Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on integrated occupational-health pathways.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate routinely works across Departments and health systems to develop cross cutting initiatives such as Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme and WorkWell.
The Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies (England), embeds Employment Advisors within the Talking Therapies service, enabling the provision of integrated therapeutic treatment and employment support to patients regardless of their work or benefit status.
The Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme (IPSPC), is a Supported Employment model aimed at supporting disabled people and those with health conditions. IPSPC supports people who are out of work and those needing support with their health issues to stay in work.
The WorkWell pilot is a new way to deliver integrated work and health support that is designed by Integrated Care Boards in partnership with local government, Jobcentre Plus and community groups. These partnerships have had flexibility to design their WorkWell service according to their local needs, building on existing assets and resources, creating opportunities to integrate provision and pathways across places. Sites went live from October 2024 in 15 areas in England and provide low intensity holistic support for health-related barriers to employment, and a single joined up gateway to existing local work and health service provision. Multidisciplinary teams provide support to participants that can include employer liaison, work and health coaching, physiotherapy, and mental health services.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has established indicators for employer participation in health-and-work initiatives in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has no specific indicators for employer participation in health-and-work initiatives specifically in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of employer-partnership programmes on labour market participation in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions continually monitors and evaluates the impact of its programmes on labour market participation across Great Britain, including in Buckingham and Bletchley.
Employer-partnership initiatives such as the Restart Scheme, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), and Skills Bootcamps are subject to independent evaluation, which informs future policy and contractual decisions. For example, the Restart evaluation by the Learning & Work Institute and Ipsos UK, and the Skills Bootcamp evaluation by CFE Research, are publicly available on GOV.UK.
Locally, Jobcentres in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes deliver a range of employer-led programmes to help people move into sustainable employment. These include tailored support through Restart, mentoring circles with NHS and other employers, and SWAPs in sectors such as construction, logistics, retail, and health and social care.
The Department’s wider reforms will create a new service across Great Britain, enabling people to access support to find good, meaningful work and progress in employment, while working with employers to overcome recruitment barriers and meet skills needs.
Through these measures, the Department aims to improve labour market participation and ensure inclusive employment opportunities in Buckingham, Bletchley, and beyond.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to measure the effectiveness of early-intervention employment support for people at risk of leaving work due to ill health.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of new and existing initiatives assesses whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design.
All early intervention employment and health programmes are accompanied by robust evaluation strategies as per HM Treasury guidance. For example, for the WorkWell pilots there is a published feasibility study that outlines approaches to estimating the impact of the programme.
On completion of the evaluation, externally commissioned evaluation reports are published. For example, the evaluation of the Work Choice programme - a voluntary scheme supporting disabled people facing employment barriers or at risk of job loss showed - published in April 2025 found that, eight years after referral, participants had a payrolled employment rate 11 percentage points higher than the comparison group. This meant the programme delivered strong value for money, returning £1.67 to the Exchequer for every £1 spent.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to enhance digital access support for Pension Credit applications for older people.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department is committed to making Pension Credit applications as accessible as possible for older people. We have invested in the Apply for Pension Credit online service (AfPC), which is designed to simply gather the information needed to make a claim, while ensuring that non-digital routes remain available for those who prefer or require them.
Assisted digital support is embedded into the service, including telephone and paper-based options for digitally excluded customers. To further enhance digital access support, we plan to introduce “save and return” to make online applications easier for those who need more time or assistance.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 potential factors limiting Pension Credit take-up among eligible low-income pensioners in rural areas.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Research suggests that there are a range of reasons why some pensioners don’t claim Pension Credit. These include lack of awareness, uncertainty about eligibility and stigma around claiming benefits more generally. Some pensioners assume that they will not be entitled because they own their own home or have modest savings or other retirement income. Some may be put off by the claim processor be hesitant to provide personal or financial information. Pensioners in rural areas may face added barriers such as having limited access to local support services, social isolation or poor digital connectivity.
The Government is committed to ensuring that all pensioners, no matter where they live, receive the financial support they are entitled to. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit taken-up campaign across the whole of Great Britain, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensioners and their family and friends through adverts on television and radio; on social media and on digital screens in GP surgeries and Post Offices, as well as in the press. And Pension Credit can be claimed over the telephone, by post or online. Pensioners claiming by telephone can be supported and guided through the claim process by an agent while the online service is available 24/7 every day of the year and can be completed by a friend or relative.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on local authority engagement with Pension Credit take-up campaigns.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department regularly engages with all councils in Great Britain through the Local Authority Welfare Direct e-bulletins on GOV.UK, email communications to our local authority contact list, and through wider outreach work through partnership managers covering national Jobcentre Plus districts. DWP Communications keeps a log of the extensive support for the campaign offered by Local Authorities across Great Britain, which helps the Department to focus promotional efforts. Following our calls for support for the annual Pension Credit Week of Action in 2024, and in October this year, at least 200 councils across Great Britain have actively supported our awareness campaign through social media promotion and/or in-person/on-site distribution of our promotional materials, including posters and leaflets.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 help ensure that vulnerable pensioners are protected from online benefit scams.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP is taking a number of steps to protect our vulnerable customers from online benefit scams. This includes raising public awareness of benefit scam messages on the Gov.uk website. Our most recent press release relating to Winter Fuel Payment warned our customers to be alert to text message scams in advance of next month’s payments and urging them to forward any suspicious texts to 7726. This is free of charge and helps phone providers block the numbers involved. Customers are also encouraged to forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.
We are also working together with Action Fraud raising awareness on social media sites including Facebook and X formerly known as Twitter. This is alongside DWP’s continued work with trusted partners and charities such as Independent Age to ensure accurate and timely information is available. DWP has also developed a recorded message for our telephone lines to raise awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with law enforcement agencies to help (a) identify and (b) prevent winter fuel payment scams.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In partnership with Action Fraud, we are raising awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams across Facebook and Twitter. This is alongside DWP’s continued work with trusted partners and charities such as Independent Age to ensure accurate and timely information is available. DWP has also developed a recorded message for our telephone lines and issued a press release via GOV.UK to raise awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams.
To protect customers from fraudulent SMS messages, DWP has registered all official Sender IDs with the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF). UK mobile networks use this register to block messages claiming to be from DWP that are not sent through approved routes.
Scams that are reported to or discovered by the Department that use other channels, such as social media, are managed through existing security processes and referred to Action Fraud where appropriate. Significant trends are also shared with the National Cyber Security Centre.