Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment on the potential impact of increasing employer co-investment to 25 per cent on the number of apprentices taken on by levy-paying employers.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
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, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of statutory maternity pay rates that do not allow parents to receive 30 hours of free childcare on the ability of those parents to access childcare; and what steps he is taking to ensure that parents on statutory maternity pay can access childcare support while on maternity leave.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in relation to the statutory guidance on fiduciary duties announced during Report stage of the Pension Schemes Bill on 3 December 2025, when he intends to table this amendment to the Bill; whether he will consult on the guidance; and when he plans for the guidance to take effect.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with small businesses on the apprenticeship system.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service's arrears department is (i) office based and (ii) staffed through home working; how many people work for that team; what their response time is; and whether that response time is in line with their service level agreement.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with local employers in the West Midlands on tackling skills shortages.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
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, what career coaching, career transition, and redeployment support services are available to staff in his Department through centrally provided civil service programmes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
Intervention Title |
APM Chartered Project Professional Coaching (excluding Accreditation Fees) |
Coaching Skills |
Coaching skills for managers |
Coaching skills for managers (for programmes only) |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching & Mentoring - Includes assessment |
Performance Coaching Skills for Managers in the Government Analytical Service |
Performance Development in Digital, Data and Technology Multi-Disciplinary Teams Using Coaching Models |
Crossing Thresholds - Module 1 - Career goal-setting and planning |
5 must-see TED talks for career professionals |
Analytical Community Career conversations |
Career Conversations |
How to build your career in the Civil Service |
How to build your career in the UK Civil Service |
Navigating Your Career |
The 3 questions every manager struggles with making career development plans |
The 4 questions every manager struggles with making career development plans |
Why you will fail to have a great career |
Coaching and Mentoring |
Coaching ethics reflection questions |
Coaching ethics reflection questions |
Coaching Skills (Blended) |
Coaching skills for managers (Blended) |
Coaching skills for Managers (for DEFRA only) |
Diploma in Coaching Supervision - Professional Accreditation (Including assessment) |
Executive Coach coaching - Bespoke |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 2 |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 3 |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 4 |
Executive Coach coaching - Package 5 |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring (includes assignments) |
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring (includes exam) |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Bespoke |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Package 2 |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Package 3 |
Premier Executive Coach coaching - Package 4 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Bespoke |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 2 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 3 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 4 |
Senior Executive Coach coaching - Package 5 |
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, what steps he is taking to verify the ongoing residency of non-UK national claimants who have been absent from the UK for more than a month.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
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.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Minister for Pensions' oral contribution during the Report Stage of the Pension Schemes Bill on 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 1043, whether the proposed statutory guidance on fiduciary duties and subsequent amendments to it will be subject to the negative or affirmative procedure for statutory instruments.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of making injury-related pension enhancement and compensation elements protected within divorce settlements.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.