Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with moderate but wide-ranging needs are not negatively impacted by the new four point rule for daily living.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have committed to introduce a new requirement that claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). We are mindful of the impact this change to PIP eligibility could have on people. That is why, in the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working (published on 18 March), we are consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
The PIP assessment considers the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. Therefore, the impact in each case will depend on an individual’s circumstances. For those already on PIP, the changes will only apply from November 2026 at their next award review, subject to parliamentary approval. People will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstance. More information on the impacts and equality analysis for these changes published on 26 March can be found: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK .
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of people accessing foodbanks who work (a) full time and (b) part time.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the number of individuals living in families that have used foodbanks in the past 30 days and 12 months are published on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/), including breakdowns by Economic Status of the Adult, in the Households Below Average Income dataset. The latest statistics were published on 21 March 2025 and are for the financial year 2023/24.
We are committed to tackling food poverty and ending mass dependence of emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food poverty landscape. We also continue to provide substantial funding to Local Authorities to support those most in need, and are extending the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year until March 2026, providing funding of £742 million in England. This will ensure low-income households can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Our plan to Make Work Pay, will help more people to stay in work, improve job security and boost living standards, including by increasing the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour to boost the pay of three million workers. It is a core part of the mission to grow the economy, raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) streamline application processes and (b) use technology for digital proof of IDs for pension claims made through the Government Gateway.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
For State Pension claims, citizens are invited to claim by letter four months in advance of their State Pension Age. Citizens are provided a unique identifier to use the digital claim service. Where citizens cannot use the digital service, they are directed to a telephony service where identity is validated, and the application is completed on the citizens behalf. There is no need to use the Government Gateway.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the rate of statutory sick pay on financial costs for small businesses.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department undertook a Regulatory Impact Assessment covering the measures in the Employment Rights Bill to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay: removing the Lower Earnings Limit and the waiting period. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments. The Regulatory Impact Assessment estimates that small and micro businesses pay around 60% of the annual SSP cost to employer.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support working age non-graduates find permanent employment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Get Britain Working White Paper set out Governments ambition to reduce economic inactivity and increase the number of people in work.
Key proposals include:
In addition, more pre-employment training courses are being made available to benefit claimants through an expansion of DWP’s Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). (Up from 80,000 a year in 2021/22 to 2024/25, to 100,000 a year from 2025/26.)
SWAPs offer certain participants in England and Scotland the opportunity of training towards a job in a particular industry, alongside a work placement and a guaranteed interview.
We have set out plans to overhaul our support for employers by hosting summits with representatives across sectors crucial to growth, serving employers through a dedicated team, providing an account manager for employers and commissioning Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review into the role of employers in reducing health-related inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces.
In addition, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is tasked with making work pay through upgrading workers' rights and engaging businesses, with a focus on key sectors to take advantage of new opportunities and promote growth. The DBT's Employment Rights Bill and Industrial Strategy Council aim to make work more secure, boost wages, and help working people thrive.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much Pension Credit was paid out in the latest reporting period; and what proportion of this was subject to fraud or error.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest published DWP Benefit expenditure and caseload tables show that in 2023/24, Pension Credit expenditure (outturn) was £5,467 million (nominal terms). These figures are based on Autumn Statement 2024 and are available at: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK.
However, the latest DWP Fraud and Error statistics for financial year 2023/2024 are based on Spring Statement 2024 and estimate that of the £5,400 million Pension Credit expenditure (forecast, rounded to £100m), £520 million is due to fraud and error overpayment (where the Department pays people too much money).
This equates to an overpayment of 9.7% of Pension Credit expenditure (nominal terms, based on Spring Statement 2024). This data can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2023 to 2024 estimates - GOV.UK. The estimates are published annually, and the next release is planned for May 2025, which will estimate fraud and error in benefit claims for the financial year ending 2025.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time is for Pension Credit applications; and what the target processing time is for the coming financial year.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP works to a planned timescale of 50 working days to clear Pension Credit claims. In 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%. [Source: DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK]
The latest available management information for week commencing 17th February 2025 shows that the Average Actual Clearance Time for Pension Credit was 52.8 working days. This data aligns to the latest week included within the external publication of Official Statistics for Pension Credit
Pension Credit is a complex benefit, and some claims require additional investigation or information from the customer, which can result in longer processing times. As a result of the increase in Pension Credit claims following the Winter Fuel Payments policy announcement, the Department has deployed over 500 additional people to ensure it has the capacity to assess all claims in reasonable timescales.
Please note, The Average Actual Clearance Time figure shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It is rounded to the nearest working day and based on the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the number of 18-24 year olds claiming unemployment benefits.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
ONS data on 18-24 year-olds claiming unemployment-related benefits is available at: CLA02: Claimant Count by age group - Office for National Statistics
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the age people can receive full Carers allowance above retirement age.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer I gave on 14 October 2024 to question UIN 6904.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making changes to military compensation so that it is not considered as income for the purposes of calculating means-tested benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 5 December 2024 to question UIN 16635.