Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants have been identified as (a) serving and (b) having served in the armed forces for the latest assessment period.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
Data coverage continues to improve over time and by March 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 73% of the GB UC caseload (see table below). It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.
Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.
The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.
Increases in the numbers of claimants with a recorded status of “currently serving” or “served in the past” do not necessarily mean the overall numbers of claimants who are currently serving or have served in the past have increased and may reflect increases in the number of claimants for whom data is held as data coverage improves over time.
The table below shows how the proportion of the GB UC caseload with a recorded Armed Forces status has changed over time. It also shows how many claimants on the caseload had a recorded status of each type.
GB UC caseload by recorded Armed Forces status
UC caseload month | Proportion of caseload with a recorded status | Currently serving | Served in the past | Not served | Prefer not to say | No recorded status | ||
July 2022 | 51% | 3,000 | 39,000 | 2,800,000 | 21,000 | 2,800,000 | ||
August 2022 | 53% | 3,200 | 40,000 | 2,900,000 | 22,000 | 2,700,000 | ||
September 2022 | 54% | 3,200 | 41,000 | 3,000,000 | 22,000 | 2,600,000 | ||
October 2022 | 56% | 3,300 | 43,000 | 3,100,000 | 23,000 | 2,500,000 | ||
November 2022 | 57% | 3,300 | 44,000 | 3,200,000 | 24,000 | 2,500,000 | ||
December 2022 | 58% | 3,400 | 45,000 | 3,300,000 | 25,000 | 2,400,000 | ||
January 2023 | 59% | 3,500 | 46,000 | 3,400,000 | 25,000 | 2,300,000 | ||
February 2023 | 61% | 3,500 | 48,000 | 3,500,000 | 26,000 | 2,300,000 | ||
March 2023 | 62% | 3,600 | 48,000 | 3,500,000 | 27,000 | 2,200,000 | ||
April 2023 | 63% | 3,700 | 50,000 | 3,600,000 | 28,000 | 2,200,000 | ||
May 2023 | 64% | 3,800 | 50,000 | 3,700,000 | 28,000 | 2,100,000 | ||
June 2023 | 65% | 3,900 | 51,000 | 3,800,000 | 29,000 | 2,100,000 | ||
July 2023 | 66% | 4,000 | 52,000 | 3,900,000 | 30,000 | 2,100,000 | ||
August 2023 | 66% | 4,000 | 53,000 | 3,900,000 | 30,000 | 2,000,000 | ||
September 2023 | 67% | 4,000 | 54,000 | 4,000,000 | 30,000 | 2,000,000 | ||
October 2023 | 68% | 3,900 | 54,000 | 4,100,000 | 30,000 | 2,000,000 | ||
November 2023 | 69% | 3,900 | 55,000 | 4,200,000 | 31,000 | 1,900,000 | ||
December 2023 | 70% | 3,900 | 57,000 | 4,300,000 | 31,000 | 1,900,000 | ||
January 2024 | 71% | 3,900 | 58,000 | 4,400,000 | 32,000 | 1,900,000 | ||
February 2024 | 72% | 4,000 | 59,000 | 4,500,000 | 32,000 | 1,800,000 | ||
March 2024 (provisional) | 73% | 4,200 | 62,000 | 4,700,000 | 33,000 | 1,800,000 | ||
Notes:
1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.
2. Figures in the table have been rounded according to the Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy.
3. In line with the latest published People on UC official statistics, provisional figures relating to March 2024 are provided. These figures will be subject to revision in subsequent releases.
4. These figures are based on the Official Statistics UC caseload definition. Some previous figures have used an alternative caseload definition based on assessment period end dates.
5. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 1 February 2024 on Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) Scheme Update, HCWS233, whether his Department has completed the reassessments of eligibility decisions made on ineligible ARAP applications with credible links to (a) Commando Force 333 and (b) Afghan Territorial Force 444.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The reassessment of applications from those with credible links to former Afghan specialist units began on 26 March and will take approximately 12 weeks to complete, although some complex cases might extend beyond this as we ensure all evidence is considered. I can confirm that overturned decisions have already begun to be communicated to applicants.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has a joint unit with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
His Majesty's Government has a joint unit on Euro-Atlantic Security Policy consisting of officials from FCDO and MOD. Additionally, both Departments regularly coordinate policy on Ukraine.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to allocate at least £3 billion for military support to Ukraine in each year between 2024 and 2030.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government remains committed to supporting Ukraine to defend itself in response to Putin’s illegal invasion. This year we are providing an additional £500 million to Ukraine, on top of the £2.5 billion we have already announced. Our fully funded increase in defence spending enables us to commit to providing support to Ukraine at the current level for as long as required.Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech in Warsaw on 23 April 2024, whether the commitment to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2030 will be require additional funding streams other than through reductions to (a) the civil service and (b) research and development budgets.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We have made a commitment to steadily increase defence spending, reaching 2.5% of GDP in 2030. We have also set out how we are fully funding this increase in defence spending.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech in Warsaw on 23 April 2024, whether his Department has (a) conducted an assessment of costings and (b) developed proposals for how to fund the commitment to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2030.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We have made a commitment to steadily increase defence spending, reaching 2.5% of GDP in 2030. We have also set out how we are fully funding this increase in defence spending.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Invitations to Negotiate issued by his Department did not lead to a procurement contract in 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Our Defence Sourcing Portal is used to coordinate all sourcing activities across the Department with external parties. From this system, the number of Invitations To Tender/Invitations to Negotiate (ITT/ITN) indicated as not leading to a procurement contract in calendar year 2023 is 11 (of the 676 that were published.) This represents 1.63% of the total number of ITT/ITNs for 2023.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many Afghan people are being housed in UK hotel funded accommodation in Pakistan under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan citizens resettlement scheme as of 18 April 2024.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government looks forward to bringing all remaining eligible individuals to the UK as soon as practicable.
Since Operation Pitting we have welcomed 8,702 Afghans eligible under ARAP, and 2,020 Afghans eligible under ACRS, to the UK via Pakistan.