Written questions by Morton.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment in the West Midlands.

The information requested is published and available at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp Guidance for users can be found at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.aspThe estimated unemployment levels can be found by selecting “Query data” on the NOMIS home page and selecting “Annual Population Survey/Labour Force Survey” and then “labour force survey – national and regional – headline indicators (seasonally adjusted) (May 1992 to Sep 2025)” in the lists of data sources. The Geography will need to be set for the relevant region (West Midlands) from the menu. The economic activity Variable needs to be set to “Total unemployed” (16 and over). The rate also needs to be selected in the ‘people/rate’ section.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of youth unemployment in the West Midlands.

The information requested is published and available at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp Guidance for users can be found at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.aspThe estimated unemployment levels can be found by selecting “Query data” on the NOMIS home page and selecting “Annual Population Survey/Labour Force Survey” and then “annual population survey (Dec 2004 to Jun 2025)” in the lists of data sources. The Geography will need to be set for the relevant region (West Midlands) from the menu, and the Variable set to “Unemployment rate - aged 16-24”.

What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the financial impact of future welfare spending on the economy.

We inherited from the previous administration a welfare system that forced too many people out of work and on to long-term benefits, while leaving millions of children in poverty. We have begun to address that through reforms to universal credit, increased employment support, more help for children in poverty and, now, a youth guarantee to offer work and training to young people who are unemployed.

How many face-to-face assessments for benefit claimants have taken place since 1 January 2024.

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

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that apprenticeship funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 reaches high-demand sectors in the West Midlands.

At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support, supporting more opportunities for young people and SMEs across England, including in the West Midlands. This includes an additional £725 million to help support apprenticeships for young people, including a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25. This investment will also fund an £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 addition, we 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. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.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, including the West Midlands, through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of apprenticeship measures in the Autumn Budget 2025 on small and medium-sized employers in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency and the Black Country; and whether he plans to provide additional support to SMEs for apprenticeship reforms, levy transfers and administrative requirements.

At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support, supporting more opportunities for young people and SMEs across England, including in the West Midlands. This includes an additional £725 million to help support apprenticeships for young people, including a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25. This investment will also fund an £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 addition, we 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. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.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, including the West Midlands, through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the skills measures in the Autumn Budget 2025 on adult learners in communities in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

At the Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion over the Spending Review period for investment in employment and skills support, supporting more opportunities for young people and SMEs across England, including in the West Midlands. This includes an additional £725 million to help support apprenticeships for young people, including a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged under 25. This investment will also fund an £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 addition, we 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. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.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, including the West Midlands, through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of skills funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on the adequacy of engineering, advanced manufacturing, logistics, construction and health and social care skills in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, Walsall and the West Midlands; and whether his Department plans to publish regional allocations for those programmes.

The budget announced over £1.5 billion of investment in employment and skills sup-port to fund the Youth Guarantee and reform the Growth and Skills Levy over the Spending Review period. The Youth Guarantee means every young person can access support to earn or learn. The Growth and Skills offer will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners and support the industrial strategy. As part of the offer, new foundation apprentice-ships for young people were introduced in August 2025 alongside the ability to under-take shorter duration apprenticeships. These flexibilities will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work and fuel innovation in businesses across the country, including in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, Walsall and the West Midlands. Further, providers nationwide are already funded to develop training aligned with local needs. In 2025/26, 67% of the £1.44 billion Adult Skills Fund was devolved to 13 Strategic Authorities for locally tailored provision, for example to support the delivery of Sector-Based Work Academies to meet the skilled workforce requirements of a wide range of sectors. As set out in the Skills White Paper we are investing over £1 billion to support tens of thousands of jobs, in construction, defence, digital, engineering through skills pack-ages in key areas identified in the Industrial Strategy. This will help equip the work-force with the skills needed to drive innovation, fill industry shortages, and strengthen the UK’s economic and national resilience. These measures will help to support provision in areas such as engineering, advanced manufacturing, logistics, construction and health and social care skills across the country.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment in the West Midlands.

The ONS publish headline indicators for the West Midlands here: HI05 Regional labour market: headline indicators for the West Midlands - Office for National Statistics

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit.

The Department publishes Universal Credit (UC) immigration status and nationality statistics as part of the Universal Credit statistics publication. These statistics can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-9-october-2025.

What progress he has made on the review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment.

The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon.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 responsible for leading the co-production process, setting the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The group will be made up of a majority of disabled people or representatives of disabled people’s organisations and will be recruited through an open and transparent Expression of Interest (EOI) process. The EOI is now live and will run until 30 November.The Review will report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for final decisions in autumn 2026, with an interim update expected ahead of that.

What estimate he has made of the level of spending on health and disability benefits in 2030.

Forecast spending on disability and incapacity benefits in 2029-30 can be found in Table 4 of DWP’s Spring Statement 2025 Benefit Expenditure and Caseload publication. Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 83834, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) short and (b) medium term impact of this policy on the number of nurses in training between 2026 and 2030; whether an equality impact assessment has been undertaken.

The department continues to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), to support apprenticeships and skills provision. The DHSC has confirmed that it will fund the ongoing provision of level 7 apprenticeships in five professions including Specialist community public health nurse, District nurse and Advanced clinical practitioner. The department continues to fund level 7 apprenticeships for young people under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. The government completed an equality impact assessment ahead of making its decision on the changes to level 7 apprenticeship funding.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 83834, what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Health and Social Care on the potential impact on NHS workforce (a) recruitment and (b) retention; and how many (i) current and (ii) planned Level 7 nursing apprenticeships are expected to be affected by the withdrawal of funding.

The department continues to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), to support apprenticeships and skills provision. The DHSC has confirmed that it will fund the ongoing provision of level 7 apprenticeships in five professions including Specialist community public health nurse, District nurse and Advanced clinical practitioner. The department continues to fund level 7 apprenticeships for young people under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. The government completed an equality impact assessment ahead of making its decision on the changes to level 7 apprenticeship funding.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 83834, with reference to his Department’s decision to withdraw funding for Level 7 apprenticeships from January 2026, what evidence from Skills England informed the conclusion that there would be no significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills; whether that evidence will be published.

The government's decision on defunding Level 7 apprenticeships, except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan, including a summary of the evidence that informed that decision, is published here: Written Statements - Hansard - UK Parliament. This includes Skills England’s engagement with over 700 stakeholders including representatives from various sectors, employer representative bodies, and young people.

What discussions he has had with the West Midlands Combined Authority on increasing the availability of apprenticeships in the West Midlands.

Officials meet regularly with combined authorities to discuss post-16 skills including apprenticeships. Recent discussions with West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) skills leads have included the newly introduced foundation apprenticeships and led to a subsequent session with training providers in the WMCA to explain foundation apprenticeships and their potential benefits for local young learners. Similarly, Skills England meets Mayoral Combined Authorities, including the WMCA, on a regular basis to discuss how to address a wide range of skills challenges, the promotion of growth, and simplifying access to skills opportunities. The government also facilitates the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network of employers and apprentices which works closely in all regions, including the WMCA area, to promote apprenticeships across the region.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reducing levels of funding for Level 7 apprenticeships on the number of nurses in training.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by almost 40% over the last decade. The government therefore wants to ensure that public funding is prioritised towards those at the start of their working lives, rather than those already in work with higher levels of prior learning and qualifications. That is why from January 2026 the government will no longer fund level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level – except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This decision was informed by a wide range of evidence, including analysis by Skills England of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with relevant stakeholders, including other government departments such as the Department of Health and Social Care. Skills England evidence also suggested that there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding. The department also continues to work across government to tackle the skills needs of different sectors, including addressing the skills gaps in the health and social care industry which were identified in Skills England’s first report on driving growth and widening opportunities. There is a complete apprentice pathway for nursing, from entry level to postgraduate advanced clinical practice. A person can join the NHS as an entry level Healthcare Assistant apprentice with a view to eventually qualifying as a Registered Nurse. In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care will be funding ongoing provision of Level 7 apprenticeships in five professions, including Specialist community public health nurse (SCPHN) and District nurse (Community Specialist Practice Qualification).

If she will make an assessment of the number of people who are providing unpaid care for a relative or loved one in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

The DWP does not hold data on the number of people who are providing unpaid care for a relative or loved ones in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of Winter Fuel Payments on older residents in (a) urban, (b) rural, (c) northern and (d) southern areas.

Winter Fuel Payment statistics are published annually, for the previous winter, and cover parliamentary constituencies, Local Authority areas, regional breakdowns, and international payments, amongst other things. The next release of annual Winter Fuel Payment statistics covering winter 2024 to 2025 will be published on 16 September 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43065 on Pension Credit, if she will make an assessment of the accuracy of her Department’s impact assessment on the decision to remove the winter fuel payment.

In line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty, an Equality Analysis was produced and considered as part of the ministerial decision-making process. This was published on 13 September and is available online: Equality Impact Assessments produced for targeting Winter Fuel Payment - GOV.UK . The Department will continue to monitor outcomes for pensioners.