Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 Public and Commercial Services Union on the Synergy contract awarded to Capita.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Ministers and officials regularly discuss a range of matters with PCS and other trade unions.
I have also recently written to the General Secretary of PCS on this matter specifically.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 current waiting times on decisions on claims for Attendance Allowance; and whether he will take steps to reduce the target processing time from up to 12 weeks, particularly for claimants undergoing active cancer treatment such as chemotherapy.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department keeps Attendance Allowance processing times under review and recognises the importance of timely decisions for older people, including those undergoing significant medical treatment.
Through our wider Service Modernisation programme, we have taken steps to speed up and streamline the processing of new Attendance Allowance claims. We are now working to a target of clearing 90% of new claims within 30 days, and current performance shows that the majority of claims are being cleared within around 3–4 weeks, supported by increasing uptake of the new digital application route.
For customers who are nearing the end of life, we operate a dedicated fast-track process under the Special Rules for End of Life, where claims are prioritised and typically cleared within 8 days. The extension of the end of life definition from 6 months to 12 months ensures more people with advanced conditions can benefit from this expedited process.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 freezing Local Housing Allowance rates in 2026–2027 on low-income renters; and when he plans to review Local Housing Allowance rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are annually reviewed at Autumn Budget.
In his Written Statement following Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions confirmed that LHA rates will remain at current levels in 2026/27 (HCWS1101). A range of factors were considered, including rental levels across Great Britain, the challenging fiscal context, and the impact of current levels of housing support.
To support our commitment to reduce child poverty, we prioritised removing the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities for low-income renters who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF).
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 the Universal Credit taper in incentivising part-time work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The taper rate aims to make customers financially better off in work by ensuring that their Universal Credit award is reduced by less than their earned income.
Universal Credit has a single taper rate of 55% and some customers will also benefit from a work allowance which is the amount someone can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to reduce.
Once a customer is earning more than their work allowance (if applicable), their Universal Credit starts to be reduced at a consistent rate.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help improve the availability of (a) free and (b) independent benefits-related advice services in Nottingham.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions signposts customers to the following services in Nottingham, with which it has an active relationship.
St Anne’s Advice, Disability Support and Citizens Advice Centre all recently attended a DWP Health and Wellbeing event, to support customers with health conditions, and regularly attend our Disability Employment Adviser Cafes which provide an informal environment in Nottingham where the DWP works in collaboration with partners to support customers.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the DWP office employees in Lincoln; and whether flexible working arrangements will be offered to staff who cannot relocate.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department currently has excess space. All decisions around estates are driven by departmental strategy to deliver a smaller, better and greener estate. Equality Analysis has been undertaken as part of the decision-making process.
Since the announcement, all affected colleagues in Lincoln have been supported through a detailed conversation between each individual and their line manager to assess the personal impact of any closure, and inform consideration of all alternative employment options. Redeployment activity is now underway, looking at vacancies in other DWP locations and other government departments.
As a responsible employer, DWP offers flexibility including hybrid working, workplace adjustments and other support, but like other government departments, DWP is not a home working organisation.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of (a) the potential impact of the benefit cap on poverty rates among larger families and (b) the potential merits of its abolition.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn, that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her proposed changes to disability benefits on (a) people who receive social care support and (b) social care support providers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government has already started to bring about change to address health-related economic inactivity. We are injecting almost £26 billion of extra funding next year to get the health and social care system back on its feet and bring down waiting lists.
The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out our plans to reform the health and disability and employment support system. As we bring forward changes, we will ensure that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so that they can live with dignity and security.
For those affected by the changes to PIP eligibility, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. For new claimants on the Universal Credit health element after April 2026, we are proposing that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected.
As we develop detailed proposals for change, we will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve waiting times for the Personal Independence Payment helpline.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Telephony is our customers’ primary channel to contact us. We continually assess the number of calls we are receiving and the associated waiting times, deploying resources accordingly to support service levels wherever this is possible. However, due to recent media articles regarding PIP, we have been receiving high volumes of calls. As a result, we have been deploying, where practical (whilst also balancing the need to complete necessary processing work) 100% dedicated telephony specific resource to the Personal Independent Payment telephony lines which will give extra support with the increase in both volume of traffic and waiting times.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to require periodic redeclaration of circumstances every six months for Universal Credit claimants from April 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the department will prompt Universal Credit claimants to confirm whether they have had a change in circumstances that might affect their claim. Any changes in circumstances declared will be processed and verified in the usual way. A roll out of this initiative will commence in April and testing will help determine frequency.