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 proposed changes to the benefits system on family planning.

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

The Department has not made such an assessment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will list the employers which have been engaged with the Youth Guarantee scheme.

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

Public and private sector employers, the third sector, and education and training providers are integral to the success of the Youth Guarantee. Many employers recognise that investing in young people and training their workforce drives both business success and economic growth.

We will be working closely with Youth Guarantee supporters and partners across the country to deliver jobs, apprenticeships, work experience and training places.

Employers will also benefit from a tailored DWP support service to help fill vacancies with Jobcentre candidates, including job description support, faster recruitment, vacancy promotion, use of Jobcentre space for interviews, access to the free Find a Job site, and expert advice from a dedicated Recruitment Manager.

Regarding the Jobs Guarantee for long-term unemployed young people, at this initial stage we will be delivering through partner organisations. We have started engaging with stakeholders through various forums and this will continue over the coming year.

The government will set out details of Youth Guarantee employers and partners in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) private sector, (b) public sector and (c) third sector organisations have signed up to the Youth Guarantee scheme.

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

Public and private sector employers, the third sector, and education and training providers are integral to the success of the Youth Guarantee. Many employers recognise that investing in young people and training their workforce drives both business success and economic growth.

We will be working closely with Youth Guarantee supporters and partners across the country to deliver jobs, apprenticeships, work experience and training places.

Employers will also benefit from a tailored DWP support service to help fill vacancies with Jobcentre candidates, including job description support, faster recruitment, vacancy promotion, use of Jobcentre space for interviews, access to the free Find a Job site, and expert advice from a dedicated Recruitment Manager.

Regarding the Jobs Guarantee for long-term unemployed young people, at this initial stage we will be delivering through partner organisations. We have started engaging with stakeholders through various forums and this will continue over the coming year.

The government will set out details of Youth Guarantee employers and partners in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many providers of (a) apprenticeships, (b) training and (c) education have signed up to the Youth Guarantee scheme.

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

Public and private sector employers, the third sector, and education and training providers are integral to the success of the Youth Guarantee. Many employers recognise that investing in young people and training their workforce drives both business success and economic growth.

We will be working closely with Youth Guarantee supporters and partners across the country to deliver jobs, apprenticeships, work experience and training places.

Employers will also benefit from a tailored DWP support service to help fill vacancies with Jobcentre candidates, including job description support, faster recruitment, vacancy promotion, use of Jobcentre space for interviews, access to the free Find a Job site, and expert advice from a dedicated Recruitment Manager.

Regarding the Jobs Guarantee for long-term unemployed young people, at this initial stage we will be delivering through partner organisations. We have started engaging with stakeholders through various forums and this will continue over the coming year.

The government will set out details of Youth Guarantee employers and partners in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current waiting times are for Access to Work applications.

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

For details on the average processing time for Access to Work grant applications from April to June 2025, please refer to the answer I gave on 3 July 2025 to Question UIN 63906.

We are committed to reducing waiting times for new applications and have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims. Applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2025 to Question 96708 on Access to Work Programme, what the salary bands are of people on the Access to Work scheme who are receiving payments per customer of (a) £40,000 - £49,999, (b) £50,000 - £59,999, (c) £60,000 - £69,999 and (d) above £70,000.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold information on the salaries of Access to Work recipients. Access to Work eligibility is not linked to salary, so this information is not routinely collected by the Department.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussion he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, (b) trade unions and (c) employers on the Health and Safety Executive's news report entitled Offshore process isolation failures present major accident hazard risk, published on 17 December 2025.

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

The Energy Division within the Health and Safey Executive (HSE) leads on regulatory activity in the offshore oil and gas sector. As part of their regulatory activity they regularly engage with employers, their representatives, and other government departments. One such forum is the Offshore Major Accident Hazards Advisory Committee (OMAHAC). OMAHAC is a tripartite committee that includes HSE, members who represent regulators, operators and owners and worker representatives. The matters identified in the news report have been discussed in that forum as well as with other relevant stakeholders.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the rates of New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance in relation to living costs for a single adult.

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

The Secretary of State is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefit rates. In a statement made on 26 November 2025, the Secretary of State announced that from April 2026, Jobseeker’s Allowance will be increased by 3.8% in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2025, subject to parliamentary approval.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has used international examples of reforms to (a) sickness and (b) disability benefits to help inform his policies.

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

The Department uses a range of evidence, including international examples, when developing policy. For instance, the Pathways to Work Green Paper included a range of international systems that were considered when developing the proposals.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.

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

As one of the largest government departments, our campaigns aim to give people straightforward information about policies and services that make a real difference in their daily lives. We focus on helping some of the UK’s most vulnerable households by showing them what support is available and how to access it. For example, letting pensioners know they could get extra money to help with living costs and explaining how to apply, guiding people through the steps to switch from older benefits to Universal Credit so they don’t miss out on payments, and sharing advice on how to access jobs and skills support.

Advertising is essential to reach the right people with these messages. We choose media channels that give the best value for money and have the biggest impact for taxpayer.

Total spend with our buying and planning agencies for the last three financial years is as follows: (amounts are rounded to nearest £0.1m):

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rise in the UK unemployment rate to 5.1 per cent between August and October 2025; and what steps they are taking to support employment opportunities for young people.

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

The UK’s unemployment rate is now 5.1%.

But since the start of 2025 363,000 more people are in employment – outweighing the increase in unemployment over the same period (280,000).

At the end of the last Government the UK was the only country with economic inactivity higher - rather than lower - than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we have seen a significant fall in economic inactivity as people reengage with the labour market. Our economic inactivity rate (21.0%) has fallen to its joint lowest level in over five years (and was last lower in January to March 2020).

The Government’s number one mission is to grow the economy and raise living standards across the UK. However, almost one million young people across the UK are currently not in education, employment, or training (NEET). That is why our manifesto set out the ambition to transform young people’s prospects by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn or learn through a Youth Guarantee.

We have already taken the first steps towards delivering a Youth Guarantee, to ensure that all 16–24-year-olds in Great Britain can access support to find work, training, or an apprenticeship. We have launched Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, announced funding to almost double our Youth Hubs across Great Britain, and we recently launched an Independent Report into Young People and Work, to identify potential areas for reform to better support young people with health conditions and disabilities.

We are now going further through an expansion of the Youth Guarantee. This expansion is backed by a £820 million investment over the Spending Review period to reach almost 900,000 young people, including through Youth Hubs in every area in Great Britain and a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, offering a dedicated session and follow-up support to 16-24–year-olds on Universal Credit. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training and provide guaranteed jobs to around 55,000 young people aged 18-21.

Taken together, these measures show the Government’s commitment to backing young people, transforming lives, driving the economy and ensuring background is no barrier to success. Delivered in partnership with local government and devolved authorities, they will ensure no young person falls through the cracks.

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 relationship between levels of pension financial literacy and vulnerability to pension fraud.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In 2023, the Behavioural Insights Team within the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) conducted a scams evidence review which found that victims of pension fraud do not fall into easily defined demographic groups and that anyone can be targeted. To mitigate this, a range of measures are in place to raise awareness and reduce risk. These include the Financial Conduct Authority’s ScamSmart tool which highlights areas of potential risk, and the detailed guidance provided by MaPS through MoneyHelper, which offers practical steps to identify and avoid pension scams. Additional safeguards are provided by the pension transfer regulations which empower trustees to pause or refuse a transfer where there are indicators of potential scam activity.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what pilots are currently underway to test reforms to the fit note system, including the locations and duration of those pilots, and the groups of patients and employers involved; what further reforms to the fit note system they are planning, beyond the current pilots; and when they expect to publish further details.

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

On 11th July 2025, we announced a WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund, which offered a portion of £1.5 million of single year funding to each of the fifteen WorkWell pilot sites to test innovative approaches to the fit note within primary care.

The funding is supporting local areas to boost capacity in primary care to provide better work and health support via the fit note process, with the longer term aims of reducing pressure on GPs and improving patients’ work and health outcomes.

Each of the 15 WorkWell Integrated Care Boards has received up to £100,000, with interventions running from October 2025 to March 2026. The locations of the sites are:

Birmingham and Solihull,

Black Country,

Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG),

Cambridgeshire,

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly,

Coventry,

Frimley,

Greater Manchester,

Herefordshire,

Lancashire and South Cumbria,

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR),

North Central London,

North West London,

South Yorkshire, and

Surrey Heartlands.

One of the key aims of the funding is to build the evidence base for how the fit note process within primary care can be improved, and findings will inform future policy development. Most sites are using the funding to test new or additional roles within Primary Care Networks, including social prescribers, work and health coaches, or physiotherapists, to either issue the fit note instead of the GP or provide wraparound work and health support to the fit note recipient.

However, we know that we need to go further. The Keep Britain Working Review was clear that the fit note is ‘not working as intended’ and recommended that we test alternative approaches to the fit note, working with GPs and health services to explore improvements and replacements. We are currently considering how to respond to the Review’s recommendations on the fit note, and we will bring forward more information in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on setting up the Workplace Health Intelligence Unit proposed in the Mayfield Review, and what its planned remit, governance arrangements, and timetable for operation are.

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

Work has commenced on the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase following publication of the review’s final report in November. We are working with Sir Charlie Mayfield, Vanguard employers and regions to mobilise and design this next phase of work and establish effective ways of working. The vanguards will play a pivotal role in shaping how health issues and disabilities are managed in the workplace, building an evidence base and understanding of what works through effective partnership with employers.

As part of the Vanguard Phase, Sir Charlie Mayfield has agreed to establish and lead a Vanguard Taskforce/advisory board in partnership with Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, and Department of Health and Social Care. The Vanguard Taskforce will bring together a group of external experts from various sectors and organisations to provide external advice, and guidance to steer the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase. We are currently considering the Terms of Reference and potential membership of the taskforce.

The Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (WHIU) will serve as the central hub for delivery of the whole Vanguard Phase and to drive on-going work. We are currently working to establish the Intelligence Unit within Government and considering options for its design and details of its function. A comprehensive governance framework, incorporating the taskforce, will be established to ensure strategic oversight and accountability of the Unit as it is set up and developed.

Further information on the shape and remit of the Vanguard Taskforce and Workplace Health Intelligence Unit is expected in Spring 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on establishing the Vanguard taskforce proposed in the Mayfield Review, and when the taskforce is expected to start work.

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

Work has commenced on the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase following publication of the review’s final report in November. We are working with Sir Charlie Mayfield, Vanguard employers and regions to mobilise and design this next phase of work and establish effective ways of working. The vanguards will play a pivotal role in shaping how health issues and disabilities are managed in the workplace, building an evidence base and understanding of what works through effective partnership with employers.

As part of the Vanguard Phase, Sir Charlie Mayfield has agreed to establish and lead a Vanguard Taskforce/advisory board in partnership with Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, and Department of Health and Social Care. The Vanguard Taskforce will bring together a group of external experts from various sectors and organisations to provide external advice, and guidance to steer the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase. We are currently considering the Terms of Reference and potential membership of the taskforce.

The Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (WHIU) will serve as the central hub for delivery of the whole Vanguard Phase and to drive on-going work. We are currently working to establish the Intelligence Unit within Government and considering options for its design and details of its function. A comprehensive governance framework, incorporating the taskforce, will be established to ensure strategic oversight and accountability of the Unit as it is set up and developed.

Further information on the shape and remit of the Vanguard Taskforce and Workplace Health Intelligence Unit is expected in Spring 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to question 98653, whether the Department will release the number of people with multiple sclerosis who are in the Work Related Activity Group.

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

There were fewer than five people with multiple sclerosis as their primary condition who were claiming contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) in May 2025. Statistical disclosure control has been applied by rounding to the nearest 10 to avoid the release of confidential data. People claiming income-related Employment and Support Allowance are currently moving across to Universal Credit.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are their plans for reforming the Access to Work scheme, including the objectives and timetable of any such reform, and how they will involve disabled people and representative organisations.

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

This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, their representative organisations and people that support them. The Pathways to Work Green Paper launched a consultation which has now concluded. We are considering responses to the consultation.

We also have recently concluded the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.

Whilst the committees have now ended, we will seek opportunity to engage with stakeholders as we move forward with policy development, recognising the value of their input and expertise.

The findings from the consultation and Collaboration Committees will inform the chosen future direction of Access to Work. Once this is established we will set out our plans working closely with stakeholders to ensure an appropriate transition.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department uses artificial intelligence to automate decision making about access to public services.

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

The Department uses automated decision-making in some areas, as described in our Personal Information Charter, but AI is not used to automate decision-making about access to our services. Customers are told when an automated decision has been made in relation to their case, along with information on the steps they would need to take if they want to exercise their right to ask for a human to review that decision.

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 people understand the risks associated with pension transfers.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Pension transfer regulations require trustees and scheme managers to carry out due diligence before processing a transfer request. Where a potential risk of a scam is identified, the transfer may be stopped. In cases where there are risk indicators but the transfer could still be genuine, the member must receive mandatory guidance from MoneyHelper before the transfer can proceed. In these cases, members must attend an appointment with the Money and Pensions Service, which helps them recognise scams, assess risks, and make an informed decision before proceeding. Additional resources are available through the Financial Conduct Authority’s ScamSmart tool and its Pension Scams Consumer Guide, offering practical advice on spotting warning signs, verifying investments, and reporting suspected scams.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support increased participation in apprenticeships among young people in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

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

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

In August, 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.

More recently, we have announced an ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and backed this with an additional £725 million of investment. This will enable us to expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people. It also provides £140 million to pilot new approaches, with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, to better connect young people aged 16–24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities.

In addition, from the next academic year, the government will fully fund apprenticeships for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises) for all eligible people aged under 25. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.

Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.

The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including in Surrey, through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what safeguards will be put in place to help ensure that jobs under the new youth employment guarantee will pay the living wage and lead to long-term secure employment.

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

Too many young people are spending the first years of their adult life out of work or education. Long periods of unemployment in these early years have lifelong negative impacts.

As part of the Youth Guarantee, we are breaking the cycle of unemployment by guaranteeing paid work for every eligible 18-21 year-old who has been on Universal Credit, looking for work, for 18 months.

The Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment, for 25 hours a week, at the relevant minimum wage, with the government covering 100% of employment costs. This, will help young people take that crucial first step into sustained employment, supporting the government’s long-term ambition for an 80% employment rate.

The Jobs Guarantee will also provide wraparound support to further develop the required skills and experience needed for the move into sustained employment.

Appropriate safeguards will be built into the scheme to ensure that opportunities are high quality, fair and deliver the intended outcomes for young people.

The Jobs Guarantee will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of trends in levels of youth unemployment and economic inactivity in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

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

This Government is investing in young people’s futures. At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, including funding £820 million for the expanded Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy to help support apprenticeships for young people.

Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, including:

Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up. This support could be delivered at a Youth Hub.

Further expansion of Youth Hubs: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support. Across Surrey, there are currently five Youth Hubs across Surrey based in Camberley, Weybridge, Staines, Mole Valley and Woking.

c300,000 additional opportunities for workplace experience and training: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers – Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.

Guaranteeing jobs: For long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit, the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years. We know young people need support quickly and that is why we will begin delivery of the Jobs Guarantee in six areas from spring 2026 in: Birmingham & Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire & Essex, Central & East Scotland, Southwest & Southeast Wales. We will deliver over 1,000 job starts in the first six months in these six areas. This will be followed by national roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain.

Prevention: We are also making it easier to identify young people who need support, by investing in better data sharing for those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), further education attendance monitoring, and new risk of NEET data tools giving local areas more accurate insights to target support where it's needed most. We are also investing in work experience opportunities for young people at particular risk of becoming NEET, focused on pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings (education provided outside mainstream or special schools for children who cannot attend a regular school, often due to exclusion, health needs, or other circumstances). This builds on measures announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper earlier this autumn.

Growth and Skills Levy £725 million package of reforms includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25, and £140 million pilot of new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities. These are important steps in the government’s ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, which will also be supported by expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people.

The information requested on trends in levels of youth unemployment and economic inactivity is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp and the guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp.

The estimated trends can be found by selecting “Query data” on the NOMIS home page and selecting “Annual Population Survey/Labour Force Survey” and then “annual population survey (Dec 2004 to Jun 2025)” in the lists of data sources. The Geography will need to be set for the relevant county and Westminster constituency from the menu, and then, in the Variable menu, Category set to “Unemployment rate” from the drop-down list to access 16-24 year old unemployment, and the Category set to “Economically inactive by age” for the economically inactive aged 16-24.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support SMEs in the West Midlands to access the Growth and Skills Levy.

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

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. This change will make it easier for those employers to engage with apprenticeships across the country, including in the West Midlands, by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers.

At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.

The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including the West Midlands, through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Budget Statement on 26 November 2025, what estimate his Department has made of how many 16-24 year olds in Poole constituency will have access to the Youth Guarantee and the right to earn or learn.

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

The Government understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.

In Poole, Jobcentre teams already work closely with the Local Authority, employers, local colleges and training providers to give opportunities for young people to learn and earn. To support this, the Jobcentre offers various a range of local provisions, including Sector Based Work Academy Programmes, Mentoring Circles and Group Information Sessions, covering CV writing, application completion and job search upskilling. These initiatives help young people develop skills they need to enter employment. Our Employment and Partnership Team also hosts and attends job fairs, runs job and apprenticeship matching sessions and engages directly with employers to bring vacancies closer to young people. In addition, we have dedicated Youth Employment Coaches who provide personalised, tailored support to the most vulnerable young people.

This Government is investing in young people’s futures. At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820m for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million to help support apprenticeships for young people, including a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25. This investment will also fund an £140 million pilot of new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities.

These are important steps in the government’s ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, which will also be supported by expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people.

Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, including:

Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up. This support could be delivered at a Youth Hub.

Further expansion of Youth Hubs: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support.

c300,000 additional opportunities for workplace experience and training: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers – Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.

Guaranteeing jobs: For long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit, the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years. We know young people need support quickly and that is why we will begin delivery of the Jobs Guarantee in six areas from spring 2026 in: Birmingham & Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire & Essex, Central & East Scotland, Southwest & Southeast Wales. We will deliver over 1,000 job starts in the first six months. This will be followed by national roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain.

We are also making it easier to identify young people who need support, by investing in better data sharing for those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), further education attendance monitoring, and new risk of NEET data tools giving local areas more accurate insights to target support where it's needed most. We are also investing in work experience opportunities for young people at particular risk of becoming NEET, focused on pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings, (education provided outside mainstream or special schools for children who cannot attend a regular school, often due to exclusion, health needs, or other circumstances). This builds on measures announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper earlier this autumn.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of young people not in (a) education, (b) employment or (c) training in Surrey Heath constituency.

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

This Government is investing in young people’s futures. At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, including funding £820 million for the expanded Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy to help support apprenticeships for young people.

Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, including:

Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up. This support could be delivered at a Youth Hub.

Further expansion of Youth Hubs: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support. Across Surrey, there are currently five Youth Hubs across Surrey based in Camberley, Weybridge, Staines, Mole Valley and Woking.

c300,000 additional opportunities for workplace experience and training: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers – Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.

Guaranteeing jobs: For long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit, the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years. We know young people need support quickly and that is why we will begin delivery of the Jobs Guarantee in six areas from spring 2026 in: Birmingham & Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire & Essex, Central & East Scotland, Southwest & Southeast Wales. We will deliver over 1,000 job starts in the first six months in these six areas. This will be followed by national roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain.

Prevention: We are also making it easier to identify young people who need support, by investing in better data sharing for those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), further education attendance monitoring, and new risk of NEET data tools giving local areas more accurate insights to target support where it's needed most. We are also investing in work experience opportunities for young people at particular risk of becoming NEET, focused on pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings (education provided outside mainstream or special schools for children who cannot attend a regular school, often due to exclusion, health needs, or other circumstances). This builds on measures announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper earlier this autumn.

Growth and Skills Levy £725 million package of reforms includes fully funding SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25, and £140 million pilot of new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities. These are important steps in the government’s ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, which will also be supported by expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people.

The information requested on trends in levels of youth unemployment and economic inactivity is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp and the guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp.

The estimated trends can be found by selecting “Query data” on the NOMIS home page and selecting “Annual Population Survey/Labour Force Survey” and then “annual population survey (Dec 2004 to Jun 2025)” in the lists of data sources. The Geography will need to be set for the relevant county and Westminster constituency from the menu, and then, in the Variable menu, Category set to “Unemployment rate” from the drop-down list to access 16-24 year old unemployment, and the Category set to “Economically inactive by age” for the economically inactive aged 16-24.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) name, (b) job title, (c) annual remuneration, (d) time commitment and (e) expected end date is for each direct ministerial appointment in his Department.

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

Details of each direct ministerial appointment currently in post can be found in the below table. Details of appointees renumeration have been included where they are paid for their work directly.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to encourage more smaller businesses to take on apprentices.

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

Apprenticeships are a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

To encourage smaller businesses to take on apprentices, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises) for all eligible people aged under 25 from the next academic year. This change will make it easier for those employers to engage with apprenticeships by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.

We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.

Additionally, the department engages with small employers regularly to promote apprenticeships. During National Apprenticeship Week 2025, we held a round table with small and medium employers and other key partners to better understand the challenges they are facing in recruiting apprentices. This insight allows us to better target engagement activities with small businesses.

The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to promote heritage craft and stonemasonry apprenticeships as part of the wider skills and construction workforce strategy.

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

Apprenticeships are a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

A range of apprenticeships, including the level 2 stonemason apprenticeship standard, are available to support employers and learners in the heritage sector to develop the skills they need.

To support more apprenticeship opportunities, from the next academic year, the government will fully fund apprenticeships for non-levy paying employers for eligible people aged under 25. The department currently pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21 at non-levy paying employers and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.

Additionally, we pay £1,000 to employers of all sizes when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or aged 19 to 24 who are care leavers or have an education, health and care plan.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of positions funded under the Youth Guarantee that would anyway have been created by the private sector.

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

The Jobs Guarantee will help young people to move closer to and into sustained employment. The Jobs Guarantee is aimed at young people who face multiple barriers to work, with the scheme targeting those who are 18-21 years old who have been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months.

We will provide more detail in the coming weeks on how the scheme will be delivered. The scheme will enable young people to access suitable vacancies, with additional, tailored support provided to help young people start roles and succeed throughout their employment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of jobs under the Youth Guarantee will be fully funded by his Department; and for how long those jobs will be fully funded.

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

As part of the Youth Guarantee, we are breaking the cycle of unemployment by guaranteeing paid work for every eligible 18–21-year old who has been on Universal Credit, looking for work, for 18 months. All Jobs Guarantee scheme jobs will be fully funded by the Department and will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years.

This will help young people take that crucial first step into sustained employment, supporting the government’s long-term ambition to increase the employment rate.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to help improve work incentives within the benefits system and reduce long-term economic inactivity.

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

At the heart of our reforms is the principle that those who can work should work, but if you need help into work the government should support you, and those who can’t work should be supported to live with dignity.

We’ve recently published draft regulations on our Right to Try guarantee, which will give disabled people the confidence to try work and, in July, the Universal Credit Act provided for the first ever, sustained rise in the standard allowance of Universal Credit, benefitting millions of those on the lowest incomes. We have also introduced reforms through the Universal Credit Act 2025, to rebalance support within UC, to address perverse incentives and better encourage those who can work to enter or return to employment. We have also put in place the equivalent of over 1000 full-time Pathways to Work advisers, offering tailored support to support people into work across Britain and we have begun testing our new support conversation.

In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on introducing a new contributory benefit in Great Britain, provisionally called ‘Unemployment Insurance’ (UI). The introduction of UI would simplify the contributory system by removing the distinction between jobseekers and those considered unable to work

Introducing UI would also improve the income protection available to people who lose their job to give people the time and space to find the right job, while time-limiting that entitlement to create a strong incentive to return to the labour market.

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 delays to coroner proceedings in excess of 18 months on eligibility for Bereavement Support Payments.

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

Delays to coroner proceedings do not change eligibility for Bereavement Support Payment. DWP encourages those who are eligible for Bereavement Support Payment to make a claim even if they do not yet have a death certificate. DWP will work with the customer to establish what alternative evidence they can provide, such as an interim death certificate.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delays by the Child Maintenance Service on (a) parents and (b) children who rely on child maintenance payments.

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

We know that children in separated families are more likely to live in poverty than those in non-separated families. Child maintenance payments through both statutory and non-statutory arrangements keep approximately 120,000 children out of poverty each year.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) works hard to make sure parents pay in full and on time to minimise delays in payments.

Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the CMS will not hesitate to use the range enforcement powers available. The CMS is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families. CMS has implemented significant improvements to speed up action when payments first break down, targeting enforcement actions more effectively.

CMS undertake regular quality assurance checks to ensure processes are delivered accurately, reducing the requirement for rework and reinforcing our aim to ‘get it right first time’. These measures demonstrate our commitment to minimising delays and ensuring that child maintenance reaches children promptly.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service is meeting its internal target times for progressing cases and taking enforcement action.

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

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern and efficient service for all customers.

The CMS continues to strengthen its enforcement activity to ensure that parents meet their financial responsibilities. Where parents can afford to pay but do not, the CMS has a range of strong enforcement powers that it can and does use swiftly to influence a return to compliance.

Published statistics show a significant increase in compliance, with the proportion of paying parents who paid some maintenance rising from 64% in the quarter ending September 2022 to 74% in the quarter ending September 2025.

The published quarterly CMS statistics provide information on application clearances, change of circumstances clearances and Collect and Pay compliance, with the latest data available for quarter ending September 2025.

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 delays in Child Maintenance Service case reviews on the likelihood of later corrective or enforcement action.

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

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) relies on receiving accurate and current information to make child maintenance assessments. If additional or new evidence is provided after a child maintenance assessment has been made for example a Mandatory Reconsideration this can lead to corrective action being taken.

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) the demand for the service is increasing. To allow the CMS to meet this demand and provide an efficient service the service continuously looks at the resources they have and where it should focus their efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to their customers.

The CMS reviews overall resource supply and takes appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands. The CMS has an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2026; this will ensure the CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted demand.

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 delays in Child Maintenance Service case reviews on administrative costs.

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

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) relies on receiving accurate and current information to make child maintenance assessments. If additional or new evidence is provided after a child maintenance assessment has been made for example a Mandatory Reconsideration this can lead to corrective action being taken.

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) the demand for the service is increasing. To allow the CMS to meet this demand and provide an efficient service the service continuously looks at the resources they have and where it should focus their efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to their customers.

The CMS reviews overall resource supply and takes appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands. The CMS has an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2026; this will ensure the CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted demand.

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 staffing levels and caseload pressures within the Child Maintenance Service.

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

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) the demand for its service is increasing. To allow it to meet this demand and provide an efficient service, the CMS continuously reviews its resources and where to focus its efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to customers.

The CMS reviews its overall resource supply and takes appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands. The service is currently resourced at a level appropriate to its operational demand, ensuring that support is directed to the teams and functions where it is most needed.

There is an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2026; this will ensure CMS continues to be resourced to meet current and future forecast demand.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide additional resources to the Child Maintenance Service to reduce delays in case progression.

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

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) the demand for its service is increasing. To allow it to meet this demand and provide an efficient service, the CMS continuously reviews its resources and where to focus its efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to customers.

The CMS reviews its overall resource supply and takes appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands. The service is currently resourced at a level appropriate to its operational demand, ensuring that support is directed to the teams and functions where it is most needed.

There is an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2026; this will ensure CMS continues to be resourced to meet current and future forecast demand.

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.

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.

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much money for child maintenance was collected under the collect and pay service in the past three years; and for how many children this money was collected.

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

The Department publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics every three months. Table 4 of the latest National tables provides the total amount of maintenance paid via Collect and Pay each quarter between January 2015 and September 2025.

The below table shows Money paid each Quarter via Collect and Pay for Great Britain, for the past 12 quarters October 2022 to September 2025

Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information

Notes:

1. Figures provided are for child maintenance only and do not include fees for the use of the service and are rounded to the nearest £100,000.
2. In a very small number of cases a child maintenance payment may be refunded to the Paying Parent. These Paying Parents are currently still counted as compliant and the money is counted as paid. In a very small number of cases a child maintenance payment may be incorrectly assigned to the wrong parent. If the money is then assigned to the correct parent then the money paid will be counted twice.

The below table shows the number of children covered by Collect and Pay arrangements by payment status, for Great Britain, by quarter end, December 2022 to September 2025

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note:

1. Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.
2. The data is collected at the end of each quarter.
3. Children covered by Collect & Pay arrangements in which the Paying Parent paid some child maintenance during the quarter.
4. Children covered by Collect & Pay arrangements in which the Paying Parent paid no child maintenance during the quarter. This will include some children associated with active arrangements for which no ongoing child maintenance was due in the quarter, i.e. arrears only cases.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many liability orders regarding child maintenance they have applied for in the last three years.

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

The Department publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics every three months. Table 6.1 of the latest National tables provides information about enforcement actions used by the Child Maintenance Service each quarter between April 2015 and September 2025 including the number of liability orders applied for in England and Wales.

The below table shows volumes of Liability Orders applied for in England and Wales, for the past 12 quarters from October 2022 to September 2025

Source: Child Maintenance Service Administrative and Clerical Data

Note:

1. Figures provided are restricted to England and Wales and are rounded to the nearest 100.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the net zero targets for the Department and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.

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

The Net Zero target in the Climate Change Act 2008, is a target for the whole of the UK, not individual departments or arms-length bodies.

Greening Government Commitments are the central framework setting out the actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including setting targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.

Defra are reviewing the Greening Government Commitments to ensure that they remain aligned with government priorities.

DWP and its arms-length bodies support national Net Zero targets via the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs), which are set and administered by Defra and DESNZ. DWP together with its arms-length bodies has to date met its Greening Government Commitments carbon targets, and progress is reported both in Defra’s Greening Government Commitments reports and in DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts.

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.

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).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will set out the annual uprating arrangements for (a) both parts of the old state pension (basic and second) and (b) the new state pension.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Legislation requires that both the basic State Pension (pre-2016 system) and the new State Pension should rise annually at least in line with earnings. The Government has made a manifesto commitment for this Parliament to maintain the Triple Lock for the basic and new State Pensions. This goes further, increasing them by the highest of growth in earnings, growth in prices, or 2.5%.

The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefit and pension rates. This year the rates considered included the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation in the year to September 2025 which was 3.8%, and the average weekly earnings (AWE) figure (including bonuses) for May to July 2025 which was 4.8%. The AWE rate was the highest of the Triple Lock measures, meaning that, subject to Parliamentary approval, the basic and new State Pensions will be increased by 4.8% from April 2026.

In the pre-2016 State Pension system, the Triple Lock applies to the basic State Pension. The additional State Pension (also known as the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme, or SERPS, or from April 2002 the State Second Pension) and most other State Pension components are uprated by prices (CPI). This enables them to retain their real value over time, mirroring occupational pension schemes which typically uprate by prices. Subject to Parliamentary approval, these elements will be increased by 3.8% from April 2026.

Protected Payments in the new State Pension (transitional amounts in excess of the full rate) are also increased by CPI.

Although the uprating approaches in the pre-2016 and new state Pension systems operate slightly differently, there are many other elements in each of the pre 2016 and new State Pension system which all need to be taken together in the round.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will set out how the Department’s planned reforms to enhance staff awareness of safeguarding roles and responsibilities will integrate new safeguarding frameworks into its organisational culture and operations, including guidance and training materials are accessible to staff with disabilities, provided in multiple formats, and include clear, direct routes to designated safeguarding leads.

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

Safeguarding is a priority for DWP. Year One of our multi-year strategy is about building strong foundations - raising awareness, strengthening capability, and deepening partnerships. This is not just a process change; it’s a fundamental culture shift to make safeguarding part of everyday business.

The Department already operates a tiered system of support for vulnerable customers. All staff are trained to recognise vulnerability and respond appropriately, with specialist help available for complex cases.

Frontline colleagues have access to guidance that supports them to refer individuals to external agencies with statutory responsibilities to protect people from harm, abuse or neglect when they identify safeguarding concerns.

The Department has committed to embedding Level 1 safeguarding training across the organisation. This provides employees with the knowledge and skills to recognise potential safeguarding concerns and to know what action to take and who to report to if they have concerns. We are offering this training to all DWP staff.

In addition, we have embedded Level 3 adult and child mandatory safeguarding for all clinicians across the organisation.

Our focus remains on making our training accessible. Design standards and design tools for DWP technical learning support a comprehensive range of learner needs, and DWP Service Delivery role based technical learning is fully compliant with the requirements of the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Alternative formats are provided, and arrangements are made to support learners’ reasonable adjustments.

We will continue to enable colleagues to complete Safeguarding training as part of their professional development, and we will track progress.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reform Access to Work.

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

The Pathways to Work Green Paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work which has now concluded. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.

We also have recently concluded the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and those with lived experience, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of AI on the labour market, and how that assessment informs their policies on training, skills and labour market resilience.

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

The government is committed to ensuring that people have access to good, meaningful work. This involves adapting to structural changes in the labour market, including the emergence of new technology and other changes. While AI-driven changes in the labour market may bring challenges, they also offer new opportunities for economic growth, job creation, and increased productivity.

We are already witnessing AI’s impact on the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and changing the jobs landscape. We continue to monitor trends in the labour market as the impact of AI evolves. We remain mindful of this impact and its effect on the UK workforce and DWP customers, whilst working to harness the benefits that AI can bring.

We are continuing to deliver our Get Britain Working reforms to ensure we provide people with access to good work and training opportunities fit for the future. DWP has a strong track record of supporting people to re-skill (where needed) to re-enter work.

Government funds post-16 education, training and qualifications through 16-19 funding, the Adult Skills Fund and apprenticeships. This can support people at all stages of their lives to train and reskill in a range of sectors – including in response to changes in technology such as AI.

Government is investing £187 million to bring digital and AI learning into classrooms and support over 4,000 graduates, researchers, and innovators in areas like AI, cyber security and computer science. We will train 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030 through our new industry partnership with major tech players. Skills England is working with DSIT to mobilise the government-industry partnership that will deliver on this commitment.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the waiting times for a decision on Access to Work claims in Surrey Heath constituency.

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

The Department is committed to reducing the Access to Work waiting times. We have increased the number of staff working in this area by 27% and we have continued to streamline delivery practices. To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise Access to Work applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks, or cases that are up for renewal.

In the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are considering all aspects of the scheme as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce regulations to enable the commencement of the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 in England and Wales.

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

Work to implement Administrative Liability Orders (ALOs) is under way.

While Child Maintenance is reserved, enforcement of CM arrears in Scotland requires that orders will be enforced under the Scottish justice system, which is devolved.

We are working closely with HMCTS and the Scottish Government to ensure enforcement action resulting from ALOs operates effectively across the UK, and plan to introduce regulations to parliament to implement the measures across England, Scotland and Wales, as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration has been given to allowing appointees to use the Access to Work online portal.

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

The Access to Work online portal has been designed to ensure that customers can manage their own claims securely and efficiently, following identity verification to protect personal information and prevent fraud. At present, the service does not include functionality for appointees to submit claims on behalf of customers. This is because the portal relies on individual identity verification to maintain the security and integrity of the process.

However, we continue to provide a paper-based route for appointees to ensure that support remains available for those who need it.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how reasonable adjustments are assessed and implemented for disabled claimants undergoing migration to Universal Credit.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring that the migration to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all individuals, including those with disabilities. We recognise that some claimants may require additional support to make and maintain their claim, and we provide a range of reasonable adjustments and tailored support in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Migration notices are issued in the appropriate format to meet any accessibility needs recorded for the customer on the legacy benefit system, such as braille, large print, British Sign Language (BSL), or email. Once a Universal Credit claim is made, customers can update their accessibility preferences directly through their online account.

For those who require additional support, the Department offers an Enhanced Support Journey to ensure legacy benefits do not end before a UC claim is completed. This includes proactive contact and, where necessary, home visits. Alternative channels are also available for claimants unable to use the online service, including telephone claims, face-to-face support in Jobcentres, and Video Relay Services for BSL users. Broader support needs—such as cognitive impairments or safeguarding requirements—are recorded and made visible to Work Coaches, Case Managers, and Visiting Officers to ensure tailored assistance throughout the migration process.

We also fund the Help to Claim service, delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, which provides independent, practical support from the point of application through to the first correct payment. Where a claimant cannot manage their own claim, they can give explicit consent for Universal Credit to speak with a third party or appoint an appointee to formally manage the claim.

These measures form part of our broader commitment to equality and inclusion, ensuring that no one is disadvantaged in accessing the support they are entitled to.

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 the removal of the Mercedes Vito as a vehicle available through Motability on the availability of vehicles with a) dropped floors b) hand controls.

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

Motability’s decision to remove luxury vehicles from the Scheme will help ensure that tax reliefs are not subsidising luxury vehicle leases and services that non-scheme users could not afford, so that the Scheme focuses on its core aim and is more in line with the retail leasing offer. Motability Operations will continue to prioritise customer needs, ensuring vehicles remain affordable, meet a range of accessibility needs - including dropped floors and hand controls - and offer vehicles which require no advance payment, meaning that people will be able to access a suitable vehicle using only their qualifying disability benefit.

Support for specialist adaptations will remain at the heart of the Scheme and the Scheme will continue to cover the cost of standard adaptations.

Motability Foundation will continue to offer means-tested grants to those most in need of financial help. These grants support eligible people who would otherwise struggle to afford the advance payment or adaptations for a vehicle, or a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) through the Motability Scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of the availability of employment support for people with learning disabilities in Surrey Heath constituency.

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

For people who need specialist intensive support, DWP have agreed to fund Surrey County Council up to £9.8m to deliver the national Connect to Work programme across Surrey to around 2500 people to March 2030. This voluntary Supported Employment programme is for disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment, including those with learning disabilities and autistic adults, helping them to find sustained work. People interested in taking part in Connect to Work in Surrey can do so via this website: Connect to Work - Surrey County Council.

We also have support for individuals available via our Jobcentres. This includes our Pathways to Work Advisors, who are helping individuals identify and overcome obstacles which may stop them from moving towards or into work, and for those who are ready to access employment, wider skills support, and our employment programmes. There is also support available through our Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs). DEAs provide Jobcentre Plus work coaches with specialist support on how to tailor their support to help customers with long-term health conditions and disabilities move closer or into the labour market. Additionally, they can also offer direct support (1-2-1) to customers on top of what they receive from their work coach. They also work with the local community to advocate for customers, collaborate with local partners (GPs, NHS, third sector organisations), facilitate support that meets local needs and promote other initiatives such as Disability Confident, Workwell, Connect to Work and Access to Work.

Access to Work provides grant funding to support Workplace Adjustments that go beyond an employer's duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. The grant provides personalised support and workplace assessments, travel to work, support workers, and specialist aids and equipment. In March 2025, we published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to consult on the future of Access to Work. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.

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.

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.

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.

Found: 2024–26 Number Title Reference 61st Financial sustainability of children’s care homes HC 1233 60th DWP

Found: Child Ind Res 14, 981–1005; Department for Work and Pensions (2025) Costs of Child Poverty: A rapid

Found: resulting in the lifting of the ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ condition, and then by the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Several providers noted that the Home Office, DfE and DWP are not working in a cross-departmental

Found: maintaining access to benefits, particularly those that are disability related as the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Staffing at the Department for Work and Pensions, for example, is estimated to be at least 20% below

Found: mental health symptoms are exacerbated by work-related activity which is mandated by the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: State of digital government review - GOV.UK, 2025. 54 Department for Business and Trade/Department for Work and Pensions

Found: This is because they are given no proof of their ongoing immigration status and employers, DWP officials

Found: The DWP and local authorities would have to undertake checks with the Home Office on the claims of all

Found: labour markets and a former senior civil servant with experience in the Treasury, Cabinet Office, and DWP

Found: DESNZ continues to work with other government departments (including the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Recommendation 1: Integrate TRI with Keep Britain Working and NHS Pathways DBT, working with DHSC and DWP

Found: contract-based DC pension schemes continue to apply to performance related fee structures, despite the DWP

Found: contract-based DC pension schemes continue to apply to performance related fee structures, despite the DWP

Found: entry level recruitment and tackle economic inactivity through a partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: data suggests that 75% of employees have access to an EAP, that skews toward larger employers, with DWP

Found: The Premier League is also pleased to support the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Youth Guarantee

Found: Earlier this year, UKHospitality, in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) launched

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The current cross- government Head of Profession is the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The current cross- government Head of Profession is the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The current cross- government Head of Profession is the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The current cross- government Head of Profession is the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The current cross- government Head of Profession is the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The current cross- government Head of Profession is the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Session 2024–26 Number Title Reference 60th DWP follow-up: Autumn 2025 HC 1447 59th Ministry of Justice

Found: As shown by Big Brother Watch, claims in a DWP pilot of 68% high-risk claims involving overpayments

Found: For example, a pilot team of DWP case officers, HMRC analysts, and PSFA data scientists could spot irregular

Found: (2023–24) NAO [1][2] NFI outcomes £477.5 m (2022–24) NFI [11] Targeted Case Review Prevention shift DWP

Found: HMRC had £44 billion of debt on 31 March 20251 and Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) had £10.6

Found: While the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has piloted advanced analytics for fraud detection,

Found: While some departments such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have piloted analytics-based

Found: Recent controversies surrounding algorithmic bias in Department for Work and Pensions systems reveal

Found: citizens – it continues to entirely ignore them assuming honest citizens were active fraudsters - when DWP

Found: What is being done for the rest of the organisations apart from HMRC and DWP?

Found: that there are 16.8 million disabled people in the UK, according to the latest official estimate (DWP

Found: Additionally, data-sharing agreements between local authorities and the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: my understanding is that there is an invitation to all departments with the possible exception of DWP

Found: Cerys McDonald: HMRC and DWP have a regular data exchange on those receiving the state pension to inform

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many families and children are directly restricted by No Recourse to Public Funds.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition applies to the vast majority of adult temporary migrants in the UK and those without legal status, many of whom may not be in touch with the Home Office.

Data on the children within migrant families is not routinely collected. However, the Home Office regularly engages with stakeholders via the NRPF forum which provides a platform to raise concerns and share experiences of those affected by the policy.

Data on the number of applications from those wishing to have their NRPF condition lifted is published.

The Home Office has committed to working with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop questions on No Recourse to Public Funds for inclusion in the Family Resources survey 2026/2027, a household survey undertaken annually to explore living standards in the UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards (1) identifying, and (2) compensating, families affected by the inadvertent legislative change that was reversed by the Child Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/818); and when they expect to complete the correction exercise.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The correction exercise opened to claims for both Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit on 1 October 2025.

As affected individuals may not have had an active claim, HMRC is unable to identify affected individuals from its records and is reliant on them contacting HMRC. Prior to the launch, HMRC provided messaging directly to third-party welfare rights stakeholders to advertise the exercise and encourage claimants to self-identify. HMRC officials worked with the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions to amplify this messaging through homeschooling networks and local authorities, respectively. The exercise also received national press coverage.

The communications campaign is expected to run until October 2026. HMRC will continue to publicise through stakeholders, and consider further press releases or targeted social media.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce reoffending rates.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Reoffending in England and Wales costs taxpayers £22.7 billion per year (adjusted to 24/25 prices). Tackling reoffending is crucial to reducing crime, reducing demand on prison and probation services and protecting the public.

Working across Government, we are taking steps to tackle the root causes of reoffending by investing in a range of interventions which address offenders’ underlying criminogenic needs and support their rehabilitation journey. This includes, but is not limited to, education, employment, accommodation and substance misuse treatment services.

We have launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time bring businesses together with prisons, probation, and the Department for Work and Pensions to support prison leavers. We are expanding our community accommodation service to support prison leavers at risk of homelessness by providing up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation for those under probation supervision. And we have funded Incentivised Substance-Free Living units (ISFLs) in 85 prisons, where prisoners sign a behaviour compact, agree to be regularly drug tested and can access enhanced opportunities compared to a standard wing.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of children and young people with cancer from Scotland who have received some or all of their treatment in England within the last five years; and whether his Department provides support for travel costs for those patients.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to putting patients first and providing speedy and high-quality care, irrespective of where patients are treated in United Kingdom. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments to drive forward its objective of supporting people, including children and young people with cancer, to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.

DHSC knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families in England.

The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or a Personal Independence Payment. There are also several charities in the UK who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.

On 4 February 2025, DHSC relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients in England. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve experience and outcomes for children and young people with cancer in England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure equity of access to cancer treatment and care for children and young people with cancer from Scotland who may receive some or all of their care in England; and what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on this matter.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to putting patients first and providing speedy and high-quality care, irrespective of where patients are treated in United Kingdom. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments to drive forward its objective of supporting people, including children and young people with cancer, to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.

DHSC knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families in England.

The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional. Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or a Personal Independence Payment. There are also several charities in the UK who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.

On 4 February 2025, DHSC relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients in England. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan, which will include further details on how we will improve experience and outcomes for children and young people with cancer in England.

Found: To help support this commitment, the Depar tment for Work and Pensions (DWP) launched an independent

Found: The Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions advised by the Health and Safety Executive

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: people in the form of concessions and easy ways to pay. 2.16 In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: Four departmental ARAs (DWP, HMRC, DBT and MoD) have received a qualified audit opinion so far.

Found: Buildings And Industry (Nzbi) - Desnz - Net Zero Buildings - Portfolio & Affordability Department For Work And Pensions

Found: (Dwp)

Found:

Found: Zero Buildings - Portfolio & Affordability Hinduja Global Solutions Uk Ltd 659498 27326.71 Desnz - Dwp

Found: (Dwp) 642112 371071.99 Desnz - Dwp Warm Home Discount Delivery-honoraria, Fees And Expenses

Found: (Dwp)

Found:

Found: Industry (Nzbi) - Desnz - Net Zero Buildings - Portfolio & Affordability Serco Ltd 627793 87933.48 Desnz - Dwp

Found:

Found: Management Desnz - Energy Markets & Supply - Desnz - Strategy Directorate Serco Ltd 632336 86829.3 Desnz - Dwp

Found:

Found: - Portfolio & Affordability Office Of Gas And Electricity Markets (Ofgem) 673276 110961.19 Desnz - Dwp

Found:

Found: Desnz - Net Zero Buildings - Portfolio & Affordability Rsm Uk Consulting Llp 646556 186150.5 Desnz - Dwp

Found:

Found: - Desnz - Energy Affordability & Consumers Hinduja Global Solutions Uk Ltd 690088 62021.33 Desnz - Dwp

Found:

Found: Buildings - Portfolio & Affordability Office Of Gas And Electricity Markets (Ofgem) 697040 68643.59 Desnz - Dwp

Found: Department for Work and Pensions: 15.1. Office for Nuclear Regulation; 15.2.

Found: as their ‘DWP Ask’ query tool

Found: Officials representing five supporting departments (the Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of

Found: Officials representing five supporting departments (the Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry

Found: international education into the priorities of departments including DSIT, Cabinet Office, MHCLG, DWP

Found: as their ‘DWP Ask’ query tool

Found: In May 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions rolled out an increase in the administrative earnings

Found: Any change in salary, gross pension (including remedy) or relevant DWP benefits after the initial award

Found: changes to eligibility and of any process of case transfer of current awards from the Department for Work and Pensions

Found: The former Minister for Housing wrote to the DWP Secretary of State on 31 January calling for UKG action

Found: gov.scot 12 Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics 13 In May 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the quality, completeness and reliability of the new data used in the revised social care funding formula, including how that data was validated, whether any known limitations were identified, and, if so, how those limitations were communicated to the Settlement and Distribution Group and COSLA leaders prior to approval of the revised approach.

Answered by Robison, Shona - Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government

The formula used to distribute funding between Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities is agreed with COSLA on behalf of all 32 councils each year. The formula is kept under constant review and any changes in quantum or distribution are discussed and agreed through COSLA’s formal financial governance process including the jointly attended Data Issues Working Group (DIWG) who make recommendations to the Settlement Distribution Group (SDG), who in turn make principle-based recommendations to COSLA Leaders.

SDG is a jointly chaired Scottish Government and COSLA officer group. Members are drawn from Directors of Finance across Scotland and their role is to make professional, principle-based officer recommendations. The SDG is not a decision-making body but provides evidence-based recommendations to COSLA Leaders on issues impacting the Local Government Settlement.

DIWG is a technical advisory group including representation from local authorities that exists to support the work of the SDG and to provide assurance over the quality, completeness and reliability of the data used in the formula. Where required, it provides technical advice and recommendations on the practical application of distribution and settlement issues and has a key role in making recommendations to the SDG. The DIWG is jointly administered between the Scottish Government and COSLA, with members from local authorities across Scotland who will scrutinise the merits of data sources.

It is the agreed approach of DIWG, SDG and COSLA leaders that all decisions on the funding formula be made on the basis of principle. Neither COSLA nor Councils are therefore formally advised of the impact on individual authorities as part of the recommendation process although it may be possible for council officials to estimate the impact of individual decisions.

The distribution formula considers over 140 service areas including Education, Social Care, Leisure, Roads, Waste and Housing. Further information on the funding formula can be found at the following link.

Local government finance statistics - gov.scot

The availability of the 2022 Census data for the first time has seen a number of indicators (GAEs) updated substantively in the last 18-24 months. In addition, DIWG routinely assesses the underpinning formula to ensure it most appropriately aligns funding with need.

Meaningful budget engagement with COSLA and Councils has been a cornerstone of the preparations for the Scottish Budget 2026-27. Over the summer and following extensive consultation with councils, SDG considered three papers on the indicators used to distribute funding for Personal & Nursing Care for the Elderly, Residential Care for the Elderly and Services for Home-based Elderly respectively.

Alongside the papers that were considered by the DIWG and SDG, Scottish Government officials also provided council and COSLA finance officers with a presentation on the impact of the updated indicators to ensure the issues were widely and clearly understood and have continued to support councils and respond to any questions raised throughout the process. On 16 and 18 December 2025, in line with the commitments set out in the Fiscal Framework between Scottish Government and Local Government, Scottish Government officials also provided training to council finance officials on the Local Government Settlement more generally ahead of the Scottish Budget.

The Scottish Government plays no role in providing advice to COSLA Leaders following the recommendations of SDG but at their meeting on 31 October 2026, COSLA Leaders agreed the SDG recommendations regarding the distributions for Personal and Nursing Care for the Elderly, Residential Care for the Elderly and Services for Home-based Elderly.

The changes do not involve the use of any new indicators, and so there are no new concerns around data quality or suitability. The indicators used – 2022 Population Census data, NRS death rates and population estimates, Council Tax data and DWP Pension Credit data – are those used previously, but have, as always, been updated with the latest available year’s data and are all Accredited Official Statistics.

The strengths and weakness of each variable for modelling the need for elderly social care were noted during consultation, which is one reason why a range of variables are used rather than any one indicator. While none of the variables exactly match the need for elderly social care, all having strengths and weaknesses, the six variables that continue to be used were confirmed as being suitable prior to proposals going to COSLA leaders. The revision has related to the weightings given to each indicator, which has used mathematical modelling to more accurately reflect the drivers of need-to-spend. No link to rurality was found in the modelling, however this is to be revisited during 2026.

Population Census data that are more recent than the 2011 data only became available in 2025, and this is what led to the update of the methodology this year. It was agreed by the Settlement and Distribution Group in 2015 that some 2001 Population Census data continue to be used even though 2011 data were available. Officials have therefore always been aware of this, and have continued to implement that decision.

Due to the complexity of the distribution formula, looking at individual changes in isolation can be misleading particularly given the interactions with the relevant funding floor arrangements.

To protect against funding volatility, the needs-based formula applies a main funding floor which protects councils with falling needs from the equivalent fall in funding, in line with average changes across all authorities to ensure stability over time. The formula also includes an 85% funding floor to ensure no local authority receives less than 85% of the Scottish average funding on a per capita basis.

The combined impact of all the indicators interacting is only known once the Local Government Settlement is finalised. In the meantime, in order to assist authorities in their planning, we have provided authorities with an initial estimate of the changes and the effect of the Floor. As with previous years, the provisional individual council level allocations will be set out in a Local Government Finance Circular following the publication of the Scottish Budget on 13 January.

Found: CMS), the successor body to the Child Support Agency and part of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP

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