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 was overpaid to Universal Credit recipients in each of the last ten financial years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This information was published earlier this year and can be found via the following link:
Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - 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, how much was spent on translation and interpretation in Jobcentres in the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department carefully monitors the provision of translation and interpretation services for customers. It has not been possible to disaggregate expenditure on services for Jobcentres alone.
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 the cost to the public purse was of Universal Credit payments made to people with refugee status in each of the last ten financial years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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 his Department plans to introduce English language learning as a condition of benefit receipt for foreign nationals.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department can require that claimants attend English language courses as a work preparation activity if this will make them more likely to find work, or to increase the hours they work. A sanction - which is a reduction in the amount of Universal Credit paid - is applicable where a claimant fails to meet a work preparation requirement without good reason.
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 his Department requires (a) Jobcentre staff and (b) benefits advisers to demonstrate English language proficiency as a condition of employment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP complies with the requirement of the Immigration Act 2016 in requiring all of its employees in public-facing roles to speak English fluently, as outlined in the Government’s code of practice at www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-language-requirement-for-public-sector-workers-code-of-practice. This includes jobcentre staff and benefits advisers.
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 the (a) average waiting time for people calling and (b) time people spent on hold for her Department was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the Average Time to Answer and the Average Hold Time, in an hours, minutes and seconds (hh:mm:ss) format, for all people calling DWP for the last 5 business years, with 2025 to 2026 being to 12th Oct’ 2025* only, that being the last date for which data is available.
Reporting Year | Average Time to Answer (hh:mm:ss) | Average Hold Time (hh:mm:ss) |
2021-2022 | 00:09:39 | 00:00:36 |
2022-2023 | 00:08:22 | 00:00:28 |
2023-2024 | 00:08:34 | 00:00:26 |
2024-2025 | 00:07:22 | 00:00:23 |
2025 to date | *00:05:50 | *00:00:18 |
DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.
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 the average (a) waiting time for people calling and (b) time spent on hold to the Universal Credit helpline was in the last year.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the Average Time to Answer and the Average Hold Time, in an hours, minutes and seconds (hh:mm:ss) format, for all people calling Universal Credit for each of the last twelve complete reporting months.
Month / Year | Directorate | Average Time to Answer (hh:mm:ss) | Average Hold Time (hh:mm:ss) |
Oct-2024 | Universal Credit | 00:02:32 | 00:00:09 |
Nov-2024 | Universal Credit | 00:02:23 | 00:00:09 |
Dec-2024 | Universal Credit | 00:01:36 | 00:00:09 |
Jan-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:01:10 | 00:00:08 |
Feb-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:02:03 | 00:00:08 |
Mar-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:02:16 | 00:00:08 |
Apr-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:03:27 | 00:00:09 |
May-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:03:27 | 00:00:08 |
Jun-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:01:51 | 00:00:07 |
Jul-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:02:44 | 00:00:06 |
Aug-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:01:55 | 00:00:07 |
Sep-2025 | Universal Credit | 00:01:37 | 00:00:07 |
DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.
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 people are claiming Universal Credit by their preferred language.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information is not held. Universal Credit claims can only be made in English and Welsh.
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 the average (a) waiting time for people calling and (b) time spent on hold to the Personal Independence Payment helpline was in the last year.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the Average Time to Answer and the Average Hold Time, in an hours, minutes and seconds (hh:mm:ss) format, for all people calling Personal Independence Payment lines for each of the last twelve complete reporting months.
Month / Year | Product Line | Average Time to Answer (hh:mm:ss) | Average Hold Time (hh:mm:ss) |
Oct-2024 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:10:19 | 00:00:34 |
Nov-2024 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:11:47 | 00:00:33 |
Dec-2024 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:09:55 | 00:00:36 |
Jan-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:17:38 | 00:00:32 |
Feb-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:12:41 | 00:00:31 |
Mar-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:14:10 | 00:00:31 |
Apr-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:09:07 | 00:00:34 |
May-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:10:14 | 00:00:36 |
Jun-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:09:37 | 00:00:35 |
Jul-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:10:42 | 00:00:36 |
Aug-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:11:59 | 00:00:35 |
Sep-2025 | Personal Independence Payment | 00:10:33 | 00:00:34 |
DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.
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 her Department is advertising a role in Manchester Community Centre for a Sharia Law Administrator.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This was a position advertised on the Find A Job portal by an independent charity, registered with the Charity Commission, and was not a role within DWP. Find A Job is a free platform to help jobseekers find vacancies with employers from various sectors. The employer had been verified as legitimate and the advertisement did not breach Find a Job website terms and conditions.