The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.
Members of the Education and Work and Pensions Select Committees have decided to undertake an inquiry that will consider how …
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
Department for Work and Pensions does not have Bills currently before Parliament
A Bill to make provision about pension schemes; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to Make provision to remove the two child limit on the child element of universal credit.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 18th March 2026 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about the prevention of fraud against public authorities and the making of erroneous payments by public authorities; about the recovery of money paid by public authorities as a result of fraud or error; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 2nd December 2025 and was enacted into law.
Make provision to alter the rates of the standard allowance, limited capability for work element and limited capability for work and work-related activity element of universal credit and the rates of income-related employment and support allowance.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 3rd September 2025 and was enacted into law.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
We call on the Government to fairly compensate WASPI women affected by the increases to their State Pension age and the associated failings in DWP communications.
Raise statutory maternity/paternity pay to match the National Living Wage
Gov Responded - 25 Apr 2025 Debated on - 27 Oct 2025Statutory maternity and paternity pay is £4.99 per hour for a full-time worker on 37.5 hours per week - approximately 59% less than the 2024 National Living Wage of £12.21 per hour for workers aged 21+, which has been set out to ensure a basic standard of living.
Commons Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries.
Select Committee findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt. hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
I refer the Rt Hon member to my previous answers.
For Question UIN 127998, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 April 2026 to Question UIN 126117.
For Question UIN 127999, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 April 2026 to Question UIN 126116.
For Question UIN 128000, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 April 2026 to Question UIN 126114.
I refer the Rt Hon member to my previous answers.
For Question UIN 127998, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 April 2026 to Question UIN 126117.
For Question UIN 127999, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 April 2026 to Question UIN 126116.
For Question UIN 128000, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 April 2026 to Question UIN 126114.
I refer the Rt Hon member to my previous answers.
For Question UIN 127998, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 April 2026 to Question UIN 126117.
For Question UIN 127999, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 April 2026 to Question UIN 126116.
For Question UIN 128000, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 April 2026 to Question UIN 126114.
We know that work can support health and wellbeing, so we want everyone who can to get work and get on in work as far as possible. Disabled people and people with health conditions 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 that join up employment and health systems such as WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants and Connect to Work. We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.
In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on existing initiatives.
In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay-in-work and return-to-work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully.
The 10 Year Health Plan 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 states our 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.
We know that work can support health and wellbeing, so we want everyone who can to get work and get on in work as far as possible. Disabled people and people with health conditions 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 that join up employment and health systems such as WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants and Connect to Work. We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.
In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on existing initiatives.
In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay-in-work and return-to-work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully.
The 10 Year Health Plan 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 states our 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.
We know that work can support health and wellbeing, so we want everyone who can to get work and get on in work as far as possible. Disabled people and people with health conditions 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 that join up employment and health systems such as WorkWell and Employment Advisers in Talking Therapies. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants and Connect to Work. We continue to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme.
In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits, building on existing initiatives.
In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to help employers create healthier, more inclusive workplaces and to reshape how Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes. We are now working with volunteer employers, providers and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches that support disabled people and people with long‑term physical and mental health conditions to thrive in work. This includes developing effective stay-in-work and return-to-work practices, strengthening prevention, and building the evidence needed to spread good practice so that disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions receive the support they need to remain in employment successfully.
The 10 Year Health Plan 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 states our 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.
It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Policy teams within the Department for Work and Pensions are responsible for ensuring effective legislative practice within their area, including the management of uncommenced legislation, and considering when to bring forward commencement orders. Where needed, they work closely with lawyers and our central legislative strategy team. This work is undertaken alongside established postlegislative scrutiny processes.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The Department has conducted a literature review to collate evidence on women’s employment and menopause, which was published in July 2025: Menopause in the Workplace Literature Review - GOV.UK
The economic costs of the menopause on the labour market has been estimated by the following study: Womens health economics investing in the 51 per cent
I refer my Hon. friend to the answer I gave on 13th April to PQ 122869.
I refer my Hon. friend to the answer I gave on 13th April to PQ 122869.
I refer my Hon. friend to the answer I gave on 13th April to PQ 122869.
I refer my Hon. friend to the answer I gave on 13th April to PQ 122869.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on the 30 March 2026 to Question UIN 122660.
I refer the hon. Member for Torbay to the answer of 16 March 2026 to Question 115133.
The department is committed to ensuring that individuals with cystic fibrosis receive high-quality and accurate Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments.
All health professionals (HPs) carrying out PIP assessments receive comprehensive training in disability analysis, with a clear focus on understanding the functional effects of a claimant’s condition rather than the diagnosis itself.
To support this approach, the department provides assessment suppliers with core training and guidance materials on the varying symptoms of cystic fibrosis. These materials include clinical background information and detail the potential functional impacts of the condition, enabling HPs to deliver informed, consistent and accurate assessments.
In addition, all training and guidance materials are currently subject to a comprehensive review and update programme. A dedicated team is overseeing this work to ensure alignment with national best practice helping to ensure that guidance remains accurate, relevant and up to date.
Students are generally expected to access support for tuition fees and living costs through the student support system. This means most full‑time students are not usually eligible for Universal Credit, unless they fall into specified exception groups (e.g. disabled students, students with children, some young people without parental support).
Students who are eligible for Universal Credit have their maintenance loans treated as income for the purpose of Universal Credit. The student support system is designed to meet their living cost needs during study.
Tuition fee loans are disregarded in the calculation of a Universal Credit award, along with grants such as those recognising a disability or for childcare costs. Any Special Support Loan/Grant is also disregarded in these calculations.
The Department does not collect information centrally for analysis about whether a claimant’s condition is terminal. However, claimants claiming under the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) are terminally ill and we can provide information about their awards. A PIP claimant is currently regarded as being end of life if they “suffer from a progressive disease, and the person’s death in consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 12 months.” [S.82 Welfare Reform Act 2012]
Claims by people with end of life are fast tracked – currently 3 days for new claimants; in the last five years to January 2026, 99% of special rule claims were successful, excluding withdrawn claims. The majority of awards are made for 3 years. The three-year awards given to SREL claims strikes a balance that recognises making a prognosis is not an exact science.
Someone already in receipt of PIP under the normal rules, where there is a wide variety of award lengths, can report a change in their circumstances that they are now terminally ill. This change of circumstances is similarly fast tracked.
The tables below detail the number or SREL claimant assessments for PIP over the last 12 months and fixed-term awards for SREL claimants for the same period.
Table 1: Volume of SREL claimant assessments over time
| Volume |
Feb-25 | 1,500 |
Mar-25 | 1,500 |
Apr-25 | 1,190 |
May-25 | 1,470 |
Jun-25 | 1,870 |
Jul-25 | 1,540 |
Aug-25 | 1,480 |
Sep-25 | 1,510 |
Oct-25 | 1,720 |
Nov-25 | 1,430 |
Dec-25 | 1,390 |
Jan-26 | 1,570 |
Table 2: Volume of SREL fixed-term awards by duration
| Less than 1 year | 1 year to less than 2 years | 2 years to less than 3 years | 3 years to less than 4 years | 4 years to less than 5 years | 5 or more years | Total |
Feb-25 | 10 | X | 20 | 1,220 | 0 | 10 | 1,260 |
Mar-25 | 10 | X | 30 | 1,170 | 0 | X | 1,210 |
Apr-25 | 10 | X | 20 | 970 | X | 10 | 1,010 |
May-25 | 10 | X | 30 | 1,140 | 0 | 20 | 1,200 |
Jun-25 | 20 | X | 40 | 1,470 | X | 10 | 1,540 |
Jul-25 | 20 | X | 20 | 1,220 | 0 | 10 | 1,270 |
Aug-25 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1,200 | X | 10 | 1,230 |
Sep-25 | 10 | X | 10 | 1,230 | X | 20 | 1,260 |
Oct-25 | 10 | X | 10 | 1,400 | X | 10 | 1,440 |
Nov-25 | 10 | X | 10 | 1,130 | X | X | 1,160 |
Dec-25 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 1,110 | X | X | 1,150 |
Jan-26 | 10 | X | 20 | 1,260 | 0 | X | 1,300 |
Total | 130 | 30 | 240 | 14,510 | 10 | 100 | 15,020 |
Notes:
- Values have been rounded to the nearest 10. Where a value is less than 5 but not 0 it has been replaced by an X for disclosure control.
- Figures are for claimants under DWP Policy Ownership (England, Wales and Abroad) and exclude claimants where PIP has been devolved to the Scottish Government in Scotland or The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) estimates how the prices of goods and services bought by households rise or fall and is used as an indication of inflation in Universal Credit uprating. Last year, The Secretary of State increased most working age benefits across Great Britain for 2026/27 by 3.8% in line with CPI in the year to September 2025.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a non‑means‑tested benefit intended as a contribution towards extra costs arising from a long‑term health condition or disability, and recipients are free to use it in the way that best meets their individual needs. The Department does not routinely collect data on how PIP is spent.
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 2 March 2026 in response to Question UIN 114204.
Universal Credit for self-employed individuals aims to encourage sustainable work choices and support self-employment where it is a realistic route to financial self-sufficiency.
The Minimum Income Floor is designed to encourage low-earning customers to increase their earnings and grow their business. The level of the Minimum Income Floor is calculated using the number of hours per week that a customer is expected to work, tailored specifically to customers individual circumstances, including for health conditions and caring responsibilities. It is set at a maximum of 35 hours for individuals with no limitations on their expected working hours.
To align with the offer of 30 hours of free childcare for working parents, self-employed individuals with children aged 3-12 typically have their Minimum Income Floor set using a maximum of 30 hours per week.
The Office for Budget Responsibility, in their Spring 2023 and October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published their economic impacts of various policy measures, including childcare. These can be found here: The economic effects of policy measures - Office for Budget Responsibility, Monitoring and evaluating the supply-side effects of policy measures - Office for Budget Responsibility.
Parents who need help with their upfront childcare costs to move into work or increase their working hours may be eligible for support from the Flexible Support Fund.
The Flexible Support Fund’s Upfront Childcare Costs can be used to pay 100% of the upfront costs of up to one month of childcare. This is designed to ensure that any costs that the Universal Credit customer incurs in relation to childcare when starting work or increasing their hours is not a barrier to taking up this work.
We are streamlining the process and extending eligibility to parents returning from parental leave to improve access to upfront childcare support. We will also extend eligibility to parents returning from parental leave to ease the difficult transition back to work.
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work when they can including people who suffer from migraine. In our Pathways to Work Green Paper we set out our Pathways to Work offer, backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support for every individual 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. Our Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work, is supporting disabled people, people with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment across England and Wales.
DEAs in the Jobcentres supporting the constituency hold in-depth Work Ability conversations that focus on strengths, suitable work options, workplace adjustments and confidence building.
Our Pathways to Work support offer will ensure a coherent and navigable offer of support, building on and bringing together initiatives such as Connect to Work, WorkWell and local Trailblazers. We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. We anticipate that the Pathways to Work offer, once fully rolled out, will include a support conversation to identify support needs and signpost to services, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement and an offer of specialist long-term work, health and skills support.
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 or award renewal. Case managers will use the current guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support.
Separate to the Access to Work scheme, we have a range of specialist initiatives to support disabled individuals, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, and WorkWell.
The Health Transformation Programme is transforming the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) service to improve efficiency, accessibility, and user experience, build trust in our decisions, and support people to enter or remain in work.
Customers can access an online service to submit their health information after calling us to start their claim and this is already available to over 90% of new PIP customers. This is benefiting customers by removing postage times and increasing accessibility.