Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support and identify Universal Credit recipients with dual or multiple exceptionalities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department recognises that some Universal Credit (UC) claimants experience multiple or complex needs, which can make it more difficult for them to access and manage their claim or to move towards work.
To identify such claimants, DWP colleagues are trained to recognise indicators of vulnerability through claimant interactions, behaviours and information provided during the claim process. Work Coaches and specialist staff are supported by training, guidance and internal expert roles to ensure claimants with complex needs receive an appropriate and personalised service, with safeguarding considerations applied where necessary.
Any additional support needs are recorded on the UC system to ensure they are consistently recognised and acted upon.
Where multiple needs are identified, tailored support is put in place according to individual circumstances. This can include:
In addition, wider support is available through services such as Help to Claim and through adjustments to UC processes to ensure that those with health conditions or disabilities receive the financial support and work‑related requirements appropriate to their capability.
The Department continues to review and strengthen its approach to identifying and supporting vulnerable claimants, including those with multiple needs, to ensure they can access UC and receive the support to which they are entitled.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to (a) collect and (b) publish data on the number of people whose work capability is affected by (i) migraine and (ii) related headache disorders.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does collect data on people whose work capability is affected by (i) migraine and (ii) related headache disorders. We publish WCA health conditions outcomes data by ICD10 summary groups because people may have multiple conditions within each summary group. Therefore, only the summary group is retained for publication purposes.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of migraine on employment, absenteeism and economic inactivity.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of migraine on employment and economic inactivity. This information isn’t available as the Labour Force Survey, the primary source for data on labour market participation and economic inactivity, only reports figures by long‑term health condition and does not include a category for migraines.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to introduce an apprenticeship guarantee for 16-24 years old.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. We are investing £2.5 billion into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to support nearly one million 16–24-year-olds into work, education or training. Over the next three years, this investment will deliver up to 300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training, and unlock up to 200,000 jobs, including through the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and guaranteeing jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Universal Credit.
To support our ambition of 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, we have expanded foundation apprenticeships into hospitality and retail, will launch a new level 2 administrative assistant apprenticeship fromz August, and are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 for non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) that take on 16-24 year old apprentices as new employees.
We will also fully fund non-levy paying employer apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from August 2026 and launch a £140 million pilot, in conjunction with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, within Crawley constituency in the most recent 12 months for which data is available, what is the total amount resulting from (a) deductions and (b) sanctions applied to Universal Credit claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
a) Universal Credit deductions statistics are published quarterly with the latest figures available in table 6, row 365 in Universal Credit deductions statistics, September 2024 to August 2025, supplementary data tables, at Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 9 October 2025 - GOV.UK
b) The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Deductions policy in Universal Credit is to support customers by providing a repayment method for arrears of essential services, such as, housing, electricity, and gas and enable customers with a child maintenance liability meet their obligation to make child maintenance payments. The deductions policy also enables obligations, such as, paying Court Fines and Council Tax arrears to be enforced when other repayment methods have failed, or are not cost effective, and ensures that benefit debt is recovered in a cost-effective manner.
From April 2025 the Government introduced the Fair Repayment Rate which reduced the level of deduction taken from Universal Credit from 25% to 15%, and meant that 1.2m households retained on average £420 per year enabling these UC households to have more of their award to meet their day-to-day needs.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, following the announcement made on 16 October 2025 regarding the extension of funding to Trailblazer areas under the Get Britain Working programme, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Trailblazer schemes to date on a) employment outcomes b) levels of economic inactivity, and c) associated health and wellbeing indicators.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department developed a Strategic Outline Business Case for the Get Britain Working Trailblazers in March 2025, which followed HM Treasury’s Green Book framework. Within this, an assessment was made of the potential impact of the programme upon employment and associated health outcomes, as well as increasing participation in education and training. An update to the Business Case is being conducted, which will take account of relevant information following the programme launch earlier this year.
The Department will be commissioning an evaluation, starting in December 2025, which is expected to build evidence on the effectiveness of the programme at achieving employment outcomes, reducing levels of economic inactivity, associated health and well-being indicators, increasing participation in education and training, and effectiveness of systems integration. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer term impacts have developed.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary housing has not increased since 2011.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere.
We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. MHCLG are increasing funding for homelessness services this year by an extra £233 million compared to last year (2024/25).
We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and are working closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to explore the impacts of subsidy rates on local authorities.
Any future decisions on subsidy rates will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the current challenging financial environment at the appropriate fiscal event.
Asked by: Peter Lamb (Labour - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of levels of Housing Benefit subsidy on the capacity of local authorities to meet their statutory homelessness duties.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise the financial pressures which local authorities are experiencing. MHCLG are increasing funding for homelessness services from next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). Levels of Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation are kept under review and future decisions will be taken in the context of the government’s missions, goals on housing and the current fiscal context.