Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were affected by the under-occupancy charge in each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Department for Work and Pensions administrative data on the number of people affected by the under-occupancy charge, formally known as the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS), in Housing Benefit and Universal Credit, is shown in the table below. The figures represent the position as of August for each year from 2020 to 2025.
This information is publicly available through the DWP’s Stat-Xplore service at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.
| Aug-20 | Aug-21 | Aug-22 | Aug-23 | Aug-24 | Aug-25 |
RSRS HB Caseload | 260,395 | 229,360 | 201,132 | 176,891 | 150,165 | 40,136 |
RSRS UCHE Caseload | 230,495 | 265,743 | 283,078 | 303,872 | 333,692 | 427,268 |
RSRS HB and UCHE Caseload | 490,890 | 495,103 | 484,210 | 480,763 | 483,857 | 467,404 |
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the sum of money was resulting from a) deductions and b) sanctions applied to Universal Credit claims in Truro and Falmouth constituency in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
a) The Deductions policy in Universal Credit (UC) is to support customers by providing a repayment method for arrears of essential services, such as, housing, electricity, and gas and enable customers with a child maintenance liability meet their obligation to make child maintenance payments. The deductions policy also enables obligations, such as, paying Court Fines and Council Tax arrears to be enforced when other repayment methods have failed, or are not cost effective, and ensures that benefit debt is recovered in a cost-effective manner.
From April 2025 the Government introduced the Fair Repayment Rate which reduced the level of deduction taken from Universal Credit from 25% to 15%, and meant that 1.2m households retained on average £420 per year enabling these UC households to have more of their award to meet their day-to-day needs.
Universal Credit deductions statistics are published quarterly with the latest figures available in table 6, row 491 in Universal Credit deductions statistics, September 2024 to August 2025, supplementary data tables, at Universal Credit statistics, 29 April 2013 to 9 October 2025 - GOV.UK
b) The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of foreign-born families who will claim universal credit or tax credits for more than 2 children and (b) the total cost of this.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such estimate has been made.
Universal Credit is primarily reserved for people settled in the UK, and overall, the proportion of claimants in this country who are foreign nationals has fallen since October 2024.
But we want to go further which is why we have announced plans to double the standard time most migrants have to wait before they can access benefits to 10 years, reducing the burden on the taxpayer and making sure settlement rights are earned.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what number and proportion of pregnant Universal Credit claimants were deemed to have Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity due to pregnancy risk in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Between January 2024 and December 2024 there were 1,150 UC claimants who were deemed to have Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) due to pregnancy risk following a health assessment. Information on all UC claimants who are pregnant is not readily available, so the proportion this represents of all pregnant UC claimants cannot be provided.
Notes:
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 impact of the receipt of combined monthly benefit payments on claimants with (a) severe mental health conditions and (b) reduced capacity.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit (UC) is designed to support people both in and out of work, using up to date information to assess UC entitlement each month, meaning that the benefit calculated accurately reflects the needs of the household.
DWP understands that some customers will require support to help them adjust to monthly payments. Money guidance on budgeting, debt, pensions and savings is provided at the customer’s initial work search interview. More frequent payments are available to customers who are struggling to adapt to monthly payments.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the automatic registration of eligible children for free school meal entitlements.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. Introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals so that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026 will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, pulling 100,000 children out of poverty.
The department is also rolling out improvements to the Eligibility Checking System which will make it easier for local authorities, schools and parents to check if children are eligible for free meals.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce youth economic inactivity in rural communities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is investing in all young people’s futures irrespective of where they live in Great Britain. At Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820 million for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy. Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning, including:
Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up. This support could be delivered at a Youth Hub.
Further expansion of Youth Hubs: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support.
c300,000 additional opportunities for workplace experience and training: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers – Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.
The Youth Guarantee ensures paid work for eligible 18–21-year-olds in Great Britain who have been on Universal Credit and seeking work for 18 months. Through the Jobs Guarantee scheme, participants get six months of government-funded employment at minimum wage for 25 hours weekly, plus extra support to build skills and experience. The program aims for an 80% employment rate and includes safeguards for quality and fairness. It will benefit about 55,000 young people over three years.
Prevention: We are improving support for young people at risk of becoming NEET by enhancing data sharing, monitoring further education attendance, and using new tools to help local areas target assistance effectively. We are also funding work experience opportunities for high-risk pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings. These efforts build on measures from the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper announced earlier this autumn.
The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are also working closely with the seven Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England who are delivering the eight Youth Trailblazers announced in the Get Britain Working white paper.
The West of England Combined Authority is running a Rural Access Pilot as part of its Youth Guarantee Trailblazer. This pilot focuses on supporting young people in rural areas by providing tailored employment coaching and practical transport solutions, alongside bursaries to cover work-related costs. A free travel pass is designed to remove transport barriers for young people in these areas, enabling them to access employment opportunities, training, and support services.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local carer services are able to provide Income Maximisation services and crisis support to unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Overall Government responsibility for support for unpaid carers in England sits with the Department for Health and Social Care.
DWP can provide financial support to qualifying unpaid carers through Carer’s Allowance, the Carer Element in Universal Credit and the Carer Addition in Pension Credit. Income Maximisation Services and other Crisis Support may be available to unpaid carers locally through a number of routes, including independent organisations such as the Carers Trust. DWP staff can signpost unpaid carers to this support where appropriate. DWP can also support unpaid carers who wish to combine their caring responsibilities with paid work through our Jobcentre Plus network and other employment support.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of legally-binding child poverty reduction targets on cross-departmental coordination and prioritisation of resources.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament and sets out our ambition to fundamentally fix the structural drivers of child poverty as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change. From the beginning of our time in government we have acted on child poverty including through increasing the minimum wage, the Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and the removal of the two child limit from April 2026.
In addition to the existing statutory duty on Government to publish poverty statistics annually, we will be monitoring progress using two complementary headline metrics. These will measure overall child poverty using our leading measure of relative low income and our new measure of deep material poverty that looks at families’ ability to afford essentials as well as their income and housing costs.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans to track progress against these metrics as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning. There will continue to be a dedicated team in government that, with Ministerial oversight, will work across government, the public and private sectors and civil society as we develop milestones and plans for delivering, monitoring and evaluating our strategy.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to set child poverty and deep poverty reduction targets at the start of each Parliament.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament and sets out our ambition to fundamentally fix the structural drivers of child poverty as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change. From the beginning of our time in government we have acted on child poverty including through increasing the minimum wage, the Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and the removal of the two child limit from April 2026.
In addition to the existing statutory duty on Government to publish poverty statistics annually, we will be monitoring progress using two complementary headline metrics. These will measure overall child poverty using our leading measure of relative low income and our new measure of deep material poverty that looks at families’ ability to afford essentials as well as their income and housing costs.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans to track progress against these metrics as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning. There will continue to be a dedicated team in government that, with Ministerial oversight, will work across government, the public and private sectors and civil society as we develop milestones and plans for delivering, monitoring and evaluating our strategy.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.