Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to implement he recommendations of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to my Written Statement of 25 November HCWS1092 and (at Col 22WS) Carer's Allowance Overpayments Review - Hansard - UK Parliament where I outlined the department’s response to Liz Sayce’s Independent Review. The Government has welcomed the report and is accepting or partially accepting 38 out of the 40 recommendations. In some cases, the changes the report is asking for have already been made. Others will take more time to put in place.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will consider establishing small neighbourhood hubs to provide skills and training support to residents to strengthen their foundational skills.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Foundation skills including English, maths, and digital skills are fundamental for full participation in work, education and society.
The Jobcentre Plus’s network of over 600 local centres offers tailored, flexible support for UC claimants to build foundational skills through its Work Coaches and a broad range of local skills provision. Across Great Britain, we are also testing delivery of services and support in communities through mobile vehicles and outreach.
Responsibility for adult skills has moved to the Department for Work and Pensions, enabling a clearer focus on adult skills and career outcomes. This work is supported by the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), which helps adults aged 19+ to improve their skills and progress in work. In addition, devolved ASF funding will give local leaders the flexibility to align adult skills provision with regional economic and employment priorities.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what correspondence he has received from the WASPI Campaign since 1 September 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions receive a very large volume of correspondence on a range of issues including the PHSO’s investigation into the communication of State Pension age rises. We attach great importance to providing prompt and accurate replies.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of State Pension age changes on 1950s-born women living in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
All women born since 6 April 1950 have been affected by changes to State Pension age.
Estimates can be made using ONS 2021 Census Data on how many women born in the 1950s resided in each constituency in that year.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 the adequacy of Local Housing Allowance for residents in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum levels of housing support for households claiming Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and who rent in the private rented sector. LHA is not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
In April 2024 LHA rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local market rents, (including in the Eastleigh area), costing £1.2bn across Great Britain (GB) in 2024/25 and £7bn over 5 years.
LHA rates were reviewed at Autumn Budget and will remain at current levels in 2026/27. A range of factors were considered, such as rental levels across GB, the challenging fiscal context, and the impact of current levels of housing support
For those renters who require additional support to meet a shortfall in rent costs, Discretionary Housing Payments are available from local authorities.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Taskforce will adequately factor in the challenges of living with fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are bringing together a Vanguard Taskforce to steer the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase and are committed to listening to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions, these voices will be reflected in the outputs of the phase.
This Taskforce will advise on the development of a Healthy Working Lifecycle Standard over the Vanguard Phase. The Standard will focus developing the best practices and approaches to drive better outcomes for all those managing health conditions or living with impairments, and as such the challenges of living with fluctuating conditions will be a key consideration.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to monitor the quality of paid services offering assistance with Attendance Allowance applications.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Free help, support and advice on claiming Attendance Allowance is widely available, including on GOV.UK, from DWP, and organisations such as Age UK. There is no need for claimants to pay for advice and support with benefit applications.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions has he had with organisations that deliver supported accommodation on work for young people living in supported housing.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for working age customers (including young people) living in supported and temporary accommodation.
We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. Any future decisions on housing support will be made in the round, prioritising measures that best meet Government objectives within the current fiscal environment.
It remains our priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter and sustain employment.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 effectiveness of telephone-based disability benefit assessments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
An assessment of whether each of the channels - telephone, video and face to face - for initial health assessments drive different award outcomes and impact Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) has recently been undertaken. The results will be published in due course.
This is in addition to the research published last year, which can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 the adequacy of apprenticeship (a) uptake and (b) completion rates among businesses in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest data on apprenticeship starts and achievements in the Eastleigh parliamentary constituency are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publication and can be found here:
This has been available since 17 July 2025. Finalised figures for the 2024/25 academic year will be published in the Apprenticeships: November 2025 statistics publication.
Achievement rates are not available for individual parliamentary constituencies, but nationally (England) they can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25#content-7