To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Carer's Allowance: Young People
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had discussions with (a) young carers and (b) advocacy groups on amending Carer's Allowance eligibility rules for people wishing to study more than 21 hours per week.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department regularly meets with groups of carers and those representing them at both Ministerial and Official level to discuss a range of issues, including Carer’s Allowance. Officials met a delegation of young carers, supported by the Carers Trust and the Learning and Work Institute, on 13 March.

Carer's Allowance was introduced principally to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time due to their caring responsibilities.


The Government thinks it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, and not the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits.

There are currently no plans to change the full-time education rules for Carer’s Allowance, but carers are able to undertake part-time education and still receive Carer’s Allowance.


Written Question
Carer's Allowance: Young People
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

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 Carer's Allowance eligibility rules on young carers' ability to access (a) further and (b) higher education.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department regularly meets with groups of carers and those representing them at both Ministerial and Official level to discuss a range of issues, including Carer’s Allowance. Officials met a delegation of young carers, supported by the Carers Trust and the Learning and Work Institute, on 13 March.

Carer's Allowance was introduced principally to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time due to their caring responsibilities.


The Government thinks it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, and not the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits.

There are currently no plans to change the full-time education rules for Carer’s Allowance, but carers are able to undertake part-time education and still receive Carer’s Allowance.


Written Question
Poverty: Government Assistance
Friday 1st March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure support schemes keep pace with inflation.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of State Pension and benefit rates. Most of these will increase by 6.7% from April 2024, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2023. The basic State Pension, full rate of the new State Pension and Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by 8.5%, in line with the growth in average weekly earning in the year to May-July 2023. The increase to all these State Pensions and benefits in April 2023 was 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022 and the Government’s manifesto commitment to the triple lock for the new and basic State Pensions.

The Government will also be investing £1.2 billion restoring Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This significant investment will ensure 1.6 million low-income private renters will gain on average, nearly £800 per year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25.

From April 2024, the National Living Wage is set to increase by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour. This represents an increase of over £1,800 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage and is expected to benefit over 2.7 million low-paid workers. The equivalent increase in April 2023 was 9.7%.

The Government understand the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. This commitment is demonstrated by the package of additional support for the most vulnerable provided by one of the largest support packages in Europe. This includes the current Household Support Fund, which is worth £842 million and runs until 31 March 2024 in England. The Devolved Administrations receive Barnett Formula funding as a result of this, bringing the total investment to £1 billion.

Taken together, including the measures outlined above, support to households to help with the high cost of living in total amounts to £104 billion over the period 2022/23 to 2024/25.


Written Question
Poverty: Children
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle child poverty in large towns and cities.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.

Working age benefits will increase by 6.7% from April 2024, subject to Parliamentary approval. To further support low-income households, we are also raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.

With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.

Our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options to help people into work, including face-to-face time with Work Coaches and targeted employment support. We will also increase the National Living Wage by 9.8% to £11.44 for workers aged 21 years and over from this April - an annual increase in gross earnings of over £1800 for someone working full-time on the National Living Wage.


Written Question
Disability Living Allowance: Children
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

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 NHS on the impact of its timescales for providing medical evidence for child Disability Living Allowance claims on the time taken to process those claims.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions regularly talk with external stakeholders, including the NHS on a wide range of topics.

To ensure they have sufficient information to make accurate decisions on a child’s entitlement to Disability Living Allowance as quickly as possible, decision makers will request evidence from a number of sources. These include health and educational professionals involved in the care of the child. The Department of Work and Pensions also employ medical advisors who provide comprehensive guidance to decision makers.


Written Question
Disability Living Allowance: Children
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process child Disability Living Allowance claims.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has taken steps to recruit further resources and to also re-deploy from within the business to meet demand and reduce journey times. This began in October 2023 and continues throughout Quarter 4 2023/24. This is beginning to positively impact waiting and journey times.


Written Question
Disability Living Allowance: Children
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to recruit staff to process claims for Disability Living Allowance for children.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There is planned recruitment into Disability Living Allowance for children in Quarter 4 of 2023/24. This recruitment activity is progressing for both AO Case Workers and EO Case Managers. There are also plans to supplement the external recruitment with resource from the Flexible Resource Team.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure the mental well-being of people affected by welfare sanctions.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Under Universal Credit, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned.

Those on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach. Where a customer on a work-related benefit has a health condition, illness or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their requirements to what is reasonable and achievable taking into account the individual's condition. In some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements maybe be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.

A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so and in cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances. For customers who demonstrate that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs as a result of a sanction, we have a well-established system of hardship payments. These needs can include heating, food and hygiene.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of sanctions for (a) minor infringements of welfare rules and (b) being late for jobcentre meetings on the mental health of people sanctioned.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of sanctions for (a) minor infringements of welfare rules and (b) being late for jobcentre meetings.

Under Universal Credit, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach to do so. Where a customer on a work-related benefit has a health condition, illness or a disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor their requirements to what is reasonable and achievable taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements maybe be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.

A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so and in the cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances. For minor conditionality failures, including failing to attend a mandatory appointment with a work coach an open-ended sanction is applied. Open-ended sanctions can be ended at any time by the customer simply re-engaging with their work coach and complying with the failed conditionality requirement.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations and Disqualification
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential mental health impact of (a) disability tests and (b) sanctions.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made of the potential mental health impact of PIP or WCA, assessments or social security sanctions.

a) Evaluations of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) policy are routinely carried out, and often include engagement with external researchers. The methods used are designed to be appropriate to the specific type of intervention being evaluated. Customer experience of assessments is also continually monitored. However, it would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the specific impact of disability tests on mental health from other contributory factors.

b) Under Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance, sanctions do not apply to all customers. Those with a health condition, illness or disability who are found to have ‘limited capability for work and work-related requirements’, are not subject to work-related conditions and will therefore not be sanctioned. Those found to have limited capability for work and claimants on work-related benefits are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed with their work coach. Where a customer has a health condition, illness or disability, work coaches have the discretion to tailor these requirements to what is reasonable and achievable, taking into account the individual's condition. Additionally, in some circumstances a customer’s work-related requirements may be lifted for a period if their ability to carry them out is disrupted due to their personal circumstances.

A sanction is only applied where an individual has failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirements without demonstrating good reason for doing so. In cases where vulnerabilities are known or suspected, a pre-referral quality check is undertaken prior to any sanction referral to ensure that it is appropriate in the circumstances.