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, how many individuals are currently in receipt of (a) the old state pension and (b) the new state pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of the quarter ending May 2025 (latest available data for pensions accrued in Great Britain), around 8.3 million individuals were receiving the State Pension under the pre‑2016 system, and around 4.8 million were receiving the new State Pension. Source: DWP Stat-Xplore.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of hospitality apprenticeship schemes in tackling labour shortages in the pub sector.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Apprenticeships are one of the ways in which employers in the hospitality sector can fill skills gaps and address labour shortages. Employers in the sector have developed a number of apprenticeships including the Level 2 Food and Beverage Team Member, Level 3 Hospitality Supervisor, and Level 4 Hospitality Manager. Published data on apprenticeships, including within the hospitality sector, can be found at: Apprenticeships, Academic year 2024/25 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.
To support our ambition of 50,000 more young people undertaking apprenticeships and foundation apprenticeships, we will expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors where young people are traditionally recruited, exploring occupations such as hospitality and retail. Additionally, to support SMEs to access apprenticeships, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs) for all eligible people aged under 25 from the next academic year. Smaller employers in all sectors will benefit from this change.
The department and Skills England engage regularly with the hospitality sector, including industry bodies such as UK Hospitality, regarding training for the sector and the government’s plans for skills.
The government has also supported other sector-based initiatives such as the development of a Hospitality Skills Passport and hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consider the receipt of child maintenance to be important to the wellbeing of children.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that parents meet their financial responsibilities towards their children where they don’t live with them. The role of the Child Maintenance Service is crucial to help meet this objective where parents cannot make a child maintenance arrangement between themselves. In the 12 months up to September 2025, the CMS arranged around £1.6 billion in child maintenance payments.
Where parents fail to meet their financial obligation towards their children, the Child Maintenance Service will use its wide range of strong enforcement powers to help ensure they fulfil their responsibility.
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 Departmental employees are in the UK on a visa, by their visa status.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information you have requested is not held on central data systems in a reportable format, it would need to be provided by individuals manually collating data from a local source. Gathering this data would therefore incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help reduce age-related barriers in recruitment practices.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recognise that young people face additional barriers, with almost one million currently not in education, employment or training. At Budget 2025, the Government committed over £1.5 billion to improve youth participation, including £820 million for the Youth Guarantee and £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy. Further details of the announcement can be found here: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament. We have also commissioned the Right Honourable Alan Milburn to author a report that will seek to understand the drivers of the increase in the number of young people who are not in education, employment, or training and to investigate the root causes of this rise in economic inactivity
We also work with employers nationally to recognise the value of older workers and promote age inclusive recruitment and retention. We encourage participation in initiatives such as the Age-Friendly Employer Pledge and provide tailored support to employers to embed flexible working, age positive hiring approaches, and accessible career development. This includes helping employers create recruitment models that attract older jobseekers by promoting flexible job design, return-to-work schemes, and targeted recruitment campaigns. Alongside our work with employers, we support jobseekers through our network of Jobcentres and contracted employment programmes. This includes specific support for eligible older workers including Additional Work Coach Time and Midlife MOTs, which provide an opportunity to review health, finances and skills and signpost to suitable support. There is also a digital Midlife MOT available to everyone
Asked by: Chris Kane (Labour - Stirling and Strathallan)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, further to the answer to UIN 92453 of 21 November 2025, what further assessment will be made of the Disability Confident scheme, and what action will be taken to assess employees and applicants experiences as part of this process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 15 January 2026 I announced more details about the reforms to the Disability Confident Scheme.
Proposed changes include:
We are planning a proportionate assessment of the different strands of the upcoming reforms: this is likely to include qualitative interviews to get insights from employers and employees, conducting short surveys, and gathering feedback on specific processes and products to iteratively improve and adapt.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by how much they plan to reduce their Department's budget to help fund the digital ID scheme.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Digital Identity policy is in development, with a dedicated team inside the Cabinet Office working to develop the proposals.
Costs in this Spending Review period will be met within the existing Spending Review settlements.
We are inviting the public to have their say in the upcoming consultation as we develop a safe, secure, and inclusive system for the UK. No final decisions will be made until after the consultation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 Autumn Budget 2025 on further education provision for people aged between 16 and 24 in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Autumn Budget 2025 made available more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support through the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy.
This includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people under 25, alongside changes to make the apprenticeship system simpler and more efficient. £725 million of this total package will deliver the next phase of the Growth and Skills offer, invested through expanding foundation apprenticeships, launching a pilot 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.
This investment will support people of all ages across the country, including in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
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 Autumn Budget 2025 on further education provision for people over the age of 24 in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Autumn Budget 2025 made available more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support through the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy.
This includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people under 25, alongside changes to make the apprenticeship system simpler and more efficient. £725 million of this total package will deliver the next phase of the Growth and Skills offer, invested through expanding foundation apprenticeships, launching a pilot 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.
This investment will support people of all ages across the country, including in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.