Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of food price inflation on households experiencing food insecurity; and how that assessment informs current food and agriculture policy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food price inflation is part of a wider challenge on cost of living and the Government’s approach goes beyond tackling food alone. The Government is working to address the cost-of-living pressures facing families across the country through targeted measures including raising the minimum wage, extending the bus fare cap, rolling out Best Start family hubs; extending the holiday activity and food programme; the expansion of free-school-meals; removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit; and reforming the crisis support though the introduction of the Crisis and Resilience Fund. Defra is introducing the Food Inflation Gateway which will assess the impact of Government regulations on food businesses and food prices before implementation. In December 2025, the Government announced the creation of the Farming & Food Partnership Board which will bring together farming, food, retail, finance and Government, taking a strategic farm to fork approach to increase farming profitability and strengthen our food production.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments were undertaken in each month since August 2025 for (a) new and (b) existing claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments undertaken in each month from August 2025 to December 2025 for a) new and b) existing claimants can be found in the table below:
| Aug 25 | Sep 25 | Oct 25 | Nov 25 | Dec 25 |
(a) New | 37,000 | 43,000 | 42,000 | 38,000 | 31,000 |
(b) Existing | 2,300 | 2,800 | 5,600 | 3,200 | 3,400 |
Please note: the volumes in the tables above have been rounded up to the nearest 1000/100.
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 is the total value of contracts awarded to private contractors for (a) Universal Credit assessments (b) PIP assessments and (c) Disability Living Allowance in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The contracts awarded in the period of the question were / are to deliver assessments in support of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Work Capability Assessments for Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance and a range of other benefits including Disability Living Allowance (Child). All contracts were awarded as multi year agreements. The attached links sets out the total values awarded per contract/contractor.
Please note, the contract value is the total estimated value of the contract at the point it was awarded and subsequently extended. Contract spend is the actual amount of money paid to suppliers during the contract period and can be different to the contract value as a result of a variety of factors (e.g. over/under delivery, changes in volume, demand and other variations to contract).
PIP Contracts (31 July 2012 – 6 September 2024)
Total Contract Value: £1,787,043,988
Lot 1 - Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service - Contract Extension - Lot 1 - Find a Tender
Lot 2 - Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service - Contract Extension - Lot 2 - Find a Tender
Lot 3 - Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service - Contract Extension - Lot 3 - Find a Tender
HDAS Contract (29 October 2014 – 6 September 2024)
Total Contract Value: £1,297,737,098
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/9bdd9fa5-0a4c-4484-a853-702b9683db80
FAS Contract (2 October 2023 – 31 August 2029)
Total Contract Value: £2,769,913,640 (including Lot 5)
Lots 1-5 - Functional Assessment Services (FAS) 2023 - Find a Tender
(NB – Lot 5 is managed by Department for Communities)
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit fraud prosecutions were (a) withdrawn by his Department and (b) dismissed by a judge before trial in each of the last three financial years; and if he will provide a breakdown of these cases by (i) region and (ii) the primary reason recorded for the withdrawal of the prosecution.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) do not make decisions on whether to prosecute individuals and cannot make the decision to withdraw a prosecution. The DWP will complete the investigation and when appropriate hand the case files to the Crown Prosecution Service (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for Scotland), who will make the decision on whether to prosecute.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
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 effectiveness of data-sharing between the Child Maintenance Service and HM Revenue and Customs in detecting income manipulation.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a principal part of the service design, the department uses data from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and its own benefits data to assess 91% of Paying Parents earned income and benefit status, which are key parts of the maintenance calculation. We also receive evidence of income directly from Universal Credit where a customer is in receipt of Universal Credit with earnings.
Primarily, calculations are based on historic income amounts from the latest available tax year, provided via interface by HMRC, where a complete tax year is available within the last 6 years. Where historic tax year information is unavailable, or a customer requests a supersession on the basis that PP income is 25% different from the historic amount, we have two routes based on the PP employment circumstances:
Where a paying parent receives unearned income which can be legally considered in assessing child maintenance either parent can request a variation to the normal maintenance calculation. Cases involving suspected misrepresentation or fraudulent behaviour can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is given.
Where a change to current income is applied, CMS will further verify this against HMRC evidence at Annual Review, and again at a Periodic Current Income Check (+11 months from change to Current Income) to re-verify the income evidence with RTI. This provides comprehensive assurance as it is independent of the Paying Parent and directly interfaces with HMRC, reducing the opportunity for misrepresentation or inaccuracies. We have increased the proportion of changes where we automatically interface with RTI, including changes instigated by Receiving Parents.
In October 2023, the Government announced intentions to introduce legislation so that unearned income can be considered automatically when the maintenance calculation is made to ensure a paying parent’s maintenance calculation reflects their ability to pay. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on how best to implement this.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the rise in Employer's National Insurance Contributions on businesses hiring women and young people.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in March 2026, which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. The OBR expect that employment levels will rise in every year of the forecast, reaching 35.3m in 2030-31.
The Government is committed to supporting young people to earn and learn. That is why we have recently announced that we will offer a guaranteed job to young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This will provide an opportunity for young people to gain essential skills and experience and prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. This initiative forms a key part of the Government’s Youth Guarantee and will build upon existing employment support and sector-based work academies (SWAPs) currently being delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Employers can claim a number of employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices. This means employers will pay no employer NICs for apprentices under 25 or employees under 21 on earnings up to £50,270.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled End to surprise phone and broadband bill hikes to help with cost of living, published on 11 February 2026, what estimate she has made of the number of households eligible for social tariffs who are not currently accessing them.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom’s most recent Pricing Trends Report showed that in June 2024 9.6% of eligible households were using social tariffs. This included an estimated 506,000 households out of around 5.3 million in receipt of Universal Credit.
Through the Telecoms Consumer Charter, providers have also committed to strengthening the visibility and accessibility of social tariffs by ensuring they are clearly signposted in eligible customer communications. This commitment is designed to make it simpler for eligible households to locate the support available and to understand the options open to them.
We will continue to track progress of this through Ofcom’s regular reporting.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of personal independence payment recipients do not receive other welfare benefits, excluding pensions.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
At the end of August 2025 (latest available data) the percentage of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients who do not receive any other welfare benefits aside from State Pension is 28%.
Notes:
- The percentage provided is calculated using the information of claimants under DWP Policy Ownership only. This includes claimants living in England and Wales, those who live abroad, and those with an unknown location, and excludes those living in Scotland and Northern Ireland where PIP has been devolved.
- The welfare benefits taken into account in this analysis are:
o Bereavement Benefit
o Bereavement Support Payment
o Widow’s Benefit
o Carer’s Allowance
o Employment and Support Allowance
o Incapacity Benefit
o Income Support
o Housing Benefit
o Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)
o Job Seeker’s Allowance
o Pension Credit
o Severe Disablement Allowance
o Universal Credit
- HMRC administered Child Benefit is not taken into account, so some claimants receiving Child Benefit will be included in the stated figure.
- The source IIDB data used for Benefit Combination statistics shows IIDB claimants at a point five months before the last day of the most recent month. To adjust for this lag, data from the Customer Information System has been used to remove cases for individuals known to have died between the IIDB time point and the last day of August 2025, giving an estimate of the IIDB caseload at that time point.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department made of the potential impact of withdrawing the universal credit health top-up for people under 22 on those unable to work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Pathways to Work consultation closed on 30 June 2025 and a summary of the consultation responses was published on 30 October. We will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what number and proportion of those claiming a) housing benefit and b) the UC housing element live in the social rented sector.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Monthly statistics for the number of households on Housing Benefit (HB) and the number of Households on Universal Credit (UC) are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore, with data currently available to November 2025. The statistics are available by Tenure Type for HB, and by Housing Entitlement - Tenure for UC.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance and the Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.