Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to engage with a) disabled people and b) disabled people's organisations during next the phase of reform for the Disability Confident scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to ensuring that the next phase of Disability Confident reform is shaped by the lived experience of disabled people and disabled people’s organisations.
As set out in the Disability Confident Reform Delivery Plan the reformed scheme will embed disabled people’s voices throughout design, testing and evaluation. This includes planned engagement through qualitative interviews, surveys, and employee feedback mechanisms, ensuring that reforms reflect the real experiences of disabled employees and those with long-term health conditions.
We will also work directly with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations as part of our stakeholder engagement work. Their expertise will inform the development and testing of strengthened standards, verification processes and tools, with opportunities to contribute through engagement sessions, workshops and ongoing feedback loops.
Taken together, these measures will ensure that disabled people and the organisations representing them have clear and meaningful opportunities to shape the next phase of Disability Confident reform.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
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 including trade union representatives in Alan Milburn's investigation to tackle rising youth inactivity.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP recognises the important role that the trade unions can play in a modern workplace, including the benefits that effective engagement between employers and unions can bring.
Colleagues working on the Young People and Work Report continue to engage with trade union representatives.
As part of the report, Alan Milburn is engaging with a range of fellow experts in the labour market, education, welfare and health spheres, as well as employers and people with lived experience to inform the findings and recommendations.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has for the continuation or expansion of the WorkWell programme beyond the current three-year funding period; whether he plans to expand the programme to support more than 250,000 people; whether he plans to expand eligibility for the programme; and what criteria his Department is using to determine whether the programme will be expanded beyond its current rollout.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
WorkWell is a health and employment support service providing integrated holistic early help for people with disabilities and/or health conditions to address their health-related barriers to work. The WorkWell pilot phase launched in October 2024 in 15 areas in England and so far has supported approximately 25,000 people to stay in and re-enter work.
In January 2026 we announced that following the pilot, WorkWell will continue to be delivered in existing sites and expand across all of England. The expansion is backed by up to £259 million investment over three years and could support up to 250,000 people.
WorkWell is a voluntary service with broad eligibility criteria; participants do not need to be claiming any Government benefits to be eligible and can access WorkWell through multiple routes including employer referrals, GP referrals, Jobcentre Plus, local services, or self-referral.
An evaluation of the pilot is underway to measure the ongoing effectiveness of WorkWell and will include an independent consortium of evaluators using surveys, interviews and econometric measures of success. The evaluation will consider several variables, including reported health conditions (both physical and mental health) and earnings. Outcomes for participants are monitored across the length of the pilot, and for a further 2 years. A final report in Autumn 2028 will aim to give full assessment of impact of the pilot, including potential sustainment of employment impacts. A similar evaluation will be commissioned for the national rollout of WorkWell. The learnings from these evaluations will inform any future expansion decisions.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 discontinuing the practice of sending letters to pensioners notifying them of small uprating increases, including increases of 25 pence.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department keeps communications with customers under constant review.
We notify individuals of decisions about their benefit, which ensures that they know how much they are entitled to and when and how payment will be made. Letters also inform claimants about their legal responsibilities, such as having to report relevant changes and their legal rights, such as the right of appeal. Individuals' circumstances do change and not everybody receives the same rate of payment every year.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 63906, what recent estimate he has made of the waiting times for Access to Work Applications.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have interpreted this question as referring to the average processing time from the date an application is submitted to the date a decision is made. The current average processing time for access to work is 100.5 days from April 2025 to January 2026.
We are committed to reducing processing times. We also prioritise applications from customers who are due to start work within the next four weeks, as well as renewals for existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment.
In March 2025, the Department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, launching a consultation on the future of Access to Work and how the scheme can better support disabled people in employment. We are reviewing all aspects of the programme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.
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.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to Access to Work awards at renewal on employment outcomes for blind and partially sighted people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The support that a customer will receive from Access to Work is dependent upon their needs and circumstances at the time they make an application. Case managers will use the guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support. No changes have been made to Access to Work policy.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training Access to Work staff receive on assessing the needs of blind and partially sighted customers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work staff are trained to take account of the customer’s own declaration of the support they need within the context of the Access to Work regulations. If more information is required to determine an award, a workplace assessment referral is made to an external partner to provide recommendations for the provision of equipment or support.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether income tax liabilities arising from simple assessment tax demands are taken into account when calculating Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction for pensioners whose sole income is the pre-2016 State Pension.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.
Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
The government will set out more detail in due course.
No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
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 impact of the frozen personal allowance on entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction for people in receipt of the pre-April 2016 State Pension.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.
Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
The government will set out more detail in due course.
No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
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 ensure pensioners issued with simple assessment tax demands are advised to contact their local authority to reassess their entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The assessment of entitlement to Housing Benefit and Local Council Tax Support takes into account a person’s net income plus the value of any DWP benefits they receive.
Taxation is a matter for HMRC. It treats pension income, whether State or occupational, in the same way as other taxable income. However, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
The government will set out more detail in due course.
No new guidance has been issued to local authorities on this matter.