Department for Work and Pensions Universal Credit

Written Question

Poverty: Children

Tuesday 16th December 2025

Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to publish annual constituency-level child poverty indicators in relation to the Child Poverty Strategy.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Details of new statistics currently under development are also set out in the DWP Statistical Work Programme, available at: Statistical work programme - GOV.UK. This includes proposals for a new measure of low income for families in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) and new local area Official Statistics on children in low-income families on an after housing costs (AHC) basis, which will provide additional local area level insights.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning. We will use two complementary headline metrics, relative poverty (after housing costs) and deep material poverty, as well as a comprehensive programme of analysis focussing on the drivers of child poverty and the impact of specific interventions. We will publish a baseline report next summer with further details, which will set out the latest statistics and identify what further indicators and wider evidence will be used to monitor and evaluate the Child Poverty Strategy at both a national and local level.

Written Question

Employment: Young People

Tuesday 16th December 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

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 more young people into work.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government is investing in young people’s futures. At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820 million for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy.

Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, including:

Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up. This support could be delivered at a Youth Hub.

Further expansion of Youth Hubs: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support.

c. 300,000 additional opportunities for workplace experience and training: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers – Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.

Guaranteeing jobs: For long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit, the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years. We know young people need support quickly and that is why we will begin delivery of the Jobs Guarantee in six areas from spring 2026 in: Birmingham & Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire & Essex, Central & East Scotland, Southwest & Southeast Wales. We will deliver over 1,000 job starts in the first six months. This will be followed by national roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain.

Prevention: We are also making it easier to identify young people who need support, by investing in better data sharing for those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), further education attendance monitoring, and new risk of NEET data tools giving local areas more accurate insights to target support where it's needed most. We are also investing in work experience opportunities for young people at particular risk of becoming NEET, focused on pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings, (education provided outside mainstream or special schools for children who cannot attend a regular school, often due to exclusion, health needs, or other circumstances). This builds on measures announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper earlier this autumn.

Growth and Skills Levy’s £725 million package of reforms includes a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25, and £140 million pilot of new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities. These are important steps in the government’s ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, which will also be supported by expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people.

In Northern Ireland, all DWP policy areas are transferred (apart from the private pensions regulatory regime), including employment support. This is the responsibility of the Department for Communities.

Written Question

Sick Leave: Self-employed

Tuesday 16th December 2025

Asked by: Lizzi Collinge (Labour - Morecambe and Lunesdale)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken an assessment of the potential merits of creating a sick pay scheme for self-employed people.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is paid for by employers and there is no mechanism to include the self-employed in SSP.

It is important to highlight that many self-employed people already choose to take out some form of insurance or income protection to financially support them during periods of sickness absence.

The Government does have a wider safety net to ensure self-employed people are supported through the welfare system. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and/or new style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), depending on their personal circumstances.

New Style ESA is an income-replacement benefit for people who are unable to work because of a health condition or disability and is not an in-work benefit. The aim of ESA is to provide support to individuals who are unable to work due to their disability or health condition, and to help them move towards employment if and when they are able to do so. Eligibility is dependent on satisfying the basic conditions of entitlement and contribution conditions.

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Rural Areas

Monday 15th December 2025

Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to contact vulnerable individuals in (a) remote and (b) rural areas with low broadband connectivity.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions utilise a range of channels to ensure vulnerable customers and those with limited broadband can access support.

Local Jobcentres provide face-to-face appointments for those unable to use digital services and have dedicated support in the form of Disability Employment Advisers for customers with health barriers, sites also have access to Vulnerable Customer Leads within their districts to support customers who are more vulnerable.
Telephone services are available for those customers unable to manage digital claims to Universal Credit.
Telephone and video calls are conducted to support customers who are in remote locations or have vulnerabilities which prevent them from attending offices for face-to-face interactions.
We have over 650 Visiting Officers who carry out home visits for customers with complex needs, cannot engage via digital or telephone channels or who cannot attend a Jobcentre.
Outreach work is in place with local providers and community organisations to help reach areas where customers, who might otherwise miss out on access to Jobcentre services, due to their rural location or lack of access to digital facilities within their home.
Mobile Jobcentre vans are being introduced in some areas to bring services to areas with poor connectivity or limited physical access to services.
Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders are in place to support vulnerable customers at significant risk of harm when all business-as-usual activity has been exhausted.
Jobcentres signpost customers to local providers such as libraries, charities and colleges who may be able to offer the relevant support needed as well as access to online or telephone services.

Written Question

Universal Credit: Pregnancy

Monday 15th December 2025

Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what number and proportion of pregnant Universal Credit claimants were deemed to have Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity due to pregnancy risk in the most recent year for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Written Question

Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit

Monday 15th December 2025

Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of foreign-born families who will claim universal credit or tax credits for more than 2 children and (b) the total cost of this.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Children

Monday 15th December 2025

Asked by: Chris Vince (Labour (Co-op) - Harlow)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of households affected by the two child limit policy that are (a) two earner couple households and (b) two earner couple households in which both earners are in full time work.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

a) This information is available as part of routinely released statistical series: Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2025 - GOV.UK

b) In April 2025, 3,700 couple households where both parents were earning at least the equivalent of 36.5 hours at the national living wage were affected by the two child limit

Notes for part b

We have estimated full-time work status using earnings data. The earnings threshold indicative of full-time employment was estimated based on the average full-time working hours (36.5) reported by the ONS and the current National Living Wage. This is an assumption and not a standard estimate of full-time employment.
Net pay was calculated using the Gov.uk online calculator.
Couple household: A Universal Credit contract, which includes two adult claimants, who have dependent children.
Affected: A child is affected by the two child limit policy if they are a third or subsequent dependent child born on or after 6 April 2017. This includes children with exceptions to the two-child limit.
A household is affected by the policy if they have one or more affected children.
Figures above have been rounded to the nearest 100.
Figures are for GB.

Written Question

Universal Credit

Friday 12th December 2025

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of Universal Credit advances that remain outstanding beyond 12 months.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Most UC advances (new claims, benefit transfer and Budgeting Advances) have a maximum repayment period of 24 months except change of circumstances advances which have a maximum of 6 months.

Written Question

Universal Credit

Friday 12th December 2025

Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who have newly claimed Universal Credit in each of the last five years by (a) health-related reasons for claiming and (b) the searching-for-work conditionality group.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 November 2025 to PQ UIN 92813.

Written Question

Universal Credit: Fraud

Thursday 11th December 2025

Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of fraud and error detection systems used in Universal Credit administration.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Over the last year, we have seen a statistically significant decrease in the Universal Credit overpayment rate from 12.4% to 9.7% of expenditure - this represents a 21% fall in the overpayment rate, equivalent to £1.7bn in terms of FYE 2025 Universal Credit expenditure. This compares to the Universal Credit overpayment peak of 14.7% of expenditure in FYE 2022.

On Wednesday 26 November the Office for Budget Responsibility also published an updated Universal Credit fraud and error forecast which shows the rate of Universal Credit overpayments is expected to drop to 7.5% of Universal Credit expenditure by 2028/2029.