Written questions by Evans.

What assessment his department has made of the impact of the decision not to uprate Local Housing Allowance on the affordability of the private rented sector for people in receipt of benefits in Wales.

Awaiting answer.

In relation to Housing Benefit being tapered at a faster rate than pay, what impact this has had on young people in supported accommodation; and whether he has evaluated the subsequent loss to the Exchequer.

There has been a longstanding work disincentive arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for young people living in supported accommodation. The Autumn Budget 2025 included an announcement to introduce four new earned income disregards into Housing Benefit for residents in Supported Housing and Temporary Accommodation. This will remove a significant barrier to entering work or increasing hours, ensuring that work pays and these residents are better able to achieve financial independence.

In the context of the transition from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this transition on people with workplace injuries who have built up their National Insurance contribution.

Customers who are claiming New Style Employment Support Allowance (NS ESA) based on their National Insurance contributions, for example following a workplace injury, will not be transitioned from NS ESA to Universal Credit.

Whether his Department is taking steps to provide improved guidance to (a) employers and (b) employees on lone working.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 9 September 2025 to Question UIN 75301.

How many households receiving housing benefit have been impacted by the benefit caps for (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to 12 months, (d) 12-24 months and (e) more than 24 months in each February since 2019.

The requested information is not part of our routinely released statistical series.

How many households receiving Universal Credit have been impacted by the benefit caps for (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months, (c) six to 12 months, (d) 12-24 months and (e) more than 24 months in each February since 2019.

The requested information is not part of our routinely released statistical series.

What recent progress her Department has made on tackling benefit overpayments made due to (a) fraud and (b) error.

This government is determined to reduce fraud and error in the social security system. To tackle benefit overpayments, we agreed £8.6bn of savings at the Autumn Budget 2024 – the biggest fraud and error package on record, which led the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to forecast that we will reduce fraud and error to pre-pandemic levels. On January 22nd 2025, we introduced the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which will help the government better identify, prevent and deter public sector fraud and error and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer. As part of the £8.6bn savings, this Bill is estimated to deliver benefits of £1.5bn over the next five years, as scored by the OBR. This is made up of £940 million in savings related to fraud and error overpayments, and £565 million in additional debt recoveries.