Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of investigations into benefit fraud result find no wrongdoing.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP takes all allegations of fraud seriously, irrespective of reporting method, and will take appropriate action on those cases where there is concern about entitlement.

For regional fraud investigations, conviction data is not currently available for 24/25. There were however 639 prosecutions* (6% of investigations) and 272 Administrative Penalties (3% of investigations) issued.

For serious and economic crime investigations concluded in fiscal year 24/25, there were 26 such convictions** (7% of investigations) and 1 Administrative Penalty (0% of investigations).

Across all fraud investigations concluded in 24/25, 2191 cases had their benefit corrected and 8075 cases resulted in no change.

* Prosecutions refer to cases where the prosecuting authority (Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) have reviewed the case and have deemed the case suitable for prosecution.

** Please note that due to the length of time to bring a prosecution to conclusion, these conviction numbers will relate to cases commenced in previous years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of investigations into benefit fraud result in (a) financial penalties and (b) court convictions.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP takes all allegations of fraud seriously, irrespective of reporting method, and will take appropriate action on those cases where there is concern about entitlement.

For regional fraud investigations, conviction data is not currently available for 24/25. There were however 639 prosecutions* (6% of investigations) and 272 Administrative Penalties (3% of investigations) issued.

For serious and economic crime investigations concluded in fiscal year 24/25, there were 26 such convictions** (7% of investigations) and 1 Administrative Penalty (0% of investigations).

Across all fraud investigations concluded in 24/25, 2191 cases had their benefit corrected and 8075 cases resulted in no change.

* Prosecutions refer to cases where the prosecuting authority (Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) have reviewed the case and have deemed the case suitable for prosecution.

** Please note that due to the length of time to bring a prosecution to conclusion, these conviction numbers will relate to cases commenced in previous years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of Universal Credit advances in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We do not collect data on advance payment processing times.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of State Pension underpayment corrections in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

We do not hold information regarding average waiting times to process State Pension underpayments corrections and to produce it would incur disproportionate costs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the value for money of Motability’s VAT and Insurance Premium Tax reliefs.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government keeps all taxes under review, and the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP claims were (a) withdrawn before submitting a PIP2 form, (b) disallowed due to failure to return the PIP2 form, (c) withdrawn after submitting a PIP2 form but before assessment, (d) disallowed due to failure to attend an assessment and (e) (i) closed and (ii) withdrawn for other reasons prior to a decision in each of the last five financial years by intended mode of assessment.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) outcomes for the last five financial years is shown in table 1 below.

Table 1: Volume of PIP claims by assessment outcomes for the last five financial years.

Notes:

• Figures are for England and Wales only.
• Figures only include claims made under normal rules.
• Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
• AP is the assessment provider.
• These are the categories available in the PIP administrative data.

The Department does not hold data on intended modes of assessments.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches there are per (a) capita and (b) Universal Credit claimant in (i) England and (ii) each region.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested work coach data for England has been provided at district level. Pure English regional data is unavailable as some English regions are combined with Scotland and Wales for Universal Credit administration purposes.

Information on numbers of Universal Credit claimants by region can be obtained from DWP’s Stat Xplore tool Stat XPlore

Population estimates are published by the Office for National Statistics and can be found at Population estimates - Office for National Statistics

Notes:

• Work Coach Full Time Equivalent (FTE) data supplied is from September 2025.
• The number of Work Coaches has been derived from DWP's Activity Based Model (ABM). This model gives an estimated FTE based on a point in time estimate by Line Managers, as recorded on our internal systems each month.
• Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 FTE.
• The number of Work Coaches refers to staff involved in conducting regular engagement with claimants, hence the data does not include Work Coach Team Leaders or Disability Employment Advisers.
• Work coaches include both UC Full-Service Work Coaches and Existing Benefits Work Coaches.
• The number of staff employed is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will be supported under the Youth Jobs Guarantee.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, whether placements available through the Youth Jobs Guarantee will be in the (a) public, (b) private and (c) voluntary sectors.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the number of placements that will be available under the Youth Jobs Guarantee.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, what estimate her Department has made of the average cost of a Youth Jobs Guarantee placement.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, whether the cost of the placements through the Youth Jobs Guarantee will be funded by the public purse.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, which employers have agreed to offer placements as part of the Youth Jobs Guarantee.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her speech to the Labour Party Conference of 29 September 2025, with which employers her Department held discussions on the Youth Jobs Guarantee.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

In September, the Chancellor announced that the government will offer a guaranteed job to all young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will guarantee an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This will help aid the government's long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

As the Chancellor has already set out, further details on the design of work placements and delivery of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, will be set out at the Budget.

The jobs guarantee will be funded from within existing budgets and will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP are engaging with employers and employer representative bodies on the details of the jobs guarantee. Participating employers will be agreed in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of Access to Work applications in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

From April 2025 to August 2025 the average waiting time for the processing of Access to Work applications was 94.9 days and it was 93.6 day for the most recent month of August 2025.

While we aim to make payments within 20 working days of receipt of all correctly completed claim forms and all required supporting evidence, unfortunately this is not always possible.

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.

To support our customers several measures have already been put in place, including streamlining our delivery processes and recruiting additional staff.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish the methodology and assumptions behind HMRC’s 2024 forecast that Motability’s VAT reliefs will have cost £1.21 billion in 2024-25.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual Non-structural tax relief statistics publication.

The last publication on 5 December 2024 showed an estimate and forecast for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 of £1,210m for the relief “Vehicles and other supplies to disabled people (vehicles only)”. This includes the cost of VAT reliefs for supplies of vehicles to disabled people, including but not limited to Motability.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will release the methodology and assumptions behind HMRC’s estimate that Motability’s VAT reliefs cost £1.21 billion in 2023-24.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual Non-structural tax relief statistics publication.

The last publication on 5 December 2024 showed an estimate and forecast for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 of £1,210m for the relief “Vehicles and other supplies to disabled people (vehicles only)”. This includes the cost of VAT reliefs for supplies of vehicles to disabled people, including but not limited to Motability.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there have been any changes to the methodology HMRC use to estimate the cost of Motability’s VAT reliefs since 2019-20.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual Non-structural tax relief statistics publication.

The last publication on 5 December 2024 showed an estimate and forecast for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 of £1,210m for the relief “Vehicles and other supplies to disabled people (vehicles only)”. This includes the cost of VAT reliefs for supplies of vehicles to disabled people, including but not limited to Motability.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will ask HMRC to release a separate estimate of the cost of Motability’s Insurance Premium Tax exemption.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual Non-structural tax relief statistics publication.

The last publication on 5 December 2024 showed an estimate and forecast for the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 of £1,210m for the relief “Vehicles and other supplies to disabled people (vehicles only)”. This includes the cost of VAT reliefs for supplies of vehicles to disabled people, including but not limited to Motability.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants received vehicles through the Motability Scheme in each month since July 2024.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP holds no data on the number of PIP claimants that have an active Motability Scheme contract at a given time. Vehicle receipt is handled by Motability Operations Ltd.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times his Department has attended Motability board meetings over the past two years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has attended every Motability Board meeting which are held quarterly each year for the last two years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) PIP and (b) DLA claimants who are members of the Motability scheme had any type of depressive disorder as their main disabling condition in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

At the end of July 2025 (latest available data), 593,700 PIP claimants had an active contract with the Motability Scheme.

The number of PIP claimants who had an active contract with the Motability Scheme broken down by condition groups over the past 5 years is provided in the table below.

Table 1: PIP claimants with an active Motability Scheme contract by condition over the past 5 years

The Department does not hold Motability data in its analytical datasets for DLA. Obtaining these data from other sources would involve disproportionate costs.

Notes:

- The figures provided are for PIP claimants in England and Wales only.

- The figures include both claims made under Normal Rules and those made under Special Rules for End of Life.

- The claimants’ primary conditions were used to categorise them in the provided table. Many claimants have two or more health conditions, and it is not necessarily the case that the listed primary condition is that which gives rise to the functional limitation(s) behind the award of the enhanced mobility component of PIP.

- The figures have been provided in calendar years, containing data from January 2020 to July 2025.

- The calendar year 2025 only contains data to July 2025, therefore volumes may be smaller than what would appear within a full calendar year. Data beyond this point is currently unavailable centrally for analysis.

- Values in the table show any PIP claimant with an active Motability Scheme contract on the PIP caseload at some point within that calendar year.

- The “of which any depressive disorder” category is made up of 4 primary conditions:

o Anxiety and depressive disorders – mixed

o Bipolar affective disorder

o Depressive disorder

o Mood disorders – Others / type not known

- Values have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) PIP and (b) DLA claimants who are members of the Motability scheme, had a psychiatric disorder as their main disabling condition in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

At the end of July 2025 (latest available data), 593,700 PIP claimants had an active contract with the Motability Scheme.

The number of PIP claimants who had an active contract with the Motability Scheme broken down by condition groups over the past 5 years is provided in the table below.

Table 1: PIP claimants with an active Motability Scheme contract by condition over the past 5 years

The Department does not hold Motability data in its analytical datasets for DLA. Obtaining these data from other sources would involve disproportionate costs.

Notes:

- The figures provided are for PIP claimants in England and Wales only.

- The figures include both claims made under Normal Rules and those made under Special Rules for End of Life.

- The claimants’ primary conditions were used to categorise them in the provided table. Many claimants have two or more health conditions, and it is not necessarily the case that the listed primary condition is that which gives rise to the functional limitation(s) behind the award of the enhanced mobility component of PIP.

- The figures have been provided in calendar years, containing data from January 2020 to July 2025.

- The calendar year 2025 only contains data to July 2025, therefore volumes may be smaller than what would appear within a full calendar year. Data beyond this point is currently unavailable centrally for analysis.

- Values in the table show any PIP claimant with an active Motability Scheme contract on the PIP caseload at some point within that calendar year.

- The “of which any depressive disorder” category is made up of 4 primary conditions:

o Anxiety and depressive disorders – mixed

o Bipolar affective disorder

o Depressive disorder

o Mood disorders – Others / type not known

- Values have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) PIP and (b) DLA claimants who are members of the Motability scheme had ADHD as their main disabling condition in each of the past 5 years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

At the end of July 2025 (latest available data), 593,700 PIP claimants had an active contract with the Motability Scheme.

The number of PIP claimants who had an active contract with the Motability Scheme broken down by condition groups over the past 5 years is provided in the table below.

Table 1: PIP claimants with an active Motability Scheme contract by condition over the past 5 years

The Department does not hold Motability data in its analytical datasets for DLA. Obtaining these data from other sources would involve disproportionate costs.

Notes:

- The figures provided are for PIP claimants in England and Wales only.

- The figures include both claims made under Normal Rules and those made under Special Rules for End of Life.

- The claimants’ primary conditions were used to categorise them in the provided table. Many claimants have two or more health conditions, and it is not necessarily the case that the listed primary condition is that which gives rise to the functional limitation(s) behind the award of the enhanced mobility component of PIP.

- The figures have been provided in calendar years, containing data from January 2020 to July 2025.

- The calendar year 2025 only contains data to July 2025, therefore volumes may be smaller than what would appear within a full calendar year. Data beyond this point is currently unavailable centrally for analysis.

- Values in the table show any PIP claimant with an active Motability Scheme contract on the PIP caseload at some point within that calendar year.

- The “of which any depressive disorder” category is made up of 4 primary conditions:

o Anxiety and depressive disorders – mixed

o Bipolar affective disorder

o Depressive disorder

o Mood disorders – Others / type not known

- Values have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding his Department has provided to the Motability Scheme in 2025.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Motability Scheme receives no direct funding from DWP. However, it does receive the direct transfer of benefit from DWP. This is claimant benefit the claimant would otherwise be receiving, and the cost of transfer is paid for by the Motability Foundation. The total value of benefits transferred to Motability in financial year 2024–2025 the Department for Work and Pensions was £3,074,920,421.67.

The Motability Scheme also receives zero rate VAT for hire of motor vehicle to individuals in receipt of specified disability benefits; zero rate VAT for sale of lease vehicle on first sale after end of lease and zero rate Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) on Scheme policies.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will subject Motability to competitive tendering for the right to run the scheme.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Motability Foundation is independent of government and regulated by the Charity Commission so is responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme.

The department works closely with Motability and is responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme. We will continue to ensure the Scheme meets the transport needs of disabled people.