a good indicator of who is entitled to child maintenance payments.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to guarantee working-age people with a terminal illness a State Pension-level of income.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have no such policy. Supporting people nearing the end of their life is important to the Government. The main way the Department does this is through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) which enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit and Attendance Allowance.
The Department is committed to ensure that eligible claimants at the end of life have their claims processed as quickly as possible. Latest figures show that in Great Britain, new claims to PIP under the Special Rules are being cleared in 3 working days on average.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when will the Health & Safety Executive publish next steps and its formal response to the consultation it conducted on proposals for changing GB CLP and GB BPR; and whether it plans to publish draft legislative proposals to enact some of the proposals using powers under the Retained EU Law Act.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) response to the Chemicals Legislative Reform Proposals consultation, which took place from 23 June 2025 to 18 August 2025, is expected to be published in early 2026 subject to Ministerial approval.
The consultation set out HSE’s proposals to reform three pieces of chemicals legislation: Great Britain Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR); Great Britain Classification, Labelling and Packaging (GB CLP); and Great Britain Prior Informed Consent for the export and import of hazardous chemicals (GB PIC).
The approach to chemicals reforms and policy will be set out in full in the consultation response alongside how HSE plans to legislate to implement any changes. This will include consideration of using the powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of its proposals to replace expiry dates for biocidal active substance approvals with a mechanism to ‘call in’ these substances for review on (a) the safety of active substances on the market and (b) their impact on (i) health and (ii) the environment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) legislative reforms aim to provide greater flexibility to the regulator while maintaining the current high standards offered by chemicals regulatory regimes, including the Great Britain Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR), to human health and the environment.
The proposal to remove fixed expiry dates and introduce a risk-based 'call-in' system for active substance reviews would permit HSE to focus evaluation work where it would have the greatest impact particularly on addressing initial assessments that are required as part of the GB Active Substance Review Programme. Active substances requiring initial evaluation will as yet have had no evaluation, consequently risks are much less well understood than active substances (biocidal approvals) that have already been thoroughly evaluated and deemed acceptable.
This proposed change of approach will enable HSE to continue to make efficient and effective regulatory decisions to address risks to people’s safety, health and the environment.
All decisions on these proposals are subject to an analysis of the consultation responses, which is currently underway, and all final decisions are subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Health and Safety Executive will take steps to align with (a) EU mandatory hazard classifications (under EU Classification, Labelling & Packaging Regulation) and (b) EU decisions to (i) approve, (ii) not to approve, (iii) restrict and (iv) ban biocide active substances.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Great Britain (GB) chemicals are regulated under a framework that was largely inherited from the EU system including the GB Classification, Labelling and Packing Regulation (GB CLP) and the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR).
GB CLP like EU CLP adopts the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of classification and labelling of chemicals (‘the UN GHS’); a voluntary internationally agreed system, upon which the classification and labelling provisions of GB CLP are based. Divergence between mandatory hazard classifications for chemicals (GB mandatory classification and labelling (GB MCLs)) and EU mandatory hazard classifications has been minimal to-date.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted a public consultation between 23 June and 18 August 2025 on proposals for reforming both GB CLP and GB BPR. The GB BPR proposals included a proposal to adopt approvals from recognised jurisdictions. It is anticipated that the EU would be a recognised jurisdiction which would make it easier to adopt EU decisions where appropriate for GB. The analysis of the consultation responses is underway, and all final decisions including any decisions to align with the EU on GB CLP and GB BPR are subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support offered by the Access to Work Scheme for people that wish to be self-employed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work (AtW) is a personalised grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment including providing support for people who are self-employed. In 2024/5 Access to Work supported 7,080 self-employed customers.
We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the consultation has closed. We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives, on all aspects of our proposals.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish a plan for improving the Access to Work Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following the close of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation,we are considering responses to the consultation and continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives.