theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_54

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether an impact assessment was carried out on the abolition of NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities

It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.

The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure that the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_55

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure NHS trusts provide consistent (a) care and (b) guidance to intended (i) parents and (ii) surrogates. \p Karin Smyth: The Government supports surrogacy as a part of assisted conception options, to help people who have difficulty starting their own family. To support intended parents and surrogates, the Department has published the guidance Care in surrogacy: guidance for the care of surrogates and intended parents in surrogate births in England and Wales, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/having-a-child-through-surrogacy/care-in-surrogacy-guidance-for-the-care-of-surrogates-and-intended-parents-in-surrogate-births-in-england-and-wales
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_56

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average amount of capital funding provided by his Department was for each new hospital built in the last five years. \p Karin Smyth: Specific national capital funding is allocated by the Department for the building of new hospitals through the New Hospital Programme (NHP).

The capital funding provided to build a new hospital varies significantly between each individual hospital. Hospitals are built based on local requirements and vary in the scope of services that they provide and their size.

For the hospitals built as part of the NHP in the last five years, the average amount of capital funding provided by the Department was approximately £270 million per hospital. This average includes a significant range.

In addition to funding delivered through the NHP, in the last five years national capital funding has been provided for several other estates and upgrade schemes outside the scope of the NHP, some of which have delivered major new facilities, but which fall short of the definition of a new hospital.

As set out in the published NHP Plan for Implementation, the cost estimates for the new hospital schemes in Waves 1, 2, and 3 are expected to be higher. We are backing this plan with investment which will increase to up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging approximately £3 billion a year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_57

Markus Campbell-Savours:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK-trained physiotherapists excluded from NHS employment pathways in (a) Penrith and Solway constituency and (b) the UK. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of physiotherapists trained in the United Kingdom who have been excluded from National Health Service employment pathways either in the Penrith and Solway constituency or across England.

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_58

Alison Hume:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the National Institute for Health and Care Research is taking to reduce regional variations of their health research funding; and what steps they are taking to increase the trend in the level of funding in Yorkshire. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, to ensure that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve.

NIHR infrastructure has national coverage across the whole of England. Our infrastructure schemes aim to build research capacity and capability across the country, including in Yorkshire.

The NIHR Research Delivery Network is the main vehicle by which the Department enables clinical research delivery. The Research Delivery Network will adopt a new national funding model for National Health Service support costs and research delivery from 2026/27. This will be a consistent, nationally agreed funding distribution model across all regions of England. The new model will reduce regional variations of health research delivery funding and enable a more transparent, fair, and predictable system of funding that supports the Government’s priorities and the needs of the whole health and care system, including underserved areas and settings.

11 NIHR-funded research infrastructure sites are based within Yorkshire, which is approximately 10%. These span the health and care research pathway, from invention to evaluation and implementation, and include: the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Regional Research Delivery Network; the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and NIHR Clinical Research Facilities in Leeds and Sheffield; the NIHR Applied Research Collaborative Bradford; the NIHR Sheffield Children’s Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) and the NIHR Bradford and West Yorkshire CRDC; and the NIHR Patient Safety Research Centre in Yorkshire and Bradford.

NIHR research funding opportunities are advertised through either commissioned calls to answer specific research questions, researcher-led workstreams, or themed calls and highlight notices, which provide funding opportunities in Government high-priority areas. Funding committees assess applications that apply to the funding calls and are briefed to consider the equitable distribution of funding.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_59

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with sex workers on the proposed NHS 10-Year Health Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has held discussions with (a) foreign migrants and (b) asylum seekers on the proposed NHS 10-Year Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_61

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) stakeholders, (b) NGOs and (c) interest groups have been consulted on the NHS 10-Year Plan by (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England since 4 July 2024. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that parliamentary scrutiny of child and young people's mental health policy is supported by transparent ministerial accountability in the House of Commons. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Ms Polly Billington:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Learning Disability annual health check has been removed as a national target for primary care in the 2025-26 NHS plan. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to begin consulting with adult social care providers on proposals for a Fair Pay Agreement. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_65

Cat Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her policy is on whether people receiving Personal Independence Payment would stay within the existing system in instances where their case is reviewed or renewed. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As I set out in the House of Commons on 1 July 2025, this Government has listened to the concerns raised by Members from across the House regarding the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Clause 5 of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would have amended the legal framework underpinning PIP assessments, specifically by changing the eligibility criteria through adjustments to the activities and descriptors used to determine entitlement.

In light of the concerns raised, I confirmed during the debate that we are going to remove clause 5 from the Bill in Committee.

(Hansard, 1 July, col 219)
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her letter on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, dated 26 June 2025, whether the exemption from reassessment for existing Personal Independence Payment claimants will apply to people whose claim is under review. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As I set out in the House of Commons on 1 July 2025, this Government has listened to the concerns raised by Members from across the House regarding the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Clause 5 of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill would have amended the legal framework underpinning PIP assessments, specifically by changing the eligibility criteria through adjustments to the activities and descriptors used to determine entitlement.

In light of the concerns raised, I confirmed during the debate that we are going to remove clause 5 from the Bill in Committee.

(Hansard, 1 July, col 219)
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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants are veterans with service-related health conditions in the latest period for which data is available. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department does not centrally hold data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants’ previous occupation, so we are not able to determine which claimants are veterans.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that armed forces veterans with service-related health conditions are appropriately identified for additional support under the proposed changes to the Universal Credit health element. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is carefully considering the implications for veterans and their families in the welfare Green Paper consultation, and is actively engaging with Armed Forces groups to ensure that veterans with service-related health conditions are appropriately identified and supported under the proposed changes to the Universal Credit (UC) health element.

As part of welfare reform, the DWP has committed to a dedicated consultation process with Armed Forces stakeholders. This includes direct meetings with service charities and veterans' organizations to assess the potential impact of the changes, particularly on Early Service Leavers and those medically discharged from service

Additionally, the DWP continues to support veterans through the Armed Forces Champions network within Jobcentre Plus. These champions are trained to understand the unique challenges faced by the Armed Forces community and help ensure that veterans receive tailored support, including assistance with benefit claims and employment services

The department also utilises service medical board evidence to streamline the assessment process for veterans applying for Universal Credit, reducing the need for face-to-face assessments where appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed restriction on the health element of universal credit to those aged 22 years and over on care leavers younger than 22. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on care leavers. However, we recognise the challenges care leavers may face in transitioning to independent living and navigating the welfare system, and we remain committed to supporting them, as with all vulnerable groups.

The Department’s care leaver offer includes access to the higher one-bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate up to the age of 25, and tailored support through Jobcentre Plus. This support is kept under regular review.

As part of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, we invited views on proposals to raise the age at which individuals can access the Universal Credit health element to 22. The consultation closed last Monday.

We continue to engage with stakeholders and welcome views on how best to ensure care leavers are supported through future reforms to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will clarify whether people in receipt of legacy benefits who are migrated to Universal Credit through the managed migration process will be treated as new claimants for the purposes of the health-related element changes proposed in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department plans to complete migration of ESA claimants to UC by March 2026. As part of this ESA claimants will be migrated to the UC Health Element. To protect any claimants who have not migrated by April 2026 we intend to mirror as closely as possible the changes made in UC in the ESA rates. Changes to the “support component” and the two disability premia (severe and enhanced disability premium rates) will reflect changes to UC LCWRA rates for existing claimants. Including these commensurate measures aims to give fair treatment for all customers moving onto UC from income related ESA, regardless of their point of migration.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the Government’s proposed reforms to universal credit and personal independence payments on the number of care leavers in poverty. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The data are not available to make an assessment on this basis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of PIP claims were under review as of 27 June 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Please find the information requested in Table 1 below. We provide figures for 30th April 2025 in line with latest official published statistics Personal Independence Payment statistics to April 2025.

Table 1. Volume of cases and proportion of April 2025 caseload under review on 30th April 2025.

Type of review

Volume of cases under review on 30th April 2025

Proportion of April 2025 caseload

Award Review

380,000

10%

Change of Circumstances

40,000

1%

All Reviews

420,000

11%

Notes:

Whilst the regular review cycle of PIP claims means there will always be a substantial amount in progress at any given time, work is under way to reduce the level of work outstanding within the system. Operational capacity is managed to ensure an appropriate balance between the processing of New Claims to PIP, planned Award Reviews, and Unplanned (Change of Circumstance) Reviews.

Where this approach leads to delays in processing Planned Award Reviews, claims are extended where necessary to prevent expiry. Should customers circumstances change whilst awaiting a Planned Review, a Change of Circumstances Review can be requested and will be processed without delay.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of replacing the Work and Health programme that last took applicants in September 2024. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The decision to end the Work and Health Programme was made by the previous Administration.

The Government is committed to reducing the disability employment gap. We have a clear ambition to raise the overall employment rate to 80%. We are delivering the biggest employment support package for disabled people and people with health conditions in more than a generation as part of our Pathways to Work Guarantee, which will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits. The Pathways to Work Guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by 2030 and a total of £2.2 billion over four years.

Separate to this, our new, voluntary, locally led, Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work, is rolling out across England and Wales. Over the five-year duration of the programme, it will provide specialist employment support to over 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment.

This is on top of our Jobcentre core offer, which includes the extended Restart Scheme, Disability Employment Advisers and 1000 Pathways to Work Advisers providing additional work coach support for disabled benefit recipients and those with work-limiting health conditions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Natasha Irons:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 61354 on Personal Independence Payment, if she will set out the methodology used to estimate the number of claimants who would be subject to the benefits cap. \p Sir Stephen Timms: As I made clear in my statement to the House, Hansard, 1 July, col 219, any changes to PIP eligibility will come after a comprehensive review of the benefit, which I am leading, and which will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This review aims to ensure that the PIP assessment is fair and fit for the future. The review is expected to conclude in autumn 2026.

For the previous proposals’ impact on the benefit cap, administrative datasets from August 2024 showing the number of households exempt from the benefit cap as a result of PIP receipt were used to estimate the proportion of households that would become affected by the benefit cap if they lost their entitlement to PIP. This was then applied to the estimated volume of PIP claimants that would be affected by the 4-point policy that do not receive the Mobility component of PIP. Implicit in this assumption was that exemptions from the benefit cap are equally likely among those not having a 4-point score as those who have one.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time is for (a) self-employed and (b) freelancer applications to Access to Work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We do not hold separate average processing time data for (a) self-employed and (b) freelancer applications to Access to Work. These types of applications are included within the overall Access to Work processing time.

The current average processing time for access to work is 92.0 days from April 2025 to June 2025

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to safeguard members' benefits when a sponsoring employer seeks to extract pension scheme surpluses. \p Torsten Bell: Currently, some Defined Benefit schemes can already consider releasing their surplus under existing rules. The Pension Schemes Bill will provide more flexibility for trustees of these and other well-funded schemes to safely share some surplus with employers and members. This is underpinned with strict funding safeguards to ensure members’ pensions are protected.

Scheme trustees are required to act in the interest of scheme beneficiaries and will be responsible for agreeing to any decisions on surplus release. Schemes will also need to meet a minimum funding level and require actuarial certification before the release of any surplus. Further, our scheme funding regulations, overseen by the Pensions Regulator, require that trustees maintain a strong funding position so they can pay members’ future pensions when they fall due, including planning for future volatility.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the rate of child poverty in Yeovil constituency. \p Alison McGovern: Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is a priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

Our commitments at the 2025 Spending Review come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Sonia Kumar:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review guidance on the application process of the Household Support Fund. \p Alison McGovern: The Department for Work and Pensions have no plans to review the guidance on the application process for this iteration of the Household Support Fund, having reviewed and updated the guidance to launch the scheme on 1 April 2025.

Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for The Fund. Every Local Authority must operate part of their scheme on an application basis, to allow the opportunity for individuals struggling with the cost of essentials to ask for further support.
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John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will maintain the careers guidance service for all unemployed people receiving support as part of the new national Jobs and Careers Service. \p Alison McGovern: We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new Jobs and Careers Service across Great Britain that will transform our ability to support people into good, meaningful work, and to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. This will be a universal service which all people – not just benefit recipients or those out of work – will be able to engage with.

In England, these reforms will include bringing together Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service. The new service will have an increased focus on supporting progression and good work through aligning employment support more closely with skills and careers advice. In Scotland and Wales, we will work closely with the Devolved Governments to ensure the new service works effectively with the devolved careers and skills services.

We are in the early stages of designing the new service, working closely with Department for Education and more details will be shared in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people on universal credit into work in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire. \p Alison McGovern: As announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers advice.

We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access good, meaningful work, and support them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The new service will be available for anyone who wants to look for work, to increase their earnings or to change their career or retrain. It will be responsive to local employers, inclusive for all customers and will work closely in partnership with local services to tackle the challenges associated with local labour markets.

In Fylde, our Jobcentre teams work closely with the Local Authority as well as local employers and partners to offer a range of employment opportunities for our customers. Tailored support is available for different customer groups to offer the right support needed. An example is referring our younger customers to Fylde Focus which gives 16-24 year olds a bespoke one to one service to improve their employability skills. Across Lancashire, including Fylde, our Work Coaches utilise their appointments to identify the right provision for our customers. Employer Advisers and Disability Employment Advisers engage with employers and partners to bring our Jobcentres Sector-based Work Academy Programmes, 50+ MOT’s, Job Fairs, employability building courses and more. An example is a recent employability event which took place in St Annes, which helped individuals look at taking the first or next step in their career and employment journey. The event offered tailored careers advice, CV/interview support and access to local training and job opportunities.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the child poverty taskforce on levels of child poverty in Fylde constituency. \p Alison McGovern: Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child, including those in Fylde constituency. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.

These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Poverty Taskforce has had discussions with the Department for Education on family hubs. \p Alison McGovern: The Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Education. It has met nine times to discuss the critical issues that drive child poverty. One such meeting in January focused on the role of local services in reducing poverty, including family hubs.

The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty, including family hubs.
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Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to support disabled people to find work. \p Alison McGovern: Good 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 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 and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and people with health conditions in at least a generation. 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. This is backed up by £2.2bn over four years, including £200m in 2026/27 when our benefit changes begin to take effect and as announced in the statement on Welfare Reform (30 June) by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, an additional £300m over the next three years. This brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024, will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In recognition of the key role employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review, considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie will deliver his final report in the autumn. Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to support businesses to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities. \p Alison McGovern: Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. All employers have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in the workplace where a disabled person would otherwise be put at a substantial disadvantage compared with their colleagues. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act and providing guidance on reasonable adjustments.

The Disability Confident Scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work. The scheme covers all disabilities, including hidden disabilities.

In addition, DWP has a digital information service for employers, (www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk), which provides tailored guidance to businesses to support employees to remain in work. This includes guidance on health disclosures and having conversations about health, plus guidance on legal obligations, including statutory sick pay and making reasonable adjustments.

In October 2024 we launched our WorkWell service, which is piloting locally designed and delivered work and health support to meet the needs of local populations in 15 areas in England. Local partnerships of Integrated Care Boards, local authorities / Mayoral Combined Authorities and Jobcentre Plus will support disabled people and people with health conditions who are in or out of work to help them access the range of support they need to be able to work. WorkWell pilots will provide up to 56,000 people with the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team combining health and work professions to build a personalised action plan addressing a person’s health related barriers to work.

Throughout 2025 our new, locally-led, voluntary Supported Employment programme Connect to Work is opening across England and Wales. It will provide specialist employment support to over 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment over the five-year duration of the programme.

In recognition of the key role employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review, considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie will deliver his final report in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-03 conversation_85

Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give pension scheme trustees the authority to award discretionary increases to those already claiming a pension. \p Torsten Bell: Discretionary indexation is over and above the statutory requirements. This discretion is usually exercised by the trustees with the agreement of the sponsoring employer. Some schemes have previously paid discretionary increases on a regular basis. However, these increases are not part of the pension package promised.

The precise design of pension benefits is a matter for employers and trustees and is not covered in the Department for Work and Pensions legislation. Pension scheme rules are many and varied and must remain a matter for employers and scheme trustees to decide.

The Pension Schemes Bill makes changes so that more trustees of well-funded schemes have the flexibility to share their scheme surplus with employers, subject to strict funding safeguards for members. Scheme trustees are required to act in the interest of scheme beneficiaries, and working with sponsoring employers, will be responsible for decisions on the release of surplus. Together they will agree how members can benefit from any release of surplus, which could include discretionary benefit increases.

The Pensions Regulator already expects that trustees be aware of members who would benefit from any decision to award a discretionary increase and whether the scheme has a history of making such awards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Paulette Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to introduce new (a) opportunities and (b) training for PIP claimants who will lose their entitlement to PIP due to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in addition to those announced in the (i) Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025 and (ii) White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published on 26 November 2024. \p Alison McGovern: The Government has listened and committed to making changes to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. We will take forward reforms to PIP in a different way through the Timms review, and only make changes to PIP eligibility, activities and descriptors once the review has completed. The aim of the review is to make sure it is fair and fit for the future in a changing world and helps support disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence.

As announced in the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ statement on Welfare Reform on 30 June, we have increased the funding for employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions, investing an additional £300m over the next 3 years. This means our ‘Pathways to Work Guarantee’ is now an investment of £2.2 billion by 2030. This brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament.

In addition to our Pathways to Work Guarantee announced in the Green Paper, our Access to Work Scheme provides practical support to help disabled people get into and stay in work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to food bank referral slips on levels of food poverty since February 2024. \p Alison McGovern: Under the previous administration, DWP introduced a new food charity signposting slip to replace the one previously used, removing personal data to better comply with obligations, including GDPR responsibilities, and to improve our process. The new slip does not change our DWP policy, and our Jobcentres continue to provide customers with guidance to find additional support, including to emergency food support when appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-03)

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Catherine Atkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to enable the employment of (a) disabled people and (b) people with long-term health conditions. \p Alison McGovern: Good 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 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 and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

We are delivering the biggest investment in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions in at least a generation. 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. As announced in the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ statement on Welfare Reform on 30 June we are investing an additional £300m over the next 3 years. This means ‘Pathways to Work Guarantee’ is now an investment of£2.2 billion by 2030. This brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024, will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In recognition of the key role employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review, considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie will deliver his final report in the autumn. Employers are crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to thrive in the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.