Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long does it take to restore the state pension once a prisoner is released.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
State Pension and Pension Credit payments are suspended immediately when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that an individual has entered custody for a criminal offence.
A citizen who has served a criminal offence must inform DWP of their release to enable DWP to reinstate their payments. Upon receiving notification from the citizen, reinstatement of State Pension and Pension Credit is usually completed instantaneously. The timing of their first payment will depend upon their regular payment cycle, which is usually 4-weekly but can be changed to weekly upon request.
Of the c13 million citizens receiving State Pension, around 1,400 citizens per annum are subject to suspension of their payments due to imprisonment. In 2025, there were 1,415 State Pension and Pension Credit related cases suspended.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the stopping of a state pension is automatic on imprisonment but reinstatement on release is not.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
State Pension and Pension Credit payments are suspended immediately when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that an individual has entered custody for a criminal offence.
A citizen who has served a criminal offence must inform DWP of their release to enable DWP to reinstate their payments. Upon receiving notification from the citizen, reinstatement of State Pension and Pension Credit is usually completed instantaneously. The timing of their first payment will depend upon their regular payment cycle, which is usually 4-weekly but can be changed to weekly upon request.
Of the c13 million citizens receiving State Pension, around 1,400 citizens per annum are subject to suspension of their payments due to imprisonment. In 2025, there were 1,415 State Pension and Pension Credit related cases suspended.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners are affected by the stopping of the state pension on imprisonment.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
State Pension and Pension Credit payments are suspended immediately when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that an individual has entered custody for a criminal offence.
A citizen who has served a criminal offence must inform DWP of their release to enable DWP to reinstate their payments. Upon receiving notification from the citizen, reinstatement of State Pension and Pension Credit is usually completed instantaneously. The timing of their first payment will depend upon their regular payment cycle, which is usually 4-weekly but can be changed to weekly upon request.
Of the c13 million citizens receiving State Pension, around 1,400 citizens per annum are subject to suspension of their payments due to imprisonment. In 2025, there were 1,415 State Pension and Pension Credit related cases suspended.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse that would have been incurred had compensation been provided to women affected by changes to the State Pension age in the Chichester constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has made its decision on this case based on due process and careful consideration of the body of evidence. We have decided it would not be appropriate to pay compensation and the detailed reasons for this decision have been placed in the House library.
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, for what reason Access to Work decisions are not subject to appeal.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Although discretionary grant payments do not come with a right of appeal, Access to Work customers who disagree with their award can have their award decision reconsidered by a different case manager to ensure fairness and consistency within the scheme.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry dated 7 November 2025 and 12 January 2026.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Thank you for raising this. Both cases, CMPT12025/108144 and CMPT12026/02004, have now been assigned to a Complaints Resolution Manager for urgent action. We are prioritising them to ensure a response within 15‑working‑days, and we will monitor progress closely to avoid any further delays.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of fraud in relation to (a) Pension Credit and (b) the Winter Fuel Allowance.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes yearly estimates of fraud and error in the benefit system. The latest estimates for Pension Credit are available in section 9: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK.
Estimates of Winter Fuel Payment fraud is not routinely published; more information can be found at the following link: Background Information and Methodology: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025 - GOV.UK
The Department is taking action to reduce incorrectness in all benefits. The Public Authorities (Fraud Error and Recovery) Act 2025 Eligibility Verification Measure requires banks and financial institutions to provide data that will enable the Department to check the accuracy of awards. We are also introducing case reviews in Pension Credit to help ensure customers continue to receive the correct benefit amount.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department cross-checks identity information with (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) other government databases before initiating debt recovery action relating to Universal Credit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This department is committed to fairness in debt recovery and will always work with people to ensure that any recovery activity does not cause hardship or is unfairly detrimental. Identity checks are undertaken by DWP at the point a customer makes a benefit claim, and we work closely with other government departments during the claimant journey where necessary.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 108679 on Universal Credit: Work Capability Assessment, what estimate his Department has made of the reasons for the reduction in the number of Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments completed in December 2025 compared to each of the previous four months; and what steps his Department plans to take to increase capacity.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Capability Assessments reduced in December 2025 compared to the previous four months due to fewer working days over Christmas and an increase of staff on annual leave, again due to the festive period.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84673, for what reason the Health and Safety Executive is recorded as having not responded to the Prevention of Future Deaths report concerning the death of Graham Faulkner.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) responded directly to the Coroner’s office by email on 3 July 2024. This response was then resent to the Coroner on 11 March 2026.