Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to restore public funding for union-led workplace learning programmes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The previous government ended the standalone Union Learning Fund (ULF) on 31 March 2021. The Adult Skills Fund funds a very broad range of provision, including to support the effective operation of Trade Unions such as for Trade Union Health & Safety Representatives.
The Department is committed to working with employers, providers, and trade unions to ensure that high quality qualification and training pathways are meeting skills needs.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will coordinate with the incoming Erasmus+ National Agency to ensure apprenticeship funding rules support overseas placements in EU companies.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Funding for Erasmus+ placements is provided through the Erasmus+ programme. The apprenticeship funding rules for 2026/27 academic year will set out details on apprenticeships and the Erasmus+ programme.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
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 Erasmus+ work placements for apprentices on the Growth and Skills Levy.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Funding for Erasmus+ placements is provided through the Erasmus+ programme. The apprenticeship funding rules for 2026/27 academic year will set out details on apprenticeships and the Erasmus+ programme.
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, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Bereavement Support Payment in the context of trends in the cost of living.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is intended to provide support during the acute period following a bereavement when people may face sudden costs or disruption. Where longer-term income support is needed for everyday living costs, qualifying individuals can access Universal Credit, which is generally increased in line with inflation.
The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis each year as part of the annual uprating process.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents were newly recorded as being in arrears by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and providing it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the Service will not hesitate to use the range of enforcement powers available to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers.
CMS has a wide range of strong enforcement powers including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS also introduced powers to enable the deduction of child maintenance directly from a wider range of accounts, including certain joint and business accounts, and target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on assets.
The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
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 2024-25 Annual Report, if she will publish a breakdown of the £1,030,869,000 in gross spend on Programme Resource Outturn in H: Other Benefits in 2024-25; and for what reasons that figure has increased from £343,956,000 in the equivalent SOPS 1.1 table in the 2020-21 Annual Report of the Department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Please see attached Annex.
We can confirm that the increase in recent years compared to 2020-21 is primarily due to the Household Support Fund. The Household Support Fund came in October of 2021 so is not included in the 2020-21 ARA.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding has been allocated to union-led workplace learning in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The previous government ended the standalone Union Learning Fund (ULF) on 31 March 2021. The Adult Skills Fund funds a very broad range of provision, including to support the effective operation of Trade Unions such as for Trade Union Health & Safety Representatives.
The Department is committed to working with employers, providers, and trade unions to ensure that high quality qualification and training pathways are meeting skills needs.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to review the 18-month duration period of the Bereavement Support Payment; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) uprating the payment in line with inflation and (b) aligning the payment more closely with child‑related benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) provides support during the acute period following a bereavement. Unlike its predecessor Widowed Parents Allowance, which could be paid for as long as there was entitlement to Child Benefit, BSP is not an income replacement benefit. Where longer term support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs.
The rate of BSP is reviewed on a discretionary basis each year as part of the annual uprating process.
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 assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the Timms Review steering group includes people with recent lived experience of disability and of claiming Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the composition of the group commands confidence among disabled people and stakeholders.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Almost all steering group members have lived experience of disability, and the group is diverse in terms of geography, ethnicity, and sexuality. However, no single group can be fully representative of the UK’s disabled community. This is why the steering group will not work alone and will design a broader programme of participation to bring together the full range of views and voices to contribute to the Review. We are committed to transparency and there will be regular updates on the Review’s work as it progresses.
In regard to type of disability, employment status, and benefit claimant status, it is for steering group members to decide whether they want to share their own sensitive personal information. Some of our steering group members have shared this information in their public facing biographies, and some have not. It is important their choice and privacy is respected. Further information on steering group members can be found here: The Timms Review: Co-Chair Update, February 2026 - 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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Timms Review steering group reflects diverse representation across (a) types of impairment, (b) geographic region, (c) race and ethnicity, (d) gender, (e) sexual orientation, (f) age and (g) employment status.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Almost all steering group members have lived experience of disability, and the group is diverse in terms of geography, ethnicity, and sexuality. However, no single group can be fully representative of the UK’s disabled community. This is why the steering group will not work alone and will design a broader programme of participation to bring together the full range of views and voices to contribute to the Review. We are committed to transparency and there will be regular updates on the Review’s work as it progresses.
In regard to type of disability, employment status, and benefit claimant status, it is for steering group members to decide whether they want to share their own sensitive personal information. Some of our steering group members have shared this information in their public facing biographies, and some have not. It is important their choice and privacy is respected. Further information on steering group members can be found here: The Timms Review: Co-Chair Update, February 2026 - GOV.UK