theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Tonia Antoniazzi:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40390 on Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, what steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Sullivan Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender, published on 19 March 2025. \p Andrew Western: The government has now published the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the previous government. We are considering the findings in light of ongoing policy work in this area.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce delays in the administration of Carer's Allowance; and what steps she is taking to inform carers about the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Recruitment and deployment of additional resources is taking place to enable the Carer’s Allowance (CA) unit to meet the consistent increased demand, which should reduce the clearance times for new claims to CA.

DWP has reviewed its communications to ensure the increase in the CA earnings threshold from 7 April 2025 is clearly visible. These include:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) part-time and (b) full-time employment opportunities that will be available by 2029-30 for those disabled people and people with health conditions as outlined in the Green Paper: Pathways to Work, published on 18 March 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No such estimate has been made.

However, we have evidence that delivering better and more tailored employment support can get more people off welfare, and into work - alongside a higher expectation to engage with that support. Therefore, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for sick and disabled people ever.

In addition, corrective action is needed after the value of the basic unemployment benefit was run down to a 40-year low, while incapacity benefits continued to rise. This means that the rate of Universal Credit for those on the health element is now double that for those on the standard allowance. As a result, all the incentives are to claim incapacity benefits and define yourself as incapable of work, with both the OBR and IFS suggesting this has been a factor in driving higher incapacity benefit claims.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 37202 on Seasonal workers: Agriculture, how many Health and Safety Executive inspection officials are based in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As the table below shows, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) currently employs 897 full time equivalent (FTE) inspector staff in all grades and roles including trainees, managers and specialists with warrants. There are currently 663 FTE Band 3 and 4 inspectors who undertake the delivery of the operational division workplans. This includes inspections and investigations into reported incidents and concerns and where non-compliance with health and safety legislations is identified, the inspectors take regulatory action in accordance with HSE’s published Enforcement Policy Statement.

Although HSE staff work across England, Scotland and Wales, these figures are based on the office location where the staff are employed.

Job Band

England

Scotland

Wales

Total

SCS

9

1

-

10

Band 1

28

4

3

35

Band 2

152

26

11

189

Band 3

377

94

42

513

Band 4

117

21

12

150

Total

683

146

68

897
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Yuan Yang:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the uptake of Carer’s Allowance as a result of proposed tightening of PIP eligibility criteria on (a) rates of poverty among carers, (b) carers’ labour market participation and (c) levels of demand for public services. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has yet been conducted.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, on people in receipt of carer's allowance. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This government is committed to supporting unpaid carers, who provide invaluable support to elderly or disabled people.

As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider considerations of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with disabilities and long-term health conditions will be supported by the £1bn a year funding outlined in the Green Paper: Pathways to Work, published on 18 March 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding across Great Britain.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions to the level of the Personal Independence Payment on people in Epsom and Ewell constituency. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No estimate has yet been made.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Mr Toby Perkins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of working people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) who will be forced to leave work if they cease to receive PIP. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No estimate has been made. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost, as it would require a bespoke survey of claimants.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the DWP appointee scheme to cover Child Trust Funds with a value up to £5,000. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The DWP will not be extending its appointeeship scheme to include Child Trust Funds. The scheme only applies to Government benefits which help with day-to-day living expenses, as opposed to a capital asset like a Child Trust Fund which matures overtime. Further, applying benefit rules to Child Trust Funds would not provide the protections currently delivered by the Mental Capacity Act and could expose vulnerable people to risk.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Yuan Yang:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment scored fewer than four points in each of the daily living activities (a) by sex, (b) by age, (c) by ethnicity and (d) in total. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

The Department does not hold data on the ethnicity of all PIP claimants on its computer systems, since it is not required for the administration of benefit. Information on the ethnicity of PIP claimants is available from the Family Resources Survey: financial year 2023 to 2024 (Table 2.10), but this cannot be related to PIP point scores.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what steps she plans to take to help support people with severe lifelong conditions. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will protect the incomes of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work.

For those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work, will see their incomes protected. We will also guarantee that for both new and existing claims, those in this group who have no prospect of improvement will not need to be reassessed in future.

We also want to improve peoples’ experience of the health and disability benefits system, as set out in the Green Paper. This includes exploring ways to improve PIP assessments through using recording of assessments as a lever for improvement, digitalising transfer of medical information, using evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for people with very severe health conditions to undergo functional assessments and improving communication with people receiving awards who are expected to remain on disability benefits for life.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the budget for (a) UK REACH and (b) GB CLP for 2025-26; and identify (i) income from fees, charges and other sources and (ii) expenditure including staff costs in the (A) Health and Safety Executive, (B) Environment Agency, (C) Office for Product Safety and Standards and (D) UK Health Security Agency. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not publish separate budgets for the UK REACH and GB CLP regulatory regimes. For the financial year 2025-26, the full cost of the planned activity is around (a) £6.1m on UK REACH, of which approximately £2.5m are staff costs and (b) £1m on GB CLP, of which approximately £0.44m are staff costs.

These costs will be met by income from several sources, including fees and charges paid by industry and allocations from government which vary each year depending on the activity being carried out. For UK REACH, fees from industry for 2025-26 are forecast to be £1.53m.

The information requested on budgets and expenditures in relation to different agencies are not held by this department. You may wish to contact the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the Environment Agency, the Department for Business and Trade for Office for Product Safety and Standards, and the Department of Health and Social Care for UK Health Security Agency.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, when she plans to publish further information on how her Department plans to use the £1 billion a year funding to help more disabled people and people with health conditions into employment. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from people who are out of work on health and disability grounds and their representative organisations, and from a wide range of other stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, and employers. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the level of saving from reducing the health element of Universal Credit in cash terms to £50 per week in 2026-27 for new claimants. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The table below breaks down the overall savings into the static savings of the two policies and the impact of the expected behavioural changes. The behavioural changes are the expected impact of both policies on claimant behaviour.

DWP costings are produced at a GB level. The final line aligns the DWP estimates to the Spring Statement 2025 policy costing document which includes the impact of the Scotland Block Grant Adjustment and Northern Ireland.

Savings, £, m

2026/27

2027/28

2028/29

2029/30

Static impact: Pre-April 2026 stock freeze

490

700

900

1,090

Static impact: Post April 2026 flow reduced rate

430

1,070

1,690

2,280

Behavioural impact (of both policies combined)

-210

-300

-400

-500

Scotland Block Grant Adjustment and Northern Ireland

30

70

100

130
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Yuan Yang:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming Carer’s Allowance are caring for a person who scores fewer than four points for each individual descriptor in the daily living part of Personal Independence Payment (a) by sex, (b) by ethnicity and (c) in total. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

The Department does not hold data on the ethnicity of all PIP claimants on its computer systems, since it is not required for the administration of benefit. Information on the ethnicity of PIP claimants is available from the Family Resources Survey: financial year 2023 to 2024 (Table 2.10), but this cannot be related to PIP point scores.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support partially sighted people into employment in Lincolnshire. \p Alison McGovern: Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. We announced in the recent Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding. This support is needed to break down barriers, unlock work and open up opportunity. It will get people off welfare and into work – which we know many believe they could do.

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions including the partially sighted are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell.

It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate (JWHD) is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025. Additionally, the JWHD has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many letters she has issued to people who registered details of deceased family members on underpaid state pensions in 2025; whether her Department holds other records to assist with validating claims for underpaid state pensions; whether her Department has paused the destruction of state pension payment records; and what the age is of the oldest of those records retained by her Department. \p Torsten Bell: The Next of Kin / representatives of a deceased State Pension customer had the opportunity to contact DWP if they thought the customer may be in scope for the State Pension Underpayments exercise.

In reviewing these enquiries, the Department has identified that for a small number, approximately 2,500 customers, our Pension Service Computer System (PSCS) no longer holds a record for the deceased customer. This is in line with our Data Retention Policy.

A pause on the deletion of customer records was implemented at the start of the State Pension Underpayments exercise and remains in place. However, records for customers who died before 16/01/21 will have been deleted in line with our Data Retention Policy.

DWP may be able to review a deceased customer’s State Pension award, if the Next of Kin / representative could supply historical records, such as letters received by the deceased customer from DWP and supporting bank statements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Paulette Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people died who had been assessed as having Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity under the Normal Rules and received a Daily Living component of Personal Independence Payment but received less than four points for each Daily Living activity in their last assessment in the last year for which information is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This information is not readily available.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that companies and charities are paid on time in the Access to Work Plus Scheme. \p Sir Stephen Timms: To enable charities and companies to receive timely payments, officials have been working in collaboration with these organisations to explore how the Access to Work Plus claims process can be made easier for their employees. In March 2025, to ensure payments can be made swiftly, a streamlined claims process was put in place to clear outstanding claims for payment. Guidance on the new process has been issued to charities and companies, and officials continue to work with the charities and companies to develop longer term improvements to the employees’ claims process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Paulette Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receiving Universal Credit assessed as having Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity died (a) in total and (b) under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness in the last year for which information is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department supports people nearing the end of life through special benefit rules – called the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.

This table shows the total number of Universal Credit claimants who had a Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) award during 2024 broken down by the number with a LCWRA award under SREL and the number who died during the year.

LCWRA claimants in 2024

LCWRA claimants in 2024 under SREL

Total number

1,858,800

17,400

Number who died in 2024

24,100

5,900

Percentage who died in 2024

1.3%

34%

Notes:

Numbers are rounded to 100.

Data is taken from Universal Credit analytical systems but results have not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard and are subject to retrospective change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Alex Sobel:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40633 on Social Security Benefits: Reform, when her Department plans to publish the full suite of accessible versions of the Green Paper. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The remaining accessible formats of the Green Paper have now been published and can be accessed here: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK. A full suite of accessible versions is available including Audio, British Sign Language, Braille, Large Print and Easy Read.

The consultation will close in 12 weeks on 30 June 2025, to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to engage with and respond to the consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, what criteria she plans to use to identify claimants with serious and lifelong health conditions to ensure they will never face reassessment. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The assessment process is an important part of claiming PIP and WCA to ensure that people receive the right level of support.

However, for some people with very severe health conditions and disabilities, by the time they come to make a claim, they have already undergone intensive assessments and provided detailed evidence about their condition to receive support from other services. That is why in PIP, we are also exploring ways in which we could use evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for some people with very severe health conditions to undergo a full PIP functional assessment. For example, for young people with very severe long-term conditions who have already been assessed for and awarded support from Disability Living Allowance for children before claiming PIP for the first time.

For those on UC with the most severe, life-long, conditions who we know will never be able to work, we will aim to exempt them from ever needing to be reassessed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Apsana Begum:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria will be used to determine suspicious bank account activity that would result in the Department requiring access to the individuals bank account under the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill. \p Andrew Western: DWP’s information gathering powers may be used where there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud. In such cases the Department can issue an information notice, where necessary and proportionate, to any information holders who DWP believe hold relevant information, including banks. When gathered, this information can be used to either prove or disprove the allegation of fraud.

This is distinct from the new Eligibility Verification measure contained within the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, where banks and financial institutions will be required to share limited data with DWP on benefit-receiving account holders and accounts relating to specified benefits, where it suggests someone may be receiving an incorrect payment. For example, where a person is in receipt of Universal Credit and has savings over £16,000. This is done without any presumption of fraud.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the average amount received in benefits by benefit claimant households in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Monthly statistics for the number of households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit in Great Britain by local authority are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore.

Universal Credit statistics, by monthly average award amount, are available from August 2015 to November 2024 in the Households on Universal Credit dataset.

Housing Benefit statistics, by weekly average award amount, are available from November 2008 to March 2018 in the Housing Benefit – Data to March 2018 dataset and from April 2018 to November 2024 in the Housing Benefit - Data from April 2018 dataset.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide

The information requested for households receiving other benefits is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of benefit claimant households had received welfare payments for (a) five, (b) ten, (c) twenty and (d) more than twenty years in each year since 2010 in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by local authority. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_298

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraphs 2.33 to 2.35 of HM Treasury's document entitled Spring Statement 2025, published on 26 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the changes in health and disability benefits on (a) the health of those people receiving such benefits and (b) societal health inequalities. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No such assessment has been made.

However, we have evidence that delivering better and more tailored employment support can get more people off welfare, and into work - alongside a higher expectation to engage with that support.

We are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for sick and disabled people ever.

In addition, corrective action is needed after the value of the basic unemployment benefit was run down to a 40-year low, while incapacity benefits continued to rise. Meaning the rate of Universal Credit for those on the health element is now double that for those on the standard allowance. As a result, all the incentives are to claim incapacity benefits and define yourself as incapable of work, with both the OBR and IFS suggesting this has been a factor in driving higher incapacity benefit claims.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefits claimant households received (a) Universal Credit, (b) New Style Jobseekers’ Allowance, (c) New Style Employment and Support Allowance, (d) Personal Independence Payment and (e) legacy benefits in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Monthly statistics for the number of households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit in Great Britain by local authority are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore.

Universal Credit statistics are available from August 2015 to November 2024 in the Households on Universal Credit dataset.

Housing Benefit statistics are available from November 2008 to March 2018 in the Housing Benefit – Data to March 2018 dataset and from April 2018 to November 2024 in the Housing Benefit - Data from April 2018 dataset.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide

The information requested for households receiving the other benefits is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

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Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receiving the standard level of PIP did not score four points in any of the ten descriptors in (a) Blyth and Ashington constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) the North East and (d) England. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_301
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_301

Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of pausing the creation of new Carer’s Allowance overpayment debts until the conclusion of the independent review. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Overpayments have caused significant anxiety for some people. It is important to take the time to review what happened independently, to establish what exactly what went wrong and assess how to put things right. We will await the findings of the independent review being conducted by Liz Sayce. The review is not a substitute for legal proceedings and the existence of the review does not prejudice any business-as-usual activity by DWP.

We carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments with safeguards in place to manage repayments fairly. Carers have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. Support remains in place with DWP’s Debt Management Service available to speak to anyone who has had an overpayment about the terms of their repayment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_302

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, by what date she expects to publish accessible formats of that Green Paper. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The remaining accessible formats of the Green Paper have now been published and can be accessed here: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK. A full suite of accessible versions is available including Audio, British Sign Language, Braille, Large Print and Easy Read.

The consultation will close in 12 weeks on the 30 June 2025, to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to engage with and respond to the consultation.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_303
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_303

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's report entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, published on 26 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase of children in relative poverty on (a) those children's health and (b) the societal health inequalities of children. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No such assessment has been made. However, the proposals have been carefully designed to protect the finances of severely disabled people.

The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Equality Analysis” and “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_304

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support severely disabled people who cannot work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will ensure that those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.

For those who are affected by the new PIP eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_305

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, whether she considered the potential merits of producing a health impact assessment of that Green Paper. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_306
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_306

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the Personal Independence Payment qualifying criteria and the consequential effect on Carer's Allowance eligibility on the ability of carers to participate in paid employment. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026.

We understand the struggles facing many carers. We have launched an Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance which is exploring how earnings-related overpayments have occurred and what changes can be made. We’ve already taken action by boosting the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold by £45 a week to £196 – a move that will benefit more than 60,000 carers by 2029/30.

As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider the impacts on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider considerations of responses to the consultation as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We are also consulting on how best to support those who lose entitlement to Personal Independence Payment due to the reforms, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_307
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_307

Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming the standard level of the Personal Independence Payment who did not score four points in any of the 10 descriptors have a claim where someone else receives Carer's Allowance in (a) Blyth and Ashington constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) the North East and (d) England. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_308
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_308

Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming the standard level of the Personal Independence Payment who did not score four points in any of the 10 descriptors have a claim where someone else receives the carers component of Universal Credit in (a) Blyth and Ashington constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) the North East and (d) England. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_309
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_309

Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of what the weekly reduction in income would be for a household where one person receives (a) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and does not have four points in any descriptor and (b) Carer's Allowance and the care component of Universal Credit, in the context of her proposed reforms to PIP. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No estimate has yet been made.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_310
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_310

Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people under the age of 16 are claiming Disability Living Allowance in (a) Blyth and Ashington constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) the North East and (d) England. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The latest available data on the number of children claiming Disability Living Allowance can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The requested data can be found in the ‘DLA: Cases in Entitlement’, which allows you to view the number of individuals that are entitled to DLA. To filter for information related to children only, this can be found by expanding ‘Client Type’ and selecting ‘Children’. The specific areas requested can be found by expanding ‘Westminster Parliamentary Constituency 2024’ or ‘National – Regional – LA – OAs’.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_311
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_311

Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on raising the level of the personal tax-free allowance in line with the basic state pension. \p Torsten Bell: The DWP Secretary of State engages regularly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As the Minister for Pensions, I also serve as a Parliamentary Secretary at HM Treasury. Currently the Personal Allowance, which is the amount an individual can earn before paying tax, is higher than the full rates of both the basic and new State Pensions. This means pensioners whose income is solely the full new State Pension or basic State Pension will not pay any income tax.

The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028. At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.

Under the previous Government the vast majority of pensioners already pay Income Tax. When individuals’ wider income was taken into account in 2022/23 over 80% of pensioners had an income over the Personal Allowance Tax Threshold.

This Government is absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

Over 12 million pensioners will benefit from our commitment to protect the Triple Lock which is set to increase spending on the State Pension by around £31 billion and will increase people’s yearly State Pensions by up to £1,900 this Parliament.
wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_312
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-07 conversation_312

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many single pensioners there are who earn less than £20,000 a year and more than the threshold required for pension credit. \p Torsten Bell: The income threshold for eligibility for Pension Credit is dependent on personal circumstances, and not all forms of income are taken into account when determining eligibility. Therefore it is not possible to produce a robust estimate of how many single pensioners exceed this threshold due to earned income.