Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for the Department to publish a breakdown of the expenditure on the Universal Credit (UC) housing and Housing Benefit (HB) over the last ten years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Expenditure on Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE) and Housing Benefit (HB) are published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of working days lost every year in England as a result of dental problems.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data specifically on the number of working days lost in England as a result of dental problems is not held. Data on the number of working days lost to sickness absence as a result of Eye/ear/nose/mouth/dental problems in the UK is available in the following publication: Sickness absence in the UK labour market - Office for National Statistics.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that speech and language therapists do not undertake PIP assessments for people without disabilities related to speech and language.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The department recognises the importance of ensuring all health professionals (HPs) have appropriate experience, skills, and training to undertake Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments.
Assessment suppliers ensure that all HPs who carry out PIP assessments on behalf of the department receive comprehensive training in disability analysis. This includes training in the evaluation of how medical conditions affect claimants in their day-to-day activities, as well as awareness training in specific conditions. Suppliers are required to demonstrate that their HPs meet all our requirements before they are approved to carry out assessments on behalf of DWP.
PIP assessments focus on the impact of a person’s condition on their ability to carry out everyday activities, rather than the condition itself. HPs are therefore trained to assess the functional effects of a broad range of health conditions on an individual’s daily life.
The small number of qualified and regulated speech and language therapists undertaking assessments are required to meet the same training, qualification, and competency standards as all other health professionals carrying out PIP assessments on behalf of DWP.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that PIP assessments prioritise reports from specialists relevant in the field that the individual has a disability from.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Personal Independent Payment (PIP) assessment is a functional assessment, which focuses on how an individual’s health condition or disability affects their ability to carry out a range of daily living and mobility activities.
Health Care Professionals must review and consider all further evidence to inform their advice to the DWP Case Manager. The PIP assessment does not require prioritisation of supplementary information provided by specialists as all evidence must be interpreted and evaluated using medical reasoning, considering the circumstances of the case and the expected impact on the claimant’s daily living and/or mobility.
All Health Professionals (HPs) receive comprehensive training in disability analysis, including how to assess the impact of medical conditions on people’s day-to-day activities, as well as awareness training in a range of conditions, symptoms and disabilities.
HPs have access to a wide range of Core Training and Guidance Material (CTGM). These resources offer detailed clinical and functional information, including the potential risks and limitations of a range of conditions to support HPs in delivering informed assessments. All core training and guidance materials are quality assured to ensure their accuracy from both a clinical and policy perspective.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding PIP eligibility for serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from long-term health conditions and disabilities rather than on the condition itself. As such, PIP is already available to people with schizophrenia.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 potential impact of the proposed changes by the Health and Safety Executive on safe lead-in-blood levels on women in the stained glass making industry.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 May 2026 to Question UIN 2582.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans for any changes made as a consequence of the Timms review to be either laid as a negative, or positive, statutory instrument, or as a bill.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The government has launched the Timms Review to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.
The Review is being co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard.
As the government is not entering the Review with a fixed set of outcomes, and the steering group is responsible for developing its recommendations, I cannot pre-empt the conclusions of this work. For that reason, it is not possible at this stage to determine what legislative vehicle may be required to implement any changes arising from the Review.
The Review is expected to report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in autumn 2026, and its outcomes will be reported to Parliament, where there will be a general debate on the Review in government time.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling people below the retirement age with a terminal diagnosis to claim their pension earlier.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department meets regularly with key stakeholders to understand the needs of people living with a terminal illness.
Whilst it is the case that nobody can claim their State Pension before State Pension age, support is available through the Special Rules for End of Life. These rules enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit and Attendance Allowance, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Department for Education on assessing the potential impact of reducing assistive technology support during higher education on disabled people’s employment outcomes.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The Department for Work and Pensions maintains regular dialogue with the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure disabled students are supported as they transition into the labour market. Assistive and accessible technology (ATech) is key to enabling independence, greater inclusion, and participation for disabled people. While this technology is already creating opportunities, this government believes there is potential to do much more.
The Access to Work Scheme has been operating in Great Britain since June 1994 and provides grant funding to disabled people, as well as those with a health condition. The grant supports workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. The grant cap was increased in April 2024 to £69,920. To further support sustainable employment, the DWP is also investing in the “Connect to Work” initiative, which is expected to support around 100,000 disabled people and those with health conditions in 2026/2027.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 18-25 year olds in Devon accessing apprenticeships.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer that will give greater flexibility to employers and support young people, including those in Devon, at the beginning of their careers.
In August, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.
More recently, we have announced our ambition is to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and backed this with an additional £725 million of investment. This will enable us to expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people. It also provides £140 million to pilot new approaches, with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, to better connect young people aged 16–24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities.
We also announced that the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises), for all eligible people aged under 25. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.
In addition, we 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. Employers also benefit from not being 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.
The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including in Devon through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.