Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason new claimants from (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be exempt from the Habitual Residence Test for Universal Credit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Given the circumstances in which British nationals and their eligible families have urgently travelled to the UK following the Government’s evacuations, DWP want to ensure that those arriving can access benefits as soon as possible (where they meet all other eligibility requirements).
This does not enable DWP to pay benefits to anyone who does not already have an underlying entitlement to benefits. For those who are not British or Irish citizens, they must have a valid immigration status that provides recourse to public funds to access benefits, on top of meeting other benefit-specific eligibility criteria.
More detail can be found in the explanatory memorandum for this amendment: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/884/memorandum/contents.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance she has issued to (a) work coaches and (b) case managers on processing claims for new claimants from (i) Israel and (ii) the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance for DWP staff making benefit decisions is available on gov.uk. Specific guidance on new customers arriving in the UK from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be published in the usual way.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of her Department's procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. Information on government contracts can be found here: DWP Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has no employees who are temporarily working outside the UK.
The DWP policy does not permit overseas homeworking as per our Contractual Homeworking Policy.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much their Department has spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for languages other than (i) British Sign Language and (ii) languages native to the UK for people contacting (A) their Department and (B) its agencies in 2025.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2025 so far, within the stipulations, there has been spent on:
(a) Translation = £470,542.73
(b) Interpretation = £3,248,467.21
Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people in receipt of childcare support are claiming Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The proportion of people in receipt of childcare support claiming Universal Credit is not available as not all childcare support is the responsibility of this department.
The latest statistics for Universal Credit households in receipt of Universal Credit childcare element are published and available here: Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 9 January 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to simplify workplace health and safety requirements for small businesses while maintaining essential protections for workers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) began a three-year project in 2024 to review its web guidance portfolio and improve accessibility, quality of content, ease of search and navigation, and declutter outdated materials. Improvements achieved after year-one are helping business find and access improved guidance materially more easily, saving them time and helping them better manage health and safety risk for themselves.
HSE plans to continue this programme of work to modernise its websites and related guidance during 2025/2026 including commitments to design new content and user journeys so businesses can quickly and easily procure HSE services (training, consultancy) and products (digital tools and books).
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on suspected illegal migrants attempting to access welfare services.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department does not hold data on illegal migrants attempting to access welfare services.
People who are in the UK illegally (that is to say people without a valid UK immigration status) are not permitted access to DWP public funds benefits.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the proportion of Universal Credit recipients that are not proficient in English; and what support in learning English is provided.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold information about the proportion of Universal Credit recipients that are not proficient in English.
Skills are essential to helping claimants get into and progress in work. Work Coaches offer all claimants a wide range of support, including referral to essential skills provision like English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). They engage in skills discussions with claimants to provide tailored, flexible advice and support.
DfE funds ESOL provision for adults 19+ through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF). Individuals aged 19 and over can be fully funded or co-funded to study ESOL depending on their employment status and salary, and provided they meet the residency criteria set out in the ASF Funding and Performance Management Rules.