Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the readiness criteria used for the managed migration to universal credit; and, if not, why.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Senior Responsible Owner for Universal Credit set out the criteria for the Public Accounts Committee at its hearing on March 11, 2024, Progress in implementing Universal Credit (HC 552) Question 26 committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14467/pdf/

The formal assessments are published as part of the regular releases of Programme Board papers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are considering the Ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Markham on 11 March (HL Deb col 1802), and taking account of the latest Households Below Average Income data, which shows a 300,000 increase in the number of children living in absolute poverty in the past year, what assessment they have made of the impact on health and well-being of the two-child limit for child benefit; and what assessment they have made of the strengths and weaknesses of using the measure of absolute poverty rather than relative poverty.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.

Child Benefit continues to be paid for all children in eligible families.

Relative poverty sets a threshold as a proportion of the UK median income and moves each year as average income changes.

Typically, a household is in relative poverty if its income is less than 60 per cent of the median household income.

Absolute poverty, by our definition, is a threshold as a proportion of the UK average income in a given year (2010/11) and moves each year in line with inflation.

This government prefers to look at Absolute poverty over Relative poverty as relative poverty can provide counter-intuitive results.

Relative poverty is likely to fall during recessions, due to falling median incomes. Under this measure, poverty can decrease even if people are getting poorer.

The absolute poverty line is fixed in real terms, so will only ever worsen if people are getting poorer, and only ever improve if people are getting richer.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide (1) an apology, and (2) compensation, to women born in the 1950s, as recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in its report, Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are considering the Ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that all those considering leaving work permanently are subject to ‘work search’ requirements before they receive benefits.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the Universal Credit regulations 2013/2015 determine the conditionality expectations that are relevant to individuals who are claiming Universal Credit.

For those who are expected to look for or prepare for work this will include up to 35 hours a week of work-related and work preparation activities, with an expectation that they take all reasonable actions to find work and move towards financial independence as quickly as possible. If they fail to comply and meet their agreed commitments without good reason a sanction may be applied.

If a claimant is found to have voluntarily left their employment without good reason, they will be sanctioned for a fixed period of at least 91 days.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) planned spending is for and (b) expected number of beneficiaries are of the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme in each of the next five years.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) programme is due to end on 21 September 2025. The forecasted spending for the 2024/2025 tax year and the beginning of the 2025/2026 tax year until the programme ends is shown in the table below.

We do not produce a formal forecast of the number of participants for the IPES programme per year. The last intake of participants to the programme was December 2023. As of 29 February 2024, the total number of participants was 3,820. This number will decline as participants complete the programme, until September 2025 when the programme is due to end.

Please Note

• The figures in the table have been rounded to the nearest million.
• The data recorded in the IPES dataset does not meet the standards required to be included in the Official Statistics. Please treat the total number of participant value as a guide figure rather than an actual figure.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the letter they received from the government of Brazil in 2011 that sought a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK, and a copy of their response to that letter.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions received diplomatic correspondence from the Brazilian government in 2011 and DWP officials met with officials at the Brazilian Embassy in London to discuss the request. There was no further action.

We do not publish another country’s diplomatic correspondence or the content of negotiations without their consent.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that the sanctions regime does not disadvantage those who experience mental health challenges.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Customers in the No Work Related Requirements Group, for example those with a severe mental health condition or disability, are not subject to conditionality requirements and therefore not subject to sanctions.

Customers are only ever sanctioned if they fail to meet their agreed requirements without good reason and they are given every opportunity to explain why they failed to meet their agreed conditionality requirement before a decision is made. We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to search for or prepare for work and Claimant Commitments are set in discussion with the claimant and tailored to their capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable.

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 time taken to make an autism assessment on employment rates.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There are no plans for DWP to make this specific assessment. Whilst we recognise the importance of early identification of autism, a diagnosis is not required to be eligible for reasonable adjustments and the provision of workplace support. These are made, in line with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, based on functional need.

We are, as you know, encouraging employers to adopt more neuro-inclusive working practices, which benefit neurodiverse employees irrespective of whether they have a diagnosis.

The SoS and I were delighted to see the launch of your excellent Review into Autism Employment on the 28^{th of} February, which has created a focus for action to improve the recruitment and retention of autistic people. It has identified workplace barriers, and the working practices and initiatives that can reduce them, to create a more inclusive working environment for autistic employees and autistic jobseekers.

We now look towards supporting how the 19 recommendations in the report can be implemented to encourage a more neuro-inclusive culture in the workplace.

This is supported by Disability Confident, our scheme to increase employers’ understanding of how to recruit, retain and support disabled employees and the Support with Employee Health and Disability online service which guides employers through health and disability scenarios at work, including making reasonable adjustments.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution by the Leader of the House in Business Questions on 21 March 2024, what progress his Department has made on the case of Mr Anthony Rock.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

I cannot comment on individual cases for data protection reasons. A response to your letter of 22 February 2023, was sent to you on 11 March 2023 advising you of the actions we were taking on your constituent’s claim.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many starts have been recorded for the Youth Offer in (a) Greater London, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency as of 21 March 2024.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Youth Offer launched 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:

• The Youth Employment Programme, which provides young people dedicated intensive Work Coach support in finding & applying for jobs, with additional assistance available for those who have recently begun their Universal Credit claim.
• Youth Hubs, which bring together in one location DWP services with local support provided by youth experts. This ensures that the needs of young people are matched to services that help them tackle barriers to employment.
• Youth Employability Coaches, who are focused on supporting young people furthest from the labour market overcome complex challenges so that they can move into work.

As of 01 March 2024, there have been 1,123,000 starts on the Youth Offer. Starts in the requested areas can be found in the table below.

1. A claimant may take part on the Youth Offer multiple times. Each of these starts is recorded as a start on the Youth Offer.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Therefore, the individual elements in the table may not sum to the total figure.
3. Figures are subject to retrospective revision.
4. Youth Offer starts are categorised as “unknown” in cases where limited data is available.
5. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency.

Attached are tables listing the number of Youth Offer starts to date by Region, Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency.

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 (a) fiscal and (b) economic impact of the reduction in the permitted period during which (i) Universal Credit and (ii) Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants can limit their work search to their preferred sector or pay level.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not readily available 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 he has made of the (a) fiscal cost to the public purse and (c) savings associated with the rollout of Additional Jobcentre Support.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

A 12-month extension was announced in Spring Budget 2024, which will enable us to better understand the impact of Additional Jobcentre Support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of the total number of work coaches required to implement the roll-out of Additional Jobcentre Support.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

A 12-month extension was announced in Spring Budget 2024, which will enable us to better understand the impact of Additional Jobcentre Support.

Stop the benefit people getting a retirement pension

I think that Universal Credit should not have a lower rate for under 25s. I think this puts under 25s at a disadvantage and is discrimination based on age.

I would like the Government to require all private pension providers to allow people earlier access to their pensions if they can no longer work due to ill health, and the pension should be based on their original hours (not reduced hours they worked because of their health).

Raise Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) to £250 per week. Increase Universal Credit during maternity, and do not take household income into account (treat all mothers as a single income).

Found: are costs which should fall on the Ministry of Justice (access to legal advice) and either the DWP

Found: Submitted a disrepair counter-claim, appealed his benefit overpayments with the DWP.

Found: The DWP revised their original decision in the claimant’s favour within 1 month of the appeal

Found: other departments involved are the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP

Found: supported housing sector, 118 the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Department

Found: Home Office has consulted with other relevant departments, including the Ministry of Justice and Department

Found: When you were in the Department for Work and Pensions, you also used to ask many very pertinent

Found: The costs through adulthood fall to the DWP, the Department of Health and the Ministry of Justice, not

Found: officials across different government departments, whether it is Justice, the Foreign Office, the DWP

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available for military veterans transitioning back into civilian life.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) supports serving personnel, veterans, the military bereaved, and their families, who have an enduring welfare need or need help to access DWP benefits or injury, bereavement and compensation schemes.

Defence Transition Services (DTS) helps Service leavers and their families, who face challenges as they leave the military and adjust to civilian life.

The support from these two services is available from two years before discharge, through into civilian life and regardless of time served or reason for discharge.

Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans (IPC4V) supports Armed Forces personnel who are leaving the services and are suffering from complex and enduring physical, neurological and mental health issues resulting from an injury that is attributable to Service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to restore the availability of data on Healthy Start uptake on the Healthy Start website.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Work and Pensions has identified an error in their data that means that the data published for Healthy Start uptake from July 2023 onwards was incorrect. It is important to state that the data used to calculate the uptake rate is not used as part of the live check to determine eligibility for individual applicants to Healthy Start, and no individual applicants or beneficiaries have been impacted, The Department for Work and Pensions has fixed the issue, and additional checks have been added to the process to ensure the issue does not occur in the future.

The incorrect data has been removed from the NHS Healthy Start website by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA), who run the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. Corrected and updated data for March 2024 will be published by the NHS BSA shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to restore the availability of data on the uptake of Healthy Start vouchers on the Healthy Start website.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Work and Pensions has identified an error in their data that means that the data published for Healthy Start uptake from July 2023 onwards was incorrect. It is important to state that the data used to calculate the uptake rate is not used as part of the live check to determine eligibility for individual applicants to Healthy Start, and no individual applicants or beneficiaries have been impacted, The Department for Work and Pensions has fixed the issue, and additional checks have been added to the process to ensure the issue does not occur in the future.

The incorrect data has been removed from the NHS Healthy Start website by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA), who run the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. Corrected and updated data for March 2024 will be published by the NHS BSA shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the five recommendations made in the report by the First 1001 Days Movement, A Manifesto for Babies, published on 19 March; and whether they intend to respond to each recommendation.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is strong evidence that the 1,001 days from pregnancy to the age of two years old set the foundations for our cognitive, emotional, and physical development. Investing in this critical period presents a real opportunity to improve outcomes and tackle health disparities by ensuring that thousands of babies and families have improved access to quality support and services. The Government is therefore already taking forward a range of actions in line with recommendations in the report by the First 1001 Days Movement to ensure that every baby gets the best start in life.

For example, in March 2021, the Government published The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days, a copy of which is attached. This vision sets out six action areas for improving support for families during the 1,001 critical days to ensure every baby in England is given the best possible start in life, regardless of background.

The Government is also investing approximately £300 million to improve support for families though the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. The programme is implementing many elements of the Best Start for Life Vision and is delivering a step change in outcomes for babies, children and their parents and carers in 75 local authorities in England, including those with high levels of deprivation. Many local authorities without funding have also chosen to implement elements of the vision.

The programme funding package includes £10 million to enable five local authorities and their partners to pilot innovative early years workforce models, with the aim of improving the access, experience and outcomes of babies, children, and families, and supporting the capacity and job satisfaction of the workforces involved.

To support new parents, Statutory Maternity Pay is paid by employers to qualifying employed women for a maximum of 39 weeks, the first six weeks of which are paid at 90% of the women’s salary followed by 33 weeks at the lower of either the standard rate or 90% of the woman’s average weekly earnings. For those who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance may be available. This is a benefit paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to eligible women and is intended for those who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay. The standard rate of maternity pay is reviewed annually.

Paternity Leave arrangements enable employed fathers and partners, including same sex partners, who meet the qualifying conditions to take up to two weeks of paid leave within the first eight weeks following the birth of their child or placement for adoption. The Government has recently announced changes to make Paternity Leave and Pay more flexible for working families from April 2024. This includes allowing fathers and partners to take their leave and pay at any point in the first year after the birth or adoption of their child.

A Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme is also available, giving working families much more choice and flexibility about who cares for their child in the first year, and when.

Found: for Work and Pensions; (aiii)the Environment Agency;”; (ii)after sub-paragraph (i), insert— “(ia)the

Found: annual canvass model adds a data matching step, where the registers are compared with data held by the Department

Found: government is legislating to require the transfer of data from third parties, such as banks, to the Department

Found: other departments involved are the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP

Found: other departments involved are the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP

Found: Housing benefits Supplied by DWP Housing tenants Housing waiting list Payroll Pensions

Found: this matter as I believe there a disconnect in relation to this approach and the HSEs (and therefore Department

Found: ......................... 50 List of Abbreviations DfT UK Government Department for Transport DWP

Found: medical & HGV licences Accelerated development of new Urban Driver Apprenticeship Expansion of DWP

Found: Details The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) use Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to calculate

Found: Convened a meeting with senior representatives from the following government agencies: GLAA, HSE, DWP

Found: thus complement and amplify the work of several departments: FCDO, MOD, HO, DfT, DBT, DLUHC, DSIT, DWP

Found: In Spring 2023, the Scottish Government worked with the Department for Work and Pensions to provide

Found: Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) DWP is responsible for most welfare, pensions and child maintenance

Found: delivered by Social Security Scotland , including those replacing benefits previously delivered by the Department

Found: Foundation Stuart Cameron, Creative Scotland Gary Christie, Scottish Refugee Council Jacqui Hughes, Department

Found: Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the UK Government Department

Found: Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the UK Government Department

Found: Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the UK Government Department

Found: Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the UK Government Department

Found: Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the UK Government Department

Found: Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the UK Government Department

Found: Experience Panels.2 These participants had experience of the benefits due to be transferred from the Department

Found: This will replace the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) delivered Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) in Scotland

Found: This will replace the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) delivered Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) in Scotland

Found: The guidance issued by DWP in relation to the previous DHP scheme no longer has effect in Scotland.

Found: Introduction The Scottish Government is now responsible for some of the benefits previously delivered by the Department