Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support small businesses with their provision of (a) barbering and (b) hairdressing apprenticeships.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 21 January 2026 to Question 105881.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the (a) uptake and (b) drop-out rates in (i) barbering and (ii) hairdressing apprenticeships over the last 7 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on apprenticeships are published in the Apprenticeships accredited official statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.
Apprenticeship starts on barbering and hairdressing apprenticeships can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ccfd7de7-48a4-4913-19a0-08de58cbc7ae
Apprenticeship achievement rates can be found here:
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase the uptake of (a) hairdressing and (b) barbering apprenticeships.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are a number of apprenticeship standards available to support the hair and beauty sector, including the Level 2 Hairdressing Professional standard and the Level 2 Barbering Professional standard.
The government provides a range of financial support for employers to take on apprentices. We provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.
In addition, from the next academic year, the government will fully fund apprenticeships for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises) for all eligible people aged under 25. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. This change will make it easier for those employers to engage with apprenticeships by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's policy that claimants’ (a) appointees and (b) Lasting Power of Attorney appointees cannot submit online claims on those claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In law both appointees and attorneys can make online claims. They act for the claimant and can perform any function ordinarily required of the claimant.
The department is continuing to modernise its services to provide customers and appointees/attorneys with a greater choice over the channels they use to interact with the department. For example, the Health Transformation Programme is transforming the entire Personal Independence Payment service to improve the experience of applying and this includes introducing an optional online service.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the housing benefit taper rate on young people in supported housing who increase working hours.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.
Notwithstanding these positive outcomes from work, the Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
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 ensure that it conducts a full review of the requester's (a) case and (b) complaint when Access to Work reconsideration requests are made.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Access to Work process for reviewing reconsideration requests, as well as complaints, includes a full review of the original case, including all relevant documentation and communications relating to the original decision. To help ensure impartiality, these reviews are conducted by staff there were not involved in the original decision.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
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 ensure that self-employed people are adequately supported when using the Access to Work scheme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work is a personalised discretionary grant that provides support with workplace adjustments beyond an employer’s obligation as outlined in the Equality Act 2010, to support the recruitment and retention of disabled people into employment. In 23/24 the Access to Work Scheme supported 67,720 people with workplace adjustments to move into or stay in work. This includes a wide range of support including travel to work, support workers, and specialist aides and equipment, as well as the Mental Health support service which provides up to nine months of non-clinical support for people who need additional help with their well-being.
Access to Work is available to self-employed people.To receive it they must satisfy the standard eligibility criteria for the Scheme and meet the business viability rules as outlined in Access to Work: staff guide - GOV.UK
The support a customer will get from Access to Work is dependent upon the support needed to do their job at the time they made an application. A case manager will use the current guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision. There is no set amount for an Access to Work grant. The amount awarded will depend on the specific case. More guidance and information on Access to Work applications and processes can be found on: Access to Work: factsheet for customers - GOV.UK
As part of our Plan for Change, and as set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published in March, we are consulting on how to improve Access to Work to help more disabled people into work and support employers, ensuring value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of enabling carers receiving Carer's allowance who defer drawing state pension to receive the same uplift as those who do not.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Where a person has deferred claiming their State Pension, they cannot accumulate increments that will increase their State Pension amount if they have received certain social security benefits including Carer’s Allowance.
The underlying principle is to prevent a person earning an enhancement to their pension while drawing another benefit that would otherwise have not been payable had they been receiving their State Pension.
The Department encourages people to seek independent financial advice before making a decision not to claim their State Pension when they reach State Pension age and this is set out in GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/plan-retirement-income/get-financial-advice