Written questions by Bloore.

What steps his Department is taking through the Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service to identify AI-generated employment scams.

Awaiting answer.

How many registered food banks were created between 2010 and 2024.

The Department does not hold official statistics on the number of registered food banks created between 2010 and 2024. Food banks are independent organisations, often run by charities, faith groups, or community organisations, and are not regulated or registered centrally by the Government. We are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. To inform this work, DWP officials have engaged with a range of organisations to better understand the complex food support landscape. To further support struggling households, we are providing £742 million to extend the House-hold Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026, enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. Starting from 1 April 2026, we have announced a further £842 million a year (£1 billion including Barnett consequential) to reform crisis support with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, supporting our wider mission to reduce child poverty by reducing dependence on food parcels, preventing homelessness and making sure people can access urgent support when they need it.

If she will make an assessment of the merits of placing job centre staff in supported housing sites.

Jobcentre staff provide outreach in a range of community and service settings. This is a valuable way of reaching people who experience difficulties accessing support and promotes partnership working to benefit our customers. Co-location planning between jobcentres and partners such as housing providers is place-based according to local needs and circumstances. This type of joint working will be strengthened by the localised approach of our plan to Get Britain Working.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing how student loans for maintenance are taken into account when calculating Universal Credit entitlement.

No assessment has been made. The primary source of financial support for students must come from the system of student loans and grants designed for their needs. Where a student can acquire a maintenance loan (whether applied for or not) the amount will be considered as income in Universal Credit (UC) and will be taken into account when calculating the overall UC entitlement.

How many and what proportion of people claiming the health top-up on Universal Credit are aged between 18 and 21 years old.

Quarterly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work in Great Britain are published on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides figures up to December 2024 which can be broken down by ‘Age (in bands and single year)’ and ‘Stage of UC Health’ (selecting ‘Limited capability for work and work-related activity’). Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

How many people under the age of 25 are receiving Universal Credit.

Monthly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit in Great Britain are published regularly on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides provisional figures for the ‘count date’ of 13 February 2025 which can be broken down by ‘Age (in bands and single year)’. The next release with provisional figures for the count date of 13 March 2025 is scheduled for release on 15 April 2025 at 09:30am. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

What proportion of people claiming universal credit under the age of 25 are living (a) in someone else's home and (b) independently.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

For what reason there is an age differential between the national living wage age band and the lower universal credit band.

Young people in work typically earn less than those over 25 and are also more likely to live in someone else’s household, with lower living costs. It is not inconsistent to maintain different rates of Universal Credit while moving to a single rate of the National Living Wage. Even with the rise of the minimum wage, younger workers will still, in general, earn less. The lower rate of Universal Credit maintains an incentive to work as we continue to support young people into employment and to improve their career opportunities.

How many people aged between 16 and 18 were in receipt of Universal Credit on 18 March 2025.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Monthly statistics for the number of People on Universal Credit in Great Britain are published regularly on Stat-Xplore. The latest release provides provisional figures for the ‘count date’ of 13 February 2025 which can be broken down by ‘Age (in bands and single year)’. The next release with provisional figures for the count date of 13 March 2025 is scheduled for release on 15 April 2025 at 09:30am. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

How many and what proportion of people who are (a) in receipt of Universal Credit and (b) under the age of 25 are parents.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.Monthly statistics for the number of Households on Universal Credit in Great Britain are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics in table ‘UC Households 1 – month by family type’ provide a monthly breakdown of households on UC by family type up to November 2024. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

Whether she plans to review the age brackets for Universal Credit.

There are currently no plans to review the age brackets for Universal Credit. The lower rate of Universal Credit for those aged under 25 reflects the fact that the majority of young people live in someone else’s household and are therefore likely to have lower living costs. Younger workers also typically earn less as they are earlier in their careers, with the lower rate maintaining the incentive for younger people to find and progress in work.

How many single parent families are affected by the two-child limit for benefits by the gender of the parent.

In April 2024, the number of single parents on Universal Credit affected by the two-child policy, by gender, was as follows. Single parents household on Universal Credit affected by two-child policy (April 2024)Female201,000Male5,000Total206,000 Notes:The figures above are for Universal Credit only and do not include any households on Child Tax Credit affected by the policy.Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lower rate of Universal Credit for people under 25 years old on those people.

No assessment has been made. The lower rate of Universal Credit for those aged under 25 reflects the fact that the majority of young people live in someone else’s household and are therefore likely to have lower living costs. Younger workers also typically earn less as they are earlier in their careers, with the lower rate maintaining the incentive for younger people to find and progress in work.

Whether her Department offers (a) paid time off work and (b) other support to employees who become kinship carers.

We do not have a policy which explicitly covers (a) paid time off work and (b) other support to employees who become kinship carers. Employees are able to take time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant or are able to request other leave, paid and unpaid, as well as annual and flexi leave as required to support them when they become a kinship carer. Employees are also able to request a combination of flexible working patterns, special leave and adjusted duties depending on their specific needs.

If she will take steps to abolish all Child Maintenance Service for parents with care who are victim-survivors of domestic abuse.

The Department has recently concluded a public consultation on policy changes. This included proposals to remove the Direct Pay service (where parents pay each other directly) and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster. The consultation also sought views on how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported to use CMS and whether removing Direct Pay completely would benefit victims and survivors of domestic abuse. This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving Royal Assent in June 2023, which recognised that Direct Pay may not always be appropriate for victims and survivors of domestic. Removing Direct Pay would mean all maintenance payments would be monitored and transferred within the scheme. As all payments would flow via CMS, the CMS would be able to automatically identify any that were missed, late or partial and immediately take action to re-establish compliance. This would also reduce the ability for perpetrators of domestic abuse to exploit the communication channel needed for direct pay to function for the purposes of abuse; and prevent abusers from inflicting economic control and coercion through withholding CM payments. Feedback from the consultation is being considered and a Government response will be published in due course.