Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support small businesses with insurance costs associated with training apprentices.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Apprenticeships are a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government provides £1,000 to both employers, of all sizes, and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) or have been, or are, in care.
Additionally, we are transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, give employers greater flexibility to develop the workforce they need, and support the industrial strategy.
We are providing considerable financial support to employers, particularly smaller employers who play such a vital role in creating apprenticeship opportunities for young people.
We are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 for non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) that take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. Employers hiring apprentices aged 18-24 who have been on Universal Credit for over six months are also eligible for the new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant since June 2026.
These payments can be added together where the employer and/or apprentice are eligible. Employers can choose how they spend these payments, including to offset any additional insurance costs associated with training apprentices.
The government also now fully funds apprenticeship training for all eligible under 25s at employers of all sizes, as we prioritise funding toward young people.
Furthermore, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are awaiting reassessment for Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The total number of cases outstanding at all stages of the Personal Independence Payment Award Review (PIP) process, at the end of May 2026 is 300,000.
Please note this data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard and represents England and Wales only. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10,000 cases.
All claims remain in payment whilst award reviews are in progress and award increases identified during a planned review will be backdated as appropriate. Should customers report a change of circumstance and trigger an unplanned review, their claim will be prioritised alongside new claims.
We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for our claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service.
We know PIP can be improved, which is why we launched the Timms Review, which is being co-produced with disabled people and their organisations to ensure the benefit is fair and fit for the future. The Review aims to report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Autumn 2026 and we have committed to reporting its outcomes to Parliament.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve accessibility for disabled people in public services.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
We are continuously working across government, engaging with stakeholders and listening to the views of disabled people to improve accessibility in public services.
For example, following the publication of our BSL Advisory Board’s report ‘Locked out’ last November, which highlights the barriers faced by the Deaf community in relation to their experience of health and social care services, we are working with them to address the key recommendations from that report.
We are also exploring ways to improve the accessibility of government communications, so that all disabled people can be made aware of changes to existing government policies and are able to contribute to the development of new policies.
The Disability Confident scheme supports employers, including many public sector bodies, to adopt more inclusive and accessible recruitment and workplace practices. The scheme provides guidance, tools and support to build confidence in attracting, recruiting and retaining disabled people, while ongoing work with stakeholders and wider reform activity is strengthening the scheme to ensure it better supports accessibility and inclusion, informed by the lived experience of disabled people and designed to drive continuous improvement across organisations.
Last year I also announced our plans for a UK Government Plan for Disability. The Plan will:
○ summarise work already underway across Government to champion the rights of disabled people, including by making public services more accessible;
○ develop a set of aspirations for Government to prioritise next in order to break down barriers for disabled people; and
○ set out a clear vision that will show what this Government is aiming to achieve for disabled people in the longer term.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to support apprenticeships and youth employment within the hair and beauty sector.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Apprenticeships and employment support are both fully transferred to the Northern Ireland Executive, with funding devolved in the usual way. This response therefore provides information on apprenticeships in England only, and on Youth Guarantee measures across England, Scotland, and Wales.
There are a number of apprenticeship standards available to support the hair and beauty sector, including the Level 2 Hairdressing Professional standard and the Level 2 Barbering Professional standard.
We are investing an additional £2.5 billion in the Youth Guarantee (across Great Britain) and the Growth and Skills Levy (in England) over the next three years. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
To support non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) to meet the additional costs associated with employing young people, the UK government are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 when they take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees.
Additionally, the UK government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers [in England] for all eligible young people aged under 25 from the next academic year, to boost small business starts. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.
We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.
The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises around 3,000 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 implementation of menopause-related workplace policies across public and private sector organisations.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Employment Rights Act 2025, the Government committed to supporting women experiencing menopause in the workplace by encouraging employers with 250 or more employees to produce an action plan covering the steps they are taking to support employees experiencing menopause.
These plans are currently voluntary, and officials will work closely with businesses to monitor and review whether these are the right actions and ensure that they continue to reflect emerging evidence on approaches that are effective. Subject to the delivery of secondary legislation, action plans will become mandatory in 2027.
As part of the plan to Make Work Pay, the Government also committed to publishing guidance, including for small employers, on measures relating to uniform and temperature, flexible working and recording menopause-related leave and absence. This is available on the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) website.
On 1 April 2026, Mariella Frostrup was appointed as the Government’s Women’s Employment Ambassador, building on her work over the past 18 months as Menopause Employment Ambassador, where she raised awareness and strengthened employer understanding of menopause in the workplace. In this expanded role, the Ambassador will champion women’s employment throughout the life course, work with employers across the country to strengthen workplace support, raise awareness of key health issues and wider challenges affecting women in work, ensuring menopause remains a key priority, and highlight the vital economic contribution of women.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for an assessment for Personal Independence Payment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Information on the average time a claim spends with the assessment provider is publicly available in the Department’s Personal Independence Payment statistics release (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-january-2026).
In the ‘Personal Independence Payment: Clearance/Outstanding Times and Customer Journey Statistics to January 2026, England and Wales (XLS)’ file, tables 1A and 1B contain the PIP average actual clearance times for new claims and DLA reassessments respectively. Column ‘(iii) Referral to AP to return from AP’ is measured as the average time between the date of referral to the assessment provider and the date of the return of the assessment provider’s recommendation to the Department. It is reasonable to assume that only a small part of this time is related to the period between the assessment and the return of the recommendation.
The figures do not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant during this phase or claims that were returned to DWP without a report and disallowed because the claimant failed to attend the assessment without good reason.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been allocated to programmes supporting economic participation for people with disabilities in the last 12 months.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental allocations and spend are published annually in the Annual Reports and Accounts.
Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. DWP has a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through WorkWell and Connect to Work.
In Northern Ireland, health, skills, careers and employment support are transferred matters. My officials work closely with those in the Northern Ireland Executive, sharing best practice in regard to providing employment support to disabled people.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 challenges to employment for people with disabilities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The barriers that disabled people and people with health conditions are unique and complex. Our programmes are informed by DWP and external research, making sure that our support is evidence based and targets the barriers that prevent disabled people and people with health conditions from getting work, and getting on in work.
Recent DWP research spoke to customers not currently in work, and who did not rule out work permanently, and they were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about the barriers to finding work. The barriers often related to their health, confidence and skills, the employer/workplace, DWP and benefits, and personal circumstance. The full findings can be viewed in our report available at: Work aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers: Final findings report - GOV.UK
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many apprenticeships and training placements in technology sectors were created in the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government publishes statistics on apprenticeship starts by sector subject area: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/54003efc-6987-4a0f-1265-08dec5bb9009.
The number of students starting a digital T Level, which includes an industry placement, in the 2025/26 academic year, is available here: T Level and T Level foundation year entrant data 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 effectiveness of employment support programmes delivered through Jobcentre Plus.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DWP has conducted a number of evaluations that looked at the effectiveness of employment support programmes. This includes:
Qualitative research (2021–2023) on the effectiveness of Work Search Review (WSR) meetings delivered through Jobcentres - a core way of how Jobcentres and customers interact to discuss finding work: What makes work search reviews effective? - GOV.UK. The findings show that effectiveness depends on good rapport and a tailored approach from work coaches, reflecting each customer’s barriers, skills, motivation and aspirations. Effective meetings balance encouragement with appropriate challenge to customers’ beliefs about what they can achieve. Work Search Reviews are more effective when work coaches have sufficient time to prepare and carry out the meetings and flexibility to tailor the frequency and format, supporting better engagement and outcomes.
A quantitative impact assessment of Sector-based Work Academy Programmes: Sector-based Work Academy Programme: A Quantitative Impact Assessment - GOV.UK. This showed that starting a SWAP increases the time 20 to 65-year-old Universal Credit customers spend in employment.
An evaluation of the Youth Offer in 2024: Youth Offer process evaluation - GOV.UK, with a full process evaluation of the Jobs Guarantee planned.
In Great Britain, Jobcentres can also signpost or refer customers to a range of employment support programmes, many of which are delivered by externally contracted providers or Mayors and Local Authorities. This includes programmes introduced under this government such as Connect to Work and Workwell, which will be evaluated appropriately.
In Northern Ireland, employment support is delivered through Jobs and Benefits Offices. Programmes are evaluated separately to those in Great Britain.