Written questions by Whately.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of place-based employment support programmes such as JobsPlus in addressing levels of economic inactivity and unemployment.

Jobs Plus is a community-based model with strong potential to tackle inactivity and unemployment. The department is testing the model in ten social housing communities across England to generate evidence on place-based support. The pilots will be evaluated to assess their effectiveness in helping people enter and remain in work. We will carefully consider what we have learnt from these pilots as we develop our future employment support offer.

What plans his Department has to help support the national rollout of community-led employment programmes such as JobsPlus following the conclusion of the current pilot phase.

Jobs Plus is a community-based model with strong potential to tackle inactivity and unemployment. The department is testing the model in ten social housing communities across England to generate evidence on place-based support. The pilots will be evaluated to assess their effectiveness in helping people enter and remain in work. We will carefully consider what we have learnt from these pilots as we develop our future employment support offer.

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the JobsPlus programme which is being delivered through ten pilot sites across England.

Jobs Plus is a community-based model with strong potential to tackle inactivity and unemployment. The department is testing the model in ten social housing communities across England to generate evidence on place-based support. The pilots will be evaluated to assess their effectiveness in helping people enter and remain in work. We will carefully consider what we have learnt from these pilots as we develop our future employment support offer.

What assessment his Department has made of the value of expanding the number of JobsPlus sites across the UK, following the ten current pilot sites across England.

Jobs Plus is a community-based model with strong potential to tackle inactivity and unemployment. The department is testing the model in ten social housing communities across England to generate evidence on place-based support. The pilots will be evaluated to assess their effectiveness in helping people enter and remain in work. We will carefully consider what we have learnt from these pilots as we develop our future employment support offer.

How many Youth Hubs there were in January (a) 2025 and (b) 2026.

The Government is committed to increasing opportunities for young people. That is why the Department for Work & Pensions is expanding Youth Hubs for 16–24 year olds to increase coverage to more than 360 locations across Great Britain, ensuring that every young person - including those not receiving benefits - can access opportunities and comprehensive support in their local area. In January 2026, there were 114 fully opened Youth Hubs. For new and existing Youth Hubs, we have introduced a core blueprint for minimum service standards, marking a major step forward in making employment support more accessible and seamlessly integrated with other essential services—such as health, housing, and wellbeing—tailored to local needs and partnerships. In January 2025 there were 97 fully opened Youth Hubs. The number of open Youth Hubs is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal department use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard.

How many a) UK nationals and b) non-UK nationals are in receipt of Universal Credit, who are currently abroad for a period of more than six months.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. A customer who is claiming Universal Credit (UC) can go abroad for up to one calendar month. If the claimant exceeds the period abroad and the reason for the trip abroad does not fall under circumstances that allow exemption, a temporary absence decision will be made and assessment periods that exceed the month can be reduced to nil entitlement. If there is a doubt on whether the claimant is habitually resident, a Habitual Residence Test will take place and a decision made on whether the claim should be disallowed.

How many a) UK nationals and b) non-UK nationals are in receipt of Universal Credit, who are currently abroad for a period of up to six months.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. A customer who is claiming Universal Credit (UC) can go abroad for up to one calendar month. If the claimant exceeds the period abroad and the reason for the trip abroad does not fall under circumstances that allow exemption, a temporary absence decision will be made and assessment periods that exceed the month can be reduced to nil entitlement. If there is a doubt on whether the claimant is habitually resident, a Habitual Residence Test will take place and a decision made on whether the claim should be disallowed.

How many people brought to the United Kingdom under the Gaza scholarship students route claim (a) Universal Credit, (b) PIP and (c) other benefits.

The majority of migrants on temporary, time-limited visas (such as for work or study) are subject to a No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition for at least 5 years. This restricts them from accessing certain public funded benefits and services. DWP cannot pay public funds benefits (such as Universal Credit) to individuals where the Home Office has applied an NRPF condition to their immigration status. Students who are supported to exit Gaza are still required to meet all of the requirements of the student route, and are subject to the same No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) conditions.

How many adults accompanying children that have been brought to the United Kingdom under the HMG Gaza Medevac scheme are claiming (a) Universal Credit, (b) PIP and (c) other benefits.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many non-UK nationals who entered in the United Kingdom without leave since July 2024 are in receipt of payments from his Department; and what is the (a) total and (b) per person sum of those payments.

Those in the UK without lawful status are persons subject to immigration control and have no recourse to public funds. This means that those in the UK without a valid immigration status are not able to access public funds benefits including Universal Credit.

What is the total amount of Child Benefit paid to non-UK nationals since July 2024, broken down by month; and what proportion of that amount was paid for children who don’t reside in the UK.

HMRC no longer produce a breakdown of Child benefit claimed by nationality.This release was discontinued following user consultation.The latest publication was in August 2022. Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, Tax Credits and Child Benefit Statistics for Non-UK Nationals: 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK

How many individuals have had their No Recourse to Public Funds status withdrawn since July 2024, broken down by month.

The Home Office publishes data on changes of conditions on GOV.UK within the Immigration and protection data: July to September 2025, available in tabs CoC_01 to CoC_07 of the Migration Transparency Data dataset.When an individual is considered for assessment of Change of Conditions, various No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are checked, with ‘destitution’ being one of these conditions.The specific information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

How many non-UK nationals have received the State Pension for the following financial years a) 2024/25 b) 2025/2026, and what was the total value of State Pension paid to those non-UK nationals in each of those financial years.

The Department does not hold data on the nationality of individuals in receipt of the State Pension, as nationality is not recorded as part of the State Pension claim process, as was the case under the last Conservative Government. Eligibility for the State Pension is based on an individual's National Insurance record over their working life.

How many non-UK nationals have received Pension Credit for the following financial years a) 2024/25 b) 2025/2026, and what was the total value of Pension Credit paid to those non-UK nationals in each of those financial years.

The requested statistics are not held by the Department. Entitlement to Pension Credit depends on a person’s residence or immigration status, including the requirement to have the right to reside and to be able to be treated as factually habitually resident in Great Britain. Foreign nationals must also have an immigration status that gives access to public funds, which most will not have until they have lived in the UK for at least 5 years.

How many non-UK nationals have received Winter Fuel Payments for the following financial years a) 2024/25 b) 2025/2026, and what was the total value of Winter Fuel Payments paid to those non-UK nationals in each of those financial years.

The requested statistics are not held by the Department. The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2025 changed the entitlement conditions so that payments are only made to people living in England or Wales. As a result, from Winter 2025/26, Winter Fuel Payments are no longer paid outside the UK.

What steps he is taking to verify the ongoing residency of non-UK national claimants who have been absent from the UK for more than a month.

The Department uses the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) for income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit, to assess whether someone has a legal right to be here and whether they are factually resident in the UK. For an individual to be factually habitually resident they must have been present in the UK for an appreciable period, usually between one and three months, and have a settled intention to remain.

How many individuals granted Indefinite Leave to Remain since January 2025 had previously claimed means-tested benefits during their qualifying period of residency.

The information requested is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.

How many LinkedIn Learning licences were provided to Department for Work and Pensions staff; and what the total cost of those licences was, in each calendar quarter from Q1 2023 to the most recent quarter for which data is available.

The table below shows the number of licenses purchased and costs associated since Q1 2023.These are annual subscriptions and have not been renewed since 2024. Q1 2023Q1 2024Learning Licenses1010Costs£3,264£3,600

What the average time was between a Universal Credit claim being made and first payment being issued in each month since 5 July 2024.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, monthly Universal Credit payment timeliness statistics for new claims are published in UC Households 6 - Payment Timeliness New Claims table in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to July 2025. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

How many Universal Credit awards were made with an Alternative Payment Arrangement in each month since 5 July 2024.

Monthly Universal Credit statistics showing the number in payment and using alternative payment arrangements, including managed payment to landlord, more frequent payment, and split payment methods, are published in the Households on Universal Credit dataset on Stat-Xplore, and are currently available to August 2025. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract information. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.