Asked by: Bayo Alaba (Labour - Southend East and Rochford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.
Answered by Pat McFadden - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Too many young people are not in employment, education or training, something we are addressing and which the previous Government did nothing about.
We are investing £2.5 billion into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to support nearly one million 16–24-year-olds into work, education or training.
Over the next three years, this investment will unlock up to 300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training, along with 200,000 jobs through the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, the £2,000 apprenticeship incentive, and guaranteeing jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Universal Credit.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.
Answered by Pat McFadden - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Too many young people are not in employment, education or training, something we are addressing and which the previous Government did nothing about.
We are investing £2.5 billion into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to support nearly one million 16–24-year-olds into work, education or training.
Over the next three years, this investment will unlock up to 300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training, along with 200,000 jobs through the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, the £2,000 apprenticeship incentive, and guaranteeing jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Universal Credit.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Officials within the Department for Work and Pensions have access to artificial intelligence tools that may be used to support efficiency in their day‑to‑day work. However, responsibility for developing policy and legislative proposals remains with officials and all final decisions on substantive policy or legal issues continue to be taken by Ministers.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of the impact on septic tank and small sewage treatment systems of biocidal products containing Bronopol when used in motorhome or caravan toilet fluids.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Toilet fluid biocidal products containing Bronopol fall within Product Types 2 (disinfectants) and/or 6 (preservatives for products during storage) of the Great Britain Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR). These uses are covered by the GB BPR active substance review programme, where they are both awaiting review. Products containing Bronopol are currently controlled under existing consumer protection legislation.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Department's Research and analysis paper entitled Removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit, whether the calculation that the removal of the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty has taken in to account how many of those households will now be impacted by the benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions’ Policy Simulation Model (PSM) was used to model the impact of the removal of the two-child limit on Universal Credit. The PSM uses household characteristics, caseload forecasts and benefit rules to estimate policy impacts for each year, currently up to and including FYE 2031.
It is estimated that there will be 450,000 fewer children in relative poverty after housing costs in the final year of parliament (FYE 2030) as a result of the removal of the two-child limit within Universal Credit, compared to baseline projections. This estimate takes full account of the benefit cap, which is modelled in both the baseline and policy projections.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department (a) collects and (b) holds data on foodbank usage; and if he will publish all such data for each of the last five years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the level of food bank use in the UK are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics report. The most recent publication is available here: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of foodbank usage since July 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the level of food bank use in the UK are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics report. The most recent publication is available here: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment has been made of the proposed removal of the health element of Universal Credit for under 22s.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have launched The Young People and Work Report to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training, with a holistic view of the welfare, health, skills and employment system. Led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, it will also identify areas for reform. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun - with a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disability. The Author will produce an interim Report this May, with a full and final report in September.
To ensure we can take a decision in the round we are awaiting the Young People and Work Reports conclusions before making any decisions on access to Universal Credit Health Element for those under the age of 22.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 delays in the Access to Work scheme on disabled people’s ability to start or remain in employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise Access to Work applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks. In 2025, we allocated c. 96% of applications starting work within 4 weeks in 28 days. We have increased the number of staff working in this area by 29% from 500 in March 2024 to 648 in March 2026.
We know from employee and employer feedback that we inherited issues in the scheme, which is why we’re working with disabled people and their representative organisations to improve it. Reforms are essential to ensure a better service for customers, to help disabled people start and stay in work, to provide clarity in what support should be provided and to ensure we are providing value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of restricting young people’s eligibility for the Universal Credit health element on a) poverty and b) employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have launched The Young People and Work Report to investigate the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training, with a holistic view of the welfare, health, skills and employment system. Led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, it will also identify areas for reform. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun. The Author will produce an interim Report this May, with a full and final report in September
To ensure we can take a decision in the round we are awaiting the Young People and Work Reports conclusions before making any decisions on whether to delay access to Universal Credit Health Element to 22.
The Universal Credit Act 2025, which came into force on 6 April 2026, delivered the first sustained, above inflation rise in the basic rate of UC since it was introduced. This means a little under four million households will benefit overall from government’s decision to increase the UC standard allowance, estimated to be worth around £760 annually in cash terms for a single parent aged 25 (£250 above inflation) or over £1195 (£400 above inflation) for a couple where one is aged 25 or over with children by 2029/30.
A little under 4 million households will benefit from the sustained, above-inflation increase to the UC standard allowance - worth around £295 in 2026/27, in cash terms around £110 above inflation, for a single person aged 25 or over and around £760, around £250 above inflation, by the end of the decade. For couples, where one member is aged 25 or over, it will increase by around an additional £465 this year, around £180 more than if up-rated by inflation alone.
Claimants who declared a health condition or disability before 6 April 2026 and are subsequently found to have Limited Capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), receive the higher rate - £429.80 per month. This applies even if the decision on their LCWRA entitlement was made on or after 6 April 2026.
In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. Our Pathways to Work support offer will ensure a coherent and navigable offer of support, building on and bringing together initiatives such as Connect to Work, WorkWell and local Trailblazers.
Since July 2025, there have been around 1000 (full-time equivalent) Pathways to Work Advisors in place in Jobcentres across England, Scotland and Wales helping disabled people and people with health conditions towards and into work. This increased deployment will help ensure that everyone impacted by the recent changes to the Universal Credit Health Element is offered support. People affected by the changes, including young people, will be able to access a conversation about their needs, goals and aspirations; offered one-to-one follow-on support, and given voluntary help to access additional work, health and skills support that can meet their needs.