Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has targets for employing more staff to carry out face-to-face assessments.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we are planning to increase the number of face-to-face health assessments. At the same time, we remain committed to offering alternative assessment channels to accommodate individuals who require a different approach, such as those needing reasonable adjustments.

All assessment suppliers have contractual requirements to increase the proportion of assessments conducted face-to-face. To meet these requirements, suppliers are expected to plan and manage recruitment accordingly with progress regularly reviewed.

The department is working closely with suppliers to explore ways to boost capacity for face-to-face assessments. A key focus is increasing the recruitment of suitably qualified health professionals to support delivery in assessment centres.

Suppliers continue to develop and implement strategies to enhance recruitment, training, and retention, ensuring that skilled staff are in place to support claimants effectively.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK nationals claiming Universal Credit have (a) three, (b) four, (c) five, (d) six (e) seven and (f) eight or more children in their household.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims are managed exclusively through the online journal without in-person Jobcentre visits.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost to develop the appropriate code and analyse the raw data.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants have not attended in-person appointments at Jobcentres in the last (a) three, (b) six and (c) twelve months.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost to develop the appropriate code and analyse the raw data.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants have not attended a Jobcentre in person since the start of their claim in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost to develop the appropriate code and analyse the raw data.

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 effectiveness of the Universal Credit online journal as a substitute for face-to-face engagement with claimants.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The UC service is designed as a digital-first platform, with the online journal serving as a central communication tool between claimants and DWP. It enables claimants to successfully and securely:

• Receive appointment reminders and mandatory updates.
• Communicate with Work Coaches and case managers.
• Manage their responsibilities and maintain entitlement.

The Journal is a digital channel which helps two-way communications between claimants and DWP, however it was never intended to and does not replace face-to-face appointments. Claimants have a range of channels available to them, and can mostly use their preference, unless the activity mandates a particular option.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK nationals claiming Universal Credit are affected by the two-child limit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Statistics about the policy that provides support for a maximum of 2 children in Universal Credit are published annually. The latest publication is available here: Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many additional staff have been employed to carry out face-to-face PIP assessments since July 2024.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of additional health professionals (HPs) employed to conduct face-to-face Personal Independence Payments (PIP) assessments is not held. This is because the data cannot be split to show the HPs recruited to deliver a specific type of assessment and the majority of the suppliers have multi-skilled HPs who deliver across multiple channels.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many face-to-face PIP assessments have taken place since July 2024, broken down by month.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) face-to-face assessments carried out each month from July 2024 to August 2025 can be found in the table below.

Please Note

• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 1000.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment suppliers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• The dip in September is due to the introduction of the Functional Assessment Service contracts on 9 September 2024. For a brief period, face to face assessments were limited to allow for a smooth transition from the old Health and Disability Assessment Service to the new Health Assessment Advisory Service across the country.

The number of PIP face-to-face assessments conducted is not available at a regional level. However, we can provide the information split by Lot. The number of PIP face-to-face assessments carried out by Lot from July 2024 to August 2025 can be found in the table below.

Please Note

• All volumes greater than or equal to 1000 have been rounded to the nearest 1000, all volumes less than 1000 have been rounded to the nearest 100.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment suppliers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• Please note that for the period July- September 2024, Lot 3 and Lot 4 data is combined due to the old contractual reporting structure.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many face-to-face PIP assessments have been conducted in each region of the UK since July 2024.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) face-to-face assessments carried out each month from July 2024 to August 2025 can be found in the table below.

Please Note

• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 1000.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment suppliers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• The dip in September is due to the introduction of the Functional Assessment Service contracts on 9 September 2024. For a brief period, face to face assessments were limited to allow for a smooth transition from the old Health and Disability Assessment Service to the new Health Assessment Advisory Service across the country.

The number of PIP face-to-face assessments conducted is not available at a regional level. However, we can provide the information split by Lot. The number of PIP face-to-face assessments carried out by Lot from July 2024 to August 2025 can be found in the table below.

Please Note

• All volumes greater than or equal to 1000 have been rounded to the nearest 1000, all volumes less than 1000 have been rounded to the nearest 100.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment suppliers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• Please note that for the period July- September 2024, Lot 3 and Lot 4 data is combined due to the old contractual reporting structure.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of investigations into benefit fraud result find no wrongdoing.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP takes all allegations of fraud seriously, irrespective of reporting method, and will take appropriate action on those cases where there is concern about entitlement.

For regional fraud investigations, conviction data is not currently available for 24/25. There were however 639 prosecutions* (6% of investigations) and 272 Administrative Penalties (3% of investigations) issued.

For serious and economic crime investigations concluded in fiscal year 24/25, there were 26 such convictions** (7% of investigations) and 1 Administrative Penalty (0% of investigations).

Across all fraud investigations concluded in 24/25, 2191 cases had their benefit corrected and 8075 cases resulted in no change.

* Prosecutions refer to cases where the prosecuting authority (Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) have reviewed the case and have deemed the case suitable for prosecution.

** Please note that due to the length of time to bring a prosecution to conclusion, these conviction numbers will relate to cases commenced in previous years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of investigations into benefit fraud result in (a) financial penalties and (b) court convictions.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP takes all allegations of fraud seriously, irrespective of reporting method, and will take appropriate action on those cases where there is concern about entitlement.

For regional fraud investigations, conviction data is not currently available for 24/25. There were however 639 prosecutions* (6% of investigations) and 272 Administrative Penalties (3% of investigations) issued.

For serious and economic crime investigations concluded in fiscal year 24/25, there were 26 such convictions** (7% of investigations) and 1 Administrative Penalty (0% of investigations).

Across all fraud investigations concluded in 24/25, 2191 cases had their benefit corrected and 8075 cases resulted in no change.

* Prosecutions refer to cases where the prosecuting authority (Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) have reviewed the case and have deemed the case suitable for prosecution.

** Please note that due to the length of time to bring a prosecution to conclusion, these conviction numbers will relate to cases commenced in previous years.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of Universal Credit advances in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We do not collect data on advance payment processing times.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the processing of State Pension underpayment corrections in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

We do not hold information regarding average waiting times to process State Pension underpayments corrections and to produce it would incur disproportionate costs.