Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides for young disabled people who are transitioning to adult benefits and Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP notifies young people who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 5 months before they reach age 16 to advise them they will need to apply for Personal Independence Payment after they reach their sixteenth birthday. This is to establish if they will require an appointee and to ensure that benefits continue to be paid into the right bank account. If necessary, DLA can continue to be paid until a decision on their PIP application is made.
Where applying for Universal Credit, which can usually only be accessed from the age of 18, disabled people can access tailored support, including the independent ‘Help to Claim’ service delivered by Citizens Advice, assisted digital support, and the option to claim by phone where needed. DWP also provides reasonable adjustments, alternative communication formats, home visits, and claimants can choose to use an appointee; ensuring disabled people can access Universal Credit safely and fairly. Universal Credit Work Coaches are trained to support disabled claimants and to tailor conditionality to reflect health conditions and individual capability.
Asked by: Bayo Alaba (Labour - Southend East and Rochford)
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 into employment, education or training.
Answered by Pat McFadden - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Too many young people are not in employment, education or training, something we are addressing and which the previous Government did nothing about.
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 unlock up to 300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training, along with 200,000 jobs through the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, the £2,000 apprenticeship incentive, and guaranteeing jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Universal Credit.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.
Answered by Pat McFadden - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Too many young people are not in employment, education or training, something we are addressing and which the previous Government did nothing about.
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 unlock up to 300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training, along with 200,000 jobs through the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, the £2,000 apprenticeship incentive, and guaranteeing jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Universal Credit.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve his Department's response times to correspondence.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is clear that timely responses to correspondence are important. Recent delays have arisen from increased volumes and complexity of cases, including as customers move onto Universal Credit as part of our planned migration from legacy benefits.
We are taking active steps to improve performance, including recruiting and training additional staff to handle correspondence and complaints. These measures are already helping to reduce backlogs and will continue to improve response times as capacity builds.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 2 June 2025 on Question 56485 on the limited capability for work and work-related activity element of Universal Credit, what progress has been made in reviewing the Child Maintenance calculation.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is conducting a review of the child maintenance calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This includes updating the underlying research and ensuring it is fair for both parents and encourages willing and able compliance.
The outcome of the review and next steps will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of publishing levels of welfare spending on foreign nationals by benefit type.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
My Department remains focussed on ensuring we provide robust, transparent data where this is available.
That is why we regularly publish quarterly official statistics on the number of Universal Credit claimants broken down by immigration status type and nationality group, as well as whether claimants are in work. We have no plans to change this approach.
In benefits other than Universal Credit, nationality and immigration status is not held or collected on digital systems in a way that allows it to be extracted for the publication as official statistics.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Great Yarmouth constituency receive Universal Credit with a health‑related requirement or award.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of people on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work, by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency are published in the UC Health Caseload dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to December 2025.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment has been made of the proposed removal of the health element of Universal Credit for under 22s.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have launched The Young People and Work Report to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training, with a holistic view of the welfare, health, skills and employment system. Led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, it will also identify areas for reform. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun - with a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disability. The Author will produce an interim Report this May, with a full and final report in September.
To ensure we can take a decision in the round we are awaiting the Young People and Work Reports conclusions before making any decisions on access to Universal Credit Health Element for those under the age of 22.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of restricting young people’s eligibility for the Universal Credit health element on a) poverty and b) employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have launched The Young People and Work Report to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training, with a holistic view of the welfare, health, skills and employment system. Led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, it will also identify areas for reform. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun. The Author will produce an interim Report this May, with a full and final report in September
To ensure we can take a decision in the round we are awaiting the Young People and Work Reports conclusions before making any decisions on whether to delay access to Universal Credit Health Element to 22.
The Universal Credit Act 2025, which came into force on 6 April 2026, delivered the first sustained, above inflation rise in the basic rate of UC since it was introduced. This means a little under four million households will benefit overall from government’s decision to increase the UC standard allowance, estimated to be worth around £760 annually in cash terms for a single parent aged 25 (£250 above inflation) or over £1195 (£400 above inflation) for a couple where one is aged 25 or over with children by 2029/30.
A little under 4 million households will benefit from the sustained, above-inflation increase to the UC standard allowance - worth around £295 in 2026/27, in cash terms around £110 above inflation, for a single person aged 25 or over and around £760, around £250 above inflation, by the end of the decade. For couples, where one member is aged 25 or over, it will increase by around an additional £465 this year, around £180 more than if up-rated by inflation alone.
Claimants who declared a health condition or disability before 6 April 2026 and are subsequently found to have Limited Capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), receive the higher rate - £429.80 per month. This applies even if the decision on their LCWRA entitlement was made on or after 6 April 2026.
In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. Our Pathways to Work support offer will ensure a coherent and navigable offer of support, building on and bringing together initiatives such as Connect to Work, WorkWell and local Trailblazers.
Since July 2025, there have been around 1000 (full-time equivalent) Pathways to Work Advisors in place in Jobcentres across England, Scotland and Wales helping disabled people and people with health conditions towards and into work. This increased deployment will help ensure that everyone impacted by the recent changes to the Universal Credit Health Element is offered support. People affected by the changes, including young people, will be able to access a conversation about their needs, goals and aspirations; offered one-to-one follow-on support, and given voluntary help to access additional work, health and skills support that can meet their needs.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were in receipt of Universal Credit in Great Yarmouth constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of people on Universal Credit by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency are published in the People on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to March 2026, with a breakdown by Employment Indicator available from November 2013 to February 2026.