Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 83176 on Universal Credit, how many and what proportion of claims were made by people with the support of a paid interpreter; and what was the the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation for supporting claimants in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not retain data on how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims were made by people requiring the support of paid interpretation services. The breakdown of costs for translation and interpretation across all benefits including Universal Credit, from 2019/2020 to present is shown below. This data is not available prior to 2019.
| Translation Costs (including Pension Credit Customers) | Interpretation Costs |
2019/20 | £ 472,539 | £ 2,219,613 |
2020/21 | £ 398,270 | £ 3,537,872 |
2021/22 | £ 518,927 | £ 6,823,140 |
2022/23 | £ 641,747 | £ 5,668,822 |
2023/24 | £ 677,614 | £ 6,195,053 |
2024/25 | £ 919,390 | £ 8,676,773 |
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 provide an adequate allocation of funding through the Youth Guarantee Scheme for people not in work, employment or training in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are developing a Youth Guarantee to ensure young people aged 18-21 can access high-quality training, apprenticeships, or personalised support to find work.
As a first step, we are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers across England who are testing innovative approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes strengthening local coordination, through local leadership, and outreach to better connect young people with opportunities. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls out across the rest of Great Britain, including North Shropshire.
We have also recently announced that we will offer a guaranteed job to eligible young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This forms a key part of the government’s Youth Guarantee, and further details will be announced in due course.
We also continue to deliver targeted support through the Youth Offer, which provides tailored assistance to 16–24-year-olds claiming Universal Credit. In North Shropshire, this includes a local Youth Hub offering the 6 Steps to Succeed programme – a six-week course that builds confidence, communication, and customer service skills, leading to formal qualifications.
We also want to ensure we provide support for young people with health conditions and disabled young people. If you take UC health and ESA for example, the number of young people claiming these has increased by more than 50% in the last five years from 156,000 to 239,000, with 80% of young people on the UC Health element currently citing mental health reasons or a neurodevelopmental condition among declared health conditions.
We are currently organising talking therapies to be delivered from the Youth Hub to support young people with Mental Health challenges. We are also delivering Sector-Based Work Academies for roles in Teaching Assistance, Hospitality, Warehouse, Logistics, and HGV driving. Additionally, we have run employment sessions for customers with health conditions promoting Access to Work, Adjustment Passports, and Disability Confident Employers.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent work the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce has undertaken in relation to the national cancer plan; and how recommendations from the Taskforce will be reflected in that plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since its launch on 4 February 2025, the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce has been exploring opportunities for clinical and non-clinical improvement across a range of areas via a series of monthly taskforce meetings. To date, these meetings have focused specifically on developing a clear set of commitments for inclusion in the National Cancer Plan.
The Department is aware of the unique challenges that children aged up to 16 years old and young adults under 25 years old with cancer face and the work of the taskforce has focused on both of these patient groups.
The taskforce has considered opportunities for improving early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience, which includes issues like travel. This is in recognition of the fact that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
The National Cancer Plan, due for publication early next year, will set out further details on the work of the taskforce and Department’s plans to improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years, for all patient groups, including children and young people.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what policies on (a) children and (b) young people under 25 he plans to include within the national cancer plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since its launch on 4 February 2025, the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce has been exploring opportunities for clinical and non-clinical improvement across a range of areas via a series of monthly taskforce meetings. To date, these meetings have focused specifically on developing a clear set of commitments for inclusion in the National Cancer Plan.
The Department is aware of the unique challenges that children aged up to 16 years old and young adults under 25 years old with cancer face and the work of the taskforce has focused on both of these patient groups.
The taskforce has considered opportunities for improving early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience, which includes issues like travel. This is in recognition of the fact that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
The National Cancer Plan, due for publication early next year, will set out further details on the work of the taskforce and Department’s plans to improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years, for all patient groups, including children and young people.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle travel costs for (a) children and (b) young people under 25 with cancer; and whether he plans to include policies on this matter within the national cancer plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since its launch on 4 February 2025, the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce has been exploring opportunities for clinical and non-clinical improvement across a range of areas via a series of monthly taskforce meetings. To date, these meetings have focused specifically on developing a clear set of commitments for inclusion in the National Cancer Plan.
The Department is aware of the unique challenges that children aged up to 16 years old and young adults under 25 years old with cancer face and the work of the taskforce has focused on both of these patient groups.
The taskforce has considered opportunities for improving early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience, which includes issues like travel. This is in recognition of the fact that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
The National Cancer Plan, due for publication early next year, will set out further details on the work of the taskforce and Department’s plans to improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years, for all patient groups, including children and young people.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 support young people in supported accommodation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It remains the department’s priority to support young people in supported accommodation.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides support with rent and other living costs through Housing Benefit and Universal Credit to eligible individuals (including young people) living in supported accommodation. Subject to criteria, individuals may be eligible for help with housing costs through Housing Benefit, to pay all or part of their rent and any eligible service charges. In 2023, DWP spent an estimated £4.1bn on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit housing entitlement for people living in supported accommodation.
To drive up quality of provision for people in supported accommodation, DWP is working alongside the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to implement measures arising from the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act. A government response to the first consultation on the Act is due to be published as soon as possible.
We also acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for working age customers residing in supported and temporary accommodation.
We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. Any future decisions will be taken in the round and in the context of the current fiscal environment.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising Statutory Sick Pay for the parents and carers of children with severe health conditions.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statutory Sick Pay provides financial support to individual employees who are sick or incapable of work. It is not designed to provide financial support for parents or carers who are not able to work because their child is sick or has a health condition.
Parents who cannot work because their child is sick, rather than being directly incapable of work due to sickness themselves, have a number of options open to them such as asking their employer if they can work flexibly or requesting to take emergency leave. Parents may also be eligible to apply for welfare benefits, such as Carer's allowance or Universal Credit, depending on their circumstances.
The Department for Business and Trade is currently developing a consultation on employment rights for carers, including specific measures for the parents and carers of seriously ill children. This will consider what employment rights may help families in such distressing situations. The consultation will take place in 2026.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to The Universal Credit (Earned Income) Amendment Regulations 2020, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of moving double-paydays to subsequent assessment periods on (a) working Universal Credit recipients and (b) resourcing within her Department; and what steps she is taking to reduce the impact on (i) claimants and (ii) resources.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department recognised the impact that having double earnings in an assessment period can have on individual households and their ability to manage their finances and that is why we made the regulations changes. The amendment allows the Department to reallocate a payment of earnings reported via the Real Time Information (RTI) service to a different Universal Credit assessment period, either because it was reported in the wrong assessment period or (in the case of calendar monthly paid employees) it is necessary to maintain a regular payment cycle. This will also enable certain claimants to benefit from any applicable work allowance in each assessment period.
Those claimants who are paid two sets of monthly earnings in one assessment period are usually identified by an automated system that corrects the Universal Credit award. However, there are a small number of claimants who are not automatically identified and will need to be manually identified, this work has been absorbed by a multi-skilled centralised team and is resourced flexibly to meet demand. This only generally applies to a very small proportion of claimants and applies equally to all claimants.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 that frontline call handling staff have (a) accurate and (b) up-to-date information on expected timelines for responses from (i) decision-making teams and (ii) complaints handling units (A) in general and (B) for Universal Credit queries; and if his Department will update call scripts to include standardised guidance on wait times.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is clear guidance available to all staff regarding complaint handling and the expected timeframe for responding to complaints, which is accessible via the Department’s intranet.
The Department aims to respond to complaints within 15 working days. Where this is not possible, such as in complex cases, the Department remains committed to providing a response at the earliest opportunity.
DWPs complaints procedure is available to the public on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure#guidance-on-how-to-complain).
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of 30 hours free childcare on (a) Job Centre operations and (b) levels of returns to employment.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Education 30 hours free childcare is one of several government childcare offers, including the Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare.
DWP has not made an assessment of the impact of the Department for Education’s 30 hours free childcare on job centre operations or returns to employment. In March 2023, when the government announced the extension of 30 hours of free childcare for working age parents of nine-month to two-year-olds, the OBR assessed as a result they would expect around 60,000 parents of young children to enter employment by 2027/28.
Economic and fiscal outlook - March 2023