Written questions by Sabine.

Whether his Department has conducted an equality impact assessment for prioritising employed applicants over self-employed applicants within Access to Work.

Access to Work prioritises both employed, and self-employed applicants who are due to start work within the next four weeks or renewing existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment. There are not separate systems for employed and self‑employed applicants and awards are assessed on the number of hours worked for both groups of applicants. Employed applicants are assessed against their set contracted hours, and there is a cap on the number of hours that can be provided. This is different for self-employed customers, as they self-declare their number of working hours. We know that, in general, self-employed people work longer per week than employed people. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform, and ensure Access to Work is tailored to the needs of all customers.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of not prioritising employed applicants over self-employed applicants within Access to Work.

Access to Work prioritises both employed, and self-employed applicants who are due to start work within the next four weeks or renewing existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment. There are not separate systems for employed and self‑employed applicants and awards are assessed on the number of hours worked for both groups of applicants. Employed applicants are assessed against their set contracted hours, and there is a cap on the number of hours that can be provided. This is different for self-employed customers, as they self-declare their number of working hours. We know that, in general, self-employed people work longer per week than employed people. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform, and ensure Access to Work is tailored to the needs of all customers.

If he will make it his policy to introduce a target for equal processing times for (a) employed and (b) self-employed disabled applicants to Access to Work.

Access to Work prioritises both employed, and self-employed applicants who are due to start work within the next four weeks or renewing existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment. There are not separate systems for employed and self‑employed applicants and awards are assessed on the number of hours worked for both groups of applicants. Employed applicants are assessed against their set contracted hours, and there is a cap on the number of hours that can be provided. This is different for self-employed customers, as they self-declare their number of working hours. We know that, in general, self-employed people work longer per week than employed people. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform, and ensure Access to Work is tailored to the needs of all customers.

For what reason applications from employed applicants are prioritised over self-employed applicants within Access to Work.

Access to Work prioritises both employed, and self-employed applicants who are due to start work within the next four weeks or renewing existing grants, to minimise disruption to employment. There are not separate systems for employed and self‑employed applicants and awards are assessed on the number of hours worked for both groups of applicants. Employed applicants are assessed against their set contracted hours, and there is a cap on the number of hours that can be provided. This is different for self-employed customers, as they self-declare their number of working hours. We know that, in general, self-employed people work longer per week than employed people. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform, and ensure Access to Work is tailored to the needs of all customers.

For what reason the stopping of a state pension is automatic on imprisonment but reinstatement on release is not.

State Pension and Pension Credit payments are suspended immediately when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that an individual has entered custody for a criminal offence. A citizen who has served a criminal offence must inform DWP of their release to enable DWP to reinstate their payments. Upon receiving notification from the citizen, reinstatement of State Pension and Pension Credit is usually completed instantaneously. The timing of their first payment will depend upon their regular payment cycle, which is usually 4-weekly but can be changed to weekly upon request. Of the c13 million citizens receiving State Pension, around 1,400 citizens per annum are subject to suspension of their payments due to imprisonment. In 2025, there were 1,415 State Pension and Pension Credit related cases suspended.

How long does it take to restore the state pension once a prisoner is released.

State Pension and Pension Credit payments are suspended immediately when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that an individual has entered custody for a criminal offence. A citizen who has served a criminal offence must inform DWP of their release to enable DWP to reinstate their payments. Upon receiving notification from the citizen, reinstatement of State Pension and Pension Credit is usually completed instantaneously. The timing of their first payment will depend upon their regular payment cycle, which is usually 4-weekly but can be changed to weekly upon request. Of the c13 million citizens receiving State Pension, around 1,400 citizens per annum are subject to suspension of their payments due to imprisonment. In 2025, there were 1,415 State Pension and Pension Credit related cases suspended.

How many pensioners are affected by the stopping of the state pension on imprisonment.

State Pension and Pension Credit payments are suspended immediately when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is notified by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that an individual has entered custody for a criminal offence. A citizen who has served a criminal offence must inform DWP of their release to enable DWP to reinstate their payments. Upon receiving notification from the citizen, reinstatement of State Pension and Pension Credit is usually completed instantaneously. The timing of their first payment will depend upon their regular payment cycle, which is usually 4-weekly but can be changed to weekly upon request. Of the c13 million citizens receiving State Pension, around 1,400 citizens per annum are subject to suspension of their payments due to imprisonment. In 2025, there were 1,415 State Pension and Pension Credit related cases suspended.

What is the average processing times for pension credit applications in each of the last five years.

Pension Credit application Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) are measured weekly. Please see attached annex for details of Pension Credit applications average processing times back to October 2022. We do not hold this information prior to October 2022. Please note, The Average Actual Clearance Time figures shown are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The figures are rounded to the nearest working day and based on the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made. DWP currently works to a planned timescale of 50 working days to clear Pension Credit claims. The next publication of the Annual Reporting and Accounts will include claims processed in the Financial Year 2024 to 2025, which is due for publication in the summer.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the annual pensioner Christmas bonus in line with inflation.

The Department has no current plans to make such an assessment. The Christmas Bonus was initially introduced as a one-off payment of £10 in 1972 and has not been uprated or increased on a yearly basis like some benefits.