Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit overpayments arising from official error were identified in each month since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claims failed the Habitual Residence Test in each month since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit awards were made following the application of an exception to a No Recourse to Public Funds condition in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the amount paid in Universal Credit to claimants recorded as non-UK nationals by month since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time was between the date refugee status was first recorded and first payment for Universal Credit claimants with refugee status in 2025.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This information is not centrally held by DWP, and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish a list of organisations represented at his Department's conference on food poverty on 14 and 15 January 2026.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP Food Poverty Conference took place at the Abbey Centre on 15 January 2026.
Our aim was to bring together a range of local authorities, other government departments, charities and academics to share and discuss a range of good practice happening on the ground to respond to increasing need in relation to food poverty.
We received a high level of interest in the conference. Due to venue capacity, places were offered on a first come first served basis.
We saw over 30 local authorities represented from different regions across England. Examples include the Greater London Authority, Medway Council, Bristol City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, North Yorkshire Council, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and East Lindsey District Council. Local government sat alongside over a dozen national third sector organisations – such as Trussell, Feeding Britain, Sustain and Community Shop – as well as officials from across five government departments, including DWP, DfE, Defra, DHSC and MHCLG.
We’ve been encouraged by the positive feedback on the conference and the strong engagement shown across sectors. As a result, we are exploring the possibility of hosting a second conference online later in the year to enable more organisations to participate. We will provide further details as plans materialise.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of enforcement correspondence issued by the Child Maintenance Service in cases involving very small arrears, including where that correspondence refers to bailiff action, licence removal and imprisonment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) missed payment and arrears notifications do reference potential enforcement action that can be considered, should a paying parent continue to miss or avoid making child maintenance payments. This is to ensure the paying parent fully understands the potential consequences if their non-compliance persists.
The notification also asks the paying parent to contact CMS immediately, so we can work with the parent paying to negotiate a sustainable and feasible repayment plan. For small arrears, payments can spread over an appropriate timescale negating the need for enforcement action. Only, where this is not possible will CMS consider the use of our wider enforcement powers.
CMS uses a small‑value threshold (de minimis) before taking certain enforcement actions. This is to make sure any charges to customers are fair and not excessive. Therefore, enforcement action is not likely to be taken against very small arrears.
Asked by: Michelle Welsh (Labour - Sherwood Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of removing the three month waiting period for Child Disability Living Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no plans to remove the three month qualifying period for Child Disability Living Allowance and no estimate has been made of the cost of doing so. The three month qualifying period is not a waiting period. Its purpose is to help establish that the disability or health condition, and the resulting care, supervision or mobility needs are of a long-standing nature. This ensures that disability benefits are targeted to support those with long term health conditions or disabilities.
Children applying for DLA do not always have to wait for the full three months from the date of their claim before they become entitled to the benefit. The case manager will always look at whether, and for how long, the person has required the necessary level of help for care and/or mobility purposes before the date of claim and consider whether some or all of the qualifying period has already been completed.
Children claiming DLA under the special rules for end of life do not have to satisfy the three month qualifying period. Their claim is fast tracked, and they are eligible for the higher-rate care component from the date of claim.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
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 X and xAI since July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Paid advertising on X was suspended in April 2023 following a SAFE Framework assessment. X is currently used only for organic (non-paid) content to communicate policies and public services.
No expenditure has been made by the DWP with X since July 2024.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
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 households affected by the Local Housing Allowance freeze since its introduction.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. Households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance, regardless of the contractual rent paid. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
LHA rates are reviewed annually at Autumn Budget. The Secretary of State confirmed in his Written Ministerial Statement that LHA rates would be maintained at their current 2024/25 levels for 2026/27.
Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
The impact on private renters was considered alongside factors such as rent levels across Great Britain, the fiscal context and welfare priorities including the decision to remove the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.
Information on the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall (i.e. where contractual rent costs exceed LHA), is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number of households in receipt of LHA and those in shortfall are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset, and the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset, and are currently available to August 2025.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) from local authorities. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF). However, DWP would also point out that the causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. We work closely with other departments, including MHCLG, to ensure the impacts of LHA on homelessness are considered.