Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to tackle online content encouraging people to pursue fraudulent benefits claims.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The unscrupulous people who actively try to promote, encourage, or assist in fraud must not be tolerated and these people must face consequences. Offences under the Fraud Act 2006 can carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. This includes offences such as making or supplying articles for use in fraud, including electronic materials where the person knows or intends that the information will be used to commit fraud – for example, the deliberate sale or distribution of fraud instruction manuals online.
We already work with partners, including Action Fraud, the City of London Police and the National Cyber Security Centre to prevent fraudulent activity online and DWP monitor social media platforms regularly. Additionally, Ofcom’s first Online Safety Codes of Practice sets out an expectation that large services at medium or high risk of fraud provide DWP with access to a dedicated channel for reporting fraud. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, social media companies now have a legal duty to remove illegal content, including fraudulent material.
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 forms of photographic identification are accepted from applicants who do not hold a UK passport or driving licence during the PIP application process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All PIP customers are required to verify their identity during the application process. This can be done using a variety of evidence, including photographic identification if appropriate.
The following documentation can be used by British Nationals making a PIP application as part of the process to verify their identity:
In some circumstances - where they fully meet the lay conditions - someone who is not a British national can claim PIP. The Eligibility criteria to claim PIP for someone who is not a British National can be found here: Personal Independence Payment (PIP): Eligibility - GOV.UK
You must:
If you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you and your family usually also need settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to get PIP. The deadline to apply to the scheme was 30 June 2021 for most people, but you might still be able to apply.
If a customer meets this eligibility criteria, then the following documents can be provided to prove their identity:
Please note that although a document is listed, there may be a need for accompanying evidence alongside any of these to sufficiently prove someone’s identity.
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, how many PIP claimants were required to show a form of identification during their application in the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All PIP customers are required to verify their identity during the application process. This can be done using a variety of evidence, including photographic identification if appropriate.
The following documentation can be used by British Nationals making a PIP application as part of the process to verify their identity:
In some circumstances - where they fully meet the lay conditions - someone who is not a British national can claim PIP. The Eligibility criteria to claim PIP for someone who is not a British National can be found here: Personal Independence Payment (PIP): Eligibility - GOV.UK
You must:
If you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you and your family usually also need settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to get PIP. The deadline to apply to the scheme was 30 June 2021 for most people, but you might still be able to apply.
If a customer meets this eligibility criteria, then the following documents can be provided to prove their identity:
Please note that although a document is listed, there may be a need for accompanying evidence alongside any of these to sufficiently prove someone’s identity.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 to the Question 98986 on Police: Workplace Pensions, whether her Department has identified a solution.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to my answer given to question 98986.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to revoke pensions from police officers convicted of violent crimes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
A police officer’s pension may be forfeited where an individual has been convicted of a criminal offence committed in connection with their service as a police officer, which the Secretary of State has certified as either gravely injurious to the interests of the State, or liable to lead to a serious loss of confidence.
Decisions on whether to forfeit a police officer’s pension and, if so, to what extent, are a matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) of the relevant force. Whilst a PCC cannot forfeit a pension in these circumstances without a certificate from the Secretary of State, the issuance of such a certificate does not oblige them to proceed with forfeiture. Such decisions are made independently of government, and on a case-by-case basis.
It is not possible for the Secretary of State to proactively seek an application for a pension forfeiture certificate, or to issue such a certificate, without an application first being made by the relevant PCC. There are no current plans to amend these regulatory arrangements.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps has he taken to help tackle fraud in the pension system.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is resolute in its determination to protect pension scheme members from financial harm. There is a strong regulatory framework which allows pension scheme trustees to block pension transfers if there is risk of a scam and we are developing extended measures which seek to strengthen protections and combat any areas of evolving risk. DWP will continue to work closely with partners, including the police, the National Economic Crime Centre and anti-scams industry groups, to identify and disrupt unlawful activity and to ensure appropriate enforcement action is taken against those who exploit or seek to exploit pension savers. We will publicly consult on our work to strengthen the transfer process with enhanced protections in the coming months.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) operational risk and (b) physical demands of Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) personnel within NHS ambulance services; and whether he has plans to review the current pension and retirement framework for HART staff alongside other uniformed emergency services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) provide National Health Service care in high-risk environments, guided by national Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response standards. Operational risks are managed through a nationally consistent safe system of work, including Standard Operating Procedures, risk assessments and specialist training. Each ambulance trust supplements these with local risk assessments. Physical demands are addressed through national recruitment standards and mandatory six-monthly Physical Competency Assessments, with restrictions and support if standards are not met. NHS England commissions the Resilience Emergency Capabilities Unit to maintain standards and deliver specialist training.
The NHS Pension Scheme is designed to reward lifelong service to the NHS and is considered exceptionally generous. The Department considers that the current pension arrangements reflect the physical and operational demands on HART staff.
The scheme has many flexible retirement options to allow staff to retire sooner than normal pension age, with pensions reduced accordingly to account for the fact they are paid for longer. Even when taken years before Normal Pension Age, an NHS Pension can provide for a comfortable living and gives exceptional value to staff.
For those facing severe ill-health, the scheme allows for ill-health retirement at any age without a reduction in pension benefits. Additionally, members can access the Early Retirement Reduction Buy Out option, which enables retirement up to three years earlier without a reduction to benefits, with costs sometimes shared by ambulance service employers.
Aligning the NHS Pension Scheme with those of other emergency services, such as police and fire, would require higher contributions from all NHS staff. There are no plans at present to risk pension affordability for NHS staff or to equalise the normal pension ages of all emergency workforces.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by when her Department expects to complete its ongoing work to to provide a remedy for those members of the Police Pension Scheme who opted out of, and are now left unable to opt back into, the 1987 pension scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises concerns that the current legislation does not fully deliver the intended remedy for a small cohort of members who opted out of the police pension scheme and are now unable to return to their original scheme.
This is a complex issue and officials in the Home Office and HM Treasury are exploring solutions through the existing McCloud remedy compensation framework and amendments to scheme regulations. The aim is to provide a remedy for the small number of affected members as soon as possible once a suitable solution has been identified.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps with the Health and Safety Executive to review the level of criminal penalties and enforcement mechanisms for illegal gas work; and if the Health and Safety Executive will issue guidance to police on prioritising such cases.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) which address the safe installation, maintenance, and use of gas systems, in commercial and domestic premises. These regulations require that no employer or self-employed person shall carry out gas work without Gas Safe Registration. HSE and Local Authorities regulate this through enforcement powers set under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Enforcement powers available to regulators include prosecution, prohibition notices and improvement notices.
HSE will apply the principles laid down in the Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS), Enforcement Management Model (EMM) and internal gas procedures to ensure that enforcement action is proportional to the health and safety risks and the seriousness of the breach.
HSE cannot review the level of criminal penalties for illegal gas cases. The Health and Safety Sentencing Guidelines are set by the Sentencing Council. HSE and Local Authorities are the enforcing authorities under GSIUR and the police investigate homicide cases. Where a person dies because of illegal and/or poor-quality gas work; the police must decide whether a manslaughter offence has been committed, the priority given to the case is a matter for the investigating police force. Guidance is in place to support the HSE and police in the event of a fatal gas incident though the Work-Related Death Protocol.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish HSE enforcement data on illegal gas work, including (a) investigations, (b) prosecutions, (c) convictions, and (d) penalties imposed since 2020.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) which address the safe installation, maintenance, and use of gas systems, in commercial and domestic premises. These regulations require that no employer or self-employed person shall carry out gas work without Gas Safe Registration. HSE and Local Authorities regulate this through enforcement powers set under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Enforcement powers available to regulators include prosecution, prohibition notices and improvement notices.
HSE will apply the principles laid down in the Enforcement Policy Statement (EPS), Enforcement Management Model (EMM) and internal gas procedures to ensure that enforcement action is proportional to the health and safety risks and the seriousness of the breach.
HSE cannot review the level of criminal penalties for illegal gas cases. The Health and Safety Sentencing Guidelines are set by the Sentencing Council. HSE and Local Authorities are the enforcing authorities under GSIUR and the police investigate homicide cases. Where a person dies because of illegal and/or poor-quality gas work; the police must decide whether a manslaughter offence has been committed, the priority given to the case is a matter for the investigating police force. Guidance is in place to support the HSE and Police in the event of a fatal gas incident though the Work-Related Death Protocol.