Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the 815,000 people who use the Motability scheme will be impacted by one or more of the changes to the Motability scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
An Equality Impact Assessment including consideration of the impact on affected individuals was undertaken and published by HMT as part of the Autumn Budget and can be found here: Motability Scheme: reforming tax reliefs - GOV.UK.
The Motability Scheme will continue to offer a choice of vehicles to meet a range of accessibility needs and vehicles which require no advance payment, meaning that people will be able to access a suitable vehicle using only their qualifying disability benefit. Motability Foundation, the independent charity with responsibility for overseeing the Scheme, will continue to offer means-tested grants to support eligible people who would otherwise struggle to afford the advance payment or adaptations for a vehicle, or a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) through the Scheme.
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 and what proportion of Personal Independence Payment (a) assessments and (b) reassessments were carried out (i) face-to-face, (ii) remotely and (iii) on paper in each month since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the recent Autumn Budget, the government reenforced a commitment it made in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to increase face-to-face assessments for disability benefits.
All assessment suppliers have contractual requirements to raise the proportion of assessments conducted in person, and are expected to plan and manage recruitment accordingly, with progress regularly reviewed. The department is working closely with suppliers to boost capacity, with a key focus on recruiting suitably qualified health professional to support delivery in assessment centres Through these measures, the department will meet the government priority to increase the proportion of face-to-face Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments to 30% from 5% in 2024.
The number and proportion of PIP assessments carried out by channel of assessment from July 2024 until the most recent month available can be found in the table below, with comparative annual figures from 2019 provided below.
Year | Proportion of PIP assessments undertaken face-to-face |
2019 | 83.4% |
2020 | 19.0% |
2021 | 2.9% |
2022 | 6.5% |
2023 | 7.4% |
2024 | 5.0% |
The information is not available in the breakdowns requested for all four Functional Assessment Service (FAS) suppliers for the time-period requested. We can provide data on the total number of assessments (which includes assessments and reassessments) for all four suppliers and for the time-period requested. Data for July 2024 and August 2024 is for pre-FAS contracts, data for September 2024 is a blend of pre-FAS and FAS contracts, data for October 2024 onwards if for FAS contracts.
Month | Face-to-Face | Telephone | Video | Paper-Based | ||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
Jul-24* | 5,700 | 5.4% | 75,000 | 71.4% | 3,000 | 2.8% | 19,000 | 18.3% |
Aug-24* | 3,400 | 3.7% | 70,000 | 74.5% | 2,300 | 2.4% | 17,000 | 18.1% |
Sep-24** | 1,300 | 1.7% | 58,000 | 79.9% | 610 | 0.8% | 13,000 | 17.3% |
Oct-24*** | 2,600 | 2.5% | 81,000 | 78.0% | 1,900 | 1.8% | 18,000 | 17.7% |
Nov-24 | 3,600 | 3.9% | 69,000 | 75.1% | 2,900 | 3.2% | 16,000 | 17.8% |
Dec-24 | 3,000 | 4.2% | 54,000 | 75.8% | 2,200 | 3.1% | 12,000 | 17.0% |
Jan-25 | 4,000 | 4.2% | 72,000 | 76.3% | 3,200 | 3.3% | 15,000 | 16.2% |
Feb-25 | 3,600 | 4.2% | 64,000 | 75.6% | 3,100 | 3.6% | 14,000 | 16.5% |
Mar-25 | 4,200 | 4.6% | 69,000 | 75.0% | 3,400 | 3.7% | 15,000 | 16.6% |
Apr-25 | 4,100 | 4.8% | 65,000 | 75.4% | 3,100 | 3.6% | 14,000 | 16.2% |
May-25 | 4,300 | 5.1% | 63,000 | 75.3% | 3,100 | 3.7% | 13,000 | 15.9% |
Jun-25 | 4,700 | 5.5% | 64,000 | 75.2% | 3,000 | 3.6% | 13,000 | 15.7% |
Jul-25 | 4,800 | 5.2% | 70,000 | 76.5% | 3,200 | 3.5% | 13,000 | 14.7% |
Aug-25 | 3,700 | 4.8% | 58,000 | 76.8% | 2,500 | 3.2% | 11,000 | 15.1% |
Sep-25 | 4,400 | 5.0% | 68,000 | 77.5% | 3,300 | 3.8% | 12,000 | 13.8% |
Please Note
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many face-to-face assessments for benefit claimants have taken place since 1 January 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
While this information is not currently published by the department, we will be sharing this data in a future statistical release.
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 households returned to the benefit cap because of the loss of PIP during (a) the quarter to August 2025, b) the quarter to May 2025, (c) the quarter to February 2025 and (d) the quarter to November 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) costs and (b) mechanisms available to deliver compensation in line with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report on Women’s State Pension age communications, HC 638.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Secretary of State set out on 11 November 2025, we are retaking the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age. The process to retake the decision is underway and it is important that the government give this full and proper consideration.
Retaking this decision should not be taken as an indication that Government will necessarily decide that they should award financial redress.
We will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
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 households on Universal Credit have a combined income between £831 and £861 a month after tax and national insurance contributions, broken down by those who are (a) employed and (b) self-employed.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Of the 6.9 million households on Universal Credit in the most recent month for which official statistics are available (August 2025), around 40,000 households had an income of between £831 and £861 from employment and/or self-employment.
Around 7,000 of these households had at least one claimant who was self-employed and around 33,000 did not have a claimant who was self-employed.
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, whether Jobcentre Plus staff receive training on trauma-informed approaches when working with refugees and asylum seekers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP launched introductory trauma informed learning in Summer 2025, following a successful pilot across 23/24; supporting staff to respond to experiences of adversity and trauma including that experienced by refugees and asylum seekers. The learning is further embedded through bespoke products and wider initiatives.
This is part of a comprehensive training package designed to equip staff with the skills to provide high-quality, inclusive customer service to all claimants and tailor support to individual needs.
The Department remains committed to continually reviewing and improving training to meet the diverse requirements of customers.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether apprentices who commenced a Level 7 apprenticeship before 1 January 2026 will continue to have government funding protected through to completion under the apprenticeship funding rules; what guidance he has issued to providers and employers to ensure this protection is applied; and what arrangements exist where a provider discontinues a programme or must transfer apprentices to an alternative provider.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Level 7 apprentices, that started prior to 1 January 2026, will be funded through to completion. As with funding for all apprenticeships, this is subject to employer and training provider compliance with the apprenticeship funding rules and the apprenticeship employer and provider agreements.
Apprentices concerned about ongoing training provision should contact customer.help@service.education.gov.uk.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the risk that unpaid carers may have acquired criminal convictions as a result of DWP system failures rather than deliberate fraud.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, have found themselves with unexpected debts due to earnings-related overpayments of Carer’s Allowance which they were asked to pay back. This only affected some of the relatively small number of Carer’s Allowance claimants who also do paid work, but the impact on some of these unpaid carers has been significant.
Liz Sayce OBE led an Independent Review into the matter. The Review’s report, which we published on 25 November 2025, alongside the Government’s response, has been invaluable in assessing how these overpayments have arisen; what can be done to support unpaid carers who have incurred debts in the past; and how further overpayments can be minimised in future.
The Review has shown that some mistakes were made, and we are determined to put them right. The Government has welcomed the report and is accepting or partially accepting 38 out of the 40 recommendations. In some cases, the changes the report is asking for have already been made. Others will take more time to put in place.
The department agrees the guidance on averaging earnings between 2015 and summer 2025 did not accurately reflect the statutory position with respect to those with fluctuating earnings. That is why we are putting steps in place to run a reassessment exercise. This exercise will begin later this year, and we will communicate details on how this will work in due course.
The department does not routinely publish data at a benefit level linked to benefit fraud prosecutions. However, data on the volume of prosecutions since 2015, where published, can be found in their respective Annual Report available here: DWP annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK. For example, for the 2024/25 figures see page 114 in the Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carers have been convicted of fraud since 2015 related to Carer’s Allowance overpayments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, have found themselves with unexpected debts due to earnings-related overpayments of Carer’s Allowance which they were asked to pay back. This only affected some of the relatively small number of Carer’s Allowance claimants who also do paid work, but the impact on some of these unpaid carers has been significant.
Liz Sayce OBE led an Independent Review into the matter. The Review’s report, which we published on 25 November 2025, alongside the Government’s response, has been invaluable in assessing how these overpayments have arisen; what can be done to support unpaid carers who have incurred debts in the past; and how further overpayments can be minimised in future.
The Review has shown that some mistakes were made, and we are determined to put them right. The Government has welcomed the report and is accepting or partially accepting 38 out of the 40 recommendations. In some cases, the changes the report is asking for have already been made. Others will take more time to put in place.
The department agrees the guidance on averaging earnings between 2015 and summer 2025 did not accurately reflect the statutory position with respect to those with fluctuating earnings. That is why we are putting steps in place to run a reassessment exercise. This exercise will begin later this year, and we will communicate details on how this will work in due course.
The department does not routinely publish data at a benefit level linked to benefit fraud prosecutions. However, data on the volume of prosecutions since 2015, where published, can be found in their respective Annual Report available here: DWP annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK. For example, for the 2024/25 figures see page 114 in the Annual Report and Accounts.