Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to SOPS 1.1. in the Department's 2020-21 Annual Report, if she will publish a breakdown of the £2,402,602 in gross spend on Programme Resource Outturn in A: Operational Delivery in 2020-21.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Please see attached.
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, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the duration of the Bereavement Support Payment on the finances of bereaved parents with dependent children.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) aims to provide support during the acute period following a bereavement by way of an initial lump sum followed by up to 18 monthly instalments. Where longer-term financial support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been specifically designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs. The Government keeps the eligibility of all benefits under review.
In Autumn 2021 the previous Government carried out an evaluation on whether BSP is meeting its policy intent by supporting claimants with the immediate costs that follow a bereavement. The findings suggested that BSP is meeting this policy intent, and it also found that the current payment distribution of a lump sum and 18 monthly instalment was working well.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, how many meetings officials from their Department have attended on the national conversation on defence and security; which directorate in their Department is responsible for the departmental contribution to that national conversation; and what the job title is of the official responsible.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Officials from the Department for Work and Pensions regularly attend meetings to discuss matters of national security, defence and resilience as well as the associated public communications required to deliver these lines of efforts. The conversation on National Defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.
As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence allowing Government, the private sector and public to play their part in strengthening the UK’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack.
The Department for Work and Pensions is actively supporting this work.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and ministers have regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience.
The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the UK’s resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.
The Department for Work and Pensions is actively supporting this work.
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, in each of the last 5 years, a) how many complaints have been made to his Department, b) how many of those complaints have been referred to the Independent Case Examiner, and c) how many of those referrals have resulted in payments or additional payments being made to the complainant.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
a) The Department publishes a quarterly series of Official Statistics including DWP complaints received, closed and upheld by each business area, and categorisation of the reason for complaint:
DWP Complaints Statistics to September 2025 - GOV.UK
The number complaints received in each quarter from September 2020 to September 2025 are available in Table 1 of the accompanying data tables:
The next release of the Official Statistics will be published in March 2026, containing data to 31 December 2025.
b) The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) publishes an Annual Report each year. The reports include data relating to complaint intake volumes. The Independent Case Examiner’s Annual Reports are available on gov.uk.
DWP complaints: Annual reports by the Independent Case Examiner - GOV.UK
c) ICE is unable to confirm how many cases it recommended DWP pay financial redress for prior to 2023/24 as its data retention policy means this data is no longer available.
Of the investigations ICE concluded in 2023/24, ICE recommended DWP pay financial redress in 1,388 cases. In 2024/25, the volume of cases where ICE recommended financial redress be paid by DWP was 1,332.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Department plans to publish the findings from its employment support pilot schemes; and what assessment has been made of their potential impact on employment outcomes.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has adopted a test and learn approach across many of its employment support pilot scheme areas.
The Government has committed to publish a report this spring which sets out more detail on how we are delivering the new Jobs and Careers Service.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers and the nine Economic Inactivity Trailblazers, the Department for Work and Pensions commissioned an evaluation starting in January 2026. This is expected to build evidence on the effectiveness of the initiative at improving employment outcomes, reducing economic inactivity, enhancing health and well-being, increasing participation in education and training, and strengthening systems integration. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer-term impacts have developed.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-12-08/hcws1137
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on ensuring sufficient skilled labour supply for the UK nuclear new-build programme.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP works closely with DESNZ on a range of clean energy and net zero workforce priorities including nuclear. This includes contributing labour market insight and employer engagement expertise to DESNZ’s work on the Clean Jobs Employer Handbook, which is being developed to help employers recruit into green and net zero roles. This partnership is underpinned by a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on 8 December 2025, which sets out shared commitments to improve access to clean energy careers, strengthen inclusive recruitment pathways and support workforce growth across key green sectors.
DWP also supports wider cross government activity on clean energy skills, providing input to DESNZ led workshops and discussions on future workforce needs linked to growth in the clean energy sector which includes nuclear. In addition, DWP responds to DESNZ policy write rounds, ensuring departmental alignment on emerging energy and regulatory issues. Together, this joint working strengthens understanding of future skills demand and ensures employment support and employer engagement activity is closely aligned with the UK’s clean energy and net zero ambitions.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department provides timely letters of clearance to bereaved families and the executors of the estates of the deceased.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
When someone dies, we understand this is a very difficult and distressing time for their family and those close to them. We aim to make our processes as clear, straightforward and supportive as possible and to minimise any unnecessary worry or effort for bereaved families.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified of a death through several routes, including the Tell Us Once service, telephone contact, written correspondence, or digital notifications following registration of the death with the General Register Office. Once we receive notification, we update all relevant benefit and pension records and ensure the appropriate teams contact the next of kin or executor as required.
For customers over State Pension age, we aim to complete our review within:
This includes updating the deceased person’s record, checking any changes to entitlement, and contacting the person responsible for the estate where needed.
Once the State Pension record has been closed and no pension arrears are due, we issue a Death Acknowledgement Letter to the person handling the estate. This may be a surviving spouse or civil partner, a next of kin, or an executor. These letters are issued regardless of how we were notified of the death and within the relevant processing timescales.
To avoid causing unnecessary distress, we do not issue a Death Acknowledgement Letter if more than eight weeks have passed since the date of death.
If pension arrears are due, a Death Acknowledgement Letter is not issued. Instead, where required, we issue an application form for death arrears. When an arrears payment is made, a remittance notice is generated automatically.
Where a survivor’s pension review is required, we issue a revised Pension Entitlement Notice in line with established processing standards.
Working age benefits are also notified through the Tell Us Once service.
For New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance and New Style Employment and Support Allowance, further correspondence addressed to the customer is stopped once a death is recorded. As these benefits are paid in arrears, payments are made directly to the person who applies for the arrears.
When Universal Credit (UC) is notified of the death of a claimant or a dependent child, UC staff record the death as a priority. For online claims, notifications are uploaded to the claimant’s UC digital account. For telephone claims, notifications are sent by post to the appropriate recipient.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 current waiting times on decisions on claims for Attendance Allowance; and whether he will take steps to reduce the target processing time from up to 12 weeks, particularly for claimants undergoing active cancer treatment such as chemotherapy.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department keeps Attendance Allowance processing times under review and recognises the importance of timely decisions for older people, including those undergoing significant medical treatment.
Through our wider Service Modernisation programme, we have taken steps to speed up and streamline the processing of new Attendance Allowance claims. We are now working to a target of clearing 90% of new claims within 30 days, and current performance shows that the majority of claims are being cleared within around 3–4 weeks, supported by increasing uptake of the new digital application route.
For customers who are nearing the end of life, we operate a dedicated fast-track process under the Special Rules for End of Life, where claims are prioritised and typically cleared within 8 days. The extension of the end of life definition from 6 months to 12 months ensures more people with advanced conditions can benefit from this expedited process.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will guarantee that apprenticeship standards aligned with the Government’s priority Industrial Strategy sectors (IS-8) will continue to be eligible for funding under the Growth and Skills Levy.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, backed by an additional £725 million of investment, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers, more opportunities for young people and support the industrial strategy.
Last year, the government spent 100% of its multi-billion-pound apprenticeship budget. To live within this budget and deliver on the above priorities, we must reform the apprenticeship programme to ensure its future sustainability and effectiveness. This includes working with employers to streamline the suite of over 700 apprenticeship standards as we roll out new short courses from April 2026.
We have been working intensively with business on the next stages of reform and will announce plans for the development of the Growth and Skills Levy soon.