Written questions by Blundell.

What steps he is taking to improve the enforcement processes of the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service has a range of strong enforcement powers that are designed to get money flowing quickly, prevent the build-up of arrears and ensure children get the financial support they deserve. These powers include the ability to deduct directly from the paying parent’s earnings or bank accounts and disqualifications from holding or obtaining driving licenses and passports. The Government has announced our intention to reform the Child Maintenance when parliamentary time allows system. We will remove Direct Pay and move to a single, strengthened Collect and Pay system which will allow the CMS to monitor all payments, identify missed or partial payments immediately, and take faster enforcement action. Ahead of this change, the CMS is already moving non-compliant parents more quickly from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay. In March 2025, CMS established a process to manage high- and medium-risk cases using predictive analytics, resulting in earlier identification of at-risk cases and enabling caseworker intervention at the earliest opportunity where indicators of non-compliance are identified. To further improve arrears collection, the CMS will introduce administrative liability orders to replace the current court-based process. This will streamline enforcement, reduce delays, and help the CMS act more quickly against parents who avoid their responsibilities. Work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government is underway, and regulations will be brought to Parliament as soon as possible.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the enforcement processes of the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service has a range of strong enforcement powers that are designed to get money flowing quickly, prevent the build-up of arrears and ensure children get the financial support they deserve. These powers include the ability to deduct directly from the paying parent’s earnings or bank accounts and disqualifications from holding or obtaining driving licenses and passports. The Government has announced our intention to reform the Child Maintenance when parliamentary time allows system. We will remove Direct Pay and move to a single, strengthened Collect and Pay system which will allow the CMS to monitor all payments, identify missed or partial payments immediately, and take faster enforcement action. Ahead of this change, the CMS is already moving non-compliant parents more quickly from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay. In March 2025, CMS established a process to manage high- and medium-risk cases using predictive analytics, resulting in earlier identification of at-risk cases and enabling caseworker intervention at the earliest opportunity where indicators of non-compliance are identified. To further improve arrears collection, the CMS will introduce administrative liability orders to replace the current court-based process. This will streamline enforcement, reduce delays, and help the CMS act more quickly against parents who avoid their responsibilities. Work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government is underway, and regulations will be brought to Parliament as soon as possible.

Whether his Department plans to publish details of (a) findings, (b) good practice and (c) value-for-money assessments from Trailblazer schemes.

Trailblazers were launched from April 2025 across 17 areas and are testing more localised delivery approaches to support young people and those who are economically inactive to move closer to the labour market. The Trailblazer areas are required to demonstrate to the Department satisfactory progress towards implementing their agreed delivery plans. Management Information is being collected by the areas and will be shared with the Department, which includes volumes and characteristics of people supported by the Trailblazers. The Department expects to publish scoping research in 2026, which was commissioned to baseline Trailblazer plans and inform the evaluation design. The Department will be commissioning a new evaluation contract, starting in December 2025, and we will then agree the most effective approach to evidencing outcomes, good practice and value for money. Where applicable this will include evidence on improving mental health, tackling social isolation and supporting sustained employment. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer term impacts have been developed. In addition, the Department is working closely with Trailblazer areas to support the design of their own local evaluations.

When his Department plans to undertake formal evaluation of the Trailblazer schemes currently in operation; and when that will be published.

Trailblazers were launched from April 2025 across 17 areas and are testing more localised delivery approaches to support young people and those who are economically inactive to move closer to the labour market. The Trailblazer areas are required to demonstrate to the Department satisfactory progress towards implementing their agreed delivery plans. Management Information is being collected by the areas and will be shared with the Department, which includes volumes and characteristics of people supported by the Trailblazers. The Department expects to publish scoping research in 2026, which was commissioned to baseline Trailblazer plans and inform the evaluation design. The Department will be commissioning a new evaluation contract, starting in December 2025, and we will then agree the most effective approach to evidencing outcomes, good practice and value for money. Where applicable this will include evidence on improving mental health, tackling social isolation and supporting sustained employment. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer term impacts have been developed. In addition, the Department is working closely with Trailblazer areas to support the design of their own local evaluations.

What (a) performance metrics and (b) outcome indicators his Department is using to assess Trailblazer schemes; and what role (i) improving mental health, (ii) tackling social isolation and (ii) supporting sustained employment have in those.

Trailblazers were launched from April 2025 across 17 areas and are testing more localised delivery approaches to support young people and those who are economically inactive to move closer to the labour market. The Trailblazer areas are required to demonstrate to the Department satisfactory progress towards implementing their agreed delivery plans. Management Information is being collected by the areas and will be shared with the Department, which includes volumes and characteristics of people supported by the Trailblazers. The Department expects to publish scoping research in 2026, which was commissioned to baseline Trailblazer plans and inform the evaluation design. The Department will be commissioning a new evaluation contract, starting in December 2025, and we will then agree the most effective approach to evidencing outcomes, good practice and value for money. Where applicable this will include evidence on improving mental health, tackling social isolation and supporting sustained employment. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer term impacts have been developed. In addition, the Department is working closely with Trailblazer areas to support the design of their own local evaluations.

Whether she plans to increase resourcing for the Child Maintenance Service.

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) the demand for our service is increasing. To allow us to meet this demand and provide an efficient service we continuously look at the resources we have and where we should focus our efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to our customers. We review our overall resource supply regularly and take appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands. We have an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2025 which will ensure CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted demand. Through extensive modernisation to both telephony and digital channels, and by promoting self-service online, the CMS are ensuring customers have greater choice of how and when they contact us. Our service improvements allow customers to use the most appropriate and efficient contact method to quickly resolve their queries and reduce demand on our services. Improvements to our digital service allow us to process simple actions automatically, speeding up the time taken to make a change. Through efficient call routing, we have freed up resources to deliver a more responsive service and allow caseworkers more time to better assist customers who need to reach out to us via telephone. We have improved all forms of communication, including greater use of SMS and email as well as improving letter content. Furthermore, we have taken timely action to further train, support and redeploy resource within CMS to where it is needed most. The CMS continually reviews the service it provides by regularly gathering feedback from customers. The Customer Experience Survey is a way in which the Department interacts with customers to understand their experience. Through regular insight used to inform ways to improve our service and the ongoing review of resources, the CMS strives to ensure we have the capability to deliver the best service which is accessible to all parents within our growing caseload.

What steps she is taking to ensure improved service from the Child Maintenance Service.

As more customers apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) the demand for our service is increasing. To allow us to meet this demand and provide an efficient service we continuously look at the resources we have and where we should focus our efforts to get the greatest value for money and deliver the best service to our customers. We review our overall resource supply regularly and take appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands. We have an ongoing recruitment campaign for 2025 which will ensure CMS is resourced to meet current and future forecasted demand. Through extensive modernisation to both telephony and digital channels, and by promoting self-service online, the CMS are ensuring customers have greater choice of how and when they contact us. Our service improvements allow customers to use the most appropriate and efficient contact method to quickly resolve their queries and reduce demand on our services. Improvements to our digital service allow us to process simple actions automatically, speeding up the time taken to make a change. Through efficient call routing, we have freed up resources to deliver a more responsive service and allow caseworkers more time to better assist customers who need to reach out to us via telephone. We have improved all forms of communication, including greater use of SMS and email as well as improving letter content. Furthermore, we have taken timely action to further train, support and redeploy resource within CMS to where it is needed most. The CMS continually reviews the service it provides by regularly gathering feedback from customers. The Customer Experience Survey is a way in which the Department interacts with customers to understand their experience. Through regular insight used to inform ways to improve our service and the ongoing review of resources, the CMS strives to ensure we have the capability to deliver the best service which is accessible to all parents within our growing caseload.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that people in their (a) 50s and (b) 60s are included in the design of its new digital employment support offer.

As part of our reforms announced in the Get Britain Working, we set out our plans to reform Jobcentre Plus and create a new service across Great Britain. We secured £55m at the Autumn Budget to take forward the first steps of building, testing and trialling the new service in 2025/26, including the development of a modern digital offer where people can access support through the channels that best meet their needs. The new service must work for everyone, and we are committed to working with all users, including older individuals, on the new service, and organisations representing their needs, throughout the design process.

How the new jobs and careers service will work with employers to help tackle ageism in (a) recruitment and (b) the workplace.

The Government acknowledges the key role employers play in helping older individuals to remain in or re-enter the workforce, and the importance of embracing policies conductive to this support. The 2010 Equality Act provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment, rendering it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees or job applicants based on age. We know that work helps everyone, including older people, play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement. That is why we are reforming employment support to ensure it helps everyone who needs it. This includes creating a Jobs and Careers service that will enable everyone, regardless of age, to access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings. We have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent “Keep Britain Working” review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working again. In recognition of employer's vital role, his review is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions. This includes the perspectives of older people themselves, as well as engaging with the Centre for Ageing Better. My Department also continues to engage with employers to ensure their recruitment practises attract and support the retention of older people. This includes making businesses aware of good practice and encouraging employers to sign the Age-Friendly employer pledge.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including an increase in employment among people aged 50–59 and 60–66 as a distinct intermediate outcome metric in the Get Britain Working framework.

A key outcome in our Get Britain Working outcome metrics framework is our ambition to raise the country’s employment rate to 80%. To achieve this ambition, we will need to improve employment across a range of groups of the population, including people aged 50 and over. The outcomes framework intermediate outcome metrics monitor progress of the effect of policies announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper that provide extra support for specific groups of people - for example young people; people with health conditions and disabled people.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty on the work of her Department.

The Department for Work and Pensions treats its responsibilities under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously and has a number of special rules and arrangements in place.These range from National Insurance Credits for forces spouses who have a gap in their records because they have accompanied their partner overseas; to exemptions to residency tests to those who have served abroad; to a network of Armed Forces Champions in Jobcentres who provide expert help and support to those veterans who need it most.As we reform and modernise our services, and make other changes, we will, of course, continue to consider the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant.

What steps she is taking to support people into work in (a) north Greater Manchester and (b) Heywood and Middleton North constituency.

Those who are economically inactive due to ill health or other disadvantages will be supported into work through the inactivity trailblazer programme. Additionally, Greater Manchester’s Working Well programme offers support to residents at risk of or currently experiencing long-term unemployment, their WorkWell service offers support to residents facing difficulties in remaining in work due to ill-health, and the Adult Skills Fund gives residents access to training courses to enhance their career opportunities. These programmes cover north Greater Manchester, including Rochdale. The local Jobcentre network offers a suite of skills courses aimed at improving engagement and motivation, supporting the hardest to help, removing barriers to employment, enhancing job search skills, providing skills for work, vocational skills, and in-work support. These courses are designed to address various needs, from overcoming complex barriers to employment to improving job searching techniques and providing ongoing support for those in work. This approach allows us to provide intensive support for those with complex needs, remove final barriers to employment, and help individuals become proficient in job searching techniques. We are confident that these initiatives significantly contribute to improving employment opportunities and supporting residents in North Greater Manchester, Heywood and Middleton North constituency. Jobcentre teams are working in partnership with Rochdale Local Authority with a specific focus on employer activity to support local residents into employment. In recent months the Jobcentre team have worked jointly with Rochdale AFC to deliver a Jobs Fair for local residents. Some recent Sector Based Work Academies include working jointly with Rochdale Training to move residents into NHS jobs and Realise Training to support residents into the Security sector. Locally, the Get Rochdale Working team at the Local Authority support with local initiatives including Jobs fairs, Apprenticeships, Work experience and volunteering. Within the Jobcentres there is a Movement to Work Offer providing meaningful placements to young people 16-30 years old not currently in education, employment or training (NEET). These placements are designed to provide skills, experience and support to open lasting opportunities for those involved.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce the proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training in north Greater Manchester.

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. The Youth Guarantee will build upon and enhance existing entitlements and provisions with the aim of tackling the rising number of young people who are not participating in education, employment or training. DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners. For example, Positive Steps, a charitable organisation provides drop-in sessions with Jobcentre colleagues in Heywood library every Tuesday, and at the Lighthouse project every Thursday afternoon for our Middleton customers. Positive Steps are also currently running the Engaging Rochdale project throughout the whole borough, which is proving successful, offering 12 weeks paid work.

Whether she is taking steps to prioritise areas of high economic inactivity in north Greater Manchester through the inactivity trailblazer programme.

All local authorities in Greater Manchester, including Rochdale, Wigan, Bolton, and Bury, will be involved in implementing an Economic Inactivity Trailblazer. Greater Manchester will receive £10 million in funding in 2025/26 to take steps towards reducing high economic inactivity. This funding will enable Greater Manchester to integrate work, health and skills support at the local level. Greater Manchester has designed their Economic Inactivity Trailblazer working with local authorities and partners, and will determine how to use the trailblazer funding to tackle high economic inactivity in their area.

What steps are being taken to expedite responses to claimants with (a) terminal cancer and (b) other life-limiting conditions.

The primary way the Department supports people nearing the end of life is through special benefit rules which are known as the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules applied to people who have 6 months or less to live, they have now been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live. Changes to the Special Rules mean that thousands of people nearing the end of life are now able to claim fast-tracked financial support from the benefits system six months earlier than they were able to previously. The Department is committed to processing all benefit claims as quickly as possible. For PIP, Special Rules claims in England and Wales currently take 3 working days to clear for new claims and 2 working days for a reassessment on average – this compares to the current average end-to-end claim process for new normal rules PIP claims of 14 weeks.

What steps she is taking to reduce the time it takes for Personal Independence (a) claims and (b) re-applications to be processed by her Department.

Managing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the department and we are working constantly to improve our service. Our aim is to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all the available evidence including that from the claimant. However, we have been seeing continuing high levels of new claims which has impacted our capacity to carry out award reviews as quickly as we would like. In order to deal with this demand, we have been prioritising new claims, to ensure new claimants are paid as soon as possible whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, who have returned their information as required, to ensure their payments continue until their review can be completed.

What steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for recipients of Personal Independence Payment to speak to an advisor over the telephone.

Prior to January 2025, wait times on the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) enquiry lines were stable and consistent. During November the average wait time for customers making an enquiry about their new claim was less than 7 minutes, and for customers making a general enquiry, wait times were consistently below 22 minutes.During December the average wait time for customers making an enquiry about their new claim was less than 4 minutes, and for customers making a general enquiry, again consistently below 22 minutes. We have seen some disruption impacting the PIP telephony service during January 2025, due to technical issues, and whilst customers calling the new claims enquiry line will have seen calls continue to be answered in an average time of 5 minutes, call wait times on the general PIP enquiry line increased to just over 36 minutes. To address the issue, which has also resulted in a high volume of repeat calls, additional resource has been deployed to the PIP general enquiry line, and we are now starting to see some recovery. Wait times last week had reduced to an average of 28 minutes, and we expect this to improve further over the next couple of weeks.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that people claiming benefits have all the information required to access their entitlement.

GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) provides information on eligibility and how to make a claim for benefits, including signposting to telephony routes (including textphone and Relay UK) for people who are unable to complete forms online. There are videos on the DWP YouTube channel that provide further information on a range of benefits including Personal Independence Payment, Universal Credit, Winter Fuel Payment, Pension Credit and DLA for Children and these explain how to claim and what to expect once a claim has been made. Guidance on GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) also includes information on benefits people may be able to claim and other financial support. This includes housing support, help with council tax and direct payments for social care. Where appropriate DWP letters include signposting to additional help and support.

What steps she is taking to help reduce the number of deaths associated with asbestos-related diseases.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is tackling Great Britain’s asbestos legacy using a variety of regulatory interventions, including licencing of removal contractors and inspection of the management of asbestos in situ, stakeholder engagement and research activities. Collectively, this supports duty holders and other stakeholders to manage asbestos safely to avoid further exposure to risk and work towards an asbestos-free built environment, in compliance with the stringent controls on working with asbestos introduced several decades ago. The government recognises the devastating impact on those who have asbestos related disease and their families. We know that we need to do more. As part of this, HSE inspectors consider management of asbestos at every inspection of premises where asbestos may be present, they are holding an Asbestos Research Summit in March 2025 which will bring together technical experts and stakeholders to look at our strategic research priorities for asbestos and they are developing proposals to strengthen the existing legislative framework and intend to consult on this within the next financial year. We are also actively considering recommendations made by the Work and Pensions Select Committee to bring about a long term solution to Great Britain’s asbestos legacy.