Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Sherlock on 30 June (HL116 and HL117), whether the training programmes for case managers and healthcare professionals include the identification of false letters sent to PIP assessors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
"Relevant partners" refers to charities and organisations with expertise in disability benefits, welfare rights and claimant support, such as Citizens Advice.
As part of keeping this area under review, the Department will continue to consider evidence about the activity of commercial providers and any poor practice, including where this may affect the quality or reliability of evidence submitted in support of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims.
Healthcare Professionals (HPs) and Case Managers are required to undertake a detailed review of all available evidence as part of the assessment and decision-making process and to assess the consistency, relevance and sufficiency of the information provided in support of a claim.
The PIP Assessment Guide requires HPs to consider any inconsistencies in the evidence available, determine whether further supporting evidence is required, and record the rationale for the conclusions reached. Where appropriate, HPs may seek additional evidence from professionals involved in the claimant’s care, including GPs, hospital clinicians and other relevant practitioners, to help inform their advice to DWP.
DWP is focussed on preventing fraud and error from entering the system and has robust detect and correct capabilities in place to address inaccurate payments at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 9 July (HL820), what are the "relevant partners" referred to; and what steps will be taken as part of this review.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
"Relevant partners" refers to charities and organisations with expertise in disability benefits, welfare rights and claimant support, such as Citizens Advice.
As part of keeping this area under review, the Department will continue to consider evidence about the activity of commercial providers and any poor practice, including where this may affect the quality or reliability of evidence submitted in support of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims.
Healthcare Professionals (HPs) and Case Managers are required to undertake a detailed review of all available evidence as part of the assessment and decision-making process and to assess the consistency, relevance and sufficiency of the information provided in support of a claim.
The PIP Assessment Guide requires HPs to consider any inconsistencies in the evidence available, determine whether further supporting evidence is required, and record the rationale for the conclusions reached. Where appropriate, HPs may seek additional evidence from professionals involved in the claimant’s care, including GPs, hospital clinicians and other relevant practitioners, to help inform their advice to DWP.
DWP is focussed on preventing fraud and error from entering the system and has robust detect and correct capabilities in place to address inaccurate payments at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that commercial providers of Personal Independence Payment claim assistance clearly disclose their legal entity and company registration details to claimants before any fee agreement is entered into.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are aware that some commercial providers offer paid assistance with Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications. Claimants are actively encouraged to seek free, independent advice where possible. High quality support is available through government recognised services, including Citizens Advice and other local welfare advice organisations, which can provide guidance on entitlement and the application process at no cost.
We are continuing to strengthen safeguards within the system, including enhanced identity verification processes, increased scrutiny of supporting evidence, and training for Case Managers and Healthcare Professionals to identify inconsistencies or potentially fraudulent activity. Our focus remains on ensuring that individuals receive the support they are entitled to, while protecting the integrity of the benefits system.
The Department will continue to keep this area under review and work with relevant partners to ensure that claimants are able to access PIP support without unnecessary costs.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual turnover of the commercial personal independent payment claim-help sector; and whether it plans to establish a formal register of paid personal independent payment claim-help providers.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department takes benefit fraud extremely seriously and is committed to maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and fairness in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. We are aware of content on social media platforms that may seek to advise claimants on how to approach or potentially manipulate the assessment process. We are exploring the issue of misleading advice shared on social media as part of our wider work. Clear and comprehensive guidance is available on GOV.UK, and we actively encourage claimants to seek support from reputable organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau and recognised charities to ensure claims are accurate and based on genuine need.
We continue to strengthen safeguards within the system, including enhanced identity verification processes, increased scrutiny of supporting evidence, and continuing training for Case Managers and Healthcare Professionals to identify inconsistencies or potentially fraudulent activity. Our focus remains on ensuring that individuals who meet the criteria receive the support they are entitled to, while protecting the integrity of the benefits system.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the sale of personal independent payment claim advice by individuals operating through social media platforms without a registered legal entity or regulated status.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department takes benefit fraud extremely seriously and is committed to maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and fairness in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. We are aware of content on social media platforms that may seek to advise claimants on how to approach or potentially manipulate the assessment process. We are exploring the issue of misleading advice shared on social media as part of our wider work. Clear and comprehensive guidance is available on GOV.UK, and we actively encourage claimants to seek support from reputable organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau and recognised charities to ensure claims are accurate and based on genuine need.
We continue to strengthen safeguards within the system, including enhanced identity verification processes, increased scrutiny of supporting evidence, and continuing training for Case Managers and Healthcare Professionals to identify inconsistencies or potentially fraudulent activity. Our focus remains on ensuring that individuals who meet the criteria receive the support they are entitled to, while protecting the integrity of the benefits system.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 20th February (HL14368), what percentage of those claiming Universal Credit had an immigration status recorded as "other" or have no immigration status recorded in (1) January 2025, and (2) January 2026.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The percentage of people on Universal Credit by immigration status for January 2025 and January 2026 is shown in the table below. The proportion of Universal Credit claimants with an immigration status recorded as ‘other’ or where there is no immigration status recorded on the digital system either stayed broadly the same or decreased in January 2026 compared with January 2025.
Table 1. Percentage of people on Universal Credit by Immigration status, Great Britain, January 2025 and 2026
| January 2025 (%) | January 2026 (%) |
Other | 0.4% | 0.4% |
No immigration status recorded on digital systems | 0.5% | 0.3% |
Source: DWP Universal Credit - Immigration Status and Nationality statistics
Note:
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of people who use the Access to Work scheme for mental health support have a diagnosed condition.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held centrally and extracting this information would require manual examination of individual records and exceed the cost limit.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been spent on mental health support as part of the Access to Work scheme in each of the past five years, broken down by mental health condition.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Although the Department holds information on the mental health conditions of Access to Work customers and the specific types of support they receive, information on specific mental health conditions and how much has been spent on mental health support is not readily accessible. The required information is recorded as descriptive free-text information and extracting it would require manual review of individual records.
While we cannot provide total expenditure on mental health support, the Access to Work official statistics do report expenditure for customers whose primary medical condition is a mental health condition, as well as for the Mental Health Support Service, as seen in the table below.
£m, 2024/25 prices | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Mental Health Condition | 5.9 | 12.2 | 17.4 | 27.7 | 38.7 |
Mental Health Support Service | 7.1 | 7.7 | 9.4 | 11.5 | 11.9 |
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the removal of the two-child benefit limit to unemployed refugees receiving Universal Credit is perceived as fair by the public.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are strict rules that govern who can access benefits. Parents who are not British or Irish nationals can only access Universal Credit with a valid immigration status of a kind that gives them the right to access public funds. Most migrants with temporary visas cannot access the benefit system. Access to public funds and benefits is usually at the point of settlement, which for most people will be after they have lived in the UK legally for five years, and the Home Office Earned Settlement policy consultation is looking at increasing this to ten years. The Home Office is also consulting on changing the default position to maintain No Recourse to Public Funds at settlement and lifting this only at the point of British citizenship. This would mean that migrants would need to wait longer to access benefits.
DWP also plans to consult on changes to the benefit rules to prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK. The consultation will look at how the benefit rules apply to everyone arriving or returning to the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) families, and (2) children, who will be affected by the removal of the two child benefit cap in the next two years, including those whose no recourse to public funds status has been lifted by exemption, broken down by immigration status (a) common travel area and right of abode, (b) EU settlement scheme, (c) humanitarian, (d) refugee, (e) indefinite leave to remain (not EU settlement scheme), and (f) limited leave to remain (not EU settlement scheme).
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not produce forecasts of the impact of removing the two child limit on families or children by immigration status, and the estimate requested is not available. To produce such an estimate would incur disproportionate cost.
As our published information shows, in 2026/27, we estimate around 510,000 and in 2027/28, we estimate 520,000 Universal Credit Households will benefit from this policy change.
Table 5: Estimated number of households benefitting from the policy change
| 2026/27 | 2027/28 | 2028/29 | 2029/30 | 2030/31 |
Already on UC (static) (000’s) | 500 | 510 | 520 | 550 | 560 |
Newly entitled to UC (static) (000’s) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Reduction due to exceptions (static) (000’s) | - 20 | - 20 | - 20 | - 20 | - 20 |
Increased take-up of UC (behavioural) (000’s) | 20 | 20 | 30 | 30 | 20 |
Total (000’s) | 510 | 520 | 540 | 560 | 570 |
Note: Caseloads rounded to the nearest 10k and totals may not sum up due to rounding. Great Britain only. | |||||
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament - Regulatory impact assessment template (2023 reforms)
Most migrants with temporary visas cannot access the benefit system. Access to public funds and benefits is usually at the point of settlement, which for most people will be after they have lived in the UK legally for five years, and the Home Office Earned Settlement policy consultation is looking at increasing this to ten years. The Home Office is also consulting on changing the default position to maintain No Recourse to Public Funds at settlement and lifting this only at the point of British citizenship.