Every parliamentary written question tabled by Jim Shannon this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 112 · Department for Work and Pensions
How many Universal Credit claimants were overpaid cost of living payments in 2025; and what is the total amount of the overpayments identified in 2025.
The Department publishes fraud and error statistics annually and the data for FYE 2025 can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025 - GOV.UK.
How many households are in receipt of benefits in excess of £28,000.
The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is an annual report that provides facts and figures about the incomes and living circumstances of households and families in the UK. The FRS uses a nationally representative sample of UK households and includes data on benefit receipt, at both individual and family levels. The latest FRS is available for 2023/24 and, in the ‘Income and state support data tables’, Table 2.14a shows the number of benefit units in the UK by the total amount of annual state support received for that financial year, plus the two preceding years. This data is also available in the ‘FRS Family 2’ table in the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore. Please read the notes which accompany these tables. The number of families who received in excess of £28,000, can be extracted from the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore by using the custom range functionality (which is available to registered users) on the Family (Benefit Unit), total, annual amount of Income received from State Support, in bands, in latest prices (CPI-adjusted real terms) data by using the ‘Range’ option in the ‘Measures’ section. You can register or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required. In addition there is also the FRS Stat-Xplore User Guide.
How many assessments for Personal Independence Payment were carried out by Capita by telephone in 2025.
Capita delivers Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the Midlands and Wales, and on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland. Information relating to the Midlands and Wales is not currently published by DWP; however, we intend to include this data in a future statistical release. If your query concerns Northern Ireland, responsibility for this information rests with the DfC. This data is not held by DWP.
How many assessments for Personal Independence Payment were carried out by Capita in person in 2025.
Capita delivers Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the Midlands and Wales, and on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland. Information relating to the Midlands and Wales is not currently published by DWP; however, we intend to include this data in a future statistical release. If your query concerns Northern Ireland, responsibility for this information rests with the DfC. This data is not held by DWP.
What steps he is taking to reform Access to Work.
The Pathways to Work Green Paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work which has now concluded. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course. We also have recently concluded the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and those with lived experience, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.
What assessment he has made of trends in the level of food poverty over the last 12 months.
We are committed to tackling poverty and ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels. We published the Good Food Cycle in July which identified ten priority outcomes needed to build a thriving food sector while tackling a range of food related challenges. Improving food price affordability and access, in particular targeting costs that lead to food price inflation and supporting those who most need access to healthy affordable nutrition, is a key priority. From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund in England. This fund aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels. The Crisis and Resilience Fund Guidance for local authorities was published on 13 January 2026, enabling local authorities to prepare for delivery in line with the new fund. The removal of the two child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty across the United Kingdom, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our Strategy, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began. The most recent official statistics show for the United Kingdom, in 2023/24, 7.5m individuals lived in food insecure households. The rate is unchanged on 2022/23 but the total number of individuals living in food insecure households has increased by 300,000. The most recent official statistics show for the United Kingdom, in 2023/24, 2.8m people, were living in households where a food bank has been used in the 12 months prior to the interview, up by 500,000 since 2022/23.
What steps he is taking to ensure that young disabled people can enter and stay in work.
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. The Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 set out how we will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity, backed by £240 million investment, for which the Northern Ireland executive received consequential funding in the usual way. Disabled people and people with health conditions, including young disabled people can face a wide range of unique, yet intersecting barriers, relating to not just their health, but their employment and circumstance (Work aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers: Final findings report - GOV.UK). We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres in Great Britain. DWP set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and we are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits in Great Britain. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding for the UK by the end of the decade, the Northern Ireland executive will receive their share of this funding in the usual way. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out in Great Britain, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support. In recognition of employers’ vital role in addressing health-related economic activity, we appointed Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the independent Keep Britain Working Review across the UK. The Report was published on 5 November. In partnership with DBT and DHSC, we are immediately launching Vanguards to test new employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in work and develop a Healthy Workplace Standard, putting Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action. Additionally, the Joint Work and Health Directorate (JWHD) has developed a digital information service for employers and continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme in Great Britain where we have recently announced plans to make the scheme more robust. Alan Milburn will author an independent report to tackle the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun. It will make recommendations for policy response to help young people access work, training or education, ensuring they are supported to thrive and are not sidelined. In Northern Ireland, health, skills, careers and employment support are transferred matters. My officials work closely with those in the Northern Ireland Executive, sharing best practice in regard to providing employment support to disabled people.
What steps he is taking to support disabled people who face the greatest barriers to work.
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. The Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 set out how we will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity, backed by £240 million investment, for which the Northern Ireland executive received consequential funding in the usual way. Disabled people and people with health conditions, including young disabled people can face a wide range of unique, yet intersecting barriers, relating to not just their health, but their employment and circumstance (Work aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers: Final findings report - GOV.UK). We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres in Great Britain. DWP set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and we are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits in Great Britain. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding for the UK by the end of the decade, the Northern Ireland executive will receive their share of this funding in the usual way. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out in Great Britain, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support. In recognition of employers’ vital role in addressing health-related economic activity, we appointed Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the independent Keep Britain Working Review across the UK. The Report was published on 5 November. In partnership with DBT and DHSC, we are immediately launching Vanguards to test new employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in work and develop a Healthy Workplace Standard, putting Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action. Additionally, the Joint Work and Health Directorate (JWHD) has developed a digital information service for employers and continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme in Great Britain where we have recently announced plans to make the scheme more robust. Alan Milburn will author an independent report to tackle the persistently high numbers of young people out of work, education and training. The report will examine why increasing numbers of young people are falling out of work or education before their careers have begun. It will make recommendations for policy response to help young people access work, training or education, ensuring they are supported to thrive and are not sidelined. In Northern Ireland, health, skills, careers and employment support are transferred matters. My officials work closely with those in the Northern Ireland Executive, sharing best practice in regard to providing employment support to disabled people.
What steps are being taken to encourage more young people into work.
The Government’s ambition is to transform young people’s prospects, by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn or learn through a Youth Guarantee.We have already taken the first steps towards delivering a Youth Guarantee, launching Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, announcing funding to almost double our Youth Hubs across Great Britain, and we recently launched an Independent Report into Young People and Work, to identify potential areas for reform to better support young people with health conditions and disabilities.We are now expanding the Youth Guarantee, backed by a £820 million investment over the next three years to reach almost 900,000 young people. This includes Youth Hubs in every area in Great Britain and a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, offering a dedicated session and follow-up support to 16-24-year-olds on Universal Credit to get them into employment or training. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. In addition, it will provide guaranteed jobs to around 55,000 young people aged 18-21.Employment support policies are devolved in Northern Ireland and the responsibility of the Department for Communities.
If he will accept the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s compensation recommendations in regards to the WASPI women.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out on 11 November 2025, we are retaking the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age. The process to retake the decision is underway. We will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
How many people are in receipt of high rate mobility PIP.
The requested information is available on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml). An account is not required to use Stat-Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore is also available here: Personal Independence Payment data on Stat-Xplore: user guide - GOV.UK.The relevant information can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset. Under ‘Geography’, select ‘National – Regional – LA – OAs’, and then choose ‘DWP policy ownership’. For claimants with an enhanced rate of Mobility award, expand ‘Mobility Award Status’ and select ‘Mobility Award – Enhanced’. You may also use the ‘Month’ filter to select any periods of interest; by default, it is set to the most recently available month.
What discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the independent review of Carer's Allowance overpayments.
The Independent Review into overpayments of Carer’s Allowance linked to earnings covered England and Wales. In view of the principle of parity with DWP in matters of social security, I informed the Minister for Communities of the Review’s findings and the Government’s response to them, and officials from the two Departments are in discussion on the issues raised. Since social security is transferred in Northern Ireland, questions 99735 and 99736 are matters for the Executive.
Whether he has had made an assessment of the potential impact of the findings and recommendations of the Independent Review of Carer's Allowance payments on carers in Northern Ireland.
The Independent Review into overpayments of Carer’s Allowance linked to earnings covered England and Wales. In view of the principle of parity with DWP in matters of social security, I informed the Minister for Communities of the Review’s findings and the Government’s response to them, and officials from the two Departments are in discussion on the issues raised. Since social security is transferred in Northern Ireland, questions 99735 and 99736 are matters for the Executive.
What assessment he has made of the number of unpaid carers in Northern Ireland affected by Carer's Allowance overpayments in relation to a) earnings and b) fluctuating earnings from 2015 to 2025.
The Independent Review into overpayments of Carer’s Allowance linked to earnings covered England and Wales. In view of the principle of parity with DWP in matters of social security, I informed the Minister for Communities of the Review’s findings and the Government’s response to them, and officials from the two Departments are in discussion on the issues raised. Since social security is transferred in Northern Ireland, questions 99735 and 99736 are matters for the Executive.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including targets and milestones for reducing child poverty in legislation.
The Monitoring and Evaluation framework published alongside the Strategy set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026 with annual reporting on progress thereafter and Government already has a statutory duty to publish poverty statistics annually. We have put these clear reporting arrangements in place so that the progress we make is transparent for all.
Whether he plans to publish a further equalities impact assessment of the Child Poverty Strategy, which will include the potential impact of the strategy on groups at highest risk of poverty.
A full summary Equalities Analysis was published alongside the Strategy and is available at: Child Poverty Strategy: Summary Equalities Analysis - GOV.UK. The impacts of policies contributing to the Child Poverty Strategy will be kept under review and monitored on an ongoing basis by departments using their own established approaches to considerations made under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation of the Child Poverty Strategy will also continue to assess the poverty risk and prevalence for groups with protected characteristics, as far as the data and evidence gathering allow. The Monitoring and Evaluation framework published alongside the Strategy set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026, with annual reporting on progress thereafter. As set out in our Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, we will continue to work closely with the devolved governments to complement existing monitoring and evaluation activity, and consider how best to feed in their own findings to track progress at both the local and national level, particularly where powers are devolved.
What steps he is taking to support more young people into work.
This Government is investing in young people’s futures. At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820 million 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, including:Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up. This support could be delivered at a Youth Hub.Further expansion of Youth Hubs: We are expanding our network of Youth Hubs to over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support.c. 300,000 additional opportunities for workplace experience and training: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers – Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.Guaranteeing jobs: For long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit, the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years. We know young people need support quickly and that is why we will begin delivery of the Jobs Guarantee in six areas from spring 2026 in: Birmingham & Solihull, East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire & Essex, Central & East Scotland, Southwest & Southeast Wales. We will deliver over 1,000 job starts in the first six months. This will be followed by national roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain.Prevention: We are also making it easier to identify young people who need support, by investing in better data sharing for those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), further education attendance monitoring, and new risk of NEET data tools giving local areas more accurate insights to target support where it's needed most. We are also investing in work experience opportunities for young people at particular risk of becoming NEET, focused on pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings, (education provided outside mainstream or special schools for children who cannot attend a regular school, often due to exclusion, health needs, or other circumstances). This builds on measures announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper earlier this autumn. Growth and Skills Levy’s £725 million package of reforms includes a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25, and £140 million pilot of new approaches to better connect young people aged 16-24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities. These are important steps in the government’s ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, which will also be supported by expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people. In Northern Ireland, all DWP policy areas are transferred (apart from the private pensions regulatory regime), including employment support. This is the responsibility of the Department for Communities.
What steps he is taking with cabinet colleagues to support young disabled people with complex needs into work.
The Government is taking action to help young disabled people and young people with complex health needs move towards work. This is a diverse group, so it is key that the individual gets access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, for them. The Youth Guarantee and Pathways to Work will guarantee specialist support for young people with long-term health conditions and disabled young people. We have announced an £820 million funding package for the Youth Guarantee to overhaul support and give a generation of young people a brighter future. Over the next three years:Almost one million young people on Universal Credit across Great Britain will benefit from support designed to get them into employment and learning.For young people on Universal Credit and looking for work, we will create guaranteed jobs for almost 55,000 young people, giving them the start they need; alongside nearly 300,000 additional work experience and training opportunities.Additionally, we will further expand our Youth Hubs to over 360 to every local area of Great Britain. Through Pathways to Work we are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. This will be the biggest investment in support for disabled people and those with health conditions in at least a generation. We anticipate that, once fully rolled out, the Pathways to Work Guarantee will offer a comprehensive range of support including: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support. Youth Guarantee and Pathways to Work will build on the range of support available to disabled people and people with health conditions, regardless of their benefit status or Work Group. For example, Connect to Work a supported employment programme that joins up work skills and health support, and Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies, which combine the expertise of therapists and employment advisers to give those with mental health conditions the support they need to find work tailored to them. Additionally, disabled people and people with health conditions might be able to access WorkWell, which is our new way to deliver integrated work and health support through local partnerships. Finally, we are considering how we might go even further. The Right Honourable Alan Milburn will lead on an investigation of the rise in youth inactivity with a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disability. Reporting in Summer 2026.
What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support young disabled people who cannot work.
For a small minority of young people, work is not a realistic goal. However, for most disabled young people and young people with a health condition, given the right support, working at some point in the near future is a credible ambition. We know amongst people on health-related benefits those under 25 are significantly more likely to think they could work now if the right job and support was available. We are delivering the biggest employment support package for disabled people and people with health conditions in more than a generation. Backed by £1 billion a year of new, and additional funding by 2030, we will build towards a guarantee of personalised work, health and skills support to improve returns to work and prevent economic inactivity, as part of rebalancing spending towards work over welfare. This includes an extra £300 million on top of that announced at the Spring Statement, enabling us to go further and faster on our new planned investment in work, health and skills support offers, building on and learning from successes such as the Connect to Work programme, which is being rolled out over 2025 to provide disabled people and people with health conditions with one-to-one support at the point when they feel ready to work. Support is also available through the Access to Work scheme - a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment. A young disabled person may also be eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which provides a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition. PIP is non-contributory, non-means-tested, available regardless of whether the recipient is in work or not and can be worth up to £9,747.40 a year, tax free. PIP can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, and help with travel costs to appointments.
What steps are being taken to encourage more smaller businesses to take on apprentices.
Apprenticeships are a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. To encourage smaller businesses to take on apprentices, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises) for all eligible people aged under 25 from the next academic year. This change will make it easier for those employers to engage with apprenticeships by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care. Additionally, the department engages with small employers regularly to promote apprenticeships. During National Apprenticeship Week 2025, we held a round table with small and medium employers and other key partners to better understand the challenges they are facing in recruiting apprentices. This insight allows us to better target engagement activities with small businesses. The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.