Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to women's State Pension age on retirement insurance schemes for vulnerable individuals.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The precise design of any benefits under an insurance policy is a matter for the insurer and the policy holder and is not covered in Department for Work and Pensions legislation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his department has plans to implement the recommendations in Turn2us's report entitled From stigma to support, published in October 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are testing changes to the Jobcentre Plus environment to make it more welcoming for customers. We are exploring how services can be delivered in community settings, including via vans, pop-ups and collaboration with partner services. We are introducing trauma-informed approaches across the DWP, and all frontline DWP colleagues are trained to identify and support vulnerable customers. As part of the new Jobs and Careers Service, we are shifting the focus of the customer-work coach relationship away from compliance and box-ticking to more personalised, and career-focused discussions. We are testing this in our first Pathfinder, based in Wakefield.
We are building towards a guaranteed Pathways to Work offer of personalised employment, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. We have also launched the Timms Review to ensure PIP is fair and fit for the future. We are co-producing the Review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts. Once in place, the Review’s steering group will agree the approach to considering evidence and gathering input.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 ensure that members of the armed forces are not penalised in child maintenance claims where they are unable to meet contact night thresholds due to the obligations of active service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The aim of shared care arrangements is to make an allowance for direct costs incurred by ‘non-resident parents’ when children are staying with them for part of the time. For shared care to be considered in child maintenance calculations, the paying parent must have the child or children stay overnight at the same address as them.
This requirement is set out in Regulation 46 of the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012, which provides that:
If a parent feels that a decision taken by the Child Maintenance Service is incorrect, they can ask it to look at the decision again. This is known as a mandatory reconsideration. This can include the CMS looking at variation decisions and decisions to refuse a variation. If a parent still feels that the decision taken is incorrect after they receive a mandatory reconsideration notice, they will be able to appeal to an independent tribunal.
DWP is fully committed to the Armed Forces Covenant and CMS engages regularly with defence stakeholders to make sure its policies, caseworker training, and communications reflect Service specific constraints.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, updated on 20 November 2025, what criteria his Department will set for refugees to be able to access benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Home Secretary announced, in the Home Office’s Asylum and Returns Policy Statement on 17 November 2026, that DWP will consult on the rules for taxpayer-funded benefits to prioritise access for long-term residents and those who are making an economic contribution to the UK. The consultation will look at how the benefit rules apply to everyone arriving or returning to the UK, and any changes to entitlement rules will be set out during the consultation. The consultation will take place in 2026.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, updated on 20 November 2025, when his department plans to launch the consultation on refugees' access to benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has committed to a consultation on changes to taxpayer-funded benefits to prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK. Further details about the consultation, including the timelines, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the level of SEND diagnoses on levels of welfare spending.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to quantify the totality of the impact of SEND in terms of welfare spending. The department will continue to work closely with the Department for Education on improving the support for and chances of all young people.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost of the pensions triple lock for each of the next ten year.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Expenditure on State Pension, which includes triple lock, for the years up to and including 2029/30 is available in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables.
Beyond 2029/30, the Office for Budget Responsibility project State Pension expenditure as part of their Fiscal risks and sustainability report. This assumes long-term annual growth rates of 4.4% for ‘Triple Lock’, and 3.8% for Average Earnings.
Source: OBR September 2024 Fiscal risks and sustainability – charts and tables: supplementary tables, Table 1.1
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
o ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with industry stakeholders on improving job prospects for people in their 60s.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government knows that work helps everyone play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement. The Department for Work and Pensions is therefore committed to supporting older people through a wide-ranging strategy that promotes inclusion, flexibility, and progression. This includes promoting age-inclusive practices, supporting workplace health, policy and service reform and removing age related barriers to employment. The Department has also signed up to and actively promotes the Age-Friendly Employer Pledge, encouraging employers to adopt flexible working, age-positive hiring, and career development.
Our Jobs and Careers service will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings. The Jobs and Careers Service will incorporate principles of accessibility and inclusivity, acknowledging diverse support needs, including those of older individuals.
We are taking a test and learn approach to developing the new service, working in an agile and flexible way. This will allow us to hear from a range of organisations and perspectives, as we develop the new service.
The DWP’s Strategic Relationship Team is actively engaging trade bodies and strategic employers across priority sectors, such as clean energy, digital, hospitality and construction, through innovation workshops, tailored recruitment pilots, and sector-led initiatives to promote DWP as the recruitment partner of choice and expand inclusive employment opportunities.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make and assessment of the potential impact of AI related job losses on the level of unemployment benefit.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) bringing forward legislative proposals to charge interest on outstanding debts of child maintenance of more than a year's standing and (b) ensuring that outstanding debts are paid by his Department to the parent with care.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where a paying parent fails to pay on time or in full, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) aims to take immediate action to recover the debt and re-establish compliance.
If the paying parent is employed, the CMS will request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary. The CMS also has a range of other enforcement powers that can be used against those who consistently refuse to meet their obligations to provide financial support to their children, including deducting maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts. The CMS can also use further measures, including using Enforcement Agents to take control of goods, disqualification from driving or commitment to prison, and disqualification from holding or obtaining a UK passport.
Interest is not charged to outstanding debts. However, the CMS imposes enforcement fees to incentivise paying parents to meet their obligations voluntarily. If a parent fails to pay through a voluntary arrangement (like Direct Pay), the CMS may switch the case to Collect and Pay, which includes a 20% surcharge for the paying parent.
The CMS is committed to ensuring all separated parents within the statutory scheme support their children financially and will continue to pursue unpaid child maintenance debt, including deducting payments from pensions income.