Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young people pursuing apprenticeships who are unable to obtain English and Maths GCSEs; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the requirement to obtain English and Maths GCSEs when irrelevant to their chosen vocation on young people's confidence and self belief.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Young people are not required to hold GCSE qualifications in English and/or maths before starting an apprenticeship.
Apprentices under the age of 19 are funded to achieve up to a level 2 qualification in English and/or maths (where they do not already hold one) before the end of their apprenticeship, putting them in the best position to progress in their life and career. This can be a GCSE or functional skills qualification.
Further flexibility is in place for apprentices with a learning difficulty and/or disability, where there is evidence this is likely to be a barrier to them completing their apprenticeship. In these cases, they are able to achieve an entry level 3 functional skills qualification to complete. Since August 2024, this flexibility has been available to apprentices with a learning difficulty and/or disability but without an Education Health and Care Plan.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 requirement to have GCSEs to enter apprenticeships on young people with disabilities, learning difficulties and neurodivergence.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Young people are not required to hold GCSE qualifications in English and/or maths before starting an apprenticeship.
Apprentices under the age of 19 are funded to achieve up to a level 2 qualification in English and/or maths (where they do not already hold one) before the end of their apprenticeship, putting them in the best position to progress in their life and career. This can be a GCSE or functional skills qualification.
Further flexibility is in place for apprentices with a learning difficulty and/or disability, where there is evidence this is likely to be a barrier to them completing their apprenticeship. In these cases, they are able to achieve an entry level 3 functional skills qualification to complete. Since August 2024, this flexibility has been available to apprentices with a learning difficulty and/or disability but without an Education Health and Care Plan.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 support adults who missed extended periods of education due to medical conditions they experienced as children.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are investing in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), spending £1.4 billion in the 2025/26 academic year. The ASF fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support them to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes a statutory entitlement to fully funded qualifications for 19 to 23 year olds who don’t have either a level 2 or 3 qualification which may be relevant for learners who missed education due to medical conditions they experienced as children.
As of August 2025, approximately 68% of the ASF is devolved to 12 Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to providers. For learners in Ashfield, the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) decides how to make best use of their ASF to meet their local needs beyond four statutory entitlements, including which courses are funded and the eligibility criteria.
By honouring our commitments to combine and further devolve adult skills funding, we give those with local knowledge the power they need to make decisions that are best for their areas.
The ASF also funds learning providers to help adult learners to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning. This includes Learner Support, to support learners with a specific financial hardship, and Learning Support to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
In relation to access to higher education, all higher education providers registered with the Office for Students that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan (APP) approved by the Office for Students. APPs articulate how higher education providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit overpayments arising from official error were identified in each month since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes estimates of the numbers of official error overpayments, available here: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
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 recent changes to Apprenticeship Levy funding on Level 7 Senior Leader apprenticeships.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57098.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many consolatory payments were made to (a) paying and (b) receiving parents by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The department hold records of how many consolatory payments were authorised for Child Maintenance Service customers. This information is provided in the table. We are unable to supply a breakdown of payments made to paying and receiving parents without additional work at disproportionate cost.
Year | No. of consolatory payments authorised |
2022/2023 | 2107 |
2023/2024 | 2634 |
2024/2025 | 2189 |
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 reducing public funding for Level 7 apprenticeships for learners over the age of 21 on access to advanced training in marine engineering, naval architecture and marine surveying.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57098.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made a recent evaluation of the effectiveness of the under-occupation deduction policy for social rented housing.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not recently evaluated the effectiveness of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy.
Information on the number of households subjected to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy, by nations and regions, is available on Stat-Xplore via the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit official statistics (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). The information can be found in the Households on Universal Credit dataset, and the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset, and are currently available to August 2025.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to update the apprenticeship levy funding band.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Each apprenticeship standard is allocated to one of 30 funding bands, which range from £1,500 to £27,000. These represent the maximum value that government will contribute towards the training and assessment for each apprenticeship.
All apprenticeship standards are reviewed periodically for both content and funding. Employers can also request an exceptional review where they are able to evidence significant cost changes. Skills England continues to work closely with employers throughout the revision process to ensure current delivery costs are reflected, whilst also delivering value for money.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the current surplus in the Pension Protection Fund; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of that surplus to meet the demands on the fund.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of 31 March 2025, the PPF has built up a reserve of around £14.1 billion. This is a reserve and not surplus funds. While the risks that the PPF faces are lower given improved Defined Benefit (DB) scheme funding levels, this reserve provides security for its current 8.6 million members and the taxpayer. The reserve is crucial to managing future challenges and enabling the PPF to fulfil its role as the ultimate backstop to the near £1 trillion of liabilities in DB schemes.
This Government has brought forward improvements to the level of indexation it pays and introduced greater flexibility to adjust the levy it collects in line with its funding strategy. The PPF will continue to build its reserves through investment returns, while keeping its approach to funding under regular review, prudently balancing the needs of members and levy payers. This will increase security for its current and future members and, further reduce the risk of needing to call on levy payers in the future.