Written questions by Whately.

What estimate he has made of the cost of lifting the two-child benefit cap.

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life. The commitments we’ve made at the 2025 spending review and beyond are just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our reduction in the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.

What estimate he has made of the cost of changing the two-child benefit cap to a) three, b) four and c) five children.

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life. The commitments we’ve made at the 2025 spending review and beyond are just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our reduction in the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of removing the two-child benefit cap on incentives to work.

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life. The commitments we’ve made at the 2025 spending review and beyond are just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our reduction in the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.

What discussions he has had with (a) the Prime Minister, (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (c) other Cabinet colleagues on lifting the two-child benefit cap.

The Child Poverty Strategy will set out the decisive action this Government is taking to tackle child poverty and make sure children are given the best start in life. The commitments we’ve made at the 2025 spending review and beyond are just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our reduction in the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.

What data his Department holds on the number of people who have newly claimed Universal Credit in each of the last 5 years, broken down by (a) health-related reasons for claiming and (b) the searching-for-work conditionality group.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, monthly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit in Great Britain are published regularly on Stat-Xplore. This data is available by conditionality regime and claim duration. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information and can refer to the Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

What proportion of Universal Credit starts in each of the last 5 years were (a) new benefit claimants and (b) claimants transitioning from legacy benefits through managed migration.

This information is not readily available however, as detailed in the DWP Statistical Work Programme and the Universal Credit statistics release strategy, the Department is developing a method to denote UC claimants given a migration notice from the Move to Universal Credit programme, and updates on this will be shared in the DWP Statistical Work Programme.

With reference to the Answer of 20 October to Question 78358, whether the 1,000 redeployed Pathways to Work advisers are part of the existing work coach data referenced in that Answer.

The Answer of 20 October to Question 78358 did include the 1,000 redeployed Pathways to Work advisers.

How many work coaches there were in each English district in each month since July 2024.

The tables below provide Work Coach data by English District from July 24 to August 25.DISTRICTJul-24Aug-24Sep-24Oct-24Nov-24Avon Somerset & Gloucester390400390400400Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire340350360380380Berkshire Bucks & Oxford420420440470460Birmingham & Solihull690700700690690Black Country530530520520510Cheshire160160160160160Cumbria & Lancashire540540550540540Default DWP National3020203020Devon & Cornwall320340340350360Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Iow660680690690690Durham & Tees Valley370370370370360East Anglia520510510520530East London780790830870870Essex390390400400400Greater Manchester9809809901,0101,030Kent440450450440430Leicestershire & Northamptonshire420410410410430Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire & Rutland550540540540530Mercia520510500490480Merseyside480470480470480North East Yorkshire & The Humber370370380380380North London700690620630630Northumberland Tyne & Wear460450450440440South London8408509701,010990South Yorkshire400400400390390Staffordshire And Derbyshire520520510510500Surrey & Sussex510500480490500West London660660680710710West Yorkshire780790800810810Grand Total14,74014,80014,94015,12015,110 DISTRICTDec-24Jan-25Feb-25Mar-25Apr-25Avon Somerset & Gloucester390410430420420Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire370380390390400Berkshire Bucks & Oxford350350480470470Birmingham & Solihull570560710700700Black Country470470520520520Cheshire160150160160150Cumbria & Lancashire510510520520520Default DWP National1,5001,500203020Devon & Cornwall350350360360350Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Iow650670710710720Durham & Tees Valley350350350350350East Anglia420420540530540East London750760890850860Essex370370410410410Greater Manchester9709701,0201,0301,000Kent400400440440440Leicestershire & Northamptonshire390390440440440Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire & Rutland490500530530520Mercia450450480470470Merseyside390390460450440North East Yorkshire & The Humber370370390390380North London550560640620640Northumberland Tyne & Wear430420400400400South London9009201,0501,0601,060South Yorkshire370370380390380Staffordshire And Derbyshire440430520520510Surrey & Sussex380380500510510West London660660710710720West Yorkshire770770800800790Grand Total15,15015,20015,23015,17015,130 DISTRICTMay-25Jun-25Jul-25Aug-25Avon Somerset & Gloucester410410410400Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire400400390400Berkshire Bucks & Oxford470470480480Birmingham & Solihull710700710710Black Country510510500510Cheshire150150150150Cumbria & Lancashire520510520520Default DWP National10204010Devon & Cornwall360350340340Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Iow700690680670Durham & Tees Valley350340330330East Anglia530520520520East London870880880870Essex410400400400Greater Manchester1,0009801,000980Kent430430430420Leicestershire & Northamptonshire450440440430Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire & Rutland520510510500Mercia480480490490Merseyside440440440450North East Yorkshire & The Humber380370370370North London640640640630Northumberland Tyne & Wear400400390380South London1,0501,0301,010970South Yorkshire380370370370Staffordshire And Derbyshire510510500490Surrey & Sussex510510510500West London760790790770West Yorkshire780770760760Grand Total15,15015,03014,98014,800 The table below provides Work Coach data by English District for September and October 25.DISTRICTSep-25Oct-25Avon, Somerset & Gloucestershire400390Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire390370Birmingham & Solihull710690Black Country & Coventry620600Cheshire & Lancashire580570Cumbria & Tees300290Default DWP National2020Devon & Cornwall340330Dorset Wiltshire Hampshire & Isle Of Wight660640East London860880East Midlands550540Essex400390Greater Manchester960960Hertfordshire210210Kent420420Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire & Rutland440440Merseyside450460Norfolk & Suffolk320320North & Mid Wales And The Marches130130North East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire520520North London640650Northumberland, Durham, Tyne & Wear500500South London900880South Midlands450440South Yorkshire380370Surrey & Sussex500490The Shires500490West London850830West Yorkshire760750Grand Total14,75014,600 Notes:Work Coach Full Time Equivalent (FTE) data supplied is from July 2024.The number of Work Coaches has been derived from DWP's Activity Based Model (ABM). This model gives an estimated FTE based on a point in time estimate by Line Managers, as recorded on our internal systems each month.Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 FTE.The number of Work Coaches refers to staff involved in conducting regular engagement with claimants, hence the data does not include Work Coach Team Leaders or Disability Employment Advisers.Work coaches include both UC Full-Service Work Coaches and Existing Benefits Work Coaches.The answer to the previous question omitted staff assigned to a “Default DWP National” location. This is not included as standard on requests asking for site specific data, as it cannot be established which sites these staff are attributed toDue to a system anomaly in Dec-24 and Jan-25 there were a higher number of staff assigned to the “Default DWP National” location so they have been included within the dataset. For consistency staff with this location have been included for other months too.From September 25 the District structure was revised, and this change is reflected in the second data table.The district North & Mid Wales and The Marches consist of sites in Wales and England; for the purpose of this response only the England site figures are counted for this district.The number of staff employed is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

How many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) Liverpool Walton, (b) Easington, (c) Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, (d) Aberafan Maesteg and (e) Knowsley constituencies in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

How many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, (b) Cardiff Capital Region, (c) Swansea Bay City Region, and (d) the North of Tyne Combined Authority in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

How many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in the (a) Birkenhead Central, Wirral, (b) Rhyl North, Denbighshire, (c) Little Layton & Little Carleton, Blackpool, (d) Seacombe, Wirral, (e) Grimsby East Marsh & Port, North East Lincolnshire, (f) Everton East, Liverpool, and (g) South Promenade & Seasiders Way, Blackpool Middle layer Super Output Areas in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

How many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in the (a) Central Blackpool, Blackpool, (b) Bootle South, Sefton, (c) Grangetown, Redcar and Cleveland, (d) Hartcliffe, Bristol, (e) Townhill, Swansea, (f) Ely East, Cardiff and (g) Penderry, Swansea Middle layer Super Output Areas in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

How many Personal Independence Payment claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) London, (h) the South East and (i) the South West in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

How many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) Blackpool South, (b) Birkenhead, (c) Bootle, (d) Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, (e) Rhondda and Ogmore, (f) Hartlepool and (g) Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough constituencies in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

How many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) the West of England Combined Authority, (b) the Sheffield City Region, (c) the Tees Valley Combined Authority, and (d) Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority in each of the last five years.

We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.

What estimate he has made of the (a) number of people Connect to Work is expected to support into work and (b) expected cost of the scheme per person successfully employed at the end of the programme.

The £1 billion Connect to Work programme covers all of England and Wales and will support around 300,000 people over its lifetime.The guidance for the programme published on Gov.uk in November 2024, makes clear the expectation that all local areas will aim for at least 50% of participants experiencing some work during the 15-month tracking period (up to 21 months if support extended) from starting on the programme. The cost per participant will vary by Delivery Area (reflecting area and individual characteristics), but overall, the average unit cost for the programme is £3,800 per participant supported.We plan to undertake a robust and proportionate evaluation of the Connect to Work programme.

How many (a) work coaches and (b) vacancies there were at Jobcentres in each month since July 2024.

The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on preparing Jobcentres for the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill.

Our Get Britain Working strategy is driving forward reforms and helping create a more inclusive labour market that supports economic growth and opportunity for individuals. The Employment Rights Bill is key to this agenda as it aims to deliver greater security in work, support higher living standards and contribute positively to productivity. This complements our approach to Jobcentre reform; the new Jobs and Careers service will have a renewed focus on helping people into good quality work, with career progression and increased earnings potential. It will also put employers’ needs at the heart of the service - we are engaging closely with employers on the design of a future service. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has engaged with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the government’s approach to these labour market reforms.

Whether he has a target for the number of work coaches employed by his Department.

The Department continually impacts and assesses the service being offered to customers. Staff numbers, including the number of Work Coaches, and demand for Jobcentre services are reviewed on an ongoing basis, in line with the latest economic and benefit forecasts.

How many GP surgeries will have employment advisors; and what his planned timetable is for rollout.

With 2.8 million people out of work due to health conditions, Connect to Work is part of the Government’s plan to get Britain working again. Connect to Work is designed to give local areas considerable flexibility in determining how they deliver it, including decisions about integration into health care settings. Connect to Work is rolling out across all areas of England and Wales. As of 12 November 2025, 23 of the 49 delivery areas have a live service funded by Connect to Work. Every delivery area is expected to be open for participants by early 2026. Further details will be set out as more areas go live. JobCentre Plus sites also have discretion to co-locate work coaches and Disability Employment Advisers, in health settings (including GP surgeries) with agreements made locally. The Department has a regular quarterly GP forum that includes the BMA and representative bodies for GPs where Employment Support policies and programmes are discussed. There is a DWP Chief medical Advisor Clinical Advisory Group and ad hoc meetings focussed to discuss GP involvement in health and work policy.