Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the total (a) amount of child maintenance arrears owed and (b) number of children for whom maintenance was outstanding in Wiltshire in each of the past five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of how the total value of child maintenance arrears owed in Wiltshire has changed since 2015; and what steps he is taking to reduce the level of arrears.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The statistical information requested for Wiltshire is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support and the Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training his Department provides to (a) Universal Credit agents and (b) Work Coaches on communicating with claimants who have learning disabilities or mental health conditions when responding to messages via (i) online journals and (ii) telephone.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit agents and Work Coaches receive a range of training to equip them to support customers with health conditions, learning disabilities, and additional or complex needs throughout their role.
Key training includes:
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many hours of (a) initial and (b) refresher training Universal Credit agents receive on supporting claimants with learning disabilities or mental health conditions; and at what intervals refresher training is mandated.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit agents and Work Coaches receive a range of training to equip them to support customers with health conditions, learning disabilities, and additional or complex needs throughout their role.
Key training includes:
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to launch the review into the Disability Confident Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
My officials and I have been working with a wide range of stakeholders—including disabled people, the Devolved Governments, disability organisations, employers, and sector experts—throughout the summer to explore potential reforms to the Disability Confident Scheme.
This includes considering how to support Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) better, strengthen validation processes, enhance promotion of the scheme, and improve transparency and accountability. These reforms aim to make the scheme more robust while building better support for both employers and disabled people in and out of work.
The Government is working towards announcing next steps for improving the scheme later this autumn
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Timms Review is co-produced with disabled people; and what steps she is planning to take to evaluate the inclusivity of that engagement process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published the Terms of Reference for the review (the Timms Review) on 30 June 2025, and will be updating them shortly.
As set out in the Terms of Reference, we are committed to co-producing the review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, experts, clinicians, MPs, and other stakeholders. We will engage widely over the summer to design the process for the work of the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.
We will work on how to embed disabled people in the leadership of the group, ensuring that we include those with relevant lived and professional experience. We will also set up arrangements to involve disabled people much more broadly.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will publish a timetable for stakeholder engagement in the Timms Review.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published the Terms of Reference for the review (the Timms Review) on 30 June 2025, and will be updating them shortly.
As set out in the Terms of Reference, we are committed to co-producing the review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, experts, clinicians, MPs, and other stakeholders. We will engage widely over the summer to design the process for the work of the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.
We will work on how to embed disabled people in the leadership of the group, ensuring that we include those with relevant lived and professional experience. We will also set up arrangements to involve disabled people much more broadly.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to establish (a) accessible formats, (b) alternative communication methods and (c) other formal consultation mechanisms to allow disabled people to contribute to the Timms Review.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published the Terms of Reference for the review (the Timms Review) on 30 June 2025, and will be updating them shortly.
As set out in the Terms of Reference, we are committed to co-producing the review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, experts, clinicians, MPs, and other stakeholders. We will engage widely over the summer to design the process for the work of the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.
We will work on how to embed disabled people in the leadership of the group, ensuring that we include those with relevant lived and professional experience. We will also set up arrangements to involve disabled people much more broadly.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish details on how (a) disabled people and (b) representative organisations can contribute to the Timms Review of the PIP assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published the Terms of Reference for the review (the Timms Review) on 30 June 2025, and will be updating them shortly.
As set out in the Terms of Reference, we are committed to co-producing the review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, experts, clinicians, MPs, and other stakeholders. We will engage widely over the summer to design the process for the work of the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.
We will work on how to embed disabled people in the leadership of the group, ensuring that we include those with relevant lived and professional experience. We will also set up arrangements to involve disabled people much more broadly.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to prevent incorrect reductions in benefits due to automatic system sweeps that apply data errors without prior human verification; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of long delays in refunding these incorrect deductions on claimants’ financial security.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A claimant who thinks an incorrect assessment has been made can have the assessment reviewed. The number of data errors is very small. Fewer than 1% of Real Time Information (RTI) disputes processed are upheld in the customer’s favour.
Where system changes result in overpayments, there are safeguards in place which would mean any overpayment would not be actioned until an agent has considered the case and checked for vulnerabilities, prior to the claimant being notified.