Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the letter of 9 April 2025 from the hon. Member for Aberdeen North, reference ZA32718, case CMPT12025/33740.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We aim to investigate issues raised by complainants, and MPs on their behalf, within 15 working days, but where the case is complex, we may need to take longer.
We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 9th April 2025 and will provide a reply shortly.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many waiver requests from overpayment recovery of Universal Credit were (a) recorded and (b) granted (i) in full and (ii) partially for (A) each of the last two calendar years and (B) the current calendar year to date.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In last year's Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) waivers were included as part of the losses and special payments section on page 258: DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 (HTML) - GOV.UK.
Information regarding Secretary of State discretion to waive recovery of debt can be found in Chapter 8 of the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide which is published on gov.uk. Benefit overpayment recovery guide - GOV.UK
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of its proposed disability benefit changes on children's educational attainment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of its proposed changes to disability benefits on demand for local authority social care services.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of its proposed disability benefit changes on rates of homelessness.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to disability benefit on demand for NHS services.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has yet been made.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab).
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Public Law Project report entitled From pillar to post: barriers to dealing with deductions from Universal Credit, published on 19 September 2024, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of (a) waivers, (b) suspensions, (c) reductions in the rate of recovery and (d) other forms of discretionary relief from overpayment recovery.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP strives to set affordable and sustainable repayment plans and encourages customers to make contact if they are unable to afford the proposed repayment rate. When a customer makes contact because they are experiencing financial hardship, the rate of repayment can be reduced or, depending on the customer’s financial circumstances, a temporary suspension of repayment can be agreed. In exceptional circumstances a waiver can be considered. Customers are never pressured to pay more than they can afford. DWP has strengthened customer notifications encouraging anyone who cannot afford the proposed rate of repayment to contact the Department to discuss an affordable repayment plan. All appropriate debt notifications also provide signposting to relevant external support.
DWP has also introduced the new Fair Repayment Rate (FRR) which has reduced the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance. This measure will help customers retain more of their UC award.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 5974 on Universal Credit: Children, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of deductions from Universal Credit payments on trends in the level of (a) relative and (b) absolute child poverty.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimating the impact of deductions on trends in poverty is complex as stopping deductions would result in a build-up of arrears of the range of debts a customer has and stop vital obligations such as child maintenance being paid.
The government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to drive up opportunity and drive down poverty across the UK. As announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget, a new Fair Repayment Rate has now been introduced from 30 April 2025, reducing the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s UC standard allowance. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million of the poorest households benefit by an average of £420 a year.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in her Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Communications team is responsible for ensuring transparency and informing the public about vital policies and services that support citizens every day. We communicate about our services to over 20 million people, whether that's about paying benefits, pensions or helping people to move into and progress at work.
As one of the largest departments, our Communications team helps 90,000 colleagues deliver their important work by keeping them informed and engaged on our priorities and delivery, and promoting the support available to some of our most vulnerable households.
In the central DWP communications team, there are a total of 142 Government Communication Service professionals.
Of this total, 21 work in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities.
This is the latest available data from 30 April 2025.
The salary bands are:
AIO/EO £36,211 - £41,092
IO/HEO £43,589 - £48,672
SIO/SEO £48,405 - £60,482
G7 £57,787 - £74,457
G6 £75,550 - £83,973
The SCS pay scale can be found in the DWP ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023-24
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which jobcentres in Scotland have seen work coach staffing numbers reduced (a) since 2018-19 and (b) in the year for which the most recent data is available.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Coach staffing numbers for 2018-19 are unavailable. We have therefore compared Work Coach staffing numbers between March 2020 and the latest position (February 2025).
The following Jobcentres in Scotland have seen reductions in Work Coach levels between the two periods of March 2020 and February 2025:
Airdrie Stirling Street
Forfar Service Road
Forres Tytler Street
Fraserburgh South Harbour Road
Glasgow Radnor House
Greenock Dalrymple Street
Leven Waggon Road
Paisley High Street
The following Jobcentres in Scotland have seen reductions in Work Coach levels between the two periods of March 2024 and February 2025:
Annan Murray Street
Ayr Wallacetoun House
Dumfries Irish Street
Forfar Service Road
Fraserburgh South Harbour Road
Glasgow Radnor House
Leven Waggon Road
Paisley High Street