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, if she will publish a breakdown of Personal Independence Payment claimants by (a) nationality and (b) immigration status in each year since 2020.
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, how many employees in her Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
From HR data for paid staff in June 2025, there are 98 staff in total with annual salary of £100k or more, of which 6 staff have an annual salary of £166k or more.
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).