Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the total (a) expenditure on and (b) number of benefit claimants receiving Pension Credit in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland, (v) each local authority and (vi) each constituency.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Estimates on the number of benefit claimants receiving Pension Credit in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales can be found on Stat-Xplore here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for using Stat-Xplore is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
Estimates on total expenditure on Pension Credit in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales can be found in the latest benefit expenditure tables here:
Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency Pension Credit caseload data can be found on Stat-Xplore here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency Pension Credit expenditure data are available here:
Local Authority:
Parliamentary Constituency:
Benefit statistics in Northern Ireland are produced by the Department for Communities, and can be found here: Benefits statistics | Department for Communities (communities-ni.gov.uk
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the total (a) expenditure on and (b) number of benefit claimants receiving Universal Credit in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland, (v) each local authority and (vi) each constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Information on UC expenditure breakdowns at Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency level prior to 2019/20 are not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the total (a) expenditure on and (b) number of benefit claimants receiving Job Seekers Allowance in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland, (v) each local authority and (vi) each constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The available information on the number of claimants who received benefits in the last five years, broken down by various geographies, is published and can be found on Stat-Xplore. Benefits include Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, Jobseekers’ Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Benefit statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Department for Communities.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the total (a) expenditure on and (b) number of benefit claimants receiving Income Support in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland, (v) each local authority and (vi) each constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The available information on the number of claimants who received benefits in the last five years, broken down by various geographies, is published and can be found on Stat-Xplore. Benefits include Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, Jobseekers’ Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Benefit statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Department for Communities.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the eligibility criteria for the cost of living payments provided as part of the Government's cost of living support package to ensure that Universal Credit recipients who are paid every four weeks are not penalised.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In determining eligibility for the 2022/23 Cost of Living Payments, the eligibility periods were chosen to reflect the nature of the qualifying benefits and have remained simple to ensure these payments can be made to those who qualify quickly and at scale to support millions of people on low incomes.
We recognise that some people will flow on and off benefits, and our policy reflects that. The 2022/23 Cost of Living Payment is being made in two payments to reduce the chance of someone missing out completely.
Eligibility criteria for the 2023/24 Cost of Living Payments will be published in due course.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the total (a) expenditure on and (b) number of benefit claimants receiving Personal Independence Payments in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland, (v) each local authority and (vi) each constituency.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The information to answer parts a) i)-iii), v) and vi) of the question can be found in Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for the years up to 2020/21. Data for 2021/22 will be published in due course.
The Scottish Government took on responsibility for Personal Independence Payment in Scotland from 2020/21, so expenditure data for Scotland only covers the years up to 2019/20. Information on expenditure in Scotland from 2020/21 is the responsibility of the Scottish Government.
The available information on the number of claimants who received PIP in the last five years, broken down by various geographies, is published and can be found on Stat-Xplore.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
The Department for Communities is responsible for PIP in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the total (a) expenditure on and (b) number of benefit claimants receiving Employment Support Allowance in each of the last five years, in (i) England, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland, (v) each local authority and (vi) each constituency.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The information to answer parts (a) i)-iii), v) and vi) of the question can be found in the benefit expenditure and caseload tables (Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Data for 2021/22 will be published in due course.
Information on the number of claimants who received Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in the last five years, broken down by various geographies in Great Britain, is published and can be found on Stat-Xplore.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat-Xplore; the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
The Department for Communities is responsible for Employment and Support Allowance in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on external consultants in each of the last five years; and if she will publish a breakdown of (a) the amount paid to each consultancy contracted, (b) the name of each consultancy contracted, (c) the specific matters on which they were consulted and (d) whether each contract was subject to usual Government procurement rules.
Answered by Julie Marson
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes details about headcount and payroll costs for permanent staff and contractors on GOV.UK, monthly.
DWP workforce management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The DWP consultancy spend for the financial years ending 2018 through to 2022 is shown below.
2017/18 £7,200,259
2018/19 £4,446,169
2019/20 £4,570,665
2020/21 £1,284,861
2021/22 £1,041,058
DWP publishes individual contract data on all contracts valued at £10,000 and over on
Contracts Finder - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the public health benefits of extending full statutory sick pay to self-employed people who have to self-isolate as a result of covid-19.
Answered by Chloe Smith
No. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is paid for by employers and there is no mechanism to include the self-employed in SSP.
The Government does have a wider safety net to ensure self-employed people are supported through the welfare system.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will extend full statutory sick pay to self-employed people who are required to self-isolate as a result of covid-19.
Answered by Chloe Smith
No. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is paid for by employers and there is no mechanism to include the self-employed in SSP.
The Government does have a wider safety net to ensure self-employed people are supported through the welfare system.