Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will undertake an assessment by the end of 2026 to establish if the cost of the The Eligibility Verification Measure provides value for money.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has previously published an Impact Assessment for the measures in the PAFER Act, which included the Eligibility Verification Measure, which can be found here ImpactAssessment.pdf.
DWP has committed to update this Impact Assessment within 12 months of Royal Assent.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what has been the estimated change in the numbers of those in receipt of Pension Credit between (a) November 2023 and (b) November 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Caseload statistics for Pension Credit are available via DWP Stat-Xplore. Data for November 2025 is not yet available. The latest available data is for the quarter ending May 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there have been changes in the levels of (a) fraud and (b) error in the benefits system since July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in the welfare state in Great Britain.
The Department publishes yearly estimates of fraud and error in the benefit system. The latest of which is available here: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK, and relates to benefit claims sampled between September 2023 and October 2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 2025 to Question 84146 on Women against State Pension Inequality, whether he plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign within the next six months.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no plans to meet with any campaign groups.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he last met representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous Minister for Pensions met with representatives from WASPI on 5th September 2024 to hear their experiences directly, the first Minister to do so in eight years.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 to the public purse of the State Pension by July 2029.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department’s latest forecasts estimate around £169 billion (in nominal terms) will be spent on the State Pension in 2029/30.
Forecasts are presented on a financial year basis, as the Department does not produce totals by a specific calendar month, such as July 2029.
Source: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of the National Employment Savings Trust will be paid more than £160,000 in the current financial year.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Nest is a Public Corporation which operates independently of Government. However, they have provided the following narrative:
At the start of the 2025/26 financial year, there were 25 employees on roll with a full-time equivalent salary above £160,000 per annum at the National Employment Savings Trust Corporation.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant the Answer of 2 September to Question 69743 on Universal Credit: Expenditure, whether she has had discussions with the OBR on the sustainability of the forecasted levels of expenditure on Universal Credit payments by the end of the current Parliament.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to a social security system which raises employment and living standards by supporting and incentivising people into work and to work more, reduces poverty by supporting people at times of higher cost and dependency, and promotes fairness and controls overall spending to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system for future generations. The Government’s welfare cap rule also helps ensure the long-term sustainability of the welfare system. A new welfare cap covering the current parliament was introduced at Autumn Budget 2024.
The financial sustainability of the benefit system, including Universal Credit, is considered in the round as part of the forecasts for annually managed expenditure which are produced twice yearly as part of the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast process.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 cost of Universal Credit payments in June 2029.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not publish a specific forecast of expenditure in June 2029, but expenditure for the 2029/30 financial year on Universal Credit is forecast to be £88,919 million.
Benefits’ expenditure and caseloads, in outturn and forecast, are published here: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost of Universal Credit payments were in each year between 2022 and 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Expenditure on Universal Credit was:
£40.6billion in the 21/22 financial year
£41.9billion in the 22/23 financial year
£52.1billion in the 23/24 financial year
Figures are taken from DWP's Spring Statement 2025 Benefit Expenditure and Caseload publication table 1a