Written questions by Anderson.

What plans his Department has to issue guidance to councils covering Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on monitoring local outcomes of the Child Poverty Strategy.

We are strengthening our partnership with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) with our Civil Society Covenant. We recognise that the VCSE sector has a strong record of supporting families and is the bedrock of our communities. We are putting tackling child poverty at the heart of local government by including child poverty in the new Outcomes Framework for local government as a contextual outcome. The Framework also includes wider priority outcomes that will help tackle child poverty such as preventing and reducing homelessness and rough sleeping; access to a decent, safe and affordable home; local growth; and promoting health and wellbeing in children. Alongside the Strategy, we have set out our initial plans for monitoring and evaluation to ensure our strategy is on track to tackle child poverty as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning.

What estimate his Department has made of the projected number of children in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency who will become newly eligible for support measures introduced under the Child Poverty Strategy.

The Department does not have an estimate of the projected number of children in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency who will become newly eligible for support measures introduced under the Child Poverty Strategy or hold data on the proportion of low-income households in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency expected to benefit from changes to income-related thresholds outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy. Estimates are available for the number of children and households that are expected to gain from the removal of two-child limit at constituency level here Poverty impacts of social security changes at Budget 2025 - GOV.UK.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of children in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency in households newly eligible for debt-prevention or money-management support under the Child Poverty Strategy.

We do not hold data on the expected uptake of family financial resilience programmes, and have not made any assessment of the number of children in households newly eligible for debt-prevention or money-management support in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency under the Child Poverty Strategy.The Strategy recognises the important role that financial resilience must play in supporting families in poverty. The new £1 billion (including Barnett consequential) Crisis and Resilience Fund, launching in April 2026, will invest in local financial resilience to enable communities to better deal with crises in the long-term, reducing dependence and repeat need. Alongside this, the government is boosting financial resilience through helping low-income families to save, increasing debt advice provision and providing financial education and money management tools. The Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, published on 5 November 2025, brings together the foundations of financial resilience in support of the Child Poverty Strategy.Alongside the Child Poverty Strategy, we have set out our initial plans for monitoring and evaluation to ensure our strategy is on track to tackle child poverty. We will work with departments and policy owners to complement existing monitoring and evaluation plans, and support them to further assess the delivery and impact of their policies on child poverty, particularly for policies where it is important to capture wider benefits. Further details on our approach to monitoring and evaluation will follow in a baseline report in Summer 2026.

What plans his Department has to publish annual constituency-level child poverty indicators in relation to the Child Poverty Strategy.

Details of new statistics currently under development are also set out in the DWP Statistical Work Programme, available at: Statistical work programme - GOV.UK. This includes proposals for a new measure of low income for families in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) and new local area Official Statistics on children in low-income families on an after housing costs (AHC) basis, which will provide additional local area level insights.The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning. We will use two complementary headline metrics, relative poverty (after housing costs) and deep material poverty, as well as a comprehensive programme of analysis focussing on the drivers of child poverty and the impact of specific interventions. We will publish a baseline report next summer with further details, which will set out the latest statistics and identify what further indicators and wider evidence will be used to monitor and evaluate the Child Poverty Strategy at both a national and local level.

What data his Department holds on the expected uptake of family financial resilience programmes in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency under the Child Poverty Strategy.

We do not hold data on the expected uptake of family financial resilience programmes, and have not made any assessment of the number of children in households newly eligible for debt-prevention or money-management support in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency under the Child Poverty Strategy.The Strategy recognises the important role that financial resilience must play in supporting families in poverty. The new £1 billion (including Barnett consequential) Crisis and Resilience Fund, launching in April 2026, will invest in local financial resilience to enable communities to better deal with crises in the long-term, reducing dependence and repeat need. Alongside this, the government is boosting financial resilience through helping low-income families to save, increasing debt advice provision and providing financial education and money management tools. The Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, published on 5 November 2025, brings together the foundations of financial resilience in support of the Child Poverty Strategy.Alongside the Child Poverty Strategy, we have set out our initial plans for monitoring and evaluation to ensure our strategy is on track to tackle child poverty. We will work with departments and policy owners to complement existing monitoring and evaluation plans, and support them to further assess the delivery and impact of their policies on child poverty, particularly for policies where it is important to capture wider benefits. Further details on our approach to monitoring and evaluation will follow in a baseline report in Summer 2026.

What steps his Department plans to take to measure the effectiveness of early-intervention employment support for people at risk of leaving work due to ill health.

Evaluation is a key driver in delivering DWP’s priority outcomes and ensuring alignment with the Government’s Plan for Change. As set out in the DWP Evidence and Evaluation Strategy, ongoing evaluation of new and existing initiatives assesses whether they are achieving intended results and informs future policy design. All early intervention employment and health programmes are accompanied by robust evaluation strategies as per HM Treasury guidance. For example, for the WorkWell pilots there is a published feasibility study that outlines approaches to estimating the impact of the programme. On completion of the evaluation, externally commissioned evaluation reports are published. For example, the evaluation of the Work Choice programme - a voluntary scheme supporting disabled people facing employment barriers or at risk of job loss showed - published in April 2025 found that, eight years after referral, participants had a payrolled employment rate 11 percentage points higher than the comparison group. This meant the programme delivered strong value for money, returning £1.67 to the Exchequer for every £1 spent.

Whether his Department has established indicators for employer participation in health-and-work initiatives in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

The Department has no specific indicators for employer participation in health-and-work initiatives specifically in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

Whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of employer-partnership programmes on labour market participation in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

The Department for Work and Pensions continually monitors and evaluates the impact of its programmes on labour market participation across Great Britain, including in Buckingham and Bletchley. Employer-partnership initiatives such as the Restart Scheme, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), and Skills Bootcamps are subject to independent evaluation, which informs future policy and contractual decisions. For example, the Restart evaluation by the Learning & Work Institute and Ipsos UK, and the Skills Bootcamp evaluation by CFE Research, are publicly available on GOV.UK. Locally, Jobcentres in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes deliver a range of employer-led programmes to help people move into sustainable employment. These include tailored support through Restart, mentoring circles with NHS and other employers, and SWAPs in sectors such as construction, logistics, retail, and health and social care. The Department’s wider reforms will create a new service across Great Britain, enabling people to access support to find good, meaningful work and progress in employment, while working with employers to overcome recruitment barriers and meet skills needs. Through these measures, the Department aims to improve labour market participation and ensure inclusive employment opportunities in Buckingham, Bletchley, and beyond.

What discussions his Department has had with NHS England on integrated occupational-health pathways.

The Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate routinely works across Departments and health systems to develop cross cutting initiatives such as Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme and WorkWell. The Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies (England), embeds Employment Advisors within the Talking Therapies service, enabling the provision of integrated therapeutic treatment and employment support to patients regardless of their work or benefit status. The Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme (IPSPC), is a Supported Employment model aimed at supporting disabled people and those with health conditions. IPSPC supports people who are out of work and those needing support with their health issues to stay in work. The WorkWell pilot is a new way to deliver integrated work and health support that is designed by Integrated Care Boards in partnership with local government, Jobcentre Plus and community groups. These partnerships have had flexibility to design their WorkWell service according to their local needs, building on existing assets and resources, creating opportunities to integrate provision and pathways across places. Sites went live from October 2024 in 15 areas in England and provide low intensity holistic support for health-related barriers to employment, and a single joined up gateway to existing local work and health service provision. Multidisciplinary teams provide support to participants that can include employer liaison, work and health coaching, physiotherapy, and mental health services.

What plans his Department has to enhance digital access support for Pension Credit applications for older people.

The Department is committed to making Pension Credit applications as accessible as possible for older people. We have invested in the Apply for Pension Credit online service (AfPC), which is designed to simply gather the information needed to make a claim, while ensuring that non-digital routes remain available for those who prefer or require them. Assisted digital support is embedded into the service, including telephone and paper-based options for digitally excluded customers. To further enhance digital access support, we plan to introduce “save and return” to make online applications easier for those who need more time or assistance.

What data his Department holds on local authority engagement with Pension Credit take-up campaigns.

The Department regularly engages with all councils in Great Britain through the Local Authority Welfare Direct e-bulletins on GOV.UK, email communications to our local authority contact list, and through wider outreach work through partnership managers covering national Jobcentre Plus districts. DWP Communications keeps a log of the extensive support for the campaign offered by Local Authorities across Great Britain, which helps the Department to focus promotional efforts. Following our calls for support for the annual Pension Credit Week of Action in 2024, and in October this year, at least 200 councils across Great Britain have actively supported our awareness campaign through social media promotion and/or in-person/on-site distribution of our promotional materials, including posters and leaflets.

What assessment his Department has made of potential factors limiting Pension Credit take-up among eligible low-income pensioners in rural areas.

Research suggests that there are a range of reasons why some pensioners don’t claim Pension Credit. These include lack of awareness, uncertainty about eligibility and stigma around claiming benefits more generally. Some pensioners assume that they will not be entitled because they own their own home or have modest savings or other retirement income. Some may be put off by the claim processor be hesitant to provide personal or financial information. Pensioners in rural areas may face added barriers such as having limited access to local support services, social isolation or poor digital connectivity. The Government is committed to ensuring that all pensioners, no matter where they live, receive the financial support they are entitled to. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit taken-up campaign across the whole of Great Britain, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensioners and their family and friends through adverts on television and radio; on social media and on digital screens in GP surgeries and Post Offices, as well as in the press. And Pension Credit can be claimed over the telephone, by post or online. Pensioners claiming by telephone can be supported and guided through the claim process by an agent while the online service is available 24/7 every day of the year and can be completed by a friend or relative.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of public information campaigns on levels of benefit-related fraud.

DWP will be launching a new campaign at the end of January 2026. This campaign will focus on the three greatest key loss areas for the Department – living together, self-employed, and capital & savings. It will run across a range of channels, including on demand video, out-of-home, digital display, paid search and paid social. The campaign’s communications objectives are to increase awareness of the consequences of not reporting changes of circumstances to DWP and to increase understanding of the types of changes of circumstances that need to be reported amongst Universal Credit customers.

What information his Department holds on the number of reported incidents of winter fuel payment-related scams in each of the past five years.

The Department does not hold a formal record of the number of reported winter fuel payment-related scams over the past five years.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that vulnerable pensioners are protected from online benefit scams.

DWP is taking a number of steps to protect our vulnerable customers from online benefit scams. This includes raising public awareness of benefit scam messages on the Gov.uk website. Our most recent press release relating to Winter Fuel Payment warned our customers to be alert to text message scams in advance of next month’s payments and urging them to forward any suspicious texts to 7726. This is free of charge and helps phone providers block the numbers involved. Customers are also encouraged to forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. We are also working together with Action Fraud raising awareness on social media sites including Facebook and X formerly known as Twitter. This is alongside DWP’s continued work with trusted partners and charities such as Independent Age to ensure accurate and timely information is available. DWP has also developed a recorded message for our telephone lines to raise awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams.

What steps he is taking with law enforcement agencies to help (a) identify and (b) prevent winter fuel payment scams.

In partnership with Action Fraud, we are raising awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams across Facebook and Twitter. This is alongside DWP’s continued work with trusted partners and charities such as Independent Age to ensure accurate and timely information is available. DWP has also developed a recorded message for our telephone lines and issued a press release via GOV.UK to raise awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams. To protect customers from fraudulent SMS messages, DWP has registered all official Sender IDs with the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF). UK mobile networks use this register to block messages claiming to be from DWP that are not sent through approved routes. Scams that are reported to or discovered by the Department that use other channels, such as social media, are managed through existing security processes and referred to Action Fraud where appropriate. Significant trends are also shared with the National Cyber Security Centre.

With reference to his letter to the joint chief executives of Skills England entitled Skills England priorities for 2025 to 2026, dated 27 October 2025, what estimate he has made of the number of learners who will enter (a) level 4 and (b) level 5 education or training by age 25 in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency in the next three years.

On 20 October, we published the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, which outlines our reforms to develop a world-class skills system that supports young people into education and training, meets learner and employer needs, and drives innovation and economic growth. This includes our bold new target of two-thirds of young people participating in higher-level learning - whether academic, technical or an apprenticeship - by age 25. This includes a sub-target of 10% of young people participating in higher technical education or training - at levels 4 or 5 - by age 25, by 2040. We do not hold forecasts of the numbers of learners who will enter level 4 or level 5 study by age 25. The number of entrants that entered level 4 and level 5 study in previous academic years, broken down by local authority level, can be found in the Higher Level Learners publication here: Higher Level Learners.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate how the target of 80 percent employment will be supported via the co-ordination of (i) employment support and (ii) skills services.

Our Get Britain Working strategy set out plans to increase participation and progression in the workforce by transforming Jobcentre Plus into the Jobs & Careers Service, introducing a new Youth Guarantee, and increasing activity to tackle health and disability related inactivity, including through the new Pathways to Work guarantee set out in the March Green Paper.Coordination of employment support and skills services is key to delivering these plans and meeting the Government’s long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. The Get Britain Working White Paper set the blueprint for joined up work, health and skills services to tackle inactivity at a local level and built on national models such as the Sector Based Work Academy Programmes, which help employers with their workforce needs by upskilling benefit claimants to fill local job vacancies, and Skills Bootcamps for sector-specific training.We have published our Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper which includes plans to address priority skills gaps and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training through joined up employment and skills support. We have also brought adult skills into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to maximise the opportunities of aligning employment and skills support, with the Minister for Skills retaining oversight of skills across DWP and DfE.We will report on our progress towards reaching our 80% employment rate ambition through a range of metrics annually. Our first report was released in April 2025 with the first update planned for next year. We will measure our success through the following metrics:Regional employment rateHealth-related inactivityDisability employment rate gapFemale employment rateParental employmentDWP published its Evidence and Evaluation Strategy in July 2025 Evidence and Evaluation Strategy 2025 - GOV.UK', with Goal 1 covering how DWP will evaluate its labour market agenda. The strategy details both current and planned research and evaluation activities.

What criteria her Department plans to use to identify young people at risk of falling out of (a) education, (b) employment and (c) training for enrolment in the Youth Guarantee scheme.

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. To identify young people at risk of falling out of 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, delivering the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers. These authorities began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025 and are now testing a range of approaches to reach and support those at risk of becoming NEET. These include using available local data to identify disengaged or at risk young people, working with partner organisations already supporting vulnerable groups and drawing on the Department for Education’s non-statutory guidance on the ‘Risk of NEET indicators’ guidance available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identifying-and-supporting-young-people-at-risk-of-neet

What data her Department plans to collect to assess the effectiveness of its targeted support to help SMEs offer apprenticeships.

Small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are important to the economy and to apprenticeships. They provide valuable opportunities for younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.The department collects and publishes data on apprenticeship starts in SMEs. Around 40% of apprenticeship starts are in SMEs and they account for more than 100,000 apprenticeship starts each year.The government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16-21, and for apprentices aged 22-24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been, or are, in local authority care, when they undertake apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers.For all other apprentices, employers that don’t pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs.The government also pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHC plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.