The Westminster lensArchive · Written questions · 462 tabled · 456 answered

Written questions by Whately.

Every parliamentary written question tabled by Helen Whately this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.

Department:All (462)Department for Work and Pensions (258)Treasury (44)Department for Transport (44)Department of Health and Social Care (31)Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (26)Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (18)Home Office (13)Department for Business and Trade (8)Department for Education (8)Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (6)Cabinet Office (4)Ministry of Defence (1)

Showing 121140 of 462 · this parliament

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3 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

How many people received the following payment per customer under the Access to Work scheme – a) £0 - £9,999 b) £10,000 - £19,999 c) £20,000 – £29,999 d) £30,000 – £39,999 e) £40,000 - £49,999 f) £50,000 - £59,999 g) £60,000 - £69,999 h) above £70,000.

Reply

The table below shows the number of people who received total payment values within each specified band during the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years. The figures refer to individuals who received any Access to Work provision. The figures do not sum to the total due to rounding. Number of Customers in each Payment Band2022/232023/242024/25£0 - £9,99949,38060,24066,300£10,000 - £19,9992,5203,5404,180£20,000 - £29,9991,0201,5001,670£30,000 - £39,999570820870£40,000 - £49,999310470550£50,000 - £59,999240330370£60,000 - £69,999140250210£70,000 +409050Total54,21067,24074,190

3 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

Pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2025 to UIN 77348, how many additional assessors have been recruited; and in what locations.

Reply

While this information is not currently published by the department, we will be sharing this data in a future statistical release.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

Will he provide projections for the number of face-to-face assessments on a national basis for each month of 2026.

Reply

As set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we plan to increase the number of face-to-face health assessments while maintaining our commitment to providing alternative assessment channels where necessary.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on the number of NEET young people.

Reply

The Budget made more than £1.5bn available over the next three years for investment inemployment and skills support. This funds £820m for the Youth Guarantee and provides£725m for the Growth and Skills Levy, ensuring young people have the support they need toearn or learn. The Youth Guarantee will include the Jobs Guarantee, which is guaranteeing six-months of paid work for every eligible 18-21 year old who has been on Universal Credit andlooking for work for 18 months. Under the Jobs Guarantee we will fund 100% of the wages forthe six months (up to 25hrs/week at the relevant minimum wage), as well as the additionalemployment costs.An independent investigation has also been launched to identify how we can go further totackle the root causes of youth activity. Led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, the probewill examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or educationbefore their careers have begun, with a particular focus on the impact of mental healthconditions and disability.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What estimate the Department has made of the level of change in the number of households exempt from the benefit cap following the Autumn Budget 2025.

Reply

No assessment has been made.

2 Dec 2025·Treasury·Answered
Asked

Wow many employees in the United Kingdom take part in a salary sacrifice scheme in the (a) public and (b) private sectors.

Reply

Salary sacrifice arrangement can cover multiple non-cash benefits, including cars, pensions, bicycles and workplace nurseries. HMRC does not hold administrative data on the number of employers offering and employees using salary sacrifice schemes. However, estimates based on other information are held. Pension contributions HMRC analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) suggests that around 7.7 million employees made salary sacrifice pension contributions in 2024. Cycle to Work scheme HMRC’s non-structural tax relief statistics publication sets out the estimated number of participants in the cycle to work scheme (link below).Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UKIt is assumed that most would use the scheme via salary sacrifice given the tax savings.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

When the membership of the Timms Review steering group will be published.

Reply

We have launched the Timms Review to ensure Personal Independence Payment is fair and fit for the future. The Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts.On 30 October, I announced that I will co-chair the Review alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group of around a dozen members, which will set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan.The steering group is being recruited through an open and accessible Expression of Interest process, which ran from 30 October to 30 November. We are now considering applications and will provide an update shortly.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What proportion of Universal Credit claimants with dependent children are in (a) full-time or (b) part-time work.

Reply

The requested information is not available.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

For every year since 2017, what proportion of Universal Credit claimants with dependent children are (a) in work and (b) not in work.

Reply

Table 1 provides the proportion of Universal Credit households with children, broken down by in work or not in work. Notes:1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1%.2. Figures are for households receiving Universal Credit in assessment periods ending at any point in the calendar year.3. Figures are for Great Britain (GB) only and include only households where Universal Credit was in payment.4. Figures represent Universal Credit full service claims only, which are only available from 2019 onwards.5. Due to differences in methodology, there may be slight differences from published statistics. Table 1: Proportion of UC households with children, broken down by in work or not in work, for every calendar year since 2019Calendar YearProportion of UC households with childrenIn workNot in work201969%31%202070%30%202171%29%202272%28%202372%28%202470%30%

2 Dec 2025·Treasury·Answered
Asked

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent changes to salary sacrifice arrangements on employees’ pension savings.

Reply

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What is the number of Universal Credit households with dependent children reporting fewer than (a) 16, (b) 30 and (c) 35 hours of work per week.

Reply

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

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What is the average duration of a Universal Credit claim for someone who begins a claim at age a) 18, b) 19, c) 20, d) 21, e) 22, f) 23 and g) 24.

Reply

The specific 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 claim duration and by age. 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.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

How many Universal Credit claimants with dependent children are in the light touch or working conditionality groups.

Reply

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

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What is the average duration of a Universal Credit claim that was started in a) 2021, b) 2022, c) 2023, d) 2024 and e) 2025.

Reply

The specific 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 claim duration and by age. 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.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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. As we continue the Move to Universal Credit (UC) programme, the department is moving people from legacy benefits to UC, leading to an expected rise in the UC caseload.Latest Official Statistics show that, up to end of September 2025, almost 1.9 million individuals have made a claim to UC following receipt of a migration notice.

2 Dec 2025·Cabinet Office·Answered
Asked

How many families there were in each region in England and Wales with (a) one child, (b) two children, (c) three children, (d) four children, (e) five children, (f) six to eight children, (g) eight to 10 children and (h) more than 10 children in each year since 2019.

Reply

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of the 2nd of December is attached.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What projections his Department has made of numbers of NEET young people for each quarter until the end of this Parliamentary term.

Reply

When this Government came to power, we inherited a situation in which almost 1 million young people were not in employment, education or training. We are determined to address this problem.At Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820m for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy.Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning. The details were published on 6th December 2025 and can be found here: Almost a million young people to benefit from expanded support, new training, and work experience opportunities - GOV.UK.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

How many NEET young people are parents, broken down by month since January 2020.

Reply

Office for National Statistics and the Department for Education – who both produce official statistics on young people who are NEET – do not publish a breakdown of young people who are not in employment, education or training broken down by parental status. The Department for Education do publish an estimate of the proportion of young people aged 16-24 who are economically inactive for the primary reason of looking after family/home – which shows that in 2024 1.5% of 16-24 years where economically inactive due to looking after family/home – down from 1.7% in 2023. See here for more the annual series back to 2020: Create your own tables on neet age 16 to 24 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of current numbers of NEET young people on the economy.

Reply

When this Government came to power, we inherited a situation in which almost 1 million young people were not in employment, education or training. We are determined to address this problem.At Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820m for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy.Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning. The details were published on 6th December 2025 and can be found here: Almost a million young people to benefit from expanded support, new training, and work experience opportunities - GOV.UK.

2 Dec 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

How many NEET young people (a) live with their parents or guardians and (b) live independently.

Reply

Office for National Statistics and the Department for Education – who both produce official statistics publications on young people who are NEET – do not publish a breakdown of young people who are not in employment, education or training broken down by whether they live with parents/guardians or live independently.

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Sources
SourceUK Parliament Members API
MethodQuestion and answer text as published. Question preamble (“To ask the…”) trimmed for readability; answers shown in full.