theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56537 on Long Covid, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure equitable access to long COVID (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment services in (i) rural and (ii) coastal Lancashire. \p Ashley Dalton: Since April 2024, the commissioning of long COVID services has been the responsibility of local integrated care boards, following the closure of the national long COVID programme. For the Fylde constituency, and Lancashire more widely, this is the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.

From 1 May 2025, the long COVID services in Lancashire and South Cumbria will no longer be commissioned as stand-alone services. These services have now closed to new referrals, and the way in which patients with long COVID access support will change.

Anyone currently accessing the long COVID service in Lancashire and South Cumbria will be contacted directly by their provider to let them know what will happen next and how they can continue to be supported.

People with long COVID symptoms should see their general practitoner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs.

Examples of alternative services, dependent on individual patient need, include:

Referrals can also be made to:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish his Department's risk assessments of (a) the abolition of NHS England and (b) the 50% cost reductions required by Integrated Care Boards. \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 (2025-06-24)

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Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) data protection and (b) ethical implications of commercial DNA testing services used by minors without age verification. \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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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, how the £1 billion employment, health and skills support package will be spent. \p Alison McGovern: We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

We are increasing funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard. This includes additional funding in 2026/27 to ensure that those affected by benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support with their work, health and skills needs. We anticipate this support will include: access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations from one of our 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the longer-term design of the Pathways to Work guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we are seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to provide support to people who are unable to secure employment after the transition period. \p Alison McGovern: We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

We are increasing funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard. This includes additional funding in 2026/27 to ensure that those affected by benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support with their work, health and skills needs. We anticipate this support will include: access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations from one of our 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

These programmes include Connect to Work, which is already rolling out and will support around 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions or other complex barriers to employment in 2026/27, Trailblazers and WorkWell, which join up health and employment support at a local level.

We are also consulting on what broader support might be needed for those affected by PIP changes, including improving their experiences of the health and social care system, and will consider these responses as we develop detailed proposals for change.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to assess the increased cost of (a) health and (b) social care on people following the loss of (i) PIP and (ii) Universal Credit health element. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Our plans are designed to protect the most vulnerable and give disabled people equal chances and choices to work. We will always work to ensure that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected and consider how best we can support people as we bring forward reforms – which is why we have put protections on the face of our Bill.

We are very mindful of the impacts of PIP eligibility changes and that is why we are consulting on how best to support those who may lose entitlement. It is why we have committed that existing claimants who lose eligibility as a result of these changes will continue to receive PIP and its associated benefits and entitlements for 13 weeks following their award review. This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP. We are investing £200 million in 2026/27 to ensure everyone who loses PIP is guaranteed access to an adviser to help with work, health and skills support.

As set out in the Green Paper and the Bill, we are taking further action to protect people with most severe, lifelong conditions. We will ensure this group are protected from future reassessment for Universal Credit entitlement and paid the higher rate of the Universal Credit health top-up so they can live with dignity and security.

We are also working closely with DHSC as we develop the detail on these policies, to ensure eligible health and care needs are met. We will continue to consider the wider impacts of reforms including on local authorities. Further details on these changes will be set out in a White Paper in the Autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of integrating (a) health and (b) social care services with access to welfare advice. \p Alison McGovern: We understand the importance of ensuring local services are joined up and providing personalised wrap around support. In the recent Pathways to Work green paper the Government announced 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 increased funding each year up to £1billion a year by the end of the scorecard.

As part of the mission led government, regular cross government collaboration takes place at both Ministerial and official level. The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions and has a range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. In England and Wales, these measures include 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, as well as support across the UK from Work Coaches, Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.

Good work is 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.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of employment rates among people with Down syndrome in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire. \p Alison McGovern: The Department publishes the employment rates of disabled people using the Labour Force Survey which is conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The Labour Force Survey collects data on main and main or secondary health conditions, this includes Severe or specific learning difficulties but does not specifically collect data for Down’s syndrome.

In 2020 to 2022, the overall disability employment rate in Fylde was 52.5%. In 2023/24, the overall disability employment rate was 55.1% in Lancashire.

Statistics on disability employment by main and main or secondary health condition can be found here: The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support will be available to disabled people that are unable to secure employment after the implementation of planned changes to Pathways to Work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are delivering the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation – a total of £1.9bn over 4 years. Our Pathways to Work Guarantee will provide work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out of work benefits.

Our new support offer will begin to roll out next year backed by £200 million - to ensure that those affected by the benefit changes in England, Scotland and Wales will be offered support by one of 1,000 dedicated Pathways to Work advisors. This will include access to a conversation about needs, goals and aspirations; an offer of one-to-one follow-on support; and help to access additional work, health and skills support through dedicated programmes.

These programmes include Connect to Work, which will support around 100,000 people with disabilities, health conditions or other complex barriers to employment in 2026/27, Trailblazers and WorkWell, which join up health and employment support at a local level.

This will be a guarantee of support to address work, health and skills needs, available to claimants as long as they need it.

The social security system will always be there for those who cannot work. We are committed to ensuring that the most vulnerable and severely disabled people are protected, so they can live with dignity and security, while supporting those who can work to do so. That is why we are legislating for people with the most severe, lifelong conditions to be protected from future reassessment for Universal Credit entitlement and paid the higher rate of the Universal Credit health top-up.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Claire Hanna:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what long-term plans her Department has to increase levels of (a) maternity, (b) paternity and (c) parental pay in line with the National Living Wage. \p Andrew Western: Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments. When considering calls to increase the level of maternity benefits generally, those must be balanced against limited resources as well as being mindful of the burden on employers, the needs of parents and could not be made without consultation with businesses and other stakeholders. Further, any changes would need to take account of economic circumstances and affordability for taxpayers.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

Maternity and other types of Parental Pay are intended to provide a measure of financial security to support parents whilst they are away from the workplace; they are not a replacement of earnings.

We know that the parental leave system needs improvement. In the Plan to Make Work Pay the government committed to a Review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports working families. Planning work is already underway across Government.

The review provides us with an opportunity to consider the current framework of parental leave entitlements and how they should operate as a holistic system to improve the support available for working families.

We will also take the opportunity to establish a set of objectives for the parental leave system, which reflect the needs of GB’s modern economy. This has been lacking in recent years as the framework of entitlements has evolved over time.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Alison McGovern: As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England which began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025.

We are taking steps to support young people with youth pilots in Bath and Youth Job Clubs in Taunton. ‘Youth Curriculum’ sessions have been operational in Bath since October 2024, which provide tailored support including CV support, interview prep, mock interviews with Work Coaches and job matching. The sessions are targeted at our customers who are not in employment, education or training, who typically have lower engagement. Attendance has been excellent, at just under 90%.

We have a Youth Guarantee Trailblazer in the West of England, which supports young people in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency aged 18-21 to access employment education and training. There is one pilot programme of support focusing on young people with special educational needs, and another on improving access to opportunities and support from more rural areas. All participants will access 1:1 coaching and support, work placement opportunities, and free bus travel to support their pathway to employment.

In addition, DWP continues to provide young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by Work Coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available through Access to Work for people with cystic fibrosis (a) with and (b) without (i) transport and (ii) rural connectivity barriers to employment in Wiltshire. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Access to Work Scheme provides grant funding for workplace adjustments that go beyond an employer’s duty to provide reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. The Scheme can provide support for those in work or about to start work for a wide range of health conditions, such as Cystic Fibrosis, including support to travel to and in work.

In 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen, an independent social research organisation, to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of Access to Work. The report uncovered several challenges determining the impacts of Access to Work mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group.

To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in most recently in 2018, and 2009. The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.

The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules on claimants migrating from legacy benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No such assessment has been made, however we publish Move to Universal statistics quarterly, which includes a breakdown of households paid Transitional Protection.. Stat-Xplore - Home -

All eligible customers who claim Universal Credit as part of managed migration will be considered for a Transitional Element, to ensure that they do not have a lower entitlement compared to their legacy benefits at the point they move to Universal Credit.

The Transitional Element is not intended to permanently replicate legacy benefit awards. Over time, it will be eroded by increases in other elements, except the childcare costs element and the housing element awarded to those previously living in specified or temporary accommodation, to gradually align the award with those of new customers who are in the same circumstances.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the (a) guidance and (b) training provided to assessors conducting Work Capability Assessments for people living with ME. \p Sir Stephen Timms: When the FAS Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) contracts commenced, DWP Clinical Policy Group took over ownership of all the clinical Core Training and Guidance Materials (CTGM). These documents, amongst other things, contain clinical condition specific training including ME.

All HAAS Lot Suppliers are required to use CTGM to inform and develop training programmes and associated materials for their Health Care Professionals (HCPs) delivering Work Capability Assessments, Personal Independence Payment and Specialist benefit assessments on behalf of the DWP. HCPs are required to have appropriate knowledge of the clinical aspects and the functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and disabilities.

To maintain quality and consistency across all Suppliers, we have established a Clinical Authorship Team (CAT), an Editorial Board and a robust quality assurance process. The CAT is responsible for producing, reviewing, and updating all CTGM annually. The CAT is comprised of: Clinical leads, Clinical authors & Admin leads from each of the Suppliers and is overseen by the DWP clinical policy team.

To ensure CTGM is unbiased and fit for purpose it is subject to a rigorous quality assurance process. All materials are clinically quality assured by external independent clinicians (in line with best practice and current up-to-date clinical guidance e.g. NICE guidelines) and policy quality assured by DWP clinical policy experts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules on claimants who were previously in receipt of the severe disability premium. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The purpose of the Transitional Severe Disability Premium Element (TSDPE) is to protect certain customers entitled to a severe disability premium who moved to Universal Credit from legacy benefits following a change in their circumstances.

The TSDPE is subject to erosion and termination, in line with managed migration rules. From the second assessment period onwards, the amount of the TSDPE will be reduced by the addition or increase of any Universal Credit element, other than the childcare costs element or the housing element awarded to those who have previously been entitled to Housing Benefit whilst living in specified or temporary accommodation.

Customers who are moved to Universal Credit by the Department for Work and Pensions will receive an amount of transitional protection if their circumstances remain the same and their Universal Credit entitlement is less than the amount they received on their legacy benefit.

The difference will be included as an award of transitional element as part of the overall Universal Credit award for the first assessment period. This transitional element will also be subject to erosion and termination as outlined above.

There are no current plans to evaluate the impact of Universal Credit transitional protection rules.
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Wendy Chamberlain:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the mean processing time was for Carer's Allowance applications in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times are measured weekly. For the Carer’s Allowance figures shown here, Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) is calculated as the average length of time (working days) from the receipt of a claim to the date the first payment was issued. Please see attached annex for details of weekly Carer’s Allowance application Average Actual Clearance Times from week commencing 2 January 2023 to week commencing 2 June 2025.

Special Notes:

The Average Actual Clearance Time figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Annex  (docx, 30.2KB)
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that people who lose (a) PIP and (b) the Universal Credit health element have timely access to (a) psychological services and (b) suicide prevention professionals during the transition period. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are aware from working closely with health colleagues that there is increased anxiety relating to the Green Paper changes resulting in people seeking health related support.

We want to reassure people that the changes to PIP will not come into effect immediately. The changes will apply from November 2026 at a person’s next award review. If an existing claimant loses eligibility to PIP, they will continue to receive their full entitlement for 13 weeks after their award review. This will provide time for individuals to respond to their new situation, including accessing employment support if appropriate. This transitional cover is more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP.

Through the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department is consulting on what else is needed to support those who lose entitlement due to the reforms, including how to make sure that health and eligible care needs are met. The Department has secured the first ever multi year settlement for the household support fund – now the crisis and resilience fund, which gives councils certainty about the money they are getting to help people struggling. Guidance has been issued strongly encouraging Local Authorities in England to support disabled people using the Household Support Fund through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund which starts from April 2026

However, we do recognise this will still be concerning for people - and that, as a department, we come into contact with some claimants who have complex needs or are vulnerable. The department already has processes in place to support and safeguard people who use our services, and we will continue to provide this support as changes are taken forward.

If someone within a job centre is identified as being at risk of suicide, there is the 6-point plan that will be invoked. We already have robust safeguarding processes in place during the assessments where our trained health care professionals can make contact with the claimant’s GP or mental health team if they are concerned that there has been or is a risk of deterioration to the mental or physical health of an individual.

We want to go further so that there is a clear and transparent process in place to ensure vulnerable individuals are adequately supported. In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we have committed to undertaking a thorough review of our current approach to safeguarding, with the aim of developing and implementing a new departmental-wide approach.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with AdviceUK on the potential impact of her reforms to disability benefits on demand for independent advice services. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This government values the input of stakeholders, disabled people and representative organisations. Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we engaged with a number of organisations, and we continue to explore ways of involving stakeholders in our reforms. This includes through the PIP review, collaboration committees and the Disability Advisory Panel. I also continue to meet with a range of charities, organisations and individuals.

The Green Paper consultation further offers the opportunity for organisations, as well as claimants themselves, to provide input and help shape the reform proposals. We hope to hear from a wide range of voices and encourage organisations to respond to the consultation to share their views and expertise, before it closes on the 30 June.

We will continue to consider the potential impacts of reforms as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation, including any impacts on services.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of (a) Housing Benefit and (b) the provision of social housing in each of the next ten years. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The information requested on Housing Benefit (HB) expenditure over the next ten years is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, expenditure on HB for the years up to and including 2029/30 is available in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload tables.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not estimate the cost of provision of social housing.
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Patrick Hurley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people who receive the Universal Credit (UC) health element and do not receive the Personal Independence Payment daily living component will lose their entitlement to the UC health element once the Work Capability Assessment is abolished. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Pathways to Work Green Paper announced that we would be scrapping the Work Capability Assessment and moving to a single assessment for financial support related to health and disability benefits.

The UC and PIP payment Bill currently before Parliament sets out that existing claimants will continue to receive additional financial support for health on Universal Credit health (the LCWRA addition), frozen at its current cash value, until 2029-30.

We are currently considering how the future system will operate and will provide further information, including on transitioning to a reformed system, in a White Paper in the autumn.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help incentivise private landlords to rent to benefit recipients. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Rental discrimination against people who receive benefits has no place in a fair and modern housing market.

The Renters’ Rights Bill takes direct action to stop discriminatory practices against households receiving benefits in the private rented sector. It will address overt discriminatory practices, such as ‘no DSS’ adverts, and any indirect practices designed to intentionally prevent someone entering into a tenancy.

DWP does not incentivise private landlords to rent their properties to benefit recipients.

We do provide housing support towards rental costs for private renters in receipt of either Housing Benefit or Universal Credit via the Local Housing Allowance.

Discretionary Housing Payments are also available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the total amount of housing benefit paid to private landlords in the last ten years. \p Sir Stephen Timms: In 2023/24, total housing support provided to private rented sector (PRS) tenants amounted to £12.3 billion (in 2024/25 prices). Of this, £3.9 billion was delivered through Housing Benefit (HB), while £8.4 billion was provided via the Universal Credit Housing Element (UCHE). This means that HB accounted for 32% of total PRS housing support, with UCHE making up the remaining 68%.

The Department does not hold information on housing benefit payments made to private landlords in other OECD countries. Housing support systems vary significantly between countries, and as such, comparisons of housing benefit payments across international contexts should be treated with caution.

The information requested on Housing Benefit paid to private landlords by region and local authority is publicly available. It can be accessed via Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2024 - GOV.UK (Benefit Expenditure by Local Authority 2023/24)

Housing Benefits Expenditure, £m real terms, 2025/26 prices, from 2014/15 to 2023/24

Housing Benefits Expenditure,

£ million real terms, 2025/26 prices

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Total

Housing Benefit (Private Rented Sector)

£12,584

£12,063

£11,135

£10,193

£8,898

£7,096

£5,980

£5,376

£4,491

£3,872

£94,674

Total Housing Benefit

£33,636

£33,296

£31,482

£29,488

£26,844

£23,249

£20,811

£19,474

£17,574

£16,805

£266,500

Housing Benefit PRS Proportion of  Total Housing Benefit

37%

36%

35%

35%

33%

31%

29%

28%

26%

23%

33%
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that (a) carers and (b) family members of people with (i) mental health problems and (ii) psychiatric disorders are supported, in the context of proposed changes to disability health benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We will consider potential impacts of our reforms on people with all health conditions, including mental health conditions, as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation and as we develop our detailed proposals for change.

This includes any impacts on unpaid carers, who provide invaluable support to people with health conditions, are frail or disabled, and who this government is committed to supporting.

As we introduce changes to PIP eligibility, we are mindful of the potential impact on unpaid carers. The recently published Bill commits to providing a 13-week run-on for existing claimants who – at their next award review – are no longer eligible for PIP as a result of this change. This will include passporting to other entitlements such as Carers Allowance, allowing the carer a longer period of adjustment.

We are also taking action to improve Carer’s Allowance separate to the Green Paper. We have pegged the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to 16 hours’ work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer’s Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

We will also continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to further assess the impacts of reforms and to see how best health and care needs can continue to be met
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that it conducts a full review of the requester's (a) case and (b) complaint when Access to Work reconsideration requests are made. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Access to Work process for reviewing reconsideration requests, as well as complaints, includes a full review of the original case, including all relevant documentation and communications relating to the original decision. To help ensure impartiality, these reviews are conducted by staff there were not involved in the original decision.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who are (a) incapable of ever working and (b) will no longer have Universal Credit reassessments. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions has not made a formal estimate of the number of people who are incapable of ever working. However, we recognise that a proportion of claimants receiving health-related benefits have severe or lifelong conditions that significantly limit their ability to engage in work.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill sets out that those who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) will not be called for future reassessments for Universal Credit (UC).

We estimate that over 200,000 people will be covered by this exemption in 2029/30.

This comprises:

Further details can be found in The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill: Impact Assessment (May 2025).

As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Department intends to make changes to both the UC health element and the reassessment process. While final decisions are yet to be made, the Government has committed to ensuring that people with severe or terminal health conditions, such as those meeting the SCC or the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL), will not be subject to routine reassessments.

The Department is currently consulting on these proposals, and further detail will be provided following the conclusion of the consultation period on 30 June 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on the level of payments made to private landlords. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department does not hold data on the level of payments made by claimants to private landlords, either under Universal Credit or legacy benefits. While we can identify the value of a Universal Credit housing element or a managed payment to a landlord, we do not have access to landlord rent account data and therefore cannot determine what was actually paid by the claimant. This applies across both the social and private rented sectors.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-24 conversation_130

Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for unpaid carers. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance (CA) under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial and/or employment support from the department depending on their circumstances. This includes CA and means tested benefits such as Universal Credit (UC). UC can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amounts for carers. UC pays an extra £2400 a year to unpaid carers.

Carers (providing at least 35 hours per week) of severely disabled people may be eligible for benefit support as set out above. They are not required to undertake any work-related activity but can access employment support on a voluntary basis if they wish.

A part-time carer on UC (providing care for under 35 hours a week) would be supported to combine work and care. They will receive personalised employment support from their work coach, who tailors the number of hours a week they are expected to work or search for work to fit their caring responsibilities and take into account any other barriers to working full time, for example a health condition.

Employment support can include identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry. Unemployed customers who require more intensive employment support can also be referred to the Restart and Connect to Work programmes.

We also know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market, so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring responsibilities wherever possible, meaning they can increase their overall income (eligibility rules apply).

That’s why we have pegged the CA earnings limit to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

DWP has also begun some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. This will require significant change to current DWP systems.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support autistic people into the workplace. \p Alison McGovern: We are committed to supporting neurodivergent people, including autistic people, get into and thrive in work. Our Jobcentres have a range of support available, including Disability Employment Advisors.

On 6th March 2025 we announced that we will deploy 1000 work coaches to help people with health conditions and disabled people towards and into work. This will build and expand on existing measures like additional work coach support which delivers personalised support for some customers on the health journey.

Connect to Work is our new, voluntary, locally led Supported Employment Programme that is helping disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment, including learning disabled and autistic adults, to find sustained work. West London Alliance and East Sussex have now opened their local Connect to Work services, with roll out across England and Wales continuing throughout 2025.

In January this year we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations to government later this summer.

The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review. While not specific to neurodiversity, this review is considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, and how to support more people to stay in or return to work. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver his final report in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-24 conversation_132

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, regarding Housing Benefit, if she will make it her policy to commit a portion of benefit funding into social housing. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Housing support is delivered through Housing Benefit (HB) and the Housing Element of Universal Credit (UCHE). These are means tested benefits intended to help people pay their rental costs, including around two-thirds of households living in the social rented sector in England.

Registered providers of social housing use income from rents to manage and maintain their homes, as well as to deliver new homes. At Spending Review 2025, the Government announced a 10-year social housing rent settlement from 2026 at CPI + 1% for England, alongside a consultation to follow shortly on how to implement social housing rent convergence. This settlement will provide long-term certainty to enable providers to borrow and invest in new and existing homes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-24)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Housing Benefit as a mechanism for supporting people to live in the private rented sector. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum levels of housing support for households claiming Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and who rent in the private rented sector.

LHA rates are reviewed annually, usually at an Autumn fiscal event. LHA rates are based on the area of the country a person lives and their bedroom entitlement.

The decision to maintain LHA rates at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, rate increases in April 2024 and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years.

In the Private Rented Sector, households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance regardless of the contractual rent paid. However, LHA rates do not cover all rents in all areas.

Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the challenging fiscal context. This includes the recent Spending Review announcement of a £39 billion successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years from 2026-27 to 2035-36.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.