Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help encourage individuals out of work to undertake (a) digital and (b) IT qualifications.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches will engage with customers to better understand the steps needed to support their work search ambitions. Where digital skills are identified as a barrier to securing or progressing in employment, customers can be referred to available local provision. For customers in England, we have ongoing collaboration at a national and local level with the Department for Education who fund adult education provision via the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Learning providers, many of which are Further Education colleges, deliver training to address claimant skills needs in line with Labour Market demand. As skills is a devolved matter, similar discussions take place with key stakeholders in the Scottish and Welsh Governments to help ensure the employment and skills support offered to customers in the devolved nations is aligned.

In addition, Work Coaches in England can use the additional flexibility available through DWP Train and Progress to signpost claimants to the Department for Education’s Digital Skills Bootcamps, which can last up to 16 weeks.

For digitally excluded working age out-of-work and in-work Universal Credit customers, Work Coaches can also use the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) to procure devices, dongle, talk time, and 6 months superfast broadband in the home where the Work Coach believes this will support Labour Market progression. DWP has also ensured that all operational staff in Jobcentres, Universal Credit service centres, Pension Centres, and partnership managers who engage with customers and stakeholders are able to signpost to information promoting broadband social tariffs made accessible to claimants through DWP’s Application Programme Interface.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help fill job vacancies in Romford constituency.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In the constituency and across the London Borough of Havering, the local Romford Jobcentre team are supporting residents into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, Job Fairs, and work trials.

The weekly job club in Romford Jobcentre provides support on CV preparation, job applications and interview techniques, along with information sessions on a range of subjects to help customers into work, including information about different employment sectors, advice on childcare, support for those with additional health needs and motivational sessions.

The Jobcentre provides a bespoke service to employers, to match and screen candidates, and offers regular Job Fairs focussed on specific sectors and customer groups, with recent events to coincide with older workers week and national apprenticeship week. The team are also working with the London Borough of Havering to develop local support.

In partnership with the College of North East London we have recently offered SWAPs for local customers to gain skills and enhance their applications for the Logistics and Warehouse sectors. Care Provider Voices deliver a range of adult social care opportunities, with Springboard offering opportunities in the hospitality sector.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the number of veterans receiving PIP.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to provide a contribution towards the extra costs of people with long-term health conditions and disabilities and is available irrespective of their past or current employment. The benefit is non means–tested, non-contributory and thus paid regardless of any income or savings. It can be paid at one of eight rates depending on the level of the individual’s needs.

Entitlement to PIP is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Individuals can be affected in different ways by the same condition and so the outcome of a PIP claim depends very much on individual circumstances. Where a claimant’s needs change they may see a higher or lower award or lose entitlement altogether.

As PIP is needs-based and paid in the terms outlined above, we have no initiatives which are targeted at veterans.

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 help expand the support offered by Jobcentres in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Havering.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The local Jobcentre team are collaborating with a range of partners to support people into work and help employers fill vacancies. In addition to hosting job fairs and delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). Romford Jobcentre is working with Havering Council, local colleges, childcare providers and other organisations to provide an employment and skills offer to help meet the recruitment needs of local employers.

This includes outreach support at the Rainham Childrens Centre and Havering Council, working with family practitioners, social workers, and probation to provide a holistic approach to supporting families in the borough, as well as support with CV preparation provided through Havering Library service, a Job Fair delivered in partnership with Havering Works and SWAPs delivered with Havering Adult College.

Disability Employment Advisers offer advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work, alongside close working with Change Grow Live, Havering Talking therapies, Havering Mind, the Social Prescribing team, and Richmond Fellowship. Romford Jobcentre colleagues also attend local events to highlight the support available, as well as Access to Work and Disability Confident.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 4.58 of the Office for Budget Responsibility publication entitled Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published in March 2024, whether he has made an estimate of future trends in the level of fraud in Universal Credit claims.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP produces forecasts of overpayments in the benefit system as part of its forecasts for benefit expenditure. These are reviewed and agreed by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which uses them as part of its fiscal forecasting and to evaluate policy costings.

As per our commitment published in the Treasury Minutes, CP 1029 – Treasury Minutes – Government Response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eightieth report from Session 2022-23 and the First to the Sixth reports from Session 2023-24 (parliament.uk), we will set out our forecast in the Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 23/24, expected to be published later this year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when users of the new Pensions Dashboard will be able to access financial information relating to their pensions.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Users of pensions dashboard services will be able to access financial information relating to their pensions at the Dashboards Available Point. The Dashboards Available Point is the point at which pensions dashboard services will be available for widespread use by the general public.

A specific date for the Dashboards Available Point cannot yet be determined as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions must first have regard to a number of relevant matters, including sufficient level of coverage, assurance of the safety, security and reliability of the service and testing of the user experience. Once satisfied that the dashboards ecosystem is ready to support widespread use, following consultation with the Money and Pensions Service, The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority, the Secretary of State will then issue a notice at least six months in advance of the launch of pensions dashboard services for use by the general public.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken any (a) research and (b) planning for a potential compensation scheme following the publication of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act in November 2023.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Ombudsman did not publish his provisional views in November 2023 or at any other time. The Ombudsman published his final views on 21st March 2024.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Q329 of the oral evidence given to the Work and Pensions Committee by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions on 10 January 2024, what progress his Department has made on formulating an adequate means of redress for Atomic Energy Agency Technology pensioners; and what his time-scale is for implementing remedial action.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Following the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) on the 10 January, The Department of Work and Pensions officials have met with their Cabinet Office counterparts who have responsibility for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Conversations with Cabinet Office are ongoing. This is a complex issue requiring further consideration, therefore there is no set timescale.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department's (a) communications and (b) minutes relating to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act which were set out in the report published in November 2023.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Ombudsman did not publish his provisional views in November 2023 or at any other time. The Ombudsman published his final views on 21st March 2024.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish his Department's assessment of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act which were set out in the report published in November 2023.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Ombudsman did not publish his provisional views in November 2023 or at any other time. The Ombudsman published his final views on 21st March 2024.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of retired Atomic Energy Agency Technology personnel who have died in the last (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years without having resolved matters relating to their pensions.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information on members of the Atomic Energy Agency Technology pension scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans received Housing Benefit in the 2022-23 financial year.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As previously stated, veteran status is supplied voluntarily by claimants therefore the information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting data on the number of veterans living in garrison towns that claim (a) PIP and (b) Universal Credit.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As the hon. Member is aware, the department already collects information on those members of the armed forces community, including veterans, receiving Universal Credit. This information is not required and is provided voluntarily by the claimants.

On Personal Independence Payment, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 March 2024 to question UIN 16600.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of WorkWell in each of the next five years.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

WorkWell will fund 15 pilot areas to join up the work and health landscape at the local level under one coherent place-based strategy. It will enable pilot areas to design and deliver a new early-intervention assessment and support service and a single, joined-up view and gateway into the services that are available locally to manage their specific needs. Funding includes a National Support Offer to enable the Vanguards to meet their delivery plans and a full evaluation of this pilot programme.

We expect these 15 areas to provide services to approximately 59,000 participants over the course of the two-year delivery period. This is in addition to the wider benefits for local communities across England of improved work and health integration.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish any assessment his Department has made of the accessibility for neurodiverse claimants of the online portal used by claimants to access their universal credit accounts.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Universal Credit system is regularly tested to ensure it meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and all issues logged are resolved. This is outlined in our Accessibility Statement on GOV.UK found here.

Furthermore, the Department continuously tests the usability of the Universal Credit system and includes participants who are neurodiverse in that testing. It does not publish assessments made on the accessibility of the system for these customers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of Universal Support in each of the next five years.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The total budget for Universal Support is £1.4 billion which will provide up to 400,000 places during the lifetime of the programme. Once fully rolled out it aims to provide 100,000 places a year. Detailed planning and preparation is underway to determine how places will build to that maximum annual volume.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the (a) Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service, (b) Enhanced Checking Service, (c) Risk Review Team, (d) Enhanced Review Teams, (e) Universal Credit advances claims decision risk model, (f) Common Risk Engine, (g) General Matching Service, (h) Fraud Referral and Intervention Management System, (i) Targeted Case Review and (j) any other systems rely on artificial intelligence, machine learning or algorithmic processes for fraud detection.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

As set out in the Department’s 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts (page 308 to 310), DWP uses advanced analytics to tackle fraud and error. These analytics include a variety of sophisticated techniques including the use of machine learning to identify patterns in claims that could suggest fraud or error, so that these claims can be reviewed by relevant DWP teams such as the Enhanced Review Team. The final decision on benefit entitlement is made by a human caseworker.

The National Audit Office confirm that DWP have governance and processes in place to monitor the bias of these models.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any of the claim detection criteria in the targeted case review system are applied by or operated through artificial intelligence, machine learning or algorithmic processes.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

As set out in the Department’s 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts (page 308 to 310), DWP uses a range of advanced analytics to identify patterns in claims that could suggest fraud or error, so that these claims can be reviewed by relevant DWP teams including Targeted Case Review agents. The final decision on benefit entitlement is made by a human caseworker.

The National Audit Office confirm that DWP have governance and processes in place to monitor the bias of these models.

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 levels of inflation on the real term valuation of pensions under the (a) Financial Assistance Scheme and (b) Pension Protection Fund.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information required to carry out such an assessment is not readily available and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs. The Secretary of State has therefore made no such assessment at this time.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department plans to spend on the Restart Scheme in the next three financial years; and if he will make an estimate of the number of people who will be supported through that scheme in the same period.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Referrals to the current Restart Scheme will be made up to June 2024, offering participants up to a year of support. As of the end of February 2024, around 150,000 people were receiving support and the majority will continue participating into 2024/25; in addition, around a further 50,000 are expected to start before June 2024. Spend over the next three financial years relating to supporting these people is expected to be around £400m, with the scheme operating on Payment by Result contracts.

In the Autumn Statement 2023, funding was approved to extend the Restart Scheme, taking referrals between July 2024 and June 2026. It is estimated that the extension will support around a further 500,000 people from two years of referrals. Funding of around £1bn has been agreed for the extension, with some of this expenditure expected to fall beyond the 2026/27 financial year due to the fact the scheme operates Payment by Results.

Please note

• The number of people starting on the current Restart Scheme and associated costs are estimates for planning purposes, underpinned by assumptions about future unemployment forecasts, which could change, and do not meet the standards required to be included in the Official Statistics. Therefore, these values need to be treated as guide figures rather than actual figures.
• Payment by Results means that fees are paid to providers based on the number of people reaching sustained employment. This takes time to achieve, following a support period of up to 12 months. For example, this means that people starting in 24/25 financial year will contribute to the estimated costs in the 25/26 and 26/27 financial years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of users that will have accessed Pensions Dashboards by (a) 30 April 2025 and (b) 31 October 2026.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Pensions dashboard services will become available for widespread use by the general public at the Dashboards Available Point. A specific date for the Dashboards Available Point cannot yet be determined as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions must first have regard to a number of relevant matters, including sufficient level of coverage, assurance of the safety, security and reliability of the service and testing of the user experience. Once satisfied that the dashboards ecosystem is ready to support widespread use, following consultation with the Money and Pensions Service, The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority, the Secretary of State will then issue a notice at least six months in advance of the launch of pensions dashboard services for use by the general public.

Under the central scenario (best estimate) in the impact assessment for the Pensions Dashboards (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (which can be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2023/89/pdfs/ukia_20230089_en.pdf), we estimate the number of users of pensions dashboard services will increase to around 16 million in the years following the Dashboards Available Point.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to amend the State Pension Regulations 2015 to allow deferred pension entitlement accrued by individuals not (a) married and (b) in a civil partnership to be considered part of their estate upon death.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has no plans to amend the State Pension Regulations 2015.

These regulations make transitional provisions enabling a person in the new State Pension system to inherit a deferral payment where their deceased spouse or civil partner had deferred an old State Pension.

Apart from transitional rules, it is no longer possible for a spouse or civil partner to inherit or derive State Pension entitlement from their partner, under the new State Pension system, introduced in 2016.

If an individual is not married or in a civil partnership, it is possible for an arrears payment to made to the deceased's estate under Regulation 30 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987. A maximum of three months arrears of State Pension may be awarded which may include arrears of extra State Pension accrued by the deferral.

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 the provisions of the State Pension Regulations 2015 which prevent individuals from taking (a) a lump sum payment and (b) an enhanced pension on the finances of pensioners.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

No such specific assessment has been made.

The Government prepared an impact assessment which looked at the effect of the new State Pension reforms overall on the various types of income that pensioners receive from the state, available at: The single-tier pension: a simple foundation for saving - Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk).

This included estimates on the impacts of changes to deferral policy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the PHSO report on changes to women’s State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, if he will implement its recommendations.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are considering the Ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people opted out of auto-enrolment workplace pension schemes in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The data requested for the number of people who opted out of automatic enrolment workplace pension schemes in each of the last ten years is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

The department makes regular publications of the data that is held, including the Workplace Pension Participation and Savings Trends, which is available on GOV.UK. This publication includes aggregated data from large private pension providers in which the proportion of new member enrolments to have opted-out of workplace pension saving stood at 11.79% in July 2023. Over the period from January 2020 to July 2023, these opt-out rates have fluctuated between a low of 7.03% and a high of 12.23%. From the same aggregated private pension provider data, the proportion of pension scheme members making an active decision to cease saving was 0.50% in July 2023.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Third Report of the Work and Pensions Committee of 2023-24 on Defined benefit pension schemes, HC 144, published on 26 March 2024 and the Fifty-Seventh Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of 2022-23 on AEA Technology Pension Case, HC 1005, published on 14 June 2023, if he will publish a redress scheme for AEA Technology pension scheme members by 23 July 2024.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This is a complex issue, which spans the responsibility of several departments. My officials are in discussion with their counterparts at the Cabinet Office.

As part of the government’s response to the Third Report of the Work and Pensions Committee of 2023-24 on Defined Benefit pension schemes (HC144) we will carefully consider this issue, involving other relevant departments as appropriate and respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20383 on State Retirement Pensions: Women, whether his Department received the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's provisional views on injustice and remedy experienced due to maladministration in communication about the 1995 Pensions Act in November 2023.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP received the PHSO’s provisional views for comment in November 2023.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people in receipt of a letter notifying them of a postponed PIP reassessment are counted as awaiting a PIP (a) assessment and (b) reassessment.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are still some claimants in receipt of Adult DLA who are yet to be reassessed. These cases are classed as awaiting PIP ‘reassessment’. DLA payments will continue until they are invited to claim PIP, and we have not contacted anyone on DLA to inform them of any postponement.

There are claimants who have made a new claim to PIP but not yet received a decision. A proportion of these will be with the Assessment Provider and counted as awaiting ‘assessment’. No one in this category would receive a letter indicating their assessments is postponed, unless there are unusual circumstances, and the Provider needs to re-arrange a specific appointment for example.

There are claimants already in receipt of PIP whose award is due to end (or has ended). Some cases are yet to be reviewed and would be counted as awaiting ‘review’. Some cases have been referred to the Assessment Provider and would therefore be counted as awaiting ‘assessment’. Where appropriate, we write to claimants to let them know the process is ongoing and we are extending their award, but we do not inform claimants that their review or assessment is postponed.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what evidential basis he stated to The Telegraph on 20 March 2024 that GPs were signing people off work for feeling down and bluesy.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In his interview with The Telegraph on 20 March 2024, the Secretary of State set out the challenges we are facing with tackling long-term sickness related economic inactivity, particularly due to mental health.

The Secretary of State gave an example of why someone might go to their GP for a fit note, for a mental health condition. The figure that 94% of fit notes issued were ‘Not fit for work’ refers to all fit notes issued by GP practices in England between October 2022 - September 2023.

Of the fit notes issued by GP practices in England between October 2022 – September 2023 with a known diagnosis, 37% are for mental and behavioural disorders.

This Government is committed to reforming the fit note to ensure that people get timely access to work and health support, in turn reducing sickness absence and improving health outcomes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of how many people entitled to the Employment and Support Allowance did not claim it in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Estimates for the number of entitled non-recipients and caseload take-up are available for income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support (IS) up to financial year 2018/19. These can be found here. Figures for 2018/19 were affected by no new claims for income-related ESA and IS from December 2018 as a result of Universal Credit rollout. No figures have been published for ESA/IS since 2018/19 due to the roll out of Universal Credit.

No estimates of the volume of entitled non-recipients of New Style (contributory) ESA have been made.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to allow access to the Motability Scheme for (a) claimants of (i) Personal Independence Payment with standard rate mobility and (ii) Disability Living Allowance with low rate mobility, (b) claimants in the process of applying for Personal Independence Payment for up to 18 months to provide time for any appeals and (c) Blue Badge holders.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

To be eligible to join the Motability Scheme claimants must be in receipt of the higher-rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, the enhanced-rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment or War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement. Customers in receipt of one of these benefits, may then choose to join the Motability scheme. If the person is not receiving one of the above benefits, they will not qualify for the Motability scheme. In line with legislative requirements the gateway for the transfer of benefits is dependent upon entitlement to specific mobility components and targets support to those with the most severe mobility needs.

There are currently no plans to look at expanding the eligibility criteria for the Motability Scheme.

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 promote the Employment and Support Allowance.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions signposts to Employment and Support Allowance through GOV.UK, helplines, GP surgeries, local libraries, and other support services such as Citizens Advice. There are also benefit calculators on the GOV.UK website which is available for those who wish to find out what support may be available to them. In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions is constantly working to improve the way it communicates information about benefits and other services to the general public.

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 merits of reducing the volume of calls to the Personal Independence Payment helpline by extending to two months the time limit for returning Payment (a) application and (b) review forms.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Claimants are advised that should they require more time to complete the “How your disability affects you” questionnaire and award review forms they can ask for additional time to do so. The sooner these forms are completed the sooner the Department can reach a decision on their claim or award review.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of carer’s allowance of (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) more than £20,000 were made in the (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23 and (iii) 2023-24 financial years.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.

Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.

Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.

The information requested has been provided in the table below.

The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP has funded and resourced a dedicated Legacy Technical Debt Working Group within DWP. This group managed the population and ongoing accuracy of Legacy IT System Risk Score Cards. The information recorded includes plans for mitigating key risks which are assessed ahead of each fiscal planning round to bid for funds to implement mitigating measures.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many debts of overpayments of Carer's Allowance his Department was seeking to recover in value brackets (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) over £20,000 as of 6 April 2024.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.

Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.

Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.

The information requested has been provided in the table below.

The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions in each of the last three years.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.

Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.

Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.

The information requested has been provided in the table below.

The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, what the (a) grade and (b) job titles were of the staff who undertook the research exercise.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.

We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.

We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, for what reason the results of the research exercise have not been published.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.

We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.

We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, how many cases were reviewed as part of the research.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.

We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.

We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Departments consultation outcome entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published 5 September 2023, how his Department selected the cases to be reviewed.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In November 2023, we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria. The full response to the public consultation on these changes can be found here.

We do not know what “research exercise” the questions are referring to but have interpreted these questions to be about internal policy development undertaken before and during the consultation exercise on changes to the WCA. This work was undertaken by a variety of staff from a mix of grades and job titles, including Senior Civil Servants. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.

We undertook considerable engagement during the consultation period and received over 1300 written responses. We listened carefully to what people told us and took their views into account when deciding which changes to take forward. We took care to ensure the views of disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the views of the charities, groups and organisations representing and supporting them, were considered. We also engaged directly with external clinical experts and employers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Personal Independence Payment planning and following a journey descriptors to include (a) access to toilets and (b) fear of falling over due to mobility issues.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was developed in collaboration with independent specialists in health, social care and disability, including disabled people, and through public consultation between 2010-2012 prior to its introduction in 2013. This comprehensive consultation process informed the development of the PIP assessment criteria, as set out in legislation. There are currently no plans to change the criteria.

Activity 11 was designed to assess barriers to mobility that individuals may face that are associated with mental, cognitive, intellectual or sensory ability, as opposed to physical ability. This includes whether people can leave home to make journeys and whether they are able to plan and successfully follow those journeys. With regard to access to toilets, any continence issues would be considered separately under activity 5, and mobility issues under activity 12. Fear of falling down due to mobility issues could be considered under activity 11 if it is sufficient to impact on a claimant’s ability to leave home, plan or follow journeys as per the PIP regulations.

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 merits of paying people who are waiting for the outcome of their Personal Independence Payment appeal at the rate they received before their last decision.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not an income replacement benefit. It is paid to help with the additional costs that arise from long term health conditions or disability where they impact on the activities set out in legislation. Claimants are assessed against the legislative criteria and a decision on entitlement is made by a DWP decision maker.

In line with the legislative requirement, applicable to most social security benefits, we continue to apply the latest decision on a PIP award until such time as a new decision is made. Payment of PIP after a claim has been disallowed, or at a rate higher than the latest decision whilst an individual is waiting for an appeal hearing could lead to inappropriate expenditure of public funds. If a subsequent first-tier tribunal decides to reinstate PIP, or give a higher award, then the Department will backdate any payments due, in line with the new decision.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the eligibility National Insurance criteria for Employment and Support Allowance to people who have paid National Insurance contributions over two full tax years in their lives.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NS ESA) is a benefit for individuals with a limited capability to work based on the individual’s recent National Insurance (NI) record.

Normally, to be entitled to NS ESA, a claimant has to satisfy two NI conditions:  to have worked and paid enough NI contributions in one of the two tax years prior to claiming NS ESA for at least 26 weeks; and to have either paid, or been credited with, enough NI contributions in both of the two tax years prior to claiming NS ESA that is at least 50 times the minimum threshold.

Looking at the most recent tax years, ensures people have a recent record of paid contributions and therefore a close link with the labour market.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of people phoning the Personal Independence Payment helpline asking for an extension on the deadline to return their Payment form in each of the last six months..

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No estimate has been made, as this information is not held.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were awaiting a decision on their Personal Independence Payment application on the first day of each month in 2022.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The table below gives the number of outstanding PIP cases on the first of each month from 2021 to 2023. Claims are considered outstanding when the claim has been registered but a decision has not yet been made by a Case Manager on whether to award PIP.

Notes:

- Source: PIP Atomic Data Store;

- Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000;

- Figures are for England and Wales only;

- These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminal illness and include both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were awaiting a decision on their Personal Independence Payment application on the first day of each month in 2021.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The table below gives the number of outstanding PIP cases on the first of each month from 2021 to 2023. Claims are considered outstanding when the claim has been registered but a decision has not yet been made by a Case Manager on whether to award PIP.

Notes:

- Source: PIP Atomic Data Store;

- Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000;

- Figures are for England and Wales only;

- These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminal illness and include both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants for Personal Independence Payment had not received a decision on the first day of each month in 2023.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The table below gives the number of outstanding PIP cases on the first of each month from 2021 to 2023. Claims are considered outstanding when the claim has been registered but a decision has not yet been made by a Case Manager on whether to award PIP.

Notes:

- Source: PIP Atomic Data Store;

- Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000;

- Figures are for England and Wales only;

- These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminal illness and include both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants for Access to Work support had not received a decision on (a) 1 January, (b) 1 February and (c) 1 March 2024.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of applications awaiting a decision for Access to Work on the requested dates were as follows. Figures have been steadily increasing due to the rise in the volume of application received.

As of 1^st January 2024 – 24,874

As of 1^st February 2024 – 26,812

As of 1^st March 2024 – 29,864

There were 25,292 Access to Work applications awaiting a decision as of 1^st December 2022.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applicants for Access to Work support had not received an assessment on 1 December 2022.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of applications awaiting a decision for Access to Work on the requested dates were as follows. Figures have been steadily increasing due to the rise in the volume of application received.

As of 1^st January 2024 – 24,874

As of 1^st February 2024 – 26,812

As of 1^st March 2024 – 29,864

There were 25,292 Access to Work applications awaiting a decision as of 1^st December 2022.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, when his Department first assessed each of the red-rated legacy IT systems in his Department to be red-rated.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP has mature, industry standard mechanisms for assessing the risk of its core IT systems which has been implemented and running for decades. The first time DWP reported figures to the cross-government initiative led by CDDO was November 2022.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding the full Carer's Allowance to unpaid carers that are in receipt of the state pension.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need. Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement. Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.

However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90.

Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and potentially other means-tested support. Around 100,000 people are receiving the Carer Premium with their Pension Credit. And even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 5.57, page 74 of the Spring Budget 2024, what steps he plans to take to increase system capacity for the purposes of reducing the time taken to process disability claims.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. There are no clearing targets for PIP.

Following an increase in new claims and end-to-end PIP clearance times after the Covid pandemic, we have taken steps to reduce and stabilise customer journey times for PIP claimants. The latest statistics show that the average clearance time for new claims is 15 weeks end-to-end, a significant decrease from 26 weeks in August 2021.

We are addressing the increase in new claims and award reviews by increasing provider and case manager capacity and using a blend of assessment channels to deliver a more efficient and user-centred service. We are prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, aiming to make a decision as quickly as possible.

The measure announced in the Budget will provide additional funding to support the processing of increased volumes of disability benefit claims. This will help to ensure that waiting times remain low and that claimants receive the appropriate level of support in a timely manner.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) strategies, (b) resources and (c) procedural enhancements he plans to employ to ensure PIP clearing targets are met.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner and reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence. There are no clearing targets for PIP.

Following an increase in new claims and end-to-end PIP clearance times after the Covid pandemic, we have taken steps to reduce and stabilise customer journey times for PIP claimants. The latest statistics show that the average clearance time for new claims is 15 weeks end-to-end, a significant decrease from 26 weeks in August 2021.

We are addressing the increase in new claims and award reviews by increasing provider and case manager capacity and using a blend of assessment channels to deliver a more efficient and user-centred service. We are prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, aiming to make a decision as quickly as possible.

The measure announced in the Budget will provide additional funding to support the processing of increased volumes of disability benefit claims. This will help to ensure that waiting times remain low and that claimants receive the appropriate level of support in a timely manner.

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 on the educational attainment of young adult carers aged 16 to 24 of the eligibility criteria for carer's allowance that a person must not be studying for 21 hours or more.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information on the educational attainment of young adult carers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he has made an assessment of the potential benefits to carers in Newport West of increasing the Carer's Allowance to £93 a week.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government continues to protect the value of benefits paid to carers whilst also spending record amounts in real terms.

The level of Carer’s Allowance is protected by uprating it each April in line with inflation as measured by the CPI for the previous September. The purpose of benefit uprating is to ensure that the value of benefits stays in line with the general level of prices. From April 2024, the Carer’s Allowance payment was increased to £81.90. Since 2010, the rate of Carer’s Allowance has increased from £53.90 to £81.90 a week, providing an additional £1,500 a year for carers.

Real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2024/25 is forecast to be £4.1 billion. Between 2024/25 and 2028/29 real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance is forecast to rise by 12% - around £500 million. By 2028/29, the Government is forecast to spend just over £4.5 billion a year on Carer’s Allowance.

As well as Carer’s Allowance, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits. For example, carers on Universal Credit can receive around an additional £2,400 a year through the Carer Element.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of exempting young adult carers aged 16 to 24 in further education from the 21-hour rule; and what the budget for carer's allowance is for the 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

It is not possible to provide such an estimate as there is no collated figure on the number of full-time students who are also providing unpaid care. And even if there were, DWP would not know how many were potentially eligible for Carer’s Allowance and could meet the basic eligibility criteria (including on the number of hours of care they were providing and for whom, and whether they were undertaking any work etc).

DWP is forecast to have spent £3.7 billion on Carer’s Allowance in 2023/24.

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 people affected by (a) respiratory and (b) fatigue conditions who may have their Universal Credit awards changed under the recently announced Work Capability Assessment reforms.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In November last year we announced changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria, to deliver the right outcomes and reflect changes in work since the criteria were last comprehensively reviewed in 2011.

Changes to the WCA activities and descriptors will be implemented nationally no earlier than 2025. The majority of existing Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance claimants will not be affected by the WCA changes if they have already been assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity.

With these changes to the WCA criteria, 424,000* fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 33,000* individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-2029 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules.

Estimates are not based on specific conditions because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.

We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides to work coaches on the flexible work fund; and what steps he is taking to promote uptake of that funding.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department provides comprehensive guidance which is regularly updated to support our Work Coaches use of the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). We are currently reviewing our guidance to increase both usage and clarity of FSF.

We have recently promoted the availability of FSF on Gov.uk specifically in relation to Upfront Child Care costs Universal Credit childcare costs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) allowing people that are moving from legacy benefits to Universal Credit to use a countersignature as proof of ID and (b) opening Job Centres on (i) evenings and (ii) weekends for people who are in full-time employment.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Countersignatures or vouching can be used to verify an identity as an exception where the customer does not have any other method to prove who they are. This method is more time consuming for both the customer and agent and we have found that the majority of our customers can meet the identify verification criteria.

A number of our Jobcentres across the network already offer a Saturday service. We do not offer evening appointments, but it is important to emphasise that we have a number of different mechanisms through which customers can access our services; for example, through our Universal Credit (UC) system which is a digital platform where customers can leave messages on their journal to update UC agents on their current circumstances. A number of our service lines also offer telephony services into the evening.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure that information on how to challenge decisions is available through the Child Maintenance Service portal.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Significant improvements have been made to the online service ‘My Child Maintenance Case’ allowing Child Maintenance Service customers to digitally report a large range of changes that impact their case.

If a customer believes the Child Maintenance Service have made the wrong decision about how much child maintenance must be paid or received, they can ask the Child Maintenance Service to look at the decision again under their mandatory reconsideration process.

Information on how to request a mandatory reconsideration is included within any decision notification. Further information is also available on gov.uk. Child Maintenance Service: What child maintenance is - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) & Challenge a benefit decision (mandatory reconsideration): Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

A dispute or a mandatory reconsideration cannot currently be reported online. However, following a decision being made, if a parent raises a linked change via My Child Maintenance Case within 32 days of the original decision, this will automatically be considered as a mandatory reconsideration request. For example, a parent raises a shared care change on My Child Maintenance Case within 32 days of a shared care decision being made, the Child Maintenance Service will look at the original decision under a mandatory reconsideration.

Plans are in place to improve the information provided to child maintenance customers. This will provide a clear digital route to guide customers on how to challenge a decision through My Child Maintenance Case. These changes are being looked at in 2024/25.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Prevention of Future Deaths Reports have related to (a) universal credit and (b) other benefits in each of the last five years.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has received 6 Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports in the last five years to date. 1 report did not relate to a customer who was in receipt of benefits. The breakdown of the reports by year and the benefit claimed is provided in the table below:

* This report related to Child Maintenance.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive pursued prosecution of (a) public and (b) private sector employers for failure to abide by health and safety legislation during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in Great Britain. It sets out the general duties which employers have towards employees and members of the public, employees have to themselves and to each other and certain self-employed have towards themselves and others.

HSWA applies equally across all workplaces in all industry sectors and does not distinguish between either public or private sector duty-holders. As such, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would not routinely differentiate or record this information.

The prosecution data below is for the time period of the 1^st April 2020 and the 31^st March 2022, this being the timeframe of the pandemic prior to HSE returning to business as usual. The figures are for all prosecutions taken under health and safety legislation which were published in the HSE Annual Report 2020/21 and 2021/22 respectively and are not Covid specific.

HSE pursued 206 prosecutions in 2020/21, with a 94% conviction rate, and 290 prosecutions in 2021/22, with a 96% conviction rate. A total of 496 prosecutions across the period referred to.

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 people pay the full child maintenance costs for which they are liable.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has a range of enforcement powers at its disposal to ensure parents meet their financial obligations to their children.

These include deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts, using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving licence or UK passport or even commitment to prison.

The Child Support (Enforcement) Act received Royal Assent in 2023. This creates a primary power to replace court-based liability orders with administrative orders, which should significantly speed up this key enforcement process.

We have concluded a public consultation to support regulations to implement administrative liability orders. The Government published their response on 12 February 2024.

Secondary legislation is now being developed, which, once implemented, will reduce the process from 22 weeks to as low as 6 weeks. This will be brought forward as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2024 to Question 19031 on Universal Credit: Housing, for what reason there are different qualifying criteria for (a) Support for Mortgage Interest and (b) support that homeowners receive in respect of service charges.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) and help with service charges cover different costs and different eligibility criteria apply.

SMI is paid at a rate that the lending industry generally accept as sufficient to avert the threat of repossession. This help is often significantly less than the homeowner’s contractual liability, although eligibility was recently extended to assist homeowners with rising interest rates. While SMI provides support at the point of need, this help is in the form of an interest-bearing loan that is recoverable from equity when the property is sold.

Eligible service charges are met in full and this help is in the form of a non-recoverable benefit.

Given these differences the Department see no compelling argument for aligning entitlement rules.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive is investigating (a) public and (b) private sector employers for failure to abide by health and safety legislation during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in Great Britain. It sets out the general duties which employers have towards employees and members of the public, employees have to themselves and to each other and certain self-employed have towards themselves and others.

HSWA applies equally across all workplaces in all industry sectors and does not distinguish between either public or private sector duty-holders. As such, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would not routinely differentiate or record this information.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will hold discussions with (a) the hon. Member for North Tyneside and (b) Parkinson's UK on the potential impact of the social security system on people living with Parkinson's disease.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.

Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.

From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.

When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.

With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.

The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to review planned changes to the Work Capability Assessment to reflect the impact on people with (a) Parkinson's and (b) other long-term conditions.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.

Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.

From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.

When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.

With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.

The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet with Parkinson’s UK and the hon. Member for Bootle to discuss the experience of people with Parkinson’s in the social security system.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.

Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.

From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.

When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.

With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.

The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to Work Capability Assessments on people with Parkinson's disease.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.

Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.

From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.

When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.

With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.

The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any (a) public and (b) private sector employer has been reported to the Health and Safety Executive for failure to abide by health and safety legislation during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in Great Britain. It sets out the general duties which employers have towards employees and members of the public, employees have to themselves and to each other and certain self-employed have towards themselves and others.

HSWA applies equally across all workplaces in all industry sectors and does not distinguish between either public or private sector duty-holders. As such, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would not routinely differentiate or record this information.

Reports received by HSE are generally in the form of a ‘concern’. These can be in relation to any health and safety issue in the workplace and can be submitted via HSE’s online reporting portal.

Between the 1^st April 2020 and the 31st March 2022, this being the timeframe of the pandemic prior to HSE returning to business as usual, HSE handled over 70,000 concerns about health and safety in the workplace.

However, not all of these concerns were in relation to a failure to abide by health and safety legislation, some were requests for general health and safety advice, support, and guidance. This data has been published in the HSE Annual Report 2020/21 and 2021/22 respectively and is not Covid specific.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many starts have been recorded for the Youth Offer in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire as of 25 March 2024.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Youth Offer launched 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:

• The Youth Employment Programme, which provides young people dedicated intensive Work Coach support in finding & applying for jobs, with additional assistance available for those who have recently begun their Universal Credit claim.
• Youth Hubs, which bring together in one location DWP services with local support provided by youth experts. This ensures that the needs of young people are matched to services that help them tackle barriers to employment.
• Youth Employability Coaches, who are focused on supporting young people furthest from the labour market overcome complex challenges so that they can move into work.

As of the 1^st of March 2024, there have been 1,200 starts to the Youth Offer in South Holland and The Deepings constituency, and a total of 17,420 starts in the Lincolnshire region. These figures are part of the overall 1,123,000 total starts on the Youth Offer.

Notes

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. The figure for Lincolnshire is the combined figure for each of the following local authorities; Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, North East Lincolnshire, North Kesteven, North Lincolnshire, South Holland, South Kesteven and West Lindsey.
3. A claimant may take part in multiple elements of the Youth Offer. They may start any element of the Youth Offer multiple times. Each of these starts is recorded as a start on the Youth Offer.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of the working age population who are disabled in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is given in the table below.

Number and percentage of disabled people aged 16 to 64, 2022/2023

Source – table LMS008

• Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred and percentages to one decimal place
• Numbers shown are central estimates and subject to sampling variation. The precision of these estimates will be limited by sample size.
• Annual Population Survey data has not been reweighted to incorporate the latest estimates of the size and composition of the UK population.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15320 on Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit: Mining, for what reason not all applicants for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefits receive compensation.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In order to be entitled to an award of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB), claimants must meet all the eligibility criteria set out in the relevant legislation. Claims may be disallowed prior to any medical assessment where certain entitlement criteria are not met (e.g. conditions around employed earner’s employment are not met, or the claimant does not satisfy the occupational criteria associated with the disease they are claiming for).

Claims for IIDB may also be disallowed following a medical assessment if the entitlement criteria are not met, for example, if it is established at assessment that the customer does not have one of the diseases set out in the relevant legislation.

There is not normally entitlement to a payable award of IIDB where disablement is assessed at less than 14%, with exceptions for some prescribed diseases as set out in legislation. In these cases, it is accepted that the customer is suffering from the prescribed disease, but they may not be entitled to a payable award of IIDB.

However, IIDB may still be payable for people who claim for more than one accident or disease and the total disablement, when the effects of all the accidents and diseases are added together, is 14% or more.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on classification as an industrial injury of neurodegenerative conditions linked to repeated head impacts.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) can be paid. IIAC is currently considering whether there is a link between certain neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople.

IIAC has reviewed over 100 studies relating to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and will need to give more consideration to the evidence before it can make a decision. IIAC will also likely consult experts (neurologists) in this field and will then publish its findings when the investigation is complete.

It would be premature to speculate on how the Council’s investigation will progress or whether there is enough evidence of a link between certain neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople to meet the threshold for a new ‘prescribed disease’ to be recommended by IIAC for the purpose of IIDB entitlement.

If recommendations are made by IIAC on this matter, they will be carefully considered by the Department.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many alternative payment requests for Universal Credit were made in (a) January and (b) February 2024 in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to recruit Covert Surveillance Officers to gather evidence to prove or disprove offences relating to benefits claims.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP is recruiting Covert Surveillance Officers.

The Department’s Counter Fraud, Compliance & Debt directorate (CFCD) undertakes directed surveillance as part of the criminal investigation process.

All surveillance activity is applied for under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000 and is conducted in line with the surveillance Code of Practice. It is undertaken only where necessary and proportionate to the alleged offence.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many alternative payment arrangements for Universal Credit were granted in (a) January and (b) February 2024 in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many improvement and prohibition notices the Health and Safety Executive has issued on (a) workplace stress and (b) other mental health problems at work in each year since it took responsibility for this area.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are no specific regulations relating to work-related stress or mental health and any enforcement action taken by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in those areas would use general health and safety legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act or the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

As a result, HSE can not provide the numbers of notices as the information is not held in the format requested so is not easily retrievable or statistically robust.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the permitted working hours criteria for Employment and Support Allowance.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are currently no plans to increase the permitted work hours limit. The ESA permitted work rules strike a balance between encouraging claimants to build their confidence, undertake some part-time paid work, and plan a gradual move to sustained employment, while continuing to receive benefit. The permitted work earnings limit is reviewed annually and uprated in line with the National Living Wage.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff left his Department in each year since 2015.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The table below shows Staff in Post (SiP) numbers of leavers for each financial year (April - March.) To ensure compliance with GDPR, seven years of data is the maximum that we hold.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20580 on Pensions: Consumer Information, what the (a) estimated and (b) actual costs of the project are.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has spent £56.7M between 2019/20 and the end of February 2024 (with spend relating to 2023/24 subject to final audit).

Whole life costs of the Pensions Dashboards Programme (2019/20 – 2026/27) are currently estimated by MaPS to be around £139M.

Found: for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefits systemHC 44 27th Evaluating

Found: (BEIS), the Department for International Trade (DIT), the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department

Found: for Work and Pensions 7 S.I. 2024/162 7 Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) Order 2024 Appendix 2:

Found: for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefits systemHC 44 27th Evaluating

Found: tion Luke Hall MP Minister of State (Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education) Department

Found: letter from a GP rather than an abridged printout of their medical history (as accepted by the DWP

Found: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published management information on the number of payments

Found: Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Work and Pensions, and Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Data from the Department for Work and Pensions showed that the number of new Pension Credit claimants

Found: Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office, HM Revenue and Customs, and Department for Work and Pensions Oral Evidence

Found: for Work and Pensions [RCW0061] Poverty Alliance [RCW0062] Women’s Budget Group [RCW0063] Business

Found: Questions for the Department for Work and Pensions Need for greater transparency in formulating these

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether provisions have been made for employees of The Bodyshop who were made redundant.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

I understand this will be a concerning time for those impacted. The Department for Work and Pensions’ Rapid Response Service is a service designed to give support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy.

The range of support may include:

• Connecting people to jobs in the labour market.
• Help with job search including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them.
• Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market).
• What benefits they may get and how to claim.

Employees may be entitled to statutory redundancy pay, compensatory notice pay and holiday pay from the Insolvency Service. Further information may be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-body-shop-in-administration-information-for-employees-and-creditors.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Answer of 15 July 2022 to Question 33838 on Digital Technology and Internet: Disadvantaged, what steps she is taking to help tackle digital exclusion; and whether her Department plans to take steps to help individuals with the cost of personal internet.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government has been clear that ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age is a key priority and continues to take steps to offer the support needed.

Digital inclusion is a cross-cutting issue that spans social engagement, education, employment, access to services and many more elements of everyday life. Responsibility for relevant policies and activities, including monitoring and evaluation, sit across government.

The Government has worked closely with the telecoms industry to ensure households across the country can access fast, reliable digital infrastructure. Superfast broadband is now available in over 97% of the UK, over 80% of households can access gigabit broadband, and 4G mobile is available to 99% of the population from at least one network provider. The Government is also investing £5 billion through our flagship Project Gigabit programme to bring gigabit broadband to reach hard-to-reach communities.

The Government established a cross-Whitehall ministerial group in response to a recommendation from the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee’s report on ‘Digital Exclusion’, published in June 2023. The ministerial group aims to drive progress and accountability on digital inclusion priorities across Government.

The group has met twice, in September 2023 and March 2024, with attendance from the Cabinet Office, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, and His Majesty's Treasury.

To support those for whom cost may be a barrier, the Government has worked closely with the telecoms industry to ensure market provision of broadband and mobile social tariffs. These low-cost, commercial products are available from 28 different providers, across 99% of the UK and start at just £10 per month.

Two-child benefits limit

Found: Rates from Income Tax, Employee National Insurance Contributions and HICBC. 49 HMRC calculations. 50 DWP

Found: community, to help them access mainstream services – such as those provided by Skills Funding Agency and Department

Found: For example, benefit fraud is prosecuted by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Found: Social Security Ministers from the Welsh Government and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) held

Found: for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Energy Securi ty and Net Zero and the Department

Found: for Work and Pensions documentation confirming the person or their partner is or was in receipt of

Found: incidents of bullying and harassment. 9.15 The Contractor shall co -operate with the Department and Department

Found: MacCulloch v ICI [2008] I CR 1334 EAT (subsequently approved by the Court of Appeal in Lockwood v DWP

Found: Just this month, DWP secured guilty verdicts against a Bulgarian gang caught making around 6,000 fraudulent

Found: of offenders, and provide new powers to gather information from more information holders as part of DWP

Found: Hon Mel Stride MP Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Department for Work and Pensions Tothill

Found: From: Department for Work and Pensions and Social Security Advisory Committee Published 22 April 2024

Found: by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for asset managers and owners, and an assessment by the Department

Found: debit • any document or letter from the National Insurance Contributions Office, Benefits Agency or Department

Found: DWP staff are not counsellors but it is important that systems, procedures and responses are in place

Found: The Sector -based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) is delivered by DWP for claimants receiving out of

Found: to move onto Universal Credit as quickly as possible (with expected support from loca lly deployed DWP

Found: DWP has a range of measures designed to provide assistance and support for victims of domestic abuse

Found: Drug and alcohol dependency Contents Introduction Department for Work and Pensions support

Found: failure to attend’ sanctions, the date of compliance is the date the claimant makes contact with DWP

Found: DWP have created a Homeless & Housing Toolkit to provide comprehensive guidance to staff which includes

Found: Intensive W ork Search claimants aged under 18 are automatically eligible fo r the DWP Youth Offer

Found: There is no DWP equivalent. It is disregarded indefinitely .

Found: There is no DWP equivalent.

Found: For benefit purposes , DWP describes a terminally ill claimant as having a progressive disease or health

Found: DWP defines s evere weather as a recorded or forecast average temperature of zero degrees celsius or

Found: t he claimant :  had SDP, they are signposted to the local authority, HMRC or put through to DWP

Found: Claimants are also expected to notify DWP in good time if they cannot attend an interview.

Found: Where it is clear a clai mant or a child is at risk, DWP does not need the claimant’s permission

Found: The categories of records which are considered as SCRs within DWP , and the risks associated with those

Found: for example, claimants aged 16 -24 in the Work Preparation regime can choose to participate in the DWP

Found: For video assessments, DWP can help claimants with costs for data usage.

Found: Employer Agreement) Once employers have signed the DWP Employer Agreement the claimant will be

Found: example, claimants aged 16 -24 in the Work Focused Interview regime can choose to participate in the DWP

Found: Where a claimant has already received help for a deposit and upfront fees through other DWP support

Found: All DWP debt recovery must be suspended when a claimant becomes insol vent regardless of whether DWP

Found: DWP Youth Offer Contents Introduction Eligibility Exemptions Youth Employment Programme

Found: Once service online or by phone • the phone number for Tell Us Once Tell Us Once will notify DWP

Found: Housing Benefit and DWP Administrat ive Penal ties. 18.

Found: Housing Payment Discretionary Housing Payments Discretionary Housing Payments ( DHP’s ) are a DWP

Found: costs are paid to their l andlord on the same day or on a different payment sche dule agreed betwee n DWP

Found: valid for 90 days and any vouchers not redeemed within this period will expire and funds returned to DWP

Found: Modern slavery and human trafficking Contents Modern slavery Identifying victims DWP support

Found: This is to give them time to find work or apply for DWP benefits and look for accommodation.

Found: requirement to accept a Claimant Com mitment is lifted permanently when a claimant: • meets the DWP

Found: previously • not doing any paid work , including zero -hour contracts • must not be on any other DWP

Found: • moving towards work and financial independence When a claiman t with complex needs contacts DWP

Found: held on their account or understand more complex issues, they may ask a representative to contact DWP

Found: jobcentre as thei r postal add ress, th ey must be advised that their correspondence can be open ed by DWP

Found: If DWP Visit ing are unable to make contact with the c laimant after two visits and there is a risk

Found: appointment, or • complete a manda ted activity it is the responsibility of the provider to notify DWP

Found: for any reason, either by notification from the appointee themselves or it is revealed to DWP

Found: A DWP agent will be required w here the functionality of the Universal Credit service does n ot allow

Found: Scotland) Power of Attorney Claimant Commitment Claimant with an appointee ( PAB / CAB ) contacts DWP

Found: Introduction Full time and part time training courses Funding for skills and training Access to Work DWP

Found: Where a claimant is identified, DWP can provide this help and support through: • early access to

Found: received If earnings information is not received or reported late and the claimant has informed DWP

Found: ork Contents Volunteers Volunt eering Voluntary work or activity Notional earnings DWP

Found: registered social landlords (including stock owning local authorities) that have made an agreement with DWP

Found: or coercive and contr olling behaviour with HMRC (for example, when claiming Child Tax Credit ), DWP

Found: This will ensure repayments of any existing priority deb t repayment are not affected and DWP is not

Found: this guide) A full list of circumstances relevant to the award of FSF is available in the general DWP

Found: There is a strict data -sharing and data -processing agreement between DWP and Scottish Government

Found: This is because a claimant is expected to notify DWP in good time if they cannot attend an interview

Found: DWP operates a foodbank signposting service to support claimants in this situation.

Found: There is no DWP equivalent.

Found: Overpayments caused by official error Where an error or omission by an officer of the Department for

Found: Work and Health Programm e and Pioneer The Work an d Health Programm e and Pioneer are DWP ’s new

Found: provision When provision is appropriate Finding the right provision for a claimant Introduction DWP

Found: intensive support to transition into work, beyond that available in the jobcentre, including other DWP

Found: It is the claimant’s responsibility to inform DWP of the amount of their training allowance and to report

Found: To protect staff and DWP from harm, embarrassment or criticism the following must not be entered in

Found: In these cases, we make the claimant aware that these sites are not approved by DWP and we have no

Found: Public Protection Arrangements Contents Introduction Offenders managed under MAPPA Notifying DWP

Found: Contents Person s with a learning disability or learning difficulty What does this mean for DWP

Found: Features Support in the Light Touch regime One of the key elements of Universal Credit provides DWP

Found: treatment • the clinical findings A DS1500 or SR1 can be requested and provided directly to DWP

Found: DWP can legally ask an employer if claimants signposted to job s on Manage Jobs have applied and if

Found: support for people with a health c ondition Useful documents and links Mental health conditions DWP

Found: Claimants must be : • unemployed • aged 18 or over • not participating in other DWP contracted

Found: claims only, if a claimant appeals against a New Style ESA outcome and that appeal is successful, a DWP

Found: claims only, if a claimant appeals against a New Style ESA outcome and that appeal is successful, a DWP

Found: to enrol eligible learners on a Traineeship under the national programme up to 31 July 20 23 (and DWP

Found: Claimants must inform DWP if they take up any additional training.

Found: new career path • look for learning and training opportunities Wherever practicable, the DWP

Found: parties V27.0 46 Contrived tenancies V5.0 47 Cost of Living Payment V7.0 48 Council Tax V3.0 49 DWP

Found: V27.0 46 Contrived tenancies V5.0 47 Cost of Living Payment V7.0 48 Council Tax V3.0 49 DWP

Found: Irregular earnings are taken into account in the assessment period in which they are received by DWP

Found: Rapid Response Service If an employer is considering making redundancies, DWP can provide support

Found: Under the Equality Act 2010 , all DWP staff have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustm ents so disable

Found: expenses or benefits • e-exempt employers These claimants must self-report their earnings to DWP

Found: Vulnerable Group check Introduction Wales Skills to Employment Pathway (WSEP) is delivered by DWP

Found: Armed Forces pensions and benefits table Introduction As part of the Armed Forces Covenant , the DWP

Found: to prevent: • fraud • payment to the wrong person • complaints and reputational damage for DWP

Found: not understand or disagree s with something on their Work Plan, they must be advised to contact DWP

Found: excessive (to the point) • Current (not out of date) Claimant History security To protect staff and DWP

Found: The second and third Cost of Living Payments will appear on the claimant’s bank statement as ‘NINO DWP

Found: DWP staff as Claimants Contents Introduction Principles Accessing DWP records DWP staff

Found: DWP Staff as Landlords Contents Introduction Outside interests of DWP staff and conflict

Found: Help to Claim support is funded by DWP and delivered by Citizens Advice in partnership with

Found: and their digital capability , must be reviewed regularly as part of their ongoing interaction with DWP

Found: for Work and Pensions ministers@dwp.gov.uk Department of Health and Social Care MPCorrespondence@dhsc.gov.uk

Found: Where a mandatory reconsideration takes place, the compensator pays the full amount due and the DWP

Found: We are working with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and delivery partners to work through

Found: For example: Client notified DWP of a deterioration in his condition in October 22, re sulting in

Found: basket of work] around targeted employability support provided by colleagues in the councils and also DWP

Found: provision to transfer awards of Attendance Allowanc e for people in Scotland over pension age from the Department

Found: Attendance Allowance is currently being delivered b y the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf

Found: for Work and Pensions.

Found: Attendance Allowance will continue to be delivered d uring a transition period by the Department for

Found: Attendance Allowance for people in Scotland is currently delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Attendance Allowance will continue to be delivered during a transition period by the Department for Work

Found: Based on information from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Stat-Xplore service, there were around

Found: Attendance Allowance for people in Scotland is currently delivered by the Department for Work and

Found: provision to transfer awards of Attendance Allowance for people in Scotland over pension age from the Department

Found: Based on information from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Stat -Xplore service, there were around

Found: which are national statistics from a robust and widely used annual survey of income produced by the Department

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any implications for Scottish social security payments to women in Scotland as a result of the findings in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report, Women’s State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions’ communication of changes.

Answered by Somerville, Shirley-Anne - Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26524 on 23 April 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .