Written questions by McMurdock.

What steps she is taking to encourage employers to hire young people.

As part of the “Get Britain Working” White Paper the government announced that we will launch a new Youth Guarantee for all young people in England aged 18-21 to ensure that they have access to further learning, help to get a job or an apprenticeship. As a first step from spring 2025, the government will launch Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in eight mayoral authorities across England. We will work closely with mayoral authorities to support the design of the Trailblazers, including engagement with local employers. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England. The Youth Guarantee is part of the UK Government’s Back to Work Plan alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include apprenticeships, work experience, training courses or employability programmes. The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people. As the HR department for the Government’s growth mission, the Department for Work and Pensions job is to work with businesses to meet their recruitment needs. The Ministerial team and officials work closely with colleagues across government to help employers, including those in sectors crucial to growth, address their staffing needs and break down barriers to opportunity across the country. The Secretary of State recently announced that the department is transforming its service for employers by hosting summits with employers and stakeholder representatives across sectors crucial to growth; boosting the number of training programmes in crucial sectors on offer at Jobcentres; serving employers through a dedicated team with highly experienced experts to provide recruitment support; providing an account manager for employers to get more information about how Job Centres Plus can help; and commissioning Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review into the role of employers in reducing health-related inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces – which is already underway.

What steps she is taking to support young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will launch 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 Youth Guarantee will build upon and enhance existing entitlements and provisions with the aim of tackling the rising number of young people who are not participating in education, employment or training. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England. DWP currently provides 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.

What estimate she has made of the level of unemployment in young people aged 16-24 in the latest period for which data is available.

The latest 16-24 UK unemployment level is published and available at: A01: Summary of labour market statistics - Office for National Statistics

If she will make a comparative assessment of the rates of youth unemployment in (a) the UK and (b) other OECD countries.

OECD youth unemployment rate data is available at: OECD Data Explorer • Infra-annual labour statistics

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of youth employment on the mental health of young people.

We know that quality employment contributes positively to mental health and leads to independence and a feeling of fully participating in society. In 2023, one in five 16–24-year-olds who were not in education, employment, or training in England reported a mental health condition, a significant increase from 2012 figures. In addition, a growing number of young people report that their mental health is a barrier to finding work. Addressing the rising number of young people who are not in education, employment, or training is a priority for the Government and ensuring young people can get clinical support where they need it is a vital part of our response. As part of this the government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams. The government also announced in the Great Britain Working White Paper that it will establish a Youth Guarantee, in England, so that every young person aged 18 to 21 has access to further learning, help to get a job or an apprenticeship. This will build on the many existing interventions to help people overcome the barriers of mental and physical ill health and get into or stay in work, with the positive health benefits this brings. This includes Connect to Work, a supported employment programme that joins up work skills and health support for disabled people, those with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment; and Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies where people experiencing mental health issues can access employment support as part of their therapy journey.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of making changes to military compensation so that it is not considered as income for the purposes of calculating means-tested benefits.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 5 December 2024 to question UIN 16635.

What assessment she has made of the reasons behind the increase in food bank usage, as reported in the Family Resources Survey 2022-23.

This Government is committed to addressing poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels, which is why we published official estimates of foodbank use. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty, so this will be the foundation of our approach. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November, will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.

What steps she is taking to support pensioners with (a) the cost of household bills and (b) food insecurity.

The State Pension is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so, protecting 12 million pensioners through the triple lock, with a 4.1% increase to the basic State Pension and the new State Pension from April 2025. We are also increasing the standard minimum guarantee in Pension Credit by 4.1%. We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, which provides extra money to help with living costs for people over State Pension age and on a low income. We want to ensure as many people as possible have access to this support and urge pensioners to check their eligibility. Pension Credit will passport them to receive other benefits – including Winter Fuel Payments, help with rent, council tax, fuel bills and a free TV licence for those over 75. That’s why Government is taking significant steps to raise awareness and maximise take-up. Low-income pensioners and others struggling with the cost of living should contact their local council to see what further support may be available to them. They may be able to receive support from energy support programmes or through the Household Support Fund, a scheme providing discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water. The Government has extended the Household Support Fund in England by a further year, (until 31 March 2026) – with funding of £742 million provided to enable this extension in England, plus additional funding for the devolved Governments to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the proportion of families who received state support in the 2022-23 financial year.

DWP publish information on households in receipt of Universal Credit and other benefits. Ministers consider all the relevant statistics when making policy decisions. The latest available data can be found on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). Figures on both the 2022 and 2023 financial year are available here. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of PenSim3 for supporting public (a) awareness and (b) understanding of pensions.

Pensim3 is a computerised long-term model designed to look around 80 years ahead to compare pensioner outcomes under various possible policy scenarios for a modelled British population. It is used for policy development/evaluation, aiding long-term expenditure forecasting and in analysis of future pensioner incomes. It does not simulate the actions of specific individuals, so its output is not suitable for a person planning their own pension provision. Pensim3 is the main government source for estimating future pensioner incomes (latest publication is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/analysis-of-future-pension-incomes/analysis-of-future-pension-incomes). These statistics estimate the number and proportion of working age individuals, aged 22 to State Pension age, who are under saving for their retirement.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that workers contribute sufficiently into their pensions to achieve an adequate standard of living in retirement.

Ensuring current and future pensioners have an adequate retirement income is a key priority for this Government and a focus of our landmark pensions review.Automatic enrolment has already succeeded in transforming retirement saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. Over 22m employees in Great Britain are benefiting from participating in a workplace pension, with over £131bn saved for eligible individuals in 2023.The first phase of our pensions review – focused on investment and growth – published its interim report in November 2024. Two consultations on unlocking the UK pensions market for growth and reforming the Local Government Pension Scheme closed in January and we expect to provide our response in Spring 2025.The second phase of our review will follow in due course – focussing on pension outcomes and retirement adequacy.Alongside this, the Pension Schemes Bill, announced in the King’s Speech includes measures which could boost pension pots by over £11, 000 for average earners saving over their lifetime in a defined contribution scheme.

What plans she has to help raise awareness of the risks of under-saving in pensions for retirement.

Ensuring current and future pensioners have an adequate retirement income is a key priority for this Government and a focus of our landmark pensions review.Automatic enrolment has already succeeded in transforming retirement saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. Over 22m employees in Great Britain are benefiting from participating in a workplace pension, with over £131bn saved for eligible individuals in 2023.The first phase of our pensions review – focused on investment and growth – published its interim report in November 2024. Two consultations on unlocking the UK pensions market for growth and reforming the Local Government Pension Scheme closed in January and we expect to provide our response in Spring 2025.The second phase of our review will follow in due course – focussing on pension outcomes and retirement adequacy.Alongside this, the Pension Schemes Bill, announced in the King’s Speech includes measures which could boost pension pots by over £11, 000 for average earners saving over their lifetime in a defined contribution scheme.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle the root causes of dependency on food banks.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. The Get Britain Working White Paper has set out how the Government will seek to grow the economy through using work as a route out of poverty and to improve living standards in turn. Our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired by Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has begun work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage. Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do. To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of food bank dependency on people who (a) are disabled and (b) live in social housing.

The Family Resources Survey that measures whether a household has used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months can be accessed here Family Resources Survey - GOV.UK Individual level statistics on food banks can be found in the annual Households Below Average Income statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics – GOV.UK

What steps she is taking to help reduce the long-term use of food banks.

We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. The Get Britain Working White Paper has set out how the Government will seek to grow the economy through using work as a route out of poverty and to improve living standards in turn. Our joint ministerial taskforce, jointly chaired by Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has begun work on an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life.The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage. Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do. To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.

What steps she is taking to support people with disabilities at risk of food insecurity.

People with a health condition or disability may be eligible for a range of support such as Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, premiums and additional amounts paid within the income-related benefits. In addition, the extra costs disability benefits are a contribution to meeting the extra costs that arise from a disability or long-term health condition and can be paid regardless of any income or savings. They are also tax-free and worth up to £184.30 a week, or over £9,580 a year.

How many and what proportion of repeat food bank users receive disability benefits.

The Family Resources Survey that measures whether a household has used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months can be accessed here Family Resources Survey - GOV.UK Individual level statistics on food banks can be found in the annual Households Below Average Income statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics – GOV.UK

What assessment she has made of the level of the frequent use of food banks.

The Family Resources Survey that measures whether a household has used a food bank in the past 30 days or 12 months can be accessed here Family Resources Survey - GOV.UK Individual level statistics on food banks can be found in the annual Households Below Average Income statistics publication: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics – GOV.UK

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of people receiving an adequate pension since 2019.

There are many ways of measuring of adequacy, such as Target Replacement Rates (TRR) or using minimum income standards such as the PLSA Retirement Living Standards. DWP's latest estimates of undersaving for retirement showed around 4-in-10 working-age individuals were undersaving for retirement according to TRR levels and 1-in-10 working-age individuals were undersaving for retirement as measured by PLSA Minimum Retirement Living Standards. This is published here: Analysis of future pension incomes - GOV.UK. Current pensioners have seen gross incomes increase over the last 10 years in real terms (a 4% increase from 2012/13 to 2022/23). This is available in Pensioners' Incomes: financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK. These statistics are published annually.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's steps to enforce pension provision by private companies.

Enabling people to achieve security in retirement is a key priority for this Government.Automatic Enrolment has seen 88% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension, with participation remaining high throughout the Cost of Living challenges of recent years.The Pensions Regulator is responsible for maximising compliance with the Automatic Enrolment duties, with over 2.5 million employers doing so to date.