Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil servants in his Department are working on the Access to Work Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Full Time Equivalent number of staff working on the Access to Work Scheme is currently 540.
Notes:
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department intends to respond to correspondence of 7 October 2025 from the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire on supporting neurodivergent people into employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I replied to the Hon. Member on 25 November.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 85514 on Social Security Benefits: Children, what those levers are.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As outlined in the response by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and Disability to Question UIN 85514 on 31 October 2025, we will be publishing our Child Poverty Strategy in the Autumn.
The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October to Question 80160 on Apprentices: Special Educational Needs, whether it is his Department's intention to expand this flexibility further.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where an apprentice has a learning difficulty or disability which is a barrier to them achieving the standard English and maths requirements, there is the flexibility for them to achieve the lower Entry Level 3 qualification in the adjusted subject. In August 2024, this was extended to apprentices with learning difficulties and disabilities but no Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 the level of child poverty in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the number of children living in relative poverty on a before housing costs basis for Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication.
An assessment of the trends in the level of child poverty in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency can be made using Table: “5_Relative_ParlC” in the latest published version, found here: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2024 - GOV.UK.
The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish our ambitious, UK-wide Child Poverty Strategy this autumn, which will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
In addition, we are taking further steps to support children and families through our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools, extend Free School Meals to every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit.
From September, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and above can now access 30 hours a week from the term following their child turning 9 months to when they start school. This means working parents could save on average £7,500 per year, transforming the costs of having children for families.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 the level of foodbank use in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest statistics on the number of individuals in UK households who used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months are available in the Households Below Average Income publication: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024 - GOV.UK.
National and England regional breakdowns should be calculated using three-year rolling averages from Stat-Xplore Stat-Xplore - Home. Due to small sample sizes, it is not possible to produce estimates of food bank use at the constituency level, including for Ely and East Cambridgeshire.
We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape.
To further support struggling households, we are providing £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food.
Starting from 1 April 2026, we have announced a further £842 million a year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, supporting our wider mission to reduce child poverty by reducing dependence on food parcels, preventing homelessness and making sure people can access urgent support when they need it.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to remove the two-child benefit cap.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn.
We are considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The commitments at the 2025 Spending Review and since, including the extension of free school meals eligibility to all children in families in receipt of Universal Credit, are key steps in our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets, and a downpayment on the Child Poverty Strategy, building on the expansion of free breakfast clubs, national minimum wage boost, and the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 80145 on Occupational Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with businesses on the adequacy of guidance on disclosures.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department recognises that disclosure is a personal decision and the Support with Employee Health and Disability service, developed with the involvement of employers from smaller businesses, and disability organisations, aims to support employers in creating environments where employees feel safe and supported to disclose health conditions or disabilities.
In recognition of employers’ vital role, DWP and DBT commissioned Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the Keep Britain Working independent review as part of the Government’s wider white paper plans to Get Britain Working. This has included engagement with businesses across the UK on all aspects of health and disability in the workplace. We are shortly expecting publication of Sir Charlie’s final report.
Government is also awaiting the findings from the recent consultation on disability pay gap reporting, where reporting on disclosure rates was discussed.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 increase the number of supported apprenticeships for neurodivergent people.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government is working to ensure that a learning difficulty or disability is not a barrier to people who want to realise the benefits of an apprenticeship.
The Find an Apprenticeship service allows people to identify Disability Confident Employers offering opportunities and Additional Learning Support funding is available to training providers to make reasonable adjustments which support apprentices who have learning difficulties and disabilities.
The government also provides £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 Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) or have been in care.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has considered removing the requirement for employment candidates to have education, health and care plans in order to obtain flexibility in apprenticeships.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
All education and training providers (including apprenticeships), and other related service providers, have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students. This includes people with a learning difficulty. This duty is set out under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010.
Disability Rights UK have information available which describes how reasonable adjustments can be provided for students with disabilities.
We want all learners and apprentices to feel comfortable and confident to disclose and discuss their individual needs. The recent Post-16 Education and Skills white paper sets out how we aim to remove barriers to participation and progression for all learners, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD), by ensuring flexible pathways and tailored support.
The government provides £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 Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been in care.
Additional Learning Support funding is available to training providers to make reasonable adjustments which support apprentices who have LDD. Training providers can claim £150 per month where there is a cost involved in making adjustments to support their learning.
Where an apprentice has a LDD which is a barrier to them achieving the standard English and maths requirements there is the flexibility for them to achieve the lower Entry Level 3 qualification in the adjusted subject. From August 2024, this has been extended to apprentices with an LDD but no EHCP.