Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) under-occupancy charge and (b) Local Housing Allowance on residents in almshouse accommodation who are in (i) low-paid and (ii) part-time employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge the vital part that almshouses play in providing much needed low-cost affordable housing. Residents pay a weekly maintenance contribution which is usually much lower than the market rate, which can be paid for through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.
It is the responsibility of the local authority to determine whether housing costs meet the definition to be paid for through Housing Benefit. This will depend on the type of landlord and whether the resident is being provided with care, support or supervision.
The level of housing support which the resident will receive is determined by whether the almshouse is privately owned or managed by a social landlord.
The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) applies to residents living in the private rented sector who are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit. LHA determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. Households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance, regardless of the contractual rent paid. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.
Claimants in receipt of housing support living in the social rented sector have their eligible rent paid in full, unless the level of housing support is reduced because of their income or savings, contributions from non-dependants, or limited by the benefit cap or the removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS).
For those who require further support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities for low-income renters who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF).
DWP systems do not include almshouses as a specific residency type and therefore we cannot identify them in our data.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to verify the ongoing residency of non-UK national claimants who have been absent from the UK for more than a month.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department uses the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) for income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit, to assess whether someone has a legal right to be here and whether they are factually resident in the UK. For an individual to be factually habitually resident they must have been present in the UK for an appreciable period, usually between one and three months, and have a settled intention to remain.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued on the consideration of occupational health reports when assessing claims for (a) Employment and Support Allowance and (b) Personal Independence Payment for people with cognitive or fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department provides comprehensive training and guidance for assessment providers and the health professionals (HPs) who carry out both Work Capability Assessments (WCA) in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC), and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. The WCA Handbook and the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide (PIPAG) sets out how HPs should evaluate all relevant evidence when assessing a claimant’s functional limitations against the respective criteria.
Both WCA and PIP assessments are functional assessments, focusing on the impact of health condition(s) or disability. HPs consider all available evidence. DWP decision makers give due consideration to all available evidence when making decisions on benefit entitlement, including the HP’s assessment report and any evidence provided by the individual, their GP or consultant, and anybody else that provides them with formal or informal support.
HPs receive training on cognitive and fluctuating conditions and how these might impact on how individuals perform the activities/descriptors which form the assessments.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will set out how his Department monitors whether Universal Credit claimant commitments for single-parent claimants are appropriately tailored to individual circumstances.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Lead carers within Universal Credit have different conditionality requirements that reflect their childcare responsibilities. These expectations are set according to the age of their youngest child: where the youngest child is under 1, there are no work preparation or work search requirements; where the youngest child is aged 1 or 2, the lead carer is expected to undertake work preparation activities only; and where the youngest child is aged 3 to 12, they may be asked to undertake work-related activities for up to 30 hours per week.
Work Coaches ensure that claimant commitments for single parents are appropriately tailored through a personalised discussion with each customer. This enables the Work Coach to take into account the individual’s circumstances, including childcare availability, school hours, travel time, and wider caring responsibilities, to ensure that support remains flexible and appropriate to the customer’s needs.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-UK nationals who entered in the United Kingdom without leave since July 2024 are in receipt of payments from his Department; and what is the (a) total and (b) per person sum of those payments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Those in the UK without lawful status are persons subject to immigration control and have no recourse to public funds. This means that those in the UK without a valid immigration status are not able to access public funds benefits including Universal Credit.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
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 potential merits of a) making Universal Credit and other benefits data available to Electoral Registration Officers for the purposes of Automatic Voter Registration, and b) allowing people who update their address with his Department to update their voter registration automatically at the same time.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP promotes a culture of encouraging data sharing for public good whilst ensuring this is done in a secure, legal and ethical way. DWP require both a lawful basis and legal power to share personal data.
DWP has been supporting Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) with since 2014 when Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was introduced in England and Wales. You can now register to vote online in as little as 3 minutes. All you need is your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number. DWP data is used within this process.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals that have migrated from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit in the last 12 months have had the amount of council tax support they receive reduced.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not administer the Council Tax Reduction scheme and therefore does not hold the data required to answer this question.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps with local authorities to help ensure that when vulnerable claimants move into temporary accommodation they are supported to make the necessary changes to their claims.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department works closely with local authorities, who are responsible for administering Housing Benefit for people living in temporary accommodation. Housing Benefit covers housing costs in temporary accommodation, while Universal Credit supports daily living costs.
When a claimant moves into temporary accommodation, they or their appointee must report any change of circumstances through their Universal Credit account. Local authorities cannot do this on a claimant’s behalf.
Jobcentre staff in England support customers at risk of homelessness through the statutory Duty to Refer, offering a referral to a local authority for housing support.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is notified that a claimant has been moved in to out of area temporary accommodation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department works closely with local authorities, who are responsible for administering Housing Benefit for people living in temporary accommodation. Housing Benefit covers housing costs in temporary accommodation, while Universal Credit supports daily living costs.
When a claimant moves into temporary accommodation, they or their appointee must report any change of circumstances through their Universal Credit account. Local authorities cannot do this on a claimant’s behalf.
Jobcentre staff in England support customers at risk of homelessness through the statutory Duty to Refer, offering a referral to a local authority for housing support.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average end-to-end clearance time for a Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment was in each month since January 2025 for (a) new and (b) existing claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department regularly publishes Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics and the development of clearance times is detailed in the release strategy for those statistics. Further details on the future publication of clearance times will be published in the DWP Statistical Work Programme in due course.