Department for Work and Pensions

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

As a part of our recent publication on the Jobs Guarantee, the department has published a draft Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) which outlines expected outcome measures that will be used to assess grants administered under phase one of the scheme.

Schedule 4, Part B of this draft GFA outlines the expected outputs and outcomes that may be assessed in Phase One of the scheme. Final outputs and outcomes will form part of final grant funding agreements made with successful grant applicants.

We will monitor performance throughout the first phase to inform the delivery of the national roll out later in 2026.

As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency and making it more efficient.

Currently, levy-paying employer accounts can show large unspent balances (currently totalling around £6.5 billion) which far exceed our annual apprenticeship budget. This has led to an incorrect understanding that there are significant unspent funds available to spend. However, over the last four years, on average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent.

The 10% government top-up is one cause of this problem and removing it, alongside reducing the expiry period to 12 months, means we can simplify the system and ensure levy balances are more closely aligned to the annual levy paid by employers. Existing funding will remain within accounts, with the changes applying only to new funds entering accounts.

We are also changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds. Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment. This will support greater employer investment in skills overall and ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.

We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.

As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency and making it more efficient.

Currently, levy-paying employer accounts can show large unspent balances (currently totalling around £6.5 billion) which far exceed our annual apprenticeship budget. This has led to an incorrect understanding that there are significant unspent funds available to spend. However, over the last four years, on average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent.

The 10% government top-up is one cause of this problem and removing it, alongside reducing the expiry period to 12 months, means we can simplify the system and ensure levy balances are more closely aligned to the annual levy paid by employers. Existing funding will remain within accounts, with the changes applying only to new funds entering accounts.

We are also changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds. Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment. This will support greater employer investment in skills overall and ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.

We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.

As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency and making it more efficient.

Currently, levy-paying employer accounts can show large unspent balances (currently totalling around £6.5 billion) which far exceed our annual apprenticeship budget. This has led to an incorrect understanding that there are significant unspent funds available to spend. However, over the last four years, on average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent.

The 10% government top-up is one cause of this problem and removing it, alongside reducing the expiry period to 12 months, means we can simplify the system and ensure levy balances are more closely aligned to the annual levy paid by employers. Existing funding will remain within accounts, with the changes applying only to new funds entering accounts.

We are also changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds. Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment. This will support greater employer investment in skills overall and ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.

We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) arrears department operates using a combination of office‑based and hybrid working arrangements. CMS currently offers the opportunity to work a minimum of 60% of time in the office with 40% at home, although staff can choose to work more time in the office if they wish. Some choose to work in the office full time. The only exceptions to this are individual requirements as part of a reasonable adjustment. Hybrid working is not a contractual right and is therefore subject to change. There are currently 771 employees working in the arrears team.

CMS monitors the performance of the arrears function. Caseworker response times remain consistent across both office‑based and home‑working arrangements and continue to operate fully within the Service Level Agreement for the arrears function.

The table below shows the career and redeployment support options available to DWP employees.

The information is based on DWP’s use of the centrally provided Civil Service Learning Frameworks service. The data covers the period from January 2023 to December 2025.

Dedicated EDI staff help DWP comply with equality legislation, making sure that vulnerable customers are supported. Proactive EDI initiatives can help prevent issues related to discrimination or exclusion, reducing grievances and costly disputes.

As of December 2025, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) employed 84,373.2 paid full-time equivalent (FTE) staff. There are no roles within the Department that are primarily focused on transgender policy.

Roles considered to be primarily focused on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are as follows:

• 1 x Grade 6 – 0.86 FTE

• 8 x Grade 7 – 8 FTE
• 6 x Senior Executive Officers (SEO) – 5.3 FTE

This constitutes a total of 14.16 FTE staff, which represents approximately 0.02% of the Department’s total Paid FTE workforce as being EDI focused.

The annual expenditure associated with the salaries for staff whose roles are primarily focused on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (based on People & Capability Annual Average Salary and including employer pension and NI contributions) amounts to approximately £1,121,565.

This Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers and learners in England and support the industrial strategy. We recognise the importance of ensuring that small and medium sized (SME) employers can benefit from these reforms and continue to access apprenticeships.

The department engages regularly with employers and their representative organisations, including small businesses, to inform the ongoing development of the growth and skills levy. This includes regular sessions to explore how to simplify systems and processes as well as engagement with employers following the Budget on delivery of the next phase of the growth and skills levy.

Skills England also works closely with employers, training providers, unions and other key partners to identify priority skills gaps, helping ensure that the growth and skills levy delivers value for money, meets the needs of business and helps kick-start economic growth.

To ensure its work is shaped by real business experience, Skills England maintains regular dialogue with the B5 group of major employer organisations, including the Federation of Small Businesses. It also has a dedicated SME sponsor on its board and an executive team actively engaging SMEs across the country, ensuring smaller firms have a strong voice in shaping the skills system.

People may be able to access a workplace or private pension earlier than the scheme’s normal minimum pension age due to ill health, subject to the rules of the individual scheme. These rules vary, and it is for schemes to determine the conditions under which benefits can be paid before the normal pension age and/or on enhanced terms.

Where an ill health pension is paid from an arrangement that meets the legal definition of an occupational pension scheme, it is generally a shareable asset in the event of a divorce. This applies even where the pension has been brought into payment early for ill health reasons.

There is a specific exception in legislation for benefits that arise solely due to disablement, or death resulting from an accident suffered by a person that occurs during their pensionable service. These rights are not shareable on divorce.

The division of assets in divorce proceedings is a matter for family courts, which make decisions based on the law of the country in which the divorce takes place. In England and Wales, this falls under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, for which responsibility rests with the Ministry of Justice.

The 30 hours free childcare entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to take on more hours if they wish. To be eligible, each working parent in a household must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum/Living Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year for those over 21 in 2025-2026), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. The minimum income threshold rises in line with National Minimum Wage increases at the beginning of the financial year.

Eligibility is based on expected income for the next 3 months following a parent’s declaration. To ensure parents continue to meet the income criteria for the entitlement, it is right that parents confirm they still meet the income threshold.

There is an exception for parents on parental leave or in receipt of statutory pay who are applying for an older child, not the subject of the parental leave. They can apply online at GOV.UK. For parents who are applying for the child that is the subject of their current parental leave, their return-to-work date will affect when they can apply and take up their free childcare place.

The Government is committed to making life better for families and has committed to review the parental leave and pay system. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements are in scope of the Parental Leave and Pay Review, including Statutory Maternity Pay.

Government has set out its intention to develop statutory guidance for the trust-based private pensions sector. The proposed guidance intends to clarify how trustees can interpret and apply their existing duties, particularly when considering wider or longer-term factors in investment decision-making. Government is developing this guidance in partnership with the pensions sector and will consult on the draft guidance.

Further details including the legislation to underpin strategy guidance will be published in due course.

Government has set out its intention to develop statutory guidance for the trust-based private pensions sector. The proposed guidance intends to clarify how trustees can interpret and apply their existing duties, particularly when considering wider or longer-term factors in investment decision-making. Government is developing this guidance in partnership with the pensions sector and will consult on the draft guidance.

Further details including the legislation to underpin strategy guidance will be published in due course.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has not produced such estimates. As part of its supervision and to assist in understanding the link between performance and asset allocation, TPR now gets access to investment data from workplace pension schemes – including increased transparency on scheme decision-making, as well as probing investment governance standards.

Occupational pension schemes are required to set out how they consider financially material environmental, social and governance factors in their Statements of Investment Principles and to report annually on implementation. Larger schemes must also disclose their climate related risks and opportunities in line with the Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosures framework. A 2024 TPR review found that more than 60% of sampled schemes had set a net zero goal for 2050 or earlier. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is currently undertaking a Post Implementation Review of the TCFD regime. We will report our findings this year.

In parallel, Government is working on the adoption of UK Sustainability Reporting Standards aligned with international standards and on mandating climate transition plans. TPR’s Transition Plan Working Group, which includes representatives from across the pensions industry, will report to the DWP in the spring. These initiatives will continue to strengthen transparency around scheme exposures to climate related risks and support the UK’s net-zero goals and broader green agenda.

MP enquiries continue to be treated as a matter of high priority. There is clear guidance avail-able to all staff regarding the expected timeframe for responding to enquiries from MPs, which is accessible via the Department’s intranet.

The Department for Work and Pensions aims to respond to MP enquiries within 15 working days. Where this is not feasible, such as in complex cases, the Department remains committed to providing a response at the earliest opportunity.

Higher volumes of MP enquiries combined with a rise in more complex complaints, which take longer to investigate, has caused some delays with our responses. We are in the process of recruiting more complaint handlers to reduce our response times.

Data on responses to correspondence from MPs is regularly published and can be found here:

Data on responses to correspondence from MPs and peers - GOV.UK

The Department uses the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) for income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit, to assess whether someone has a legal right to be here and whether they are factually resident in the UK. For an individual to be factually habitually resident they must have been present in the UK for an appreciable period, usually between one and three months, and have a settled intention to remain.

The Skills Bootcamp programme has not been discontinued.

We continue to support the delivery of Skills Bootcamps, in order to benefit more adults, employers, and the economy, and funding remains available for Skills Bootcamps in Somerset in the 2026-27 financial year.

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution, supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economy.

A new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

This government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy that will give greater flexibility to employers and support young people, including those in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, at the beginning of their careers.

In August 2025, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers of up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.

We are investing an additional £725 million to deliver the next phase of the growth and skills levy and meet our ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships. We will expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people, launch a pilot with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from the next academic year.

The government also facilitates the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN), comprising around 2,500 employer and apprentice volunteers who go into schools and colleges to share their compelling stories and experiences of what apprenticeships can do for young people.

We recognise the important role that local employers have in addressing skills shortages, that is why Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are increasing the voice and influence that employers directly have in their local skills systems. The West Midlands LSIP is led by Coventry Chamber of Commerce, working collaboratively with: other Chambers of Commerce in the region; the West Midlands Combined Authority and a range of local employers; further- and higher- education training providers; and other stakeholders – including Job Centre Plus. When the new LSIP is developed this summer, it will provide strategic direction to the West Midlands skills system and an invaluable source of intelligence to the newly established Skills England, which has recently joined my Department.

Additionally, through both its national Strategic Relationship Team (SRT) and Job Centre Plus teams in the West Midlands, the DWP is working to address the skills shortages in the area. This includes delivering Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), which give people job specific training and guaranteed interviews and running employer led academies in areas like construction, manufacturing and food production. The department is working with: industry bodies; West Midlands Combined Authority; local employers; and with organisations such as the Construction Industry Training Board and Skills for Care, to design training that meets real employer needs.

The Skills Bootcamp programme has not been discontinued.

We continue to support the delivery of Skills Bootcamps, in order to benefit more adults, employers, and the economy, and funding remains available for Skills Bootcamps in Somerset in the 2026-27 financial year.

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution, supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economy.

A new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.

Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.

Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.

We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.

Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.

Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.

Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.

We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.

Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 July 2025 to PQ UIN 66615.

The Department adheres to the current harmonised definitions for ethnicity and religion, which are owned and managed by the Office for National Statistics.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84440.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments focus on the functional impact of a claimant’s health condition, rather than diagnosis or treatment alone. At assessment, Health Professionals (HPs) gather information on any past, current and ongoing medical treatment related to conditions that impact function, including medication, therapy, monitoring, side effects and effectiveness. Where necessary to properly inform their advice, HPs should and routinely do seek additional evidence from treating health professionals or other appropriate sources.

Medical treatment is covered throughout training and guidance, and HPs routinely consider the effects of ongoing medical treatment on functional ability when advising on appropriate descriptors. This includes both positive effects, where treatment enables activities to be completed more reliably, and negative effects, such as side effects or symptom fluctuation. These factors are particularly important when applying the reliability criteria, including whether an activity can be carried out safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time. The impact of treatment is also assessed directly within activity 3, which relates to managing therapy or monitoring a health condition.

Where symptoms fluctuate, including because of treatment variability, HPs assess functional impact over a 12-month period to reflect good and bad days and determine how descriptors apply on the majority of days. HPs also consider what medical treatment is being undertaken when advising on a recommended review date, aligning this with the point at which an individual’s functional needs could reasonably be expected to change, for example following recovery or changes to treatment. Claimants are also expected to notify the Department directly of any changes in their condition or circumstances, so that their award can be reviewed where appropriate.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments focus on the functional impact of a claimant’s health condition, rather than diagnosis or treatment alone. At assessment, Health Professionals (HPs) gather information on any past, current and ongoing medical treatment related to conditions that impact function, including medication, therapy, monitoring, side effects and effectiveness. Where necessary to properly inform their advice, HPs should and routinely do seek additional evidence from treating health professionals or other appropriate sources.

Medical treatment is covered throughout training and guidance, and HPs routinely consider the effects of ongoing medical treatment on functional ability when advising on appropriate descriptors. This includes both positive effects, where treatment enables activities to be completed more reliably, and negative effects, such as side effects or symptom fluctuation. These factors are particularly important when applying the reliability criteria, including whether an activity can be carried out safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time. The impact of treatment is also assessed directly within activity 3, which relates to managing therapy or monitoring a health condition.

Where symptoms fluctuate, including because of treatment variability, HPs assess functional impact over a 12-month period to reflect good and bad days and determine how descriptors apply on the majority of days. HPs also consider what medical treatment is being undertaken when advising on a recommended review date, aligning this with the point at which an individual’s functional needs could reasonably be expected to change, for example following recovery or changes to treatment. Claimants are also expected to notify the Department directly of any changes in their condition or circumstances, so that their award can be reviewed where appropriate.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments focus on the functional impact of a claimant’s health condition, rather than diagnosis or treatment alone. At assessment, Health Professionals (HPs) gather information on any past, current and ongoing medical treatment related to conditions that impact function, including medication, therapy, monitoring, side effects and effectiveness. Where necessary to properly inform their advice, HPs should and routinely do seek additional evidence from treating health professionals or other appropriate sources.

Medical treatment is covered throughout training and guidance, and HPs routinely consider the effects of ongoing medical treatment on functional ability when advising on appropriate descriptors. This includes both positive effects, where treatment enables activities to be completed more reliably, and negative effects, such as side effects or symptom fluctuation. These factors are particularly important when applying the reliability criteria, including whether an activity can be carried out safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time. The impact of treatment is also assessed directly within activity 3, which relates to managing therapy or monitoring a health condition.

Where symptoms fluctuate, including because of treatment variability, HPs assess functional impact over a 12-month period to reflect good and bad days and determine how descriptors apply on the majority of days. HPs also consider what medical treatment is being undertaken when advising on a recommended review date, aligning this with the point at which an individual’s functional needs could reasonably be expected to change, for example following recovery or changes to treatment. Claimants are also expected to notify the Department directly of any changes in their condition or circumstances, so that their award can be reviewed where appropriate.

The Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal’s job is to establish if DWP’s decision was correct when it was originally made. As such, allegations are not part of the proceedings.

DWP lapsing a decision, which is where the department finds in a claimant’s favour before their appeal is heard by a tribunal, is the only situation in which the DWP could be considered to make a material change to its understanding of the case during proceedings. This change can only be made in the claimant’s favour and would be notified in writing to the claimant with accompanying appeal rights.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expects to launch the statutory public consultation on the assessment of the renewal of the approval of glyphosate in Summer 2026. Further information can be found here Active substance renewal: glyphosate - HSE

The consultation will be hosted on the HSE consultation website, and they will announce the start of the consultation via their e-bulletin service. In line with the regulations, the consultation will last for 60 days.

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is an annual report that provides facts and figures about the incomes and living circumstances of households and families in the UK. The FRS uses a nationally representative sample of UK households and includes data on benefit receipt, at both individual and family levels.

The latest FRS is available for 2023/24 and, in the ‘Income and state support data tables’, Table 2.14a shows the number of benefit units in the UK by the total amount of annual state support received for that financial year, plus the two preceding years. This data is also available in the ‘FRS Family 2’ table in the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore. Please read the notes which accompany these tables.

The number of families who received in excess of £28,000, can be extracted from the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore by using the custom range functionality (which is available to registered users) on the Family (Benefit Unit), total, annual amount of Income received from State Support, in bands, in latest prices (CPI-adjusted real terms) data by using the ‘Range’ option in the ‘Measures’ section.

You can register or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required. In addition there is also the FRS Stat-Xplore User Guide.

I refer the hon. Member to my Written Statement of 25 November HCWS1092 and (at Col 22WS) Carer's Allowance Overpayments Review - Hansard - UK Parliament where I outlined the department’s response to Liz Sayce’s Independent Review. 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 Government acknowledges the findings of Marie Curie’s Dying in Poverty report (2025), which highlights the financial insecurity experienced by individuals at the end of life.

This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it including for those nearing the end of their life. For these claimants, the Government’s priority is to provide financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way this is applied is through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) which enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain welfare benefits without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.

As I set out to the House on 1 July 2025, the Government listened to concerns and withdrew its proposal to introduce an additional requirement to score a minimum of 4 points in a single activity to be eligible for the daily living element of PIP.

Instead, we launched the Timms Review, the first full review of PIP since its introduction in 2013. The Review is being co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts, and aims to ensure that PIP is fair and fit for the future.

Lead carers within Universal Credit have different conditionality requirements that reflect their childcare responsibilities. These expectations are set according to the age of their youngest child: where the youngest child is under 1, there are no work preparation or work search requirements; where the youngest child is aged 1 or 2, the lead carer is expected to undertake work preparation activities only; and where the youngest child is aged 3 to 12, they may be asked to undertake work-related activities for up to 30 hours per week.

Work Coaches ensure that claimant commitments for single parents are appropriately tailored through a personalised discussion with each customer. This enables the Work Coach to take into account the individual’s circumstances, including childcare availability, school hours, travel time, and wider caring responsibilities, to ensure that support remains flexible and appropriate to the customer’s needs.

The Department provides comprehensive training and guidance for assessment providers and the health professionals (HPs) who carry out both Work Capability Assessments (WCA) in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC), and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. The WCA Handbook and the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide (PIPAG) sets out how HPs should evaluate all relevant evidence when assessing a claimant’s functional limitations against the respective criteria.

Both WCA and PIP assessments are functional assessments, focusing on the impact of health condition(s) or disability. HPs consider all available evidence. DWP decision makers give due consideration to all available evidence when making decisions on benefit entitlement, including the HP’s assessment report and any evidence provided by the individual, their GP or consultant, and anybody else that provides them with formal or informal support.

HPs receive training on cognitive and fluctuating conditions and how these might impact on how individuals perform the activities/descriptors which form the assessments.

The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to providing timely and accurate support to people whose ability to work is affected by long-term health conditions or disabilities through Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Anyone who claims ESA and PIP must satisfy the relevant conditions of entitlement, regardless of the circumstances in which the claim is made. Initial decisions on claims will be made without delay once all evidence needed is available.

Decisions are made within a statutory framework, which allows for revision within one month of notification, with extensions where reasonable. Decisions may also be revised or superseded where there has been official error, where new medical evidence is presented or where a customer has had a relevant change in circumstances. These provisions help ensure accurate decision making and reduce the need for repeated appeals.

We recognise that some customers have complex needs and may require additional support and reasonable adjustments, including adapted communication, additional time, and advocacy from representatives or appointees.

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on the changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit can be paid.

IIAC has published Command Papers on COVID-19 and its occupational impacts. The Department is considering the recommendations in these documents which can be accessed here: COVID-19 and Occupational Impacts - GOV.UK and Occupational Impact of COVID-19 in the Transport and Education Sectors - GOV.UK

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84436.

Foundation skills including English, maths, and digital skills are fundamental for full participation in work, education and society.

The Jobcentre Plus’s network of over 600 local centres offers tailored, flexible support for UC claimants to build foundational skills through its Work Coaches and a broad range of local skills provision. Across Great Britain, we are also testing delivery of services and support in communities through mobile vehicles and outreach.

Responsibility for adult skills has moved to the Department for Work and Pensions, enabling a clearer focus on adult skills and career outcomes. This work is supported by the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), which helps adults aged 19+ to improve their skills and progress in work. In addition, devolved ASF funding will give local leaders the flexibility to align adult skills provision with regional economic and employment priorities.

A full summary Equalities Analysis was published alongside the Strategy and is available at: Child Poverty Strategy: Summary Equalities Analysis - GOV.UK.

The impacts of policies contributing to the Child Poverty Strategy will be kept under review and monitored on an ongoing basis by departments using their own established approaches to considerations made under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

The ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation of the Child Poverty Strategy will also continue to assess the poverty risk and prevalence for groups with protected characteristics, as far as the data and evidence gathering allow. The Monitoring and Evaluation framework published alongside the Strategy set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026, with annual reporting on progress thereafter.

DWP promotes a culture of encouraging data sharing for public good whilst ensuring this is done in a secure, legal and ethical way. DWP require both a lawful basis and legal power to share personal data.

DWP has been supporting Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) with since 2014 when Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was introduced in England and Wales. You can now register to vote online in as little as 3 minutes. All you need is your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number. DWP data is used within this process.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

A customer who is claiming Universal Credit (UC) can go abroad for up to one calendar month. If the claimant exceeds the period abroad and the reason for the trip abroad does not fall under circumstances that allow exemption, a temporary absence decision will be made and assessment periods that exceed the month can be reduced to nil entitlement. If there is a doubt on whether the claimant is habitually resident, a Habitual Residence Test will take place and a decision made on whether the claim should be disallowed.