Kim Johnson

The government is committed to making quick progress to deliver on its commitment to offer breakfast clubs in every primary school with primary aged pupils whilst ensuring effective implementation.

Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts on various matters, including facilities and space, to develop a programme that effectively meets the needs of children, schools and parents.

From April 2025, free breakfast clubs will be available in up to 750 early adopter schools, as part of a test and learn phase in advance of national roll out.

The department does not currently hold statistics showing how many children who had been excluded from school were then registered at Pupil Referral Units. However, there are legal duties on schools and local authorities to provide suitable full-time education from the sixth day of a suspension or permanent exclusion.

The duties on schools and local authorities to provide alternative provision, and the standards that this should meet, are also set out in statutory guidance. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.

The government has committed to taking a community-wide approach to improving inclusion of all children in mainstream schools, whatever their background. The department will see alternative providers working with mainstream schools to provide high quality early interventions and targeted support for children and young people that is targeted at their specific needs, which will ultimately reduce the numbers of referrals into alternative provision.

Every child, regardless of background, deserves the opportunity to progress and succeed in school and beyond. This government is committed to breaking the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success.

The department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) children and young people and has an active GRT stakeholder group, which includes representatives from GRT communities and the education sector. The group is a valuable source of information and challenge for the department and works to inform thinking, policy and delivery, addressing barriers faced by GRT pupils.

In line with the recommendations of the Education Policy Institute’s annual report, the government has committed to developing an ambitious Child Poverty strategy, implementing several initiatives aimed at boosting children’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as investing in improving inclusivity and expertise to support children with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools.

To support all young people to achieve and thrive, the department has started work to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers and launched an independent, expert-led curriculum and assessment review that will look closely at the key challenges to attainment. The department has also committed to provide breakfast clubs in all state funded primary schools, ensuring every primary school child is well prepared for school.

In the 2024/25 financial year, over £7.8 billion of the schools’ national funding formula funding has been allocated based on deprivation and other additional needs. In addition, in the last academic year, of the £7 billion allocated to support 16 to 18 year olds in education, nearly £600 million was targeted to support the needs of disadvantaged students.

Information on children attending special schools is reported within the school census, with the most recent publication available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. To access the data, use a table builder to find the required information. An example of the outputs from the table builder is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/06951e44-abeb-4c2b-4111-08dce44cbd16.

Information on pupil referral units is reported within the school census. The most recent publication is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. By following this link you will be able to use a table builder to find the information that you require. One example of the outputs from the table builder can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/90137e0b-149c-42fc-410d-08dce44cbd16.

The department is committed to introducing an Alternative Student Finance (ASF) product, compatible with Islamic finance principles, as quickly as it can. To support this, in November we are reconvening the ASF working group, made up of representatives from the Islamic community and finance sector. We have also appointed a secretariat to take forward the Sharia-certification of the ASF product. The department is currently considering how it can best drive forward further progress on ASF and will provide an update on plans in due course.

The government’s announcement to remove Ofsted’s single headline grades with immediate effect included state-funded alternative provision schools. The government is committed to removing single headline grades in all the remits that Ofsted inspects and replacing them with report cards.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are too high and there are a range of contributing factors. We will look carefully at these issues as we develop our strategy for ending homelessness.

When reviewing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the Secretary of State considered a range of factors, including the private rental situation, the Government’s goals and missions, and the wider fiscal context and engaged with MHCLG.

DWP currently spends around £30bn annually on housing support and the April 2024 increase to LHA costs approximately £7bn over 5 years.

For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.

As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233m compared to this year (2024/25). The increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings the total spend to nearly a billion pounds in 2025/26.

We are committed to tackling poverty in all its forms and this includes tackling food insecurity by reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. Good work can significantly reduce the chances of people failing into poverty so will be the foundation of our approach.

The Child Poverty Taskforce has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025. We will harness all available levers across government to bring about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change.

Our jobcentres support our customers, including in ethnic minority groups, to move into employment by providing access to mainstream services and bespoke programmes that are designed to be flexible to individual needs. We are also taking targeted action in 20 places with a high ethnic minority employment gap. The Get Britain Working White Paper, to be set out in the Autumn, will develop measures to reduce inactivity and help people to find better paid and more secure jobs.

Alongside this, we have committed to reviewing Universal Credit by listening to the full range of views on potential changes, so that our social security system is fit for purpose. As announced in the Autumn Budget, a new Fair Repayment Rate will be introduced from April 2025, reducing Universal Credit deductions overall cap from 25% to 15%. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million of the poorest households benefit by an average of £420 a year.

We also announced that, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.

No assessment has been made of the impact of the Household Support Fund on poverty.

The Government announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.

An additional £421 million has been provided to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. The objective of the Household Support Fund is to provide crisis support to vulnerable households in England in most need with the cost of essentials such as food and energy.

The Household Support Fund is intended to cover a wide range of low-income households in need, including households with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people, larger households, single-person households, and those struggling with one-off financial shocks or unforeseen events.

Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities.

The Child Poverty Taskforce has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The taskforce is exploring a range of metrics and will make decisions alongside the publication of the strategy in Spring 2025.

It is our aim to make the right decision as early as possible in the process. To support this we have made improvements to our decision-making processes, giving Decision Makers additional time to proactively contact customers if they think additional evidence may support the claim.

We will continue to learn from decisions overturned at appeal, for example we regularly gather feedback from Presenting Officers who attend tribunal.

Further, the Health Transformation Programme is transforming health and disability benefit services over the longer term to improve the claimant experience, and improve trust in our services and decisions. It is creating a new customer-focussed Health Assessment Service and transforming the entire PIP service, from finding out about benefits and eligibility through to decisions and payments.

The table below provides information on the total number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals, which were either lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing. It also includes the number of claimants who had no award prior to the appeal, and had their award changed to Enhanced for both daily living and mobility components post lapsed or overturned appeal. Data provided is for the last five financial years.

Table 1: Number of lapsed and overturned appeals for each financial year and how many subsequently went from nil to enhanced on both daily living and mobility components

The table below provides information on the proportion of PIP appeals which were either lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing, that previously had no award but had their award changed to enhanced for the daily living and mobility component post appeal. Data is provided for the last five financial years.

Table 2: Proportion of lapsed and overturned appeals whose award changed from nil to enhanced for each financial year

Notes:

1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
2. Data provided is for England and Wales (excluding Scotland).
3. These figures include appeal clearances and decisions for PIP New Claims, Reassessments, Award Reviews and Change of Circumstances. These figures include appeals cleared from April 2019 to March 2024.
4. Appeals data has been taken from DWP PIP customer system’s management information. Therefore, this appeal data may differ from that held by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
5. This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution, and it may be subject to future revision.
6. A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
7. An overturned appeal is where the decision was changed in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged and was heard at tribunal hearing.

The tables below provide information on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal clearances; and whether they were lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing.

Data provided is for the last five financial years.

Table 1: Number of appeals cleared for each financial year and how many were subsequently lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing

Table 2: Proportion of lapsed or overturned appeals for each financial year

Notes:

1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
2. Data provided is for England and Wales (excluding Scotland).
3. These figures include appeal clearances and decisions for PIP New Claims, Reassessments, Award Reviews and Change of Circumstances. These figures include appeals cleared from April 2019 to March 2024.
4. Appeals data has been taken from DWP PIP customer system’s management information. Therefore, this appeal data may differ from that held by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
5. This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution, and it may be subject to future revision.
6. A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
7. An overturned appeal is where the decision was changed in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged and was heard at tribunal hearing.
8. Appeals can have their decision upheld or may also be withdrawn by the claimant. These are not included in the above tables.

An equality analysis was produced as part of Ministerial decision making in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty.

This was published on 13 September and can be found online here: DWP Freedom of Information response - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

By convention, such analyses are not published alongside secondary legislation. However, in view of the close public interest in this issue Ministers decided, exceptionally, to publish in this case.

The Department does not routinely capture data aligned to a 6-week clearance rate. However, we do capture data against a 50-day clearance rate, and our performance is published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK(www.gov.uk).

Of 248,000 Pension Credit claims cleared in performance year 2023/24, 192,000 were cleared within the planned 50-day timescale, equating to 77.7%. 56,000, 22.3% were cleared outside of the of the 10-week planned timescale.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

We are also providing support through our Warm Homes Plan which pensioners will benefit from. This will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.

In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the government had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.

As a newly formed Government we will need time to review and consider the Ombudsman’s report along with the evidence provided during the investigation.

Now the election has concluded we need to consider the views that have been expressed on all sides.

The issues outlined in the report are significant and complex, as such they require serious deliberation. Once this work has been undertaken, the Government will be in a position to outline its approach.

I met with representatives from the WASPI Campaign on the 5th of September.,

The Regulations will come into force on 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week.

In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to the equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.

Information on number of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty that are not in receipt of Pension Credit in Liverpool Riverside constituency is not held.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report published on 21 March 2024 considers the communication to 1950s born women of the equalisation and increase of the State Pension age introduced by the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007 and 2011. The Acts (collectively) increased the State Pension age for all women born after 5 April 1950. Based on current ONS figures it is estimated that there are around 3.5 million women who saw an increase in their State Pension age and were born in the 1950s.