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Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps has he taken to help tackle fraud in the welfare system.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Since Autumn Budget 2024, the Government has committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain, which includes savings from the new powers contained within the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act.

The Act has been published on the Parliament website and is available here: Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025.


Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that Child Maintenance Service enforcement action is proportionate in cases involving (a) small and (b) short-term arrears.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

In cases where arrears are outstanding, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) proactively seek to negotiate with the paying parent a feasible and affordable repayment plan, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case. For small arrears payments can be spread over an appropriate timescale negating the need for enforcement action.

Each enforcement decision and action taken by CMS considers the welfare of all parties, potential financial hardship of paying parents, to ensure any associated charges for the customer are commensurate and not seen as punitive to give the greatest chance of securing money for children. CMS is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.


Written Question
Bereavement Support Payment
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)

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 adequacy of the Bereavement Support Payment for non-married widows and widowers.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Bereavement Support Payment is currently available to those who are married, in a cohabiting relationship with dependent children, or in a civil partnership. A marriage or civil partnership is a legal contract associated with certain rights, including entitlement to benefits derived from another person's National Insurance contributions such as Bereavement Support Payment. The Government keeps the eligibility of all benefits including Bereavement Support Payments, under review.


Written Question
Parental Pay
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken comparative analysis of maternity and paternity pay provisions for (a) teachers and (b) other (i) public and (ii) private sector professions; and what steps he is taking to help reduce disparities in parental leave entitlements across sectors.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government 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.


Written Question
Universal Credit
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many households on Universal Credit have an income equal to or greater than (1) £30,000, (2) £35,000, (3) £36,700 or (4) £40,000 per year.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Using the results from the most recent Family Resources Survey published on Stat-Xplore, the estimated number of households in receipt of Universal Credit by the total gross income received by a household from all income sources, in latest prices (weekly, CPI-adjusted real terms), as reported by FRS respondents, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to or greater than’ (1) £576.92, (2) £673.08, (3) £705.77 or (4) £769.23, in financial year 2023 to 2024, is shown in the table below.

Table 1: Estimated number of households receiving Universal Credit by weekly gross income from all sources in latest prices (weekly, CPI-adjusted real terms), ‘less than’ and ‘equal to or greater than’ (1) £576.92, (2) £673.08, (3) £705.77 or (4) £769.23 in financial year 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Weekly gross income from all sources

Households with income less than weekly value (millions)

Households with income equal to or more than weekly value (millions)

Total

£576.92

1.6

1.6

3.1

£673.08

1.9

1.2

3.1

£705.77

2.1

1.1

3.1

£769.23

2.2

0.9

3.1

Source: Stat-Xplore - Family Resources Survey Household Dataset

Notes:

  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1 million. This rounding convention has been set to reflect that FRS estimates are based on survey data and not actual records of individuals in the UK. Totals may not sum due to the rounding method used.
  2. Figures have been extracted from the FRS Household dataset on Stat-Xplore by using the custom range functionality (which is available to registered users) on the Household total, gross income from all sources in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) data.
  3. If the weekly values chosen are received for 52 weeks this would be the equivalent to an income of (1) £30,000, (2) £35,000, (3) £36,700 or (4) £40,000 per year.
  4. A household consists of one person living alone or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address, who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or dining area. A household will consist of one or more benefit units.
  5. The total gross income received by a household from all sources includes:
    1. Earnings from employment and self-employment
    2. Investment income
    3. Income from Retirement Pension plus any Income Support or Pension Credit paid with it
    4. Pension income
    5. Income from disability benefits
    6. Income from other benefits
    7. Income from Tax Credits
    8. Universal Credit income
    9. Remaining income
  6. Further information can be found in the FRS Background Note and Methodology and the Family Resources Survey: quality assessment report.

Written Question
Universal Credit: Young People
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the average annual welfare entitlement is for a single person aged 18–24 years old claiming Universal Credit on the basis of (1) anxiety, (2) depression, (2) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and (4) autism.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Young People
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the correlation between waiting times for mental health, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism assessments and the length of time that young people claim health-related benefits.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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


Written Question
Universal Credit: Mental Health
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average annual welfare entitlement for a single person claiming Universal Credit on the basis of (1) anxiety, (2) depression, (3) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and (4) autism.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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


Written Question
Social Security Benefits
Thursday 22nd January 2026

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her department collects data on (a) race and (b) ethnicity and c) religion from benefit claimants.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The purpose of collecting race and ethnicity data is because it they are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

All public bodies have a requirement under the Public Sector Equality Duty to pay due regard to the impacts of policies to those who share protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act.

To do so requires that meaningful data be collected in a harmonised form, as set out by the Cabinet Office. Claimant declarations of their protected characteristics are optional, and not mandatory.

Data collected on protected characteristics is solely used for analytical and statistical purposes in aggregate form and has no part in decisions relating to benefit claims.


Written Question
Food Poverty
Wednesday 21st January 2026

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of food poverty over the last 12 months.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

We published the Good Food Cycle in July which identified ten priority outcomes needed to build a thriving food sector while tackling a range of food related challenges. Improving food price affordability and access, in particular targeting costs that lead to food price inflation and supporting those who most need access to healthy affordable nutrition, is a key priority.

From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. This fund aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels. The Crisis and Resilience Fund Guidance for local authorities was published on 13 January 2026, enabling local authorities to prepare for delivery in line with the new fund.

The removal of the two child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty across the United Kingdom, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our Strategy, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.

The most recent official statistics show for the United Kingdom, in 2023/24, 7.5m individuals lived in food insecure households. The rate is unchanged on 2022/23 but the total number of individuals living in food insecure households has increased by 300,000.

The most recent official statistics show for the United Kingdom, in 2023/24, 2.8m people, were living in households where a food bank has been used in the 12 months prior to the interview, up by 500,000 since 2022/23.